Tottenham have sealed the signing of Wilson Palacios from Wigan for a undisclosed but rumoured fee of £14 million.
That seems a staggering amount for a defensive midfielder, albeit one that is clearly on the rise and with plenty of potential. In fantasy terms however, his potential is strictly limited, although his arrival at the Lane could provide a springboard for others to step up…
Sadly, this another transfer window move that fails to inspire any excitement. Palacios is a fine player, but, based on his spell at Wigan, a non-starter in fantasy terms. Currently priced at 5.5 in the Fantasy Premier League game, he has brought in just 51 points thus far in that game, notching just one assist and 8 bonus points.
His performances this season have seen him fair better in the Guardian game, where defensive midfielders have their own classification and every tackle and interception earns him points. Here Palicios is ranked in seventh place behind the likes of Denilson, Barry and Alonso. The move to Spurs could lift his output further so this will be worth monitoring in the coming weeks.
We’ll have to wait to wait several weeks however, as Palacios faces a two match ban having collected ten bookings over the season. Once registered, Palacios with serve one of these two matches in Tottenham’s FA Cup tie with United this weekend and then miss the home game with Stoke in midweek. We should see him in a Tottenham shirt when they travel to the Reebok the following weekend.
While his arrival is perhaps nothing to get too excited about based on his Wigan output – Palacios does have goals in him. He averaged 1 in 3 matches for Honduran club before his spell at the JJB. His output at Spurs will largely depend on the role Redknapp has earmarked for him.
Presumably Redknapp sees Palacios as his midfield enforcer, destined to play alongside Modric in a 4-4-2. There’s no guarantees here however. Zokora could keep his place and Redknapp could experiment with new formations – perhaps handing Modric a role directly behind the strikers.
Clearly Harry now has a good few options and in Palacios he has a player to plug the gaps that a more attacking approach will create. Tottenham have been struggling for goals of late and, while Palacios can’t be expected to solve this problem directly, he should grant others the freedom to inflict some increased damage on the opposition. That can only be a good thing for Modric and Defoe.