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
- James Ward-Prowse (Southampton to West Ham United, £30m)
- David Raya (Brentford to Arsenal, loan)
FPL TRANSFER ROUND-UP
Moises Caicedo (Brighton and Hove Albion to Chelsea, £100m)
After a long, draining transfer saga, Chelsea eventually managed to complete their latest swoop from Brighton and Hove Albion. Moises Caicedo (£5.0m) joins Marc Cucurella (£5.0m), Robert Sanchez (£4.5m) and former boss Graham Potter in making the switch, for a fee that could rise to an eye-watering £115m.
However, Sunday’s debut cameo was disastrous at West Ham United. A generally poor performance was capped by fouling Emerson Palmieri (£4.5m) in the box to concede a penalty.
As someone with two goals and two assists from his season-and-a-half at Brighton, Caicedo’s main FPL impact will instead be the positive protection he should bring to defensive assets like Ben Chilwell (£5.7m) and Malo Gusto (£4.0m).
The 21-year-old’s tackles won (100) bettered all others except Joao Palhinha (£5.0m). Furthermore, just Declan Rice (£5.5m) made more interceptions than his 56.
If he looks set to start in Gameweek 3, it’s a superb timing that coincides with Chelsea’s run against Luton Town (h), Nottingham Forest (h) and Bournemouth (a). A defensive double-up could be on the cards.
Romeo Lavia (Southampton to Chelsea, £58m)
Whereas Caicedo’s loan at Beerschot and slow easing-in at Brighton means he’s only experienced one full Premier League season, fellow Blues signing Romeo Lavia (£5.0m) has just one senior season at all.
Yet his year at relegated Southampton impressed all the top clubs and Liverpool were pipped to his signature by Chelsea.
Aged 19 and already capped by Belgium, his sole top-flight goal made him the first player born in 2004 to score in the Premier League. Like Caicedo, such few attacking involvements suggest that Lavia won’t start off as a strong FPL option – especially if they’re fighting for the same spot in Mauricio Pochettino’s line-up.
Wataru Endo (Stuttgart to Liverpool, £16.2m)
As a consequence of losing out to both Caicedo and Lavia, Liverpool were forced into a left-field fallback option. Wataru Endo (£5.5m) has arrived from Stuttgart for around £16.2m.
Another defensive midfielder, he’s a hard-working tackler who Jurgen Klopp described as a “late bloomer” due to him not featuring in Europe’s ‘big five’ leagues until 2020, at the age of 27.
But his three subsequent Bundesliga seasons have an average of four goals, showing he has an eye for scoring. One of these was a dramatic stoppage-time winner that saved Stuttgart from 2021/22 relegation.
Once back from suspension, Alexis Mac Allister (£6.0m) should now be allowed to resume duties from his usual, more advanced position, rather than filling in alongside inverted full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold (£8.0m). Endo’s arrival adds short-term solidity to Liverpool’s midfield.
Nicolo Zaniolo (Galatasaray to Aston Villa, loan)
Voted as the 2018/19 Serie A Young Player of the Year when aged just 19, things have quickly unravelled for Nicolo Zaniolo. Unai Emery believes he’s the man to help this former wonderkid get back to his best and has approved this initial loan with an optional purchase fee.
This transfer was a reaction to Emiliano Buendia‘s (£5.9m) long-term injury but there’s a likelihood of rotation once European football kicks in.
| League Starts (sub) | Goals | Assists | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | Galatasaray | 2 (8) | 5 | 0 |
| 2022/23 | Roma | 12 (1) | 1 | 0 |
| 2021/22 | Roma | 23 (5) | 2 | 5 |
| 2020/21 | Roma | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 |
| 2019/20 | Roma | 16 (10) | 6 | 2 |
| 2018/19 | Roma | 20 (7) | 4 | 3 |
The Italian playmaker moved from Inter to Roma as part of the Radja Nainggolan deal in 2018, masterminded by Villa’s new President of Football Operations Monchi. Such was the hype, he was called up to Roberto Mancini’s Italy squad before any Serie A outing had occurred.
Unfortunately, a January 2020 ACL injury was followed by another one that caused Zaniolo to miss all of 2020/21. A couple of hip and shoulder issues came shortly after but his six goals helped Roma win the 2021/22 Europa Conference League.
Yet it wasn’t long until Zaniolo realised he was expendable at the club. A drop in form was compounded by a contract dispute, refusal to play, eventual transfer request and booing from his own fans. An angry mob showed up outside his house.
So he fled to Galatasaray in February for a knockdown price, where five goals arrived from mostly substitute appearances. This indicates that left-footed Zaniolo may primarily be used off Emery’s bench, either as a false nine or number ten.
Tyler Adams (Leeds United to Bournemouth, undisclosed)
One of the few to impress during Leeds United’s relegation was USA international Tyler Adams. After being linked with a variety of clubs like Chelsea, Aston Villa and Brighton, his time-limited release clause expired but Bournemouth managed to push through a separate deal.
“I always err on the side that I’m going to win every single ball, so I tend to be aggressive and go for it. In the Red Bull DNA, counter-pressing is such an important thing. We try to win the ball as quickly as possible and aren’t afraid to make mistakes because we’re confident in our pressing as a team.” – Tyler Adams
A dynamic central midfielder, no goals or assists took place during his sole season at Leeds and Adams previously netted just twice in 103 Leipzig appearances. So he may not be an FPL prospect worth considering.
His counter-pressing, high-energy style could fit well with Andoni Iraola’s beliefs, though.
Tom Davies (Everton to Sheffield United, free)
Finally, whilst well-known comedian Tom Davis made a guest appearance on our Deadline Stream, near-namesake Tom Davies (£5.0m) has completed a free transfer to Sheffield United.
A collection of six goals and seven FPL assists during 155 league appearances won’t tempt many managers to pursue him. Likewise, cheap wing-back George Baldock (£4.0m) is the Blades’ only player with over 2% ownership.
The 25-year-old is hoping to make a career comeback after a series of injuries halted the progress of his encouraging emergence.
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