With many of us applying the finishing touches to our Fantasy Premier League squads, developments on Thursday could leave us with a selection headache or two ahead of the Gameweek 1 deadline tomorrow night.
Premier League clubs have until 17:00 BST today to complete any remaining transfer business, although a caveat is that players can still depart for Europe and beyond until the end of the month.
Amid the carnival of yellow ties, made-up sightings and besieged television reporters, we’ll analyse the confirmed deals that could present Fantasy managers with new targets or have a negative impact on existing assets.
19:20
Jordan Ayew has joined Crystal Palace on a season-long loan deal from Swansea City.
19:05
Brighton have signed 27-year-old right-back Martin Montoya from Valencia on a four-year deal. Fulham have provided back-up for Aleksandar Mitrovic, meanwhile, with the loan capture of striker Luciano Vietto.
18:35
Harry Arter has joined Cardiff City on loan from Bournemouth, while centre-back Federico Fernandez has signed for Newcastle United from Swansea City on a four-year deal.
18:05
Another centre-back has arrived at Leicester City in the shape of Caglar Soyuncu. The Freiburg defender has joined a deal that could reportedly set the Foxes back up to £19m.
17:50
Another significant development at Craven Cottage. Left-back Joe Bryan has signed for £6m from Bristol City, which could have a positive impact on Ryan Sessegnon’s starting position. Sessegnon had featured at full-back himself for part of pre-season, with Slavisa Jokanovic forced to turn to his teenage prodigy at left-back with alternatives few and far between.
17:30
An interesting one, this: Fulham have signed Seville’s first-choice goalkeeper Sergio Rico on loan, just weeks after snapping up Besiktas custodian Fabri (£4.5m).
17:20
Huddersfield Town have added versatile forward Isaac Mbenza to their squad on a season-long loan deal, while Brighton & Hove Albion have signed teenage winger Peter Gwargis and centre-back Dan Burn – neither of whom will likely be troubling the Seagulls’ starting XI any time soon. Burn, indeed, has rejoined former club Wigan Athletic on loan until January.
17:10
A mad last half-hour of business after a barren afternoon of transfer news.
Everton have completed the signings of centre-back Yerry Mina from Barcelona and winger Bernard from Shakhtar Donetsk, while central midfielder Andre Gomes has also made the move from the Nou Camp to Goodison on a season-long loan deal.
Those signings could have an impact on Phil Jagielka (£4.5m), Theo Walcott (£6.5m) and Morgan Schneiderlin (£4.5m) in their respective positions. Intriguingly though, Bernard is predominantly a left-winger, the same position that summer signing Richarlison (£6.5m) tends to occupy.
West Ham United have bolstered their midfield ranks with the capture of the experienced Colombian international Carlos Sanchez from Fiorentina, meanwhile. That would seemingly put Declan Rice’s (£4.5m) “out of position” status at risk.
14:35
Leander Dendoncker has become Wolves’ 11th summer signing after joining from Anderlecht. The defensive midfielder, who can also play at centre-back, has joined the newly promoted club on a season-long loan with a view to a permanent deal next summer.
The Belgian international’s arrival adds competition for Ruben Neves (£5.0m) and Joao Moutinho (£5.5m) in the centre of the park, while also giving Santo cover at centre-half. Romain Saiss (£4.5m) has struggled in the defensive three since dropping back there this summer and it could well be that Dendoncker first gets a run in the team at centre-back, with Neves and Moutinho established in the double-pivot.
13:20
Neil Warnock has added much-needed depth to his central midfield with the signing of Victor Camarasa from Real Betis on a season-long loan deal.
Warnock was forced to play centre-back Sol Bamba in an advanced role in the 2-1 loss to Betis at the weekend, a match that Camarasa didn’t feature in.
12:25
Thibaut Courtois has, as expected, completed his move from Chelsea to Real Madrid.
Manchester City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko has turned down a move to Wolverhampton Wanderers, meanwhile.
10:55
Leicester City have signed centre-back Filip Benkovic from Dinamo Zagreb. The Foxes are short in the heart of defence, with Wes Morgan (£4.5m) and Yohan Benalouane (£4.0m) the only options available to Claude Puel for their final pre-season friendly against Lille last weekend.
Harry Maguire (£5.5m) – long linked with a move away from Leicester – has only just returned to training with City and Jonny Evans (£5.0m) is struggling with injury.
Puel said of his new arrival:
Filip is an exciting young player who has the potential to develop even more at Leicester City Football Club. He has made a big contribution to Dinamo Zagreb over the last three years and has also benefitted from experiencing European football. I know he will give us some great options and competition in the squad and I’m delighted to have him here.
10:40
Lucas Perez has joined West Ham United from Arsenal for a reported £4m. The 29-year-old forward made only 11 league appearances (just two of them starts) for the Gunners in 2016/17, before spending all of last season on loan at Deportivo.
Perez scored six goals in 32 La Liga appearances in 2017/18 and gives Manuel Pellegrini another alternative in attack, with Marko Arnautovic (£7.0m) and Javier Hernandez (£6.5m) previously the only fit options available to him.
10:25
Mateo Kovacic has joined Chelsea on loan from Real Madrid for the rest of the season. The deep-lying midfielder’s arrival could spell bad news for the likes of Ross Barkley (£6.0m) and Cesc Fabregas (£6.5m), with Kovacic looking a strong candidate to line up alongside Jorginho (£5.0m) and N’Golo Kante (£5.0m) in Maurizio Sarri’s central midfield three.
FPL managers needn’t get too excited about the Croatian’s arrival though: Kovacic scored on only one occasion for Real during his three years at the club. The former Inter Milan midfielder also has just one international goal to his name from 46 caps.
09:45
Only one piece of business confirmed this morning, but it’s not one that will have any impact on our Fantasy squads: Daniel Arzani has joined Manchester City from affiliated club Melbourne City, with the 19-year-old Australian international set to be farmed out on loan to continue his development.
A more significant deal happened yesterday evening, with Chelsea snapping up Athletic Bilbao’s Kepa Arrizabalaga for £71m – a world-record fee for a goalkeeper. The 23-year-old shot-stopper looks set to replace Thibaut Courtois as the Blues’ number one, with the Belgian international ready to depart Stamford Bridge today.
Kepa saved 99 shots in La Liga last season – Courtois registered 76 for Chelsea – and stopped two of the three penalty kicks he faced for Bilbao in 2017/18. Although the Basque club finished in a lowly 16th place last season, they conceded only five more goals (49) than Real Madrid in third.
Kepa has been priced up at £5.5m in FPL this morning.
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