fantasy premier league new players to watch – Newcastle attacking midfielder Georgino Wijnaldum

Georginio Wijnaldum is a 1.75m (5 foot 9 inch) 24 year old Dutch International CM/AM who signed for Newcastle from PSV for £14.7m.   We look at his stats and FPL prospects.

fantasy premier league new players to watch – Newcastle attacking midfielder Georgino Wijnaldum

Here’s his stats:

Here’s some stats of comparable players:

Overall the stats are pretty good especially the emphasis on scoring.  They are certainly comparable with the midfielders that will be priced similar to him.  The stats always have to be tempered with the Duych league vs the premier league comparison.  Also the fact that he will be in a probable midtable team coming from a championship winning team.  His stats are far better than his team mates stats which are absolutely dreadful.

His FPL prospects

Gametime considering his price and experience won’t be a problem thats for sure.  Position is another thing.  Last season he played either CM or CAM.  Will he play CAM or will the now fit DeJong play there as he did in the first preseason game.  Only further pre-season games will tell.

Adjustment from the Dutch league is another factor.  Current Newcastle player Siem De Jong had a successful Dutch league career but can’t be used as a comparison having played only 150 minutes last season through injury.   Certainly Eriksen in his first year was successful with 7 goals and 9 assists averaging a goal or assist every 124 minutes.  Wilfreid Bony was a success in his first season as probably less obviously was Danny Blind and most famously Luis Suarez.  Eriksen is probably the most comparable though.  All this shows that you can make the adjustment.  He also has Dutch players in the team in Krul, Janmaat Fe Jong and Anita which can only help the adjustment.  Is it something that will click though for our GW1 lineups?

Wijnaldum has alot of pace and trickery and is more of a scoring threat rather than a chance creator.  He has a strong character and will be helped by the fact that Newcastle Manager managed successfully in Holland.  McClaren gave some interesting insights on him but there were some words which suggests he could play CM rather than CAM.

“He has lots of energy and a great tempo to his game. He is very skilful but is also capable of playing box to box and – importantly – he can score goals. He is at the right age and the right fit for Newcastle. He is a leader as well and you will see that. He is someone who always wants the ball, can deal with it and we need that kind of character in the team.”

Here’s Newcastles opening fixtures:

Southampton (H)
Swansea (A)
Man Utd (A)
Arsenal (H)
West Ham (A)
Watford (H)

So they couldn’t be much harder.  I’ve rated them 18th over the first 6 and 18th over the first 3.  No need to panic buy any Newcastle player then.

No price out in FPL but he will be a midfielder I guess at around £7.0m but Ill update this when it happens on the site.

Preseason will be useful from the positional sense.  Here’s Newcastle’s pre-season schedule:

10 July v Gateshead (Gateshead International Stadium) 8pm
15 July v Club Atlas (Miller Park, Wisconsin) 2am
19 July v Sacramento Republic (Bonney Field, California) 4am
22 July v Portland Timbers (Providence Park, Oregon) 3.30am
26 July v Sheffield United (Bramall Lane) 1pm
29 July v York City (Bootham Crescent), 7.45pm
1 August v Borussia Moenchengladbach (St James’ Park)

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fantasy premier league league code: 68300-19117