We’ve got a flurry of Scout Reports and transfer summaries to bring you over the weekend, ahead of what will likely be a busy deadline day.
We start with Nico Gonzalez (£5.5m), who this week completed his switch from Manchester City to Newcastle United to the tune of £52m.
The Spanish midfielder provides a needed boost to the central options available to Magpies boss Matthias Jaissle, who reportedly spoke personally to Gonzalez repeatedly in recent weeks to make clear his importance to his new-look Newcastle side.
But how might Gonzalez fare in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) now that he has left a star-studded City set-up to join the ongoing rebuild at St James’ Park?
That’s what we’re here to assess!
BRIEF HISTORY
First, a bit of background.
Prior to joining City during the 2024/25 winter transfer window, Gonzalez was enjoying the most prolific campaign of his career from an attacking perspective, delivering five goals and three assists from 17 appearances for FC Porto in Liga Portugal.
The 24-year-old was with the Portuguese giants for a season and a half before his £50m move to Manchester, having spent the 2022/23 season on loan with Valencia from Barcelona – whose famed La Masia academy he is a product of.
GONZALEZ: LAST THREE SEASONS
| Season | Team | Apps | Mins | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/26 | Man City | 17(8) | 1,568 | 1 | 0 |
| 2024/25 | Man City | 9 (2) | 753 | 1 | 0* |
| 2024/25 | Porto | 17 (0) | 1,447 | 5 | 3 |
| 2023/24 | Porto | 20 (5) | 1,711 | 2 | 1 |
*Gonzalez did bag an ‘FPL assist’ in 2024/25
Internationally, Gonzalez has been capped at multiple youth levels for Spain but is yet to earn a senior national team appearance.
That’s hardly an indictment of his talent, though, given the breadth of options available to the reigning World and European champions in the middle of the park – including former City teammate Rodri, who Pep Guardiola once described Gonzalez as a “mini” version of.
HOW DOES GONZALEZ FIT AT NEWCASTLE?
We’ll leave the country question to Luis de la Fuente but for Newcastle, at least, Gonzalez is expected to become a regular starter in a way he hasn’t been since arriving in the Premier League some 18 months ago.
“He trained with us and he looks sharp.
“He is an option.
“It will take time [to learn Jaissle’s methods], and I cannot tell you how long it takes, but he’s a smart player. He has huge potential and already brings so much quality to the squad. So, I think he will adapt fast into our system, into our way of playing, and then we can enjoy.” – Matthias Jaissle on Nico Gonzalez, speaking on Thursday
He should step into one of the two holding midfield roles in Jaissle’s 4-2-3-1, the formation used by the German manager in pre-season, Gameweek 1 and the midweek Carabao Cup win over West Bromwich Albion.
Against Liverpool last weekend it was teenage debutant Sean Steur (£5.0m) alongside 20-year-old Lewis Miley (£5.5m) – who was replaced by Aladji Bamba (£5.0m), also 20 – in that double pivot, highlighting just how thin Newcastle’s squad had become in central midfield following a few high-profile departures earlier this summer and the injury-enforced absence of Joelinton (£5.5m). In the cup, Steur partnered Jacob Ramsey (£5.0m) and came off for Miley soon after the hour mark.
Given his relative top-level experience, Gonzalez starting consistently alongside one of Steur or Miley – perhaps more likely the latter, who particularly impressed in the draw with Liverpool – is what we expect to see in the coming weeks. Joelinton’s eventual return would give Jaissle another senior figure to chuck into the mix, but the timeline on that is currently unclear.
DEFCON POTENTIAL
Given he should now be playing the majority of minutes week in, week out, Gonzalez could enter the FPL thinking in a way he never really could as a rotation risk at City.
The interest primarily stems from his potential for defensive contribution (DefCon) points.
Gonzalez averaged 11.57 qualifying defensive actions per 90 minutes across his 25 Premier League appearances last season, an eye-catching rate not far short of the likes of Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo (£5.5m, 11.81), Everton’s James Garner (£6.0m, 12.08), Leeds’ Ethan Ampadu (£5.5m, 12.11) and Rodri (12.15).
Above: Nico Gonzalez v other Newcastle midfielders: DefCons per 90 minutes in 2025/26
Not only did Nico’s figure trump those of Newcastle’s midfielders, it was also superior to popular FPL picks like Granit Xhaka (£5.5m), Declan Rice (£7.5m) and Anton Stach (£6.0m).
At Newcastle, a team that typically controls possession much less than City, it would be fair to expect Gonzalez’s defensive numbers to remain comparably high, if not improve, if he is asked to bear the brunt of the defensive responsibilities in midfield.
Above: Lewis Miley hit the DefCon threshold from Newcastle’s central midfield in Gameweek 1
Miley banked DefCon points in Gameweek 1 (see above). Steur and Ramsey racked up 10 and 11 contributions in the EFL Cup in midweek, with the former managing his figure in just 65 minutes. Joe Willock and Bamba hit the 12-mark in the final friendly against Strasbourg. We could go on!
GOAL THREAT: CITY V PORTO
At City, Gonzalez’s attacking threat was near non-existant.
A shot evey 114 minutes, a chance created every 146 minutes in 2025/26.
His sole goal last season came from outside the box, indeed.
However, charged with a more box-to-box role at Porto, he averaged an effort every 53 minutes in his final Liga Portugal campaign in 2024/25.
Naturally, you can’t have everything – in that final half-season at Porto, his DefCons per 90 minutes were down at 7.84!
OVERALL FPL POTENTIAL
Gonzalez appears more of a replacement for Sandro Tonali (£5.5m) than Bruno Guimaraes (£7.0m). Someone willing to do the defensive dirty work and progress the ball to his more attack-minded teammates.
Given the likelihood of Jaissle using him in a double pivot of a 4-2-3-1 rather than as a box-crashing ‘eight’ in a Howe-esque 4-3-3, goal threat will probably be minimal. Steur and Miley combined for just one penalty box touch, and no shots in the area, in Gameweek 1, for example.
So, perhaps little chance of a repeat of his comparatively goal-crazed final half-season at Porto.
Regardless, his evident DefCon potential and modest starting price meas Gonzalez is certainly a budget-friendly midfield option worth monitoring in FPL. Mamadou Sangare (£5.6m) seems to be the benchmark so far but it’s worth keeping tabs on Gonzalez’s figures in the coming weeks to see if he can provide Ampaduan levels of reliability for 4- or 5-point floors.
