Here’s my fantasy premier league implications for the the transfer of Demba Ba to Chelsea
The transfer was no great shock. Torres and Suarez were the only players who had had no competition. Sturridge was on his way from Chelsea to Liverpool and with Ba only costing £7.5m he was a natural way of getting competition and rotation/rest for Torres depending on how you view Benitez’s words.
Lets make a few things clear
1. Chelsea will only play 1 striker. Benitez will continue playing 4-2-3-1 and that, if you pardon me stating the obvious, means only 1 striker
2. Benitez will continue with rotation. He’s publically stated that’s his strategy and reiterated it even after the QPR game. He particularly believes Chelsea weren’t rotated enough by RDM exacerbating his natural instincts.
3. Ba is twice the striker Torres on current form not only in goals at 13 to 7 but also in shots in the box. He has also scored 50% of Newcastles goals as compared to Torres’ 18%. All this with Cabaye and HBA being the creative forces as opposed to Mata, Hazard and Moses/Oscar. Ba is also a far better all round striker and holds the all up far better and is better suited to 4-2-3-1. He loses possession far less than Torres and also has a far better pass completion rate than Torres.
In my mind Ba will become the number 1 striker but will not be safe from rotation. There is a potential dream scenario for fantasy premier league managers in that Torres plays in the Europa league (where Ba is cup tied) and the FA and Capital One cups (I don’t believe he is cup tied here but can’t confirm) and Ba plays the premier league games. I don’t think this is realistic though. Benitez will prioritise all competitions in order to secure a contract position and having made progress with Torres I cant see him abandoning him in this way. With all these fixtures this potentially may not be the end of the world but with the 4-2-3-1 Torres will be a natural substitute target for Ba meaning he will be susceptible to 1 pointers. Being the best striker could also work against him with Torres getting the easier games and Ba the more difficult although he scores no matter what the opposition.
His next fixtures are also very juicy including the double in GW22. Here they are
| 12 Jan 15:00 | Gameweek 22 | Stoke City (A) |
| 16 Jan 19:45 | Gameweek 22 | Southampton (H) |
| 20 Jan 13:30 | Gameweek 23 | Arsenal (H) |
| 29 Jan 20:00 | Gameweek 24 | Reading (A) |
| 02 Feb 15:00 | Gameweek 25 | Newcastle (A) |
| 09 Feb 15:00 | Gameweek 26 | Wigan (H) |
| 24 Feb 13:30 | Gameweek 27 | Man City (A) |
In Summary then, Ba is the 3rd best striker in the league behind RVP and Suarez with Aguero close behind. He is great value at £8.5m and will continue to score goals. He will score more goals with Chelsea when you consider that Hazard and Mata are both in the top 10 chances created for Chelsea. He will be rotated and will be a sub though and this is the only drawback. However I would certainly have him in my side but I probably wouldn’t risk him as a captain choice for GW22. However if you’re taking the plunge do it now before the 2 games for Chelsea in GW22.
I hope this gives everyone some food for thought in relation to Demba Ba to Chelsea when using their January wildcard
