Transfer Deadline Signings – Anthony Martial and Nikica Jelavic

Transfer Deadline Signings – Anthony Martial and Nikica Jelavic

Late on in the transfer window saw the arrival of two strikers into the Premier League. One is a young, largely unknown French striker, while the other is a seasoned Premier League forward who has just joined his third top flight club. We are of course, talking about Manchester United’s Anthony Martial and West Ham’s Nikica Jelavic. Martial joins the Reds from the sunny climes of Monaco for a decent fee with almost as much as add-ons also – the 19 year old has just been called up to the French squad and despite his age and “raw talent”, is expected to bring some much need pace and energy to a lethargic United attack. Jelavic joins the Hammers from relegated Hull and will be looking to beef up a West Ham forward line that has issues running (on not as the case may be) through it with Valencia injured, Carroll lacking match fitness and Sakho in and out of the slammer.

ANTHONY MARTIAL
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[/three_fourth]”When somebody’s paying €45mln for a 19-year-old boy you have to say the game’s gone mad.” – Sir Alex Ferguson circa 2012 after PSG signed United interest Lucas Moura. He must now be wondering what is going on after his old team just splashed more than that on 19-year-old Martial. Or perhaps he’s forgetting having spent roughly €35mln on 18-year-old Rooney in 2004 (pretty much equal to €45mln today)… None of that much matters to us fantasy managers though; what does is a whole other range of factors, such as his FPL price, how good he actually is and where he’s played on the pitch.

Already noted by some in France to have struggled against the physicality of strong defenders, it could well take him a while to get used to the Premiership. He’s skillful and quick though, and is not afraid to take players on. His finishing is solid, and he’s also been on penalties on a couple of occasions. The lad scored 12 goals last season at a rate of just better than a goal every two games minute-wise, having made more than a few substitute appearances. Perhaps good news for United and FPL fans alike is that he showed great consistency towards the tail end of the season, scoring 8 in 8 league games between GWs 28 and 35.

Since signing he has stated that his preferred position is central, and, given Rooney’s staggering inability to look even slightly threatening thus far, it would be no surprise to see him playing up front with Rooney running off him. Perhaps telling though on mantud.com is how they describe him as “capable of playing as a right-sided attacker”, possibly laying the groundwork for him to take over Mata’s duties on the right flank allowing the Spaniard to play in his preferred role behind the striker.

Martial undoubtedly is a talent, albeit it a tad rough around the edges, and bought for so much at such a young age will be seen as an investment by United and as such may well be eased in slowly; it is entirely possible that his first few appearances will be from the bench. He comes in at a mid-range 8.0, which is probably enough to scare most would-be punters off for the time being. If his form or an injury secures him a spot in the first team though, 8.0 could start to look like a real bargain very soon. He’s been likened to other players already, and only time will tell which of Henry or Welbeck comparisons he deserves.

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NIKICA JELAVIC
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[/three_fourth]West Ham had a fine final day’s dealings, securing the services of Alex Song, Michail Antonio, Victor Moses and Nikica Jelavic. Since joining the Premier League, the latter scored almost exactly 1 in 4 games for Everton and close to 1 in 3 for Hull; if he can continue this trend and manage 1 in 2 games for the Hammers then he’ll be snapped up by… Okay I’ll stop there, that’s not going to happen. Ludicrous extrapolations aside, however, the multi-club journeyman could be a good shout short-term. With West Ham’s list of forwards flooded with red flags and Sakho currently out on bail ahead of a date in court, Jelavic could find himself afforded some decent game time over the next few GWs from compatriot Bilic, who he of course played under for Croatia in years gone by.

To be honest, the Croatian has never set FPL alight though, despite a promising start to life at Everton where he became the fastest ever striker to score 10 goals for the Toffees after signing at the end of January in the 11/12 season. He’s not once managed 100 FPL points in any season though. He also joins us with a price tag of 6.0, which is probably on the expensive side given you can have the likes of Sakho and Diouf for 0.5 more, and Wilson and Defoe for a bit less, all of which are currently more likely to get regular minutes on the pitch.

Onto the positives though, and there are some. He’s an industrious and surprisingly mobile player, strong in the air and with good instincts in front of goal. If history is anything to go by, you can also rely on him for at least 1 bonus point with each goal, picking up 32 for his 29 goals thus far, which isn’t spectacular but is more than certain other forwards (looking at you Gomis!). It’s not inconceivable to think that if Jelavic impresses early on he may be starting alongside Sakho up front, and with Song back to marshal the midfield and Payet already looking dangerous, Jelly could yet prove to be an option worth considering. He also has a FIFA 15 rating of 73, which is better than Marcelo’s! What’s that? Ah, different Marcelo… Well it’s 1 point more than Bradley Wright-Phillips and Frazier Campbell have anyway, and you may use that information as you wish.

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Thanks for reading Transfer Deadline Signings – Anthony Martial and Nikica Jelavic. This article was written by Calvin Clyne

Follow @SharpyBoy86

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