In between the lengthier Scout Reports on notable Fantasy Premier League (FPL) arrivals like Marc Guehi (£5.2m), Antoine Semenyo (£7.8m) and Conor Gallagher (£5.5m), we’re putting together shorter round-ups of new signings who are more of the ‘C-list’ variety.
Don’t forget that you can find all the confirmed transfers listed here throughout January, with deadline day fast approaching.
Scout Reports on Tammy Abraham (£6.0m) and Bournemouth’s two outfield captures will follow.
James Ward-Prowse (West Ham United to Burnley, loan)
An intriguing move, this, given that Ward-Prowse was once (minor) Fantasy royalty.
While this season and last have been washouts, he delivered between 13 and 15 attacking returns in each of the four campaigns before 2024/25.
Ward-Prowse made five successive starts for the Hammers at the start of this season but was soon deemed surplus to requirements under new boss Nuno Espirito Santo.
A set-piece specialist, his FPL appeal has spiked in the past when he’s had the monopoly at dead-ball situations: direct free-kicks, corners and penalties.
The Clarets’ two spot-kicks this season have been taken by Zian Flemming (£5.3m) but he’s not a regular starter. Could Ward-Prowse – who has scored 20 and missed six attempts from the spot – step up for his new side?
There’s a good chance of him inheriting corner-taking duties. Burnley don’t really have a set-piece specialist at the club, with 11 different players taking a corner in 2025/26.
First, though, he has to break into the team. Florentino (£5.0m) and Lesley Ugochukwu (£5.0m) are the central midfield two at present, with Ward-Prowse adding the depth lost when Josh Cullen (£5.0m) was ruled out for the season.
The 31-year-old midfielder had a 36% successive rate for defensive contribution (DefCon) points in 2021/22 and 2022/23. If he can gobble up set-play duties and tick over with DefCons, he’s possibly one for the budget watchlist.
One final note: he’ll be ineligible to face his parent club in Gameweek 25.
Christos Mandas (Lazio to Bournemouth, loan)
Loaned from Lazio, there is a £16m purchase option for new goalkeeper Mandas. But is the Greek international arriving as Bournemouth’s new number one, or a wake-up call for the so-far unconvincing Djordje Petrovic (£4.5m)?
The FPL pricing – he comes in at £4.0m – suggests Mandas will play back-up but it’s the sort of signing that probably rules out two players as FPL options, at least until we assess the lay of the land.
The 24-year-old has made only 18 Serie A appearances over two-and-a-half years, and none since Maurizio Sarri returned to the Biancocelesti dugout last summer.
He did keep an impressive nine clean sheets in those 18 run-outs, however.
Twice capped by Greece, he previously played for Atromitos and OFI Crete.
The Cherries top our Fixture Ticker between now and Gameweek 31. But they’ve only kept one clean sheet since Gameweek 9 ended, a period where no team has conceded more often (32).
Lorenzo Lucca (Napoli to Nottingham Forest, loan)
Strugglers Nottingham Forest have scored this season’s second-fewest goals, despite centre-forward Igor Jesus (£5.8m) ranking sixth for penalty area shots (41). The problem: a mere eight attempts of his have been on target, and just two were Opta-defined big chances.
So, with there still being no timeline on Chris Wood‘s (£7.2m) knee injury, Sean Dyche has borrowed giant 6ft 7in striker Lucca.
After two years at Udinese brought 20 Serie A goals, he joined Napoli last summer on loan. Combined with the obligatory purchase, he cost them €35m, but found it tough to get game time under Antonio Conte, starting just four times in the league.
LUCCA’S TOP-FLIGHT RECORD
| Season | Team | Starts (sub apps) | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/2026 | Napoli | 4(12) | 1 | 0 |
| 2024/2025 | Udinese | 27(6) | 12 | 1 |
| 2023/2024 | Udinese | 30(7) | 8 | 4 |
| 2022/2023 | Ajax | 0(14) | 2 | 1 |
The 25-year-old is, as you’d expect, strong aerially and good at winning fouls. Almost 30% of his goal attempts for Udinese in 2024/25 were headers, as were five of his 12 goals.
A decent fit for Forest, then: the Tricky Trees have registered this campaign’s second-most crosses (548). Jesus boasts the second-most headed efforts (20), too:
However, before considering the £5.5m FPL asset, it’s worth waiting to see if Forest add another forward. They’ve been heavily linked with Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.5m) and historically love a bloated squad, and any relegation nervousness could hasten any move in these final January days.
If they did add Mateta or A.N. Other, Lucca would be competing with the new boy and Jesus for, most likely, one place.
Facundo Buonanotte (Brighton and Hove Albion to Leeds United, loan)
One point ahead of Forest is Leeds United. They’ve opted to chase attacking midfielder Buonanotte again and, unlike in late August, have completed the loan.
The youngster joined Brighton and Hove Albion in January 2023 and was temporarily sent to newly-promoted Leicester City for 2024/25. By FPL Gameweek 8, Buonanotte had registered three goals and two assists but, once Ruud van Nistelrooy took charge, his starts dried up – much to the annoyance of Foxes fans, who had witnessed some bright displays from the young Argentinean.
