Our latest Fantasy Premier League (FPL) transfer round-up looks at some more moves from the last fortnight.
The most significant players will be the subject of their own dedicated Scout Report but all the others will feature in regular round-ups over pre-season, continuing with this one.
You’ll find all the major deals on our dedicated Transfers page, while you can get a club-by-club guide to the key moves via our comprehensive Pre-Season tab.
Our sister website, Fantasy Football Community, also has a daily round-up of the latest transfer rumours.
LATEST FPL SCOUT REPORTS
- Nick Pope (Burnley to Newcastle United, £10m)
- Taiwo Awoniyi (Union Berlin to Nottingham Forest, £17m)
- Richarlison (Everton to Tottenham Hotspur, £60m)
- Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City to Arsenal, £45m)
You can find more articles on the likes of Erling Haaland and Ivan Perisic in our Scout Reports section.
FPL TRANSFER ROUND-UP
Kalvin Phillips (Leeds United to Manchester City, £45m)
Champions Manchester City followed up their capture of star striker Erling Haaland (£11.5m) by securing England midfielder Kalvin Phillips (£5.0m). This summer has seen Fernandinho depart after nine years, as well as constant rumours linking Bernardo Silva (£7.0m) with Barcelona.
Having left his boyhood team for greener pastures, Phillips will expect to get plenty of game-time during a 60-game season even if he doesn’t initially start in Pep Guardiola’s XI.
From an FPL viewpoint, the 26-year-old offers little appeal. His two seasons of Premier League football have brought just one goal and three assists, showcasing how his on-field talents lie elsewhere. He tackles, he intercepts and he will start City attacks, just don’t expect any attacking returns.
Sven Botman (Lille to Newcastle United, £35m)
This long-running transfer saga finally resulted in pun-friendly Sven Botman (£4.5m) arriving at St James’ Park for around £35m.
A January move failed to materialise and the continued interest of AC Milan threatened to prevent Eddie Howe from securing his top defensive target. Eventually, his persistence paid off, as excitement builds over the ability of this 22-year-old Dutch international.
He is a 6ft 5in left-footed centre-back that is dominant in the air, yet very comfortable with the ball at his feet. The three league goals of last season may interest FPL managers, as could the much-improved Newcastle defence of 2022.
Shambolic for the first half of the season, things changed after Gameweek 22. With Kieran Trippier (£5.0m), Dan Burn (£4.5m) and Matt Targett (£5.0m) added to the backline, only five teams conceded fewer from then on; the Magpies also ranking joint-fourth for clean sheets.
“With Botman expected to start, Fabian Schar, who signed an extension to stay, and Dan Burn — recruited in January — will compete for the other centre-back slot.
“Mid-season, Howe sought a left-sided centre-back, but this summer he was open to signing a defender who could play in either position, even if Botman was the primary target. Howe prefers the “balance” of a left-footer and right-footer together, suggesting Schar may be favourite to retain his starting place. Yet it is understood that Howe is not necessarily wedded to that approach and is open to playing two left-footers.
“Jamaal Lascelles, the club captain, will only be pushed further down the pecking order and, although there will be increasing questions surrounding his long-term future, as things stand he looks set to be the fourth centre-half in the squad.” – Chris Waugh, The Athletic
James Tarkowski (Burnley to Everton, free)
It was announced on Saturday that Everton had landed the free transfer of James Tarkowski (£4.5m). With Burnley relegated after six seasons in the Premier League, the 29-year-old centre-back now has the task of shoring up a defence which let in 66 goals and nearly took the Clarets’ relegation spot.
Only four teams conceded on more occasions than the Toffees after Frank Lampard’s arrival.
Expect FPL managers to initially stay away from Everton’s defence, then, and not just because of frailty. They begin the season against Chelsea, whilst also facing Liverpool (H) and Arsenal (a) by Gameweek 7.
Joint-13th and third for shots in the box and big chances respectively among FPL defenders last season, Tarkowski does carry a bit of goal threat.
Joao Palhinha (Sporting Lisbon to Fulham, £17m)
Newly-promoted Fulham kicked off their summer recruitment by sealing a deal for Sporting Lisbon’s Joao Palhinha (£5.0m). The Portuguese defensive midfielder spent several seasons on loan at Moreirense, Belenenses and Braga before coming back to play a key role during Sporting’s first league title win in 19 years.
He replaces the departing Jean Michael Seri and joins a midfield of Tom Cairney (£5.0m), Harrison Reed (£4.5m), Nathaniel Chalobah (£4.5m) and Josh Onomah (£4.5m) in west London. Goals aren’t completely foreign to Palhinha, who has netted seven times in the last three seasons, but the FPL price betrays that he’s more of a ball-winner than a goal-poacher and he averaged a shot only once every 70 minutes in the Portuguese top flight last year, around 40% of which were from outside the area.
