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We finally have some closure as the transfer deadline has closed, but not without some fireworks. Biggest of all may be the announcement that Pep Guardiola will be taking over Manchester City over the summer. It will be interesting if this has any impact on City going forth. In other City news is the announcement that De Bruyne will be out for up to ten weeks, clearly a devastating loss for their Premier League and Champions League pursuits.
In other news, Alexis Sanchez is back healthy and marked his return with the clenching goal in an Arsenal FA Cup win this past weekend. Sanchez will be a key return for the Gunners as they continue their trek for top place in the Premier League – currently just three points behind Leicester.
Notable late transfers include Giannelli Imbula to Stoke from Porto (£18.3m), Leroy Fer to Swansea from QPR (loan), Oumar Niasse to Chelsea from Lokomotiv Moscow (£13.5m), Seydou Doumbia to Newcastle from Roma (loan), Emmanuel Emenike to West Ham from Fenerbahce (loan), Patrick Bamford to Norwich from Chelsea (loan), Sandro to West Brom from QPR (loan), Emmanuel Adebayor to Crystal Palace (free agent), Alexandre Pato to Chelsea from Corinthians (loan) – just to name a few (sarcasm intended).
It’s unclear what immediate impact many of the transfers will have, but it is without any doubt that some of these new faces will have major impacts in the Premier League. From a fantasy perspective, Doumbia, Emenike, Fer and Adebayor rank among the most potentially impactful.
Here’s a rundown of the upcoming matches:
Tuesday, February 2nd
Arsenal v. Southampton
Norwich City v. Tottenham Hotspur
Sunderland v. Manchester City
West Ham United v. Aston Villa
Crystal Palace v. AFC Bournemouth
Manchester United v. Stoke City
West Bromwich Albion v. Swansea City
Wednesday, February 3rd
Watford FC v. Chelsea
Everton v. Newcastle
My Fantrax team: Courtois / Trippier, Byram, Rose / Eriksen, Payet, Silva, Barkley, Sigurdsson / Aguero, Sanchez (I would say none of the super cheap defenders are guarantees to go, but as of now would call them all probable)
My Official FPL team: Cech / Azpilicueta, Kolarov, Dann / Mahrez, Ozil, Deulofeu, Alli, Barkley / Aguero (V), Lukaku (C) (had two transfers: took out injured KDB and Giroud, picked up Aguero and Deulofeu)
Wahbi Khazri (£6) had 5 goals, 7 assists in 20 games for Bordeaux in France and should be an immediate addition to the Sunderland starting XI. The matchup against Manchester City is bad, but at the current price could be considered a decent bench stash for your midfield in the Official FPL. Other potential stashes include Emmanuel Adebayor (£5.8), Sam Byram (£5) and Leroy Fer (£5).
That’s just my two cents. Let's hear your questions and concerns! And, don't forget the abnormal start time at 2:45 EST (for us East Coasters in the U.S.) Tuesday.
- Alex (your newest and bestest member of the NMA crew)