Our latest Fantasy Premier League (FPL) transfer round-up gives attention to the ‘B-list’ of recent purchases.
While our sister site, Fantasy Football Community, will cover all things speculative in the Rumour Mill, we will report only on the confirmed deals that go through.
More specifically, we’ll ask what each transfer means from an FPL perspective. The most significant moves will bring their own dedicated Scout Report but all others will be covered in these summaries.
You’ll also find all the major deals in list form on our dedicated Transfers page.
LATEST FPL SCOUT REPORTS
- Rasmus Hojlund (Atalanta to Manchester United, £72m)
- Josko Gvardiol (RB Leipzig to Manchester City, £77m)
- Moussa Diaby (Bayer Leverkusen to Aston Villa, £51.9m)
FPL TRANSFER ROUND-UP
Matt Turner (Arsenal to Nottingham Forest, £10m)
As well Alphonse Areola (£4.0m), who played for West Ham United in Gameweek 1, FPL managers now have a second starting goalkeeper from the budget £4.0m price bracket via Matt Turner.
He made his Nottingham Forest against former club Arsenal on Saturday and there’s hope that he will keep his place in the long term. That’s because of Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag’s latest comments on Dean Henderson (£4.5m), linked with a Forest return all summer.
“He was always in my mind, so I think we have a strong keeper group with Onana, Henderson, Heaton.” – Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag
If Tom Heaton‘s (£4.0m) calf injury means Henderson isn’t allowed to leave, Steve Cooper may just stick with Turner.
And that would offer FPL managers the dream of having cheap shot-stoppers whose fixtures dovetail beautifully. He could be paired nicely with Jordan Pickford, Sam Johnstone, Jason Steele or Mark Flekken – each priced at £4.5m.
Edson Alvarez (Ajax to West Ham United, £35m)
It took them a while but West Ham are finally making summer signings, securing Edson Alvarez (£5.0m) from Ajax. The defensive midfielder uses a chunk of the huge Declan Rice (£5.5m) fee and Monday’s further addition of James Ward-Prowse will be covered in an upcoming Moving Target piece.
Handed the number 19 shirt, Alvarez made his Club America debut with 282 on his back. Upon his 2019 arrival at Ajax, the Mexican international was handed recently-departed Matthijs de Ligt’s number four shirt as he was bought as a centre-back. Yet he soon evolved into the midfielder he remains today.
Such versatility will be useful for David Moyes, as is Alvarez’s aerial threat. He’s scored nine times over the past two Eredivisie campaigns, with a league-leading six headed goals from set pieces. It could be a match made in heaven with dead-ball expert Ward-Prowse.
Good at defensive actions such as tackling and ball recoveries, the 25-year-old is also a very good passer.
Sander Berge (Sheffield United to Burnley, £12m)
Meanwhile, a sideways move between promoted sides saw Sander Berge (£5.0m) swap Sheffield United for Burnley. Losing such a big player will hurt the Blades but, as he was entering the final year of his contract, officials felt a sale was necessary.
The 6ft 5in midfielder joined for a club-record fee midway through their 2019/20 Premier League adventure and produced two goals and two assists throughout the subsequent season-and-a-half. However, much of their relegation campaign was spent on the sidelines due to hamstring surgery.
Above: Sander Berge’s seasonal touch heatmap 2022/23
Attacking returns were more frequent in last year’s Championship. Now playing as more of a number eight, he often got forward down the right side and finished with six goals and five assists.
Any Burnley assets are off the table anyway because of the Blank Gameweek 2 and tough fixture run beyond that. Berge was also employed in a deeper central midfield role, rather than in ‘the hole’ of Vincent Kompany’s 4-2-3-1, when walking straight into the starting line-up for Friday’s defeat to Manchester City.
Gustavo Hamer (Coventry to Sheffield United, undisclosed)
In response, Paul Heckingbottom’s side have replaced him with highly-rated Coventry City midfielder Gustavo Hamer.
