Transfers and gossip up to January 13th
We catch up with some of the transfers and gossip up to January 13th, with the help of reputable sources.
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 a range of Fantasy games.
Here are a few of the more interesting rumours from the last few days.
TRANSFERS AND GOSSIP
DONE: Ben Godfrey (from Atalanta to Ipswich)
The two-time England international centre-back has joined Ipswich on loan from Atalanta, where he’s only played 22 Serie A minutes since a £10m summer arrival from Everton.
Interestingly, he spent four-and-a-half years at local rivals Norwich and enters FPL priced at £4.0m.
This could be bad news for Jacob Greaves owners, such as 10.92% of the current top 100k. A hamstring injury kept him sidelined for a spell and he’s only just racked up three consecutive league starts. Extra competition will be a nuisance to those wanting bench depth.
CLOSE: Abdukodir Khusanov (from Lens to Man City)
Champions Man City are still recovering from their November-to-December freefall which brought just one win in 13 matches across all competitions. It makes another league crown near-impossible, so Pep Guardiola is starting his squad rebuild now.
A defensive injury list played a part in their crisis and they’ve therefore had a £33.5m bid accepted for 20-year-old centre-back Khusanov. It’ll represent a huge profit for French side Lens, who bought him for €100k just 18 months ago.
Described by current boss Will Still as “a tank”, he is quick, strong and will be the Premier League’s first Uzbek player. Man City are also heavily linked with Vitor Reis and Omar Marmoush.
RUMOUR: Kyle Walker (from Man City to AC Milan)
Meanwhile, beginning the exodus is 34-year-old Walker. Guardiola has confirmed that the right-back has asked to leave in order to begin a new experience abroad.
That foreign home appears to be Milan, with slight uncertainty over which club. Serie A sides can only register one non-EU player per transfer window, so the Rossoneri will need to decide between Walker and Marcus Rashford. That could open the door for Inter to swoop.
From an FPL perspective, the big winner from this will be Rico Lewis. His ownership peak of 1.79 million has more than halved since November but his starting spot should be safe until the summer.
RUMOUR: Romain Esse (from Millwall to Crystal Palace)
Finally, it’s another dip into the Championship for Crystal Palace. Having conducted some incredible business by buying Eberechi Eze, Michael Olise and Adam Wharton over recent years, they look set to complete a £14m deal for 19-year-old Millwall attacker Esse.
Mostly a right-winger, he’s intended to be Olise’s replacement and the Eagles have moved now in fear of being pipped by other Premier League outfits.
Esse has four league goals this season and could eventually escalate into a problem for Ismaila Sarr owners. Although, for now, you’d imagine the latter will keep his place during the integration period.
