Cristiano Ronaldo‘s (£12.5m) move to Manchester United is dominating the discussion among Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers at present.
How to fit the 36-year-old Portugal international into our sides, his impact on existing United assets and how the transfer effects Wildcard plans are been widely debated on site and elsewhere.
There’ll be plenty of coverage on the former Juventus and Real Madrid man on our pages over the September international break, starting with this kneejerk overview of the potential ramifications of his addition to FPL.
MASON GREENWOOD
FPL have price Ronaldo up as a £12.5m forward and central striker is also a position that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer sees the Portuguese operating in when he dons a United shirt:
“He’s evolved as a player, he used to play wide right, wide left, up front. He’s more of a centre-forward for me at the moment, definitely.” – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on Cristiano Ronaldo
Ronaldo will almost certainly get more game-time than the more peripheral Edinson Cavani (£8.5m) has to date, too, with Solksjaer adding of the veteran Portuguese:
“He is not signing to sit on the bench. He is going to make us a better team.”
Barring some bit-part appearances from Anthony Martial (£7.8m) and Cavani, Mason Greenwood (£7.6m) has been the man tasked with leading the line for United this season.
With Ronaldo arriving and Cavani building up match-fitness (not to mention dodging international duty and subsequent quarantine), those regular run-outs up top will likely be coming to an end despite his scoring of three goals in as many matches.
Ronaldo’s deployment up top doesn’t necessarily mean more benchings in itself: Greenwood has spent more of his time at Old Trafford operating on the right flank, and his goals against Southampton and Wolves came while he was stationed in a wider role. So, too, did many of his strikes in his purple patch at the back-end of 2019/20.
Above: Mason Greenwood’s passes received heatmap in 2021/22, from our Premium Members Area
The youngster has a tendency to drift right even when nominally playing as a central striker anyway so starting position is perhaps not as much of a worry – but rotation soon will be.
He may be safe for now, with Jadon Sancho (£9.3m) still looking a bit off the pace, Daniel James (£6.0m) surely now slipping way down the pecking order and Marcus Rashford (£9.4m) a little way from a return.
But eventually, the competition for places will heat up, not to mention the frequency of fixtures when the UEFA Champions League starts after the September international break.
UNITED’S OPTIONS IN EACH POSITION
CF: Ronaldo, Cavani, Greenwood, Martial
LW: Rashford, Pogba, Sancho, Martial, James
RW: Greenwood, Sancho, Rashford, James
AM: Fernandes, Lingard
There are parallels to be drawn with Ferran Torres (£7.1m) at Manchester City: both mid-price midfielders have the potential to haul when on the pitch, but sustained game-time may soon be an issue.
BRUNO FERNANDES
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