FPL market round-up: The transfers completed in January.

Compared to a usual January transfer round-up, this one is much calmer for Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers. Little has happened, as clubs observe Everton and Nottingham Forest’s imminent punishments for breaching profit and sustainability rules.

However, a handful of notable moves have still taken place. We’ll ask what each transfer means from an FPL perspective, with some already given their own dedicated Scout Report.

FPL TRANSFER ROUND-UP

BEN BRERETON DIAZ (VILLARREAL TO SHEFFIELD UNITED, LOAN)

Priced as a £5.0m midfielder, we’ve already seen this loanee register his first Premier League start and goal during the Gameweek 21 draw with West Ham.

Not only could he be a decent candidate for the cheap fifth midfielder, Brereton Diaz’s biggest FPL impact might involve popular back-up option Cameron Archer (£4.4m). He immediately displaced the forward in Chris Wilder’s XI, denying owners the minimum expectation of starts. Quick sales are coming.

Primarily used as a left-winger at Blackburn Rovers, he grabbed 36 Championship goals in his final two seasons and impressed Villarreal enough to secure a summer free transfer. But he’s only started six of 20 appearances there, none of which brought a goal.

Born in Stoke, Brereton moved through the youth ranks of Manchester United, Stoke City and Nottingham Forest but qualifies for Chile through his mother. Quickly adding Diaz to his name, the 24-year-old has scored seven times in 27 international caps.

IVO GRBIC (ATLETICO MADRID TO SHEFFIELD UNITED, UNDISCLOSED)

Sticking with Sheffield United, Friday brought another addition – this time permanently. Giant goalkeeper Grbic costs a small fee after mostly being Atletico Madrid’s back-up, although a loan spell at Lille briefly brought game time.

As the Croat is yet to play for club or country this term, Wes Foderingham‘s (£4.5m) place might not be in jeopardy straight away. But the very few that own him should plan an exit route.

He’s the stopper with most saves (92) and save points (23) but is still outside of the top FPL 15 in his position, due to the Blades conceding the most goals (51) and shots (364), bagging just one clean sheet.

KALVIN PHILLIPS (MANCHESTER CITY TO WEST HAM UNITED, LOAN)

Elsewhere, it’s safe to say that Phillips’ £42m move to Man City hasn’t worked out. Two league starts last season (291 minutes played) and none this time (89) means he desperately needs game time before Euro 2024.

Four England starts in two years doesn’t bode well, so surely he’s been given reassurances by David Moyes before agreeing to this loan that doesn’t include an option to buy. Of little interest to FPL managers because he rarely contributes in goals, Phillips could take Tomas Soucek‘s (£4.9m) place and free up James Ward-Prowse (£6.0m) for attacking involvement.

Then again, Gameweeks 23 and 24 provide tricky opponents for West Ham. Their status for Gameweek 29 is also currently unclear.

DAVID DATRO FOFANA (CHELSEA TO BURNLEY, LOAN)

Signed by Chelsea last January, Fofana’s Union Berlin loan has been terminated in order for him to join Burnley instead.

As mentioned previously, the Ivory Coast international was produced at Molde just like Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Erling Haaland (£13.9m). He even lived in Haaland’s former apartment upon signing for them, netting 15 times during the 2022 Eliteserien.

17 appearances came in Berlin, with one domestic goal and another versus Napoli in the Champions League. But he didn’t shake the coach’s hand in the reverse meeting and picked up a one-week club suspension.

YUNUS EMRE KONAK (SIVASSPOR TO BRENTFORD, UNDISCLOSED)

Finally, two promising Brentford captures. They beat some of Europe’s top clubs to sign this 18-year-old defensive midfielder on an initial five-and-a-half-year contract.

Konak is one of Turkish Süper Lig’s best for interceptions and tackles so far this campaign. Whether he’ll begin in their B squad or first-team remains to be seen.

“He’s a player that likes to be aggressive, close players down, win tackles and get the ball back for his team. He has a lot of development potential still, especially on the offensive side of the game, and we look forward to working with him on all aspects of his game. We look forward to working with Yunus and, hopefully, he can progress into the first team in due course.” – Director of Football Phil Giles

Also of note is that he’s from the city of Batman. Time to copy and paste all Sven Botman (£4.5m) puns here, please. In slight danger of being dragged into a relegation fight, perhaps Konak will become Brentford’s joker in the pack.

HÁKON RAFN VALDIMARSSON (ELFSBORG TO BRENTFORD, £2.6M)

The Bees have strengthened their goalkeeping department even further by purchasing 22-year-old Icelandic international Valdimarsson.

Mark Flekken (£4.5m) and former Lazio number one Thomas Strakosha (£3.9m) are already competing for the shirt but they’ve combined for only three clean sheets, despite having the league’s fourth-lowest expected goals conceded (xGC, 26.82)

“He is good at dominating his box, claiming crosses from set-pieces and in open play. His distribution is also at a high level. He fits the way we want to play, which is very important. We are very happy with Mark Flekken – he has settled into the club, the group and the team and we know that there is even more to come from him.

“We are also very satisfied with Thomas Strakosha. Now we have a younger keeper with big potential coming in to push Mark and Thomas.” – Thomas Frank

A long-term addition, Valdimarsson still managed a league-high 13 clean sheets and 78% save rate on the way to being named 2023 Allsvenskan Goalkeeper of the Year.