The January signings who will make waves in Fantasy Premier League - including Aston Villa and Fulham men

The transfer window is closed and… well, that was a let-down, wasn’t it? It didn’t so much slam shut as quietly creak back into its resting position, and there were very few exciting signings to pore over as deadline day wrapped up. But there were signings, and that means new options for the Fantasy Premier League – so we’re going to look over the players who might end up being worth some points for your teams.

Our Top 500 manager – author of our regular advice columns, the latest of which you can read here – has taken a look over the new arrivals to see who’s worth keeping an eye on and who is unlikely to be worth a spot in your squad. Just for reference, we’ve ignored youngsters who will be going into the reserves and Aston Villa’s new back-up goalkeeper, as there isn’t much to discuss in their cases when it comes to the FPL.

Enes Ünal – Bournemouth

The Getafe striker smashed in 30 goals over the last two La Liga seasons before a cruciate ligament injury spoiled the start of this campaign for him – but if Bournemouth can get him fit and firing, he could be a huge threat, and will likely be cheap, although like many of the players below his price has yet to be announced. The only issue is fitness and whether he gets any starting minutes with Dominic Solanke going so well – don’t buy him from the start, but definitely one to watch. If he becomes a starter and comes in around £6.0m, he’s probably a big bargain in a free-scoring side.

Armando Broja – Fulham

Obviously Broja isn’t new to the Premier League, but he may get a new lease of life after sealing a loan move to Fulham. Apart from a brief run