What he then didn’t need was to waste half a season at Chelsea. The Blues snatched him from Leeds in a surprise loan deal that brought an unsurprising lack of football. He’s only seen 45 top-flight minutes, with six starts in other competitions. His only goal came against Lincoln City.
| Season | Team | League starts (sub apps) | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/2026 | Chelsea | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 |
| 2024/2025 | Leicester | 14(17) | 5 | 2 |
| 2023/2024 | Brighton | 17(10) | 3 | 1 |
| 2022/2023 | Brighton | 6(7) | 1 | 1 |
Anyway, Daniel Farke has eventually got his man. This determination might hint that Buonanotte will play a big part. If so, the left-footer could be a bargain at £4.6m, cutting in from the right flank.
First, though, he has to get past the in-form Brenden Aaronson (£5.4m) and Anton Stach (£4.9m). Farke has also hinted that match fitness is an issue:
“He’s a very exciting young player with lots of potential but a part of the truth is also that he has not played much football recently. For that, we are convinced of his skills, of his potential, and we will give him the stage. We will give him the platform. We are there for him with open arms. He gets all the backing, all the help, all the support, to work really to be bringing himself back into a top fitness level.” – Daniel Farke on Facundo Buonanotte, last Thursday
Jocelin Ta Bi (Maccabi Netanya to Sunderland, £3.5m)
Unlikely to play, we’ll keep this one brief. Not to be confused with fellow 20-year-old winger Chemsdine Talbi (£4.9m), Sunderland beat Celtic to sign Ta Bi from Maccabi Netanya.
The Ivorian has just spent 16 months on loan at Hapoel Petah Tikva, where he netted nine times.
A good dribbler, Ta Bi is currently nursing an ankle knock, but Sunderland staff are already talking about a slow integration process.
“He’s a dynamic and explosive wide player who enjoys attacking duels, predominantly from the right side. He is a player with high potential and we will integrate him patiently into our club.” – Sunderland’s sporting director Krisjaan Speakman
“Yeah, we’ll need approximately, I would say, two or three weeks to be game fit, so we’ll take time to rebuild his fitness level as well, so it’s a good opportunity for us to help him connect with the squad, with the club, and everyone in the building.” – Regis Le Bris on Jocelin Ta Bi, last Thursday
Adama Traore (Fulham to West Ham United, undisclosed)
Keiber Lamadrid (Deportivo La Guaira to West Ham United, loan)
Another wideman unlikely to feature prominently, 22-year-old Lamadrid has arrived at West Ham directly from Venezuela. He has 14 goals and seven assists from 104 appearances.
“Yeah, he’s a young player that the club brings. He’s in a pre-season. I think he finished the season. He’s in the process of pre-season, so not really ready to play, but we’ll assess him. We’ll assess him and see.” – Nuno Espirito Santo on Keiber Lamadrid, last Thursday
Additionally, Wednesday morning brought confirmation of Adama Traore‘s (£5.1m) signing for a small fee. Kindly referred to by the club as a ‘Spain international winger’, he last played for La Roja in 2021.
A bit-part player in recent years, last season still featured a respectable two goals and eight assists for Fulham. But, in this league campaign’s early months, he’s only started once and accumulated just 261 minutes.
Now, he gets to reunite with Nuno Espirito Santo. Their three seasons together at Wolverhampton Wanderers saw a slow 2018/19 start, where he was mostly an impact sub, before 2019/20 brought 13 attacking returns and 130 FPL points. Wolves slipped to 13th place in 2020/21, when Traore played even more minutes, but brought only 94 points.
Expect him to be a back-up to Jarrod Bowen (£7.6m) and Crysencio Summerville (£5.5m).
Evann Guessand (Aston Villa to Crystal Palace, loan)
A squad that had been decimated by injury now suddenly looks flush with options.
Ismaila Sarr (£6.3m) has new competition for the right-sided ’10’ role in the form of Brennan Johnson (£6.5m).
And now, on the left, Yeremy Pino (£5.8m) has to contend with Evann Guessand.
It’s not quite happened for Guessand at Villa.
He made only six league starts for Unai Emery’s side, the last of which came in Gameweek 14.
All but one of his 13 appearances ended in a blank, a pair of assists against Brighton being his only returns.
His underlying numbers were poor, too: a shot every 76.8 minutes, a chance created every 154 minutes.
Perhaps new surroundings can bring last season’s best out of him but until (and it’s an if) we see him nail down a starting spot, he’s one to avoid.
Stefan Ortega (Manchester City to Nottingham Forest, £500,000)
A timely goalkeeper purchase for Forest, given that Matz Sels (£4.6m) is now injured.
It’s a big ask for him to hit the ground running, given that he’s not played since the Club World Cup.
And there’s not much to go off when looking at his time at City, as he made only 25 league appearances over three years.
He was up +4.1 on his expected goals prevented (xGP) across those three campaigns overall, albeit slightly down in his busiest season of 2024/25 (-0.8).
Melker Ellborg (Malmo to Sunderland, £3.0m)
A new back-up ‘keeper for Sunderland, who will play understudy to Robin Roefs (£5.0m).
Still only 22, Ellborg is highly rated but hasn’t had much first-team experience, playing only seven top-flight games for Malmo – not helped by last summer’s arrival of Robin Olsen.
He has been a regular for the Swedish side in this season’s UEFA Europa League, however.
