Transfers and gossip up to August 9th
We catch up with some of the transfers and gossip up to August 9th, with the help of reputable sources such as Fabrizio Romano.
Following the media’s many transfers and gossip stories can be tiresome. The majority either fall through or have been tactically planted by one of the parties involved. Yet those that do come to fruition can have a huge effect on Fantasy Premier League, UCL Fantasy or even both.
Here are a few of the more interesting rumours from the last few days.
Transfers and gossip
Lucas Paqueta (West Ham to Man City)
Overnight rumours in Brazil have since been confirmed by both Romano and David Ornstein – that Man City want West Ham playmaker Lucas Paqueta.
Having already sold Declan Rice for big money, the Hammers have no pressure to sell. He has an £85m release clause that activates next summer, so they’ll certainly not consider the reported £70m bid.
Priced at £6.0m in FPL, a successful move to Man City probably lessens the 25-year-old’s appeal even more. Only 1.3% currently own Paqueta at a club where he’s nailed-on to start. Adding him to ‘Pep Roulette’ introduces uncertainty, albeit surrounded by better players.
James Ward-Prowse (Southampton to West Ham)
In response, West Ham seem to have finally made a breakthrough in their £30m pursuit of James Ward-Prowse.
The 28-year-old has only played for Southampton so it’ll be strange to see him elsewhere but his consistent FPL numbers and set-piece expertise were always going to be targeted by someone.
| Starts (sub) | Goals | Assists | FPL pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | Southampton | 38 (0) | 9 | 4 | 142 |
| 2021/22 | Southampton | 36 (0) | 10 | 5 | 159 |
| 2020/21 | Southampton | 38 (0) | 8 | 7 | 156 |
| 2019/20 | Southampton | 38 (0) | 5 | 3 | 117 |
His 17 direct free-kick goals are only one behind David Beckham’s Premier League record. Add this to his corner-taking, where Kurt Zouma had last season’s joint-fifth most headers from set pieces, and he can still be a reliable FPL asset. However, it means Jarrod Bowen will have fewer duties and therefore less routes to points.
Harry Maguire (Man United to West Ham)
Another strong aerial threat could be coming to east London. A £30m deal has been agreed with Man United for Harry Maguire, although it remains to be seen if he’ll start ahead of Zouma or Nayef Aguerd.
Then again, he’s headed home six times for England and the thought of him getting on the end of Ward-Prowse set-pieces is tantalising.
A double-deal with Scott McTominay could be on the cards, although it’s further behind.
Jean-Clair Todibo (Nice to Man United)
With Maguire out of the way, Erik ten Hag reportedly wants Nice centre-back Jean-Clair Todibo as his replacement. It should be a similar £30m fee, although Newcastle also hold an interest in the Frenchman.
At a height of 6ft 3in, this 23-year-old is very impressive. Although he did pick up the fastest red card in Ligue 1 history last September – after just nine seconds against Lorient.
Other targets are Bundesliga duo Benjamin Pavard and Edmond Tapsoba.
Gift Orban (Gent to Tottenham)
Should Harry Kane depart for Bayern Munich, Spurs want to continue the meteoric rise of Gift Orban. Just a year ago, he was leaving Nigeria’s Bison to join Norwegian second-tier side Stabaek.
16 goals arrived in 22 league matches, impressing Gent into a January purchase. Since then, he’s netted 15 times in 16 league games, including four in one match versus Zulte Waregem.
He soon stole headlines across Europe with a 3 minutes and 25 second hat-trick in the Europa Conference League, against Istanbul Basaksehir. It’s the fastest ever trio scored in UEFA competitions.