Alphonse Areola (Paris Saint-Germain to West Ham United, £10.2m)
In the first of three goalkeepers, let’s assess former Fulham loanee Alphonse Areola (£4.5m). He played 36 league games for the Cottagers in 2020/21 but just once at West Ham United last season.
£10.2m seems a large fee for an understudy but, with Lukasz Fabianski (£5.0m) still at the club, we have to assume that cup duties will remain Areola’s role. A total of 11 appearances were made in the Europa League – a competition which the Hammers return to this season.
“Alphonse made a huge contribution to the Club during his loan spell last season. His performances backed up why we see him as a top goalkeeper. He brings proven quality and experience at the highest level, both on the domestic and international scene. We’re delighted he’s with us permanently.” – David Moyes
Sam Johnstone (West Bromwich Albion to Crystal Palace, free)
We’re less certain of the pecking order at Selhurst Park, where the arrival of Sam Johnstone (£4.5m) leads to more uncertainty that FPL managers may have over Vicente Guaita (£4.5m).
Crystal Palace quietly churned out some fantastic underlying defensive stats last season, keeping the most clean sheets outside of the top five and ranking fifth-best for conceding chances and expected goals (xGC).
Above: Defensive data from our Members Area
Yet goalkeeping rotation was introduced from Gameweek 17, where Guaita and Jack Butland (£4.5m) made 14 and eight starts respectively. Add in Johnstone, who played three times for England in 2021 and wants to get into Gareth Southgate’s World Cup squad, and there is supreme competition between the sticks.
Therefore the safest bet for any Palace defensive coverage at this early stage will be via Tyrick Mitchell (£4.5m), Marc Guehi (£4.5m) or Joachim Andersen (£4.5m), not that many FPL managers will want that until Gameweek 10 at the earliest given the tough fixtures that fall before that.
Matt Turner (New England Revolution to Arsenal, undisclosed)
In a deal that was agreed back in February, 28-year-old Matt Turner (£4.0m) has joined Arsenal for an undisclosed fee. His time in Major League Soccer brought 102 appearances for New England Revolution and MVP status during the 2021 All-Stars game, where he came on to save two penalties in the shoot-out.
It continues his incredible spot-kick record – saving ten of 21, including two from former Manchester United winger Nani.
He enters Arsenal behind Aaron Ramsdale (£5.0m) and Bernd Leno (£4.5m) in the pecking order but, should the latter leave, Turner could find his way into Fantasy squads in a double-up with Ramsdale.
Giulian Biancone (Troyes to Nottingham Forest, £5m)
With last season’s revelation Djed Spence set to sign for Spurs, Nottingham Forest have replaced the loanee with right-back Giulian Biancone (£4.5m).
It isn’t necessarily bad news for those that hoped Forest would sign £4.0m FPL option Neco Williams, as the Frenchman seems to be a versatile player who regularly plays centre-half and occasionally at left-back.
He only signed for Troyes last summer but the Ligue 1 side are set to make a quick profit on the stopper, who offers little goal threat for FPL managers to get excited about: he hasn’t scored more than once in a season in his career so far.
“Biancone is a defender capable of playing as a centre-half and a right-back, suggesting he could play in Steve Cooper’s favoured set-up of three central defenders, but is also someone able to slot in on the right of a four-man backline. Forest’s default formation last season was 3-4-1-2, but remember they did occasionally play 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 in Cooper’s early days: in the Premier League, they will need plenty of options, and Biancone would appear to offer that.” – Nick Miller, The Athletic
Joe Rothwell (Blackburn Rovers to Bournemouth, free)
Yet to be given an FPL starting price, free transfer Joe Rothwell has joined Bournemouth after four seasons at Blackburn Rovers.
The 27-year-old has impressed manager Scott Parker with his forward-thinking ability as an advanced central midfielder, a position from which he churned out 10 assists for Rovers in 2020/21.
He was also ninth in the division for total chances created (68) last season, although a large chunk of those did come from set plays and it remains to be seen whether he’ll be as heavily involved at corners and free-kicks.
What also isn’t clear yet is whether Parker sees Rothwell as a regular starter or as back-up.
“Should Parker persist with his 4-3-3 formation next season, Rothwell is more likely to occupy one of the attacking No 8 roles alongside Billing or Lerma, or as an understudy to both.” – Ahmed Shooble, The Athletic
Malcolm Ebiowei (Derby County to Crystal Palace, undisclosed)
Highly-promising teenager Malcolm Ebiowei (£4.5m) joins Patrick Vieira’s south London side, although he’s likely to begin life at under-23 level.
That’s how life at Derby County started when he arrived last summer. Yet it didn’t take long for Ebiowei to progress through their youth squads, with Wayne Rooney promoting him to the first team in February.
A left-footed forward who can also cut inside from the right flank, he ended the season with 16 Championship appearances and one goal.
