Seven-time top 10k finisher Zophar picks out some of January’s biggest transfers and offers thoughts on how they will fare in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) ahead of Gameweek 24.
The January transfer window has come and gone, clubs have spent big and as always, there are ramifications for us FPL managers – both good and bad.
Luis Diaz to Liverpool
Let’s start first with a player I am extremely excited about – Luis Diaz (£8.0m). You can read about his underlying numbers in this excellent piece. I am convinced Liverpool have got a bargain here, having seen flashes of him in the Copa America (where he was the joint-top scorer alongside Lionel Messi) and the Champions League. He looks like the finished article and should fit into Jurgen Klopp’s system like a glove. I think he gets minutes for Liverpool right away, although in the first few matches these may be more limited.
I am more concerned on the impact this could have on Diogo Jota’s (£8.4m) minutes. The Portuguese has become a mainstay in most of our squads since Roberto Firmino (£8.7m) got injured but the Brazilian is now back fit and, with Diaz, they now effectively have five players in three positions. In reality, it is four players for two positions since Mohamed Salah (£12.7m) is pretty much a certainty.
There is a case to say that Diaz will impact Sadio Mane’s (£11.7m) minutes more than Jota, since the latter competes more with Firmino but, as we have seen many times, Jota has been played on the left as well. Diaz seems a much more natural fit for the role. Earlier we could have Jota play in place of either Firmino or Mane, now it seems like it’s just one spot he is competing for and I believe Klopp might adopt a ‘horses for courses’ approach depending on the opposition. Even when he does start, an early substitution is always going to be a concern.
This ties in with the Salah issue. Like many, I had planned to bring Salah back into my squad for Gameweek 24 alongside Jota, not instead of. I’m now reconsidering that.
With Salah playing so many minutes in the African Cup of Nations (AFCON), I will likely wait until Gameweek 25 to bring him in and I am comfortable with fielding Jota against Leicester City. With a Double Gameweek 26 strongly rumoured for Liverpool, their schedule would read Leicester, Burnley, Inter Milan, Norwich City and the additional fixture against Leeds United, that’s five games in under two weeks, with the EFL Cup Final straight after. There is definitely rotation happening in this front three.
Keeping that and their likely Blank Gameweek 27 in mind, I will probably be bringing Salah in for Jota and possibly keep the third Liverpool spot free for Andrew Robertson (£7.1m) instead.
The Everton situation
Putting my personal bias for Frank Lampard aside, I think he could be a great fit for Everton. Creating chances and scoring goals was not a problem for his Chelsea side, in fact, I think he often overcommitted in attack, which left the midfield a bit thin. However, he is definitely a manager who emphasises attack over defence, more so than his compatriot Steven Gerrard.
Donny van de Beek (£5.7m) is likely to be fielded in a central midfield role and I think Dele Alli (£6.2m) could shine again in new surroundings. I do expect a bit of a new manager bounce and I think this bodes well for Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£7.9m) above all else. Tammy Abraham received a ridiculous amount of service at Chelsea and, if Calvert-Lewin gets anything close to that, I expect him to score a lot of goals. Definitely hold onto your Everton attacking assets in the short term. In fact, I am very tempted to bring in the striker this week.
Wout Weghorst to Burnley
I must say, it is a bit funny seeing Burnley buy a 6 ft 6 in striker – Tony Pulis would be proud. I love that Burnley very much know what their strengths are and didn’t go for the fashionable, technically-gifted, play-it-on-the-ground type of centre forward. They continue to be a throwback to the old English style.
Wout Weghorst (£6.5m) was a great player to own in the Bundesliga Fantasy, registering 20 goals and nine assists last season for Wolfsburg and featuring in every single one of their league games. I think him and Maxwel Cornet (£5.9m) could form a great partnership in the traditional little-and-large style. Burnley’s immediate fixtures aren’t great but I have no doubt he will at some point enter the discussion, with so many fixtures to be rescheduled.
Do we continue to target Newcastle United?
The busiest club in the January window, Newcastle have purchased virtually an entire back four – Matt Targett (£4.7m), Dan Burn (£4.4m) and Kieran Trippier (£5.0m) – while also acquiring the very exciting talents of Bruno Guimaraes (£5.0m) to anchor their midfield. While bedding in all these new signings is likely to require an adjustment period, there is no doubt they will become stronger as a unit. So, while not right away, I do think we need to adjust our thinking on Newcastle being one of the league’s easiest fixtures.
Dejan Kulusevski to Tottenham Hotspur
Swedish international Dejan Kulusevski (£6.0m) made 55 appearances for Juventus over the last two seasons but 31 of these came off the bench. He prefers to play as a number ten but is comfortable on the wing as well; when on loan at Parma in the 2019/20 season he notched ten goals and nine assists. Spurs have lacked a creative attacking midfielder and it now offers Antonio Conte more options in attack, he can either field the youngster behind a striker or in a 3-4-3 where he would compete with Lucas Moura (£6.5m). A price of £6.0m is very enticing and he could emerge as an option later in the season.
We will be discussing the Salah dilemma, Bruno Fernandes (£11.7m), the January transfer window and more on this week’s episode of The FPL Wire. You can watch it here when it drops.
