Fantasy football is warming up ahead of the new Premier League season which begins on Friday, 9 August.
One of the big decisions any participants must make when budgeting their squad is which players who are new to the top flight are worth considering? Can foreign signings adjust to the physical demands of the Premier League? What about footballers stepping up a level from the Championship?
With this in mind, here are three new Premier League signings to consider including in your fantasy football team for the 2019-20 season.
Pablo Fornals (West Ham)
Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini went back to former club Villarreal for Spain’s Under-21 European Championship winning attacking midfielder Pablo Fornals. He was also in the Malaga youth setup with the Chilean was in charge of the Anchovies.
Still only 23, Fornals has made 15 assists in La Liga during the last two years. As he’s already got senior caps for Spain, his £24,000,000 move to West Ham is something of a coup. While Fornals could do with adding goals to his game, he’s already being talked of as the next Santi Cazorla.
Comparisons with some of Spanish soccer’s silky midfield greats may be a little premature but, while Fornals had the daunting prospect of facing Premier League champions Manchester City first up, there are winnable games for the Hammers coming up thereafter.
Brighton and Watford away, then Norwich City at home round off August. West Ham are 27/20 chances for a top 10 finish with 888Sport this season and Fornals certainly has all the attributes to make an impact in England.
Che Adams (Southampton)
“Che Adams” by Birmingham City FC (CC Public Domain)
Last season was a real breakthrough for English forward Che Adams. He hit 22 goals for Birmingham City and that arguably helped the Blues punch above their weight under former boss Garry Monk.
Adams’ journey from non-league to Premier League is an inspiration to all hopeful footballers. He was spotted tearing things up at Ilkeston by dozens of scouts. Sheffield United won the race for his signature and the pacey forward caught the eye as an impact sub in the later stages of their League Cup run in 2014-15.
Southampton had longstanding interest in signing Adams and have finally got their man for a reported £15,000,000. Fellow bottom half side Burnley are about as good a first opponent he could hope for on what could be his Premier League debut.
This versatile attacker isn’t afraid of running at opponents, so he could easily give Sean Dyche’s hosts a headache at Turf Moor. Saints are 37/20 on online betting sites to begin the new season with victory over Burnley.
Tanguy Ndombele (Tottenham)
Spurs broke their transfer record to land Lyon and France midfielder Tanguy Ndombele ending a well-documented 18 months without signing anyone in emphatic fashion. This highly promising deep-lying engine room operator now has a €60,000,000 price tag to live up to.
While a defensive midfielder isn’t exactly going to get the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium crowd off their feet, Ndombele has been curiously effective for club and country. He made seven assists from deep in Ligue 1 last term and got voted into the division’s team of the year.
Mauricio Pochettino had injury problems in midfield last season, particularly with England duo Eric Dier and Harry Winks. Spurs start their Premier League campaign off at home to newly promoted Aston Villa and are 1/4 favourites to make a winning start.
Ndombele appeals because this is a great potential introduction to life in English football. Marking Villa skipper Jack Grealish, who still has to prove he can cut in the Premier League, makes for a fascinating tactical battle that the Frenchman could well win.