Our latest Fantasy Premier League (FPL) transfer round-up gives attention to some under-the-radar recent purchases.
While our sister site, Fantasy Football Community, will cover all things speculative in the Rumour Mill, we will report only on the confirmed deals that go through.
More specifically, we’ll be asking what each transfer means from an FPL perspective. The most significant players on the move will be the subject of their own dedicated Scout Report but all the other transfers will be covered in summaries throughout the summer.
You’ll also find all the major deals in list form on our dedicated Transfers page.
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FPL TRANSFER ROUND-UP
Justin Kluivert (Roma to Bournemouth, undisclosed)
A move to Fulham fell apart at the work permit stage last year but Justin Kluivert now gets to follow in his father Patrick’s footsteps by playing in the Premier League.
The 24-year-old has reportedly cost Bournemouth an initial £9.5m and – at such a young age – is now just the fourth player to feature in each of Europe’s ‘big five’ leagues after Florin Raducioiu, Stevan Jovetic and Christian Poulsen.
Having started at Ajax, Kluivert has actually graced six top-flight competitions but loan moves to RB Leipzig, Nice and Valencia were never made permanent, so the winger has had a disappointingly nomadic career since leaving Amsterdam.
Able to operate on either wing, the diminutive winger has only once before – for Ajax in 2017/18 – reached double figures for goals in a league season. Six assists, for Roma the following year, is his best contribution in terms of setting up goals.
It’s been a stop-start career for the Dutchman, who has not quite lived up to the early promise he exhibited in his homeland as a youth.
He almost made as many substitute appearances as he did starts for a struggling Valencia in La Liga last season but a minutes-per-shot average of 33 was decent – as was his rate of expected goals (xG):
| Name | xG per 90 | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mohamed Salah | 0.56 |
| 2 | Marcus Rashford | 0.48 |
| 3 | Justin Kluivert | 0.41 |
| 4 | Alexis Mac Allister | 0.37 |
| 5 | Rodrigo | 0.37 |
| 6 | Antony | 0.33 |
Above: Comparing Kluivert’s 2022/23 expected goals (xG) per 90 to other FPL midfielders with at least 900 minutes
A minutes-per-chance-created average of 63.1 suggests goals are likelier to flow than assists.
He’s Bournemouth’s first signing under new boss Andoni Iraola, likely being deployed on one of the flanks of a 4-2-3-1 high-press system.
“They can expect a player who is willing to do everything for the team, to attack. I guess I could say I run quite fast! My mind is to score goals and be important for the team, also in the defensive area.” – Justin Kluivert upon his move to Bournemouth
Dejan Kulusevski (Juventus to Tottenham Hotspur, undisclosed)
The 18-month loan of Dejan Kulusevski has been made into a permanent move.
The Swede started brilliantly but seemed to fade over time – not that he was alone in the campaign just gone. In fact, his initial half-season of five goals and nine assists brought in more FPL points than the whole of 2022/23 (99 v 96).
His underlying stats show only a marginal overall worsening, however:
| Shots (per 90) |
Big chances (per 90) |
Chances created (per 90) |
Big chances created (per 90) |
xGI (per 90) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021/22 | 1.84 | 0.28 | 1.77 | 0.42 | 0.38 |
| 2022/23 | 1.87 | 0.04 | 2.04 | 0.30 | 0.32 |
The early fixtures are mixed for Spurs, with Gameweeks 3 to 5 against Bournemouth (away), Burnley (away) and Sheffield United (home) but surrounded by meetings with Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool.
Should he receive a price drop from last season’s initial £8.0m, FPL managers will be curious to see how things look under Ange Postecoglou and whether Kulusevski is locked into his starting XI. Without any European football congesting the Lilywhites’ schedule, perhaps there is potential for the Swede to find his form again.
Mahmoud Dahoud (Borussia Dortmund to Brighton and Hove Albion, free)
As transfer market masters, every Brighton signing comes with special interest from FPL managers. The Seagulls have flown quickly out of the traps by selling Alexis Mac Allister to Liverpool, purchasing Joao Pedro and also securing two free agents.
The first of these, Mahmoud Dahoud, is a central midfielder who has often been compared to Ilkay Gundogan but past numbers suggest this deep-lying playmaker won’t have the goal-scoring record to garner many mentions amongst the FPL community.
Above: WhoScored’s player profile of Mahmoud Dahoud
He netted just four times in 104 league outings for Borussia Dortmund, although goal involvement was higher beforehand at Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Most of his efforts for Dortmund have come from outside the area: of the 44 shots he’s had in the Bundesliga over the last three seasons, only eight of them were from inside the 18-yard box.
Assists have been few and far between, too, with just five arriving across the last five seasons – although he was been warming the bench for plenty of that time.
Equipped with a good range of passing, Dahoud should find a home in this possession-based Albion side. He’s also been frequently described as an “intelligent” player, which fits the Brighton bill, but cleverness does not equal points – the suggestion is that he’ll be deployed in the double-pivot of Roberto De Zerbi’s 4-2-3-1, from where open-play returns tend to be few and far between.
Dahoud brings experience of continental competition to a side about to debut in one but it’s too early in the summer to say whether the twice-capped Germany international will be a nailed-on route into Roberto De Zerbi’s line-up, let alone someone worth considering over Kaoru Mitoma or Solly March.
James Milner (Liverpool to Brighton and Hove Albion, free)
Meanwhile, Brighton’s other experienced freebie is well-known versatile veteran James Milner. Currently on 619 Premier League appearances, he is 33 behind Gareth Barry in the all-time list.
Likely on board more for the experience he’ll bring to this fledgling Albion squad, he’s also an extra body as the Seagulls prepare to juggle the demands of European club competition.
He’s without a league goal in three seasons and it’s a long time since he was well-owned in FPL, although this capable penalty-taker could take over Mac Allister’s spot-kick duties should he be on the pitch.
Dara O’Shea (West Bromwich Albion to Burnley, £7m)
Vincent Kompany knows what to look for in a centre-back, so the signing of Dara O’Shea from West Brom will have been well-researched.
Loanee Taylor Harwood-Bellis has returned to parent club Manchester City, so O’Shea provides competition for Jordan Beyer, Hjalmar Ekdal and Ameen Al-Dakhil.
Able to play as both the right-sided and left-sided centre-half, the first thought is that he may initially provide cover for the first-choice pairing of Beyer and Ekdal – although pre-season may end up telling us differently.
O’Shea has contributed the occasional goal for West Brom, although none during his 28 Premier League appearances for the Baggies or his 19 international run-outs for the Republic of Ireland to date.
One route to points could be through clean sheets, as Burnley kept the most in last season’s Championship and delivered 16 of them in their final 26 fixtures. Likewise, no second-tier team conceded fewer goals.
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