FPL tips: How the transfer window will shape fantasy squads

Premier League managers rushed to make final additions to their squads before Tuesday’s transfer deadline – now their fantasy counterparts will follow suit.

Here, we look at how some of the biggest late moves will affect the plans of armchair managers, starting with the biggest name of all.

Ronaldo returns

Cristiano Ronaldo is back in the Premier League and back at Manchester United and after the move was made official on Tuesday morning he was added straight into the FPL listings at £12.5million – matching Mohamed Salah as the top-priced player in the game.

In his three previous United seasons listed on the FPL website, Ronaldo scored 244 points, 283 and 206 and he has kept that up in his time away.

While we have to work these figures out without applying bonus points, his most prolific season at Real Madrid saw him rack up 48 goals and 16 assists in 2014-15 and would have been worth 285 points plus bonuses.

He also had 46 goals and 11 assists in 2011-12 and 40 and 13 the year before that, worth 277 and 250 points respectively before the addition of bonus points, while even his comparatively fallow last two years with Real and debut season at Juventus were worth between 158 and 166 and he averaged 207 over the 12 seasons.

He scored 36, 35 and 23 bonus points in his previous FPL years so, even with three games already played, it seems reasonable to pencil Ronaldo in for around 230 points – well worth your £12.5m if you can free it up.

Almost half a million managers had made that decision by the end of Tuesday, with Ronaldo already the 12th most-selected forward – though fascinatingly, over 7,000 had already transferred him out as well.

Happy Hammer

Kurt Zouma‘s middle name is Happy and that could describe his 60,000-plus FPL owners now he has a potential new lease of life at West Ham.

Leaving Chelsea where he had fallen down the pecking order, the towering France international will surely start for an ascendant team with a mostly reliable defence and a fondness for goals from set-pieces – seemingly the perfect landing spot.

His price tag of £5.4m is down slightly from his starting value but still higher than any Hammers defender bar Aaron Cresswell, but he looks poised to deliver good value.

The ripple effect

The Hammers’ deadline-day arrival Nikola Vlasic, however, is set to complicate the picture in the attacking midfield spots – even if the league’s top scorer Michail Antonio should be unaffected.

The comparison to Jesse Lingard, who thrived after his loan move to the London Stadium last summer, is tempting but fantasy managers were already trying to sift through Said Benrahma, Pablo Fornals and Jarrod Bowen with Andriy Yarmolenko and Manuel Lanzini on hand to play spoiler.

Benrahma has overwhelmingly been the pick, owned by 28.8 per cent of all managers, and ranks joint fourth in the league with 26 fantasy points this season – with the largely overlooked Fornals not far behind on 20 – but Vlasic has the potential to eat into their impact.

Manchester United’s Mason Greenwood ranks alongside Benrahma but could lose playing time to Ronaldo, while the league’s most-selected player could be another casualty – Bruno Fernandes was anonymous at Euro 2020 with Ronaldo as Portugal’s figurehead, and could lose his penalty and free-kick privileges to his compatriot.

Daniel James, on the other hand, left Old Trafford later on deadline day and could thrive at Leeds – though his arrival may eat into the effectiveness of Raphinha, owned by 16.8 per cent of managers, and Jack Harrison while Helder Costa has left on loan.

Connor to the Clarets

One less heralded move which could have an FPL impact is Burnley’s signing of Swansea full-back Connor Roberts.

The Wales international excelled at Euro 2020 after he scored five goals and set up seven in the Championship last season – anything approaching that return, coupled with the traditional defensive solidity of Sean Dyche’s side, would make him a valuable asset at £4.5m.

The Clarets’ capture of Maxwel Cornet from Lyon may not quite move the needle but at £6m, he is the second-highest priced Burnley player in FPL so somebody somewhere is clearly expecting big things.