Counting down

 

The Summer Transfer Window drags on just that little bit longer this year. It's closing at 7pm on Monday 1st September, UK time - rather than the more traditional midnight on the 31st August (apparently because the 31st is a Sunday?). So, we have just about 75 more hours of suffering to endure.....

It seems to have been a particularly busy - and particularly acrimonious - spell of transfer activity this year, with 99 deals already concluded (according to Fantasy Football Scout's roundup), and Stuttgart striker Nick Woltemade today apparently set to become the 100th, when his move to Newcastle is confirmed. (Who?? Yeah, not the biggest blip on the 'Top European Forwards' Radar....)

Now, if that Woltemade signing goes through, the door could be open for Isak to finally complete his contentious move to Liverpool. (I really hope that doesn't go ahead. They're only buying him because he's available, and they can afford him, and he seems like too good an opportunity to pass up; but they don't need him - at the moment, I think they'd be better off without him...)  And if that happens, the thus-far brilliant Ekitike might get dropped to make room for him; and indeed, Gakpo might find himself suddenly minutes-sharing too. So, this one superficially unexciting piece of transfer activity could have massive repercussions for FPL.

Likewise, two more of last year's highest-scoring forwards in FPL, Watkins and Wissa, are still looking for a move, which might come to pass over the final few days of the window. And if that should happen, and they move to another Premier League club rather than leaving the country, that might greatly enhance their perceived value in FPL. But it might also gravely undermine the value of all of their former teammates at the clubs they've left without a top striker,.... unless they can obtain a top replacement at the last minute. Jorgen Strand Larsen might also become a much more attractive FPL property if he gets a move to a better club (and Wolves might be even deeper in the toilet...). And Xavi Simons's move to Spurs might actually become one of the most influential acquisitions of the window.  So much could still surprise and confound us over the next few days.

Perhaps we'll have a quiet weekend, and Woltemade will be the last deal concluded. But, typically, there's a huge last-minute rush in the final few hours of a window. With the best part of a whole extra day available this year, the possibilities for further business are enormous.

I wouldn't be going anywhere near a Wildcard until all the dust has settled from this frenzy of club-swapping and squad-strengthening. Indeed, I wouldn't want to be going anywhere near one until at least the end of September, by which time we'll have had a few weeks to observe new club line-ups in action, and form starting to develop...  At present, we really don't have much idea at all what the new season is going to look like. And any changes we make to our FPL teams now are likely to be rendered irrelevant within the next month or so.