Born in Brazil but raised in the Netherlands, Hamer endeared himself to Sky Blues fans over three years. His all-action, high-energy midfield displays have led to him being named their Player of the Season on consecutive occasions. He could have some FPL potential, too.
Above: Gustavo Hamer’s WhoScored profile
Not only ranked fourth for tackles won (68) in the 2022/23 Championship, Hamer’s work rate also had him fifth-best for shots (105) and attempts on target (39).
Eleven goals and 10 assists included the play-off semi-final winner at Middlesbrough, plus his Wembley equaliser against Luton Town. The upcoming fixtures don’t look appealing for a while but Hamer’s defensive work, brilliant passing and eye for goal could bring in a healthy number of bonus points.
Additionally, the Blades have spent big on defensive midfielder Vini Souza (£5.0m) from Belgian side Lommel. Given 10 minutes on Saturday versus Crystal Palace, the Brazilian isn’t much of a goalscorer: he’s found the net on just three occasions in 88 league appearances across the globe.
Jack Harrison (Leeds United to Everton, loan)
A more familiar name to FPL managers is Jack Harrison. He’s featured in the last three top-flight seasons for Leeds United, beginning by scoring their first Premier League goal in 16 years on the opening day of 2020/21. It was one of 21 netted for the winger.
| Starts (sub) | FPL points | Goals | Assists | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | Leeds United | 34 (2) | 134 | 5 | 8 |
| 2021/22 | Leeds United | 32 (3) | 117 | 8 | 1 |
| 2020/21 | Leeds United | 34 (2) | 160 | 8 | 10 |
Sean Dyche will be delighted to introduce such a recent record to his ranks, although Everton’s pressing issue is still up front. They’ve added teenage striker Youssef Chermiti (£5.0m) as their only money signing – reportedly around £15m – but it’s a big ask for the Portuguese youngster to be trusted with the responsibility of keeping the Toffees away from relegation. Chermiti has made only nine top-flight starts in his fledgling career, scoring three goals, and Dyche has been urging caution:
“He is a young player, he needs to get fit – as in, properly fit, as in Premier League fit. He is a young player, he is a young talent – we have got to develop him.” – Sean Dyche on Youssef Chermiti
Harrison’s seven-goals-per-season average will be needed, then.
Drama unfolded once Sunday’s loan offer was accepted. Aston Villa entered proceedings but swiftly pulled out once they discovered Harrison’s hip injury, likely to keep him out until September’s international break.
Unfortunately, that means he’ll miss a chunk of Everton’s good-looking early fixture run.
Other transfers
Another already-injured signing is Bournemouth’s Alex Scott (£5.0m). The 19-year-old central midfielder is incredibly talented and was on the radar of many big clubs, so he really is a coup for the Cherries. He’s had almost double the yellow cards (22) as attacking returns (12) in 83 Championship appearances, however, so he’s not likely to creep onto the FPL radar. It’ll also be a couple of months until his debut due to injury.
New team-mate Max Aarons (£4.5m), by contrast, made his Gameweek 1 bow just two days after arriving. Signed from Norwich City on Thursday, Aarons started the 1-1 draw with West Ham. His two past Premier League campaigns have been goalless, with a pair of assists each time.
Elsewhere, Luton have secured Ross Barkley (£5.0m) on a free transfer and forward Jacob Brown (£5.0m) from Stoke City. Aged 29, Barkley’s career has faded in recent years. He was an early bandwagon at the start of 2013/14 when bagging four attacking returns by Gameweek 6, priced as a £4.5m midfielder. Goals arrived in the first two games of his 2020/21 Aston Villa loan but a rejuvenation failed to follow.
He didn’t take part at the weekend but Brown did, coming on to win a penalty scored by Callum Morris (£5.5m). A total of 25 goals from three full Stoke seasons don’t grab the attention and it’s unlikely he’ll be a nailed starter.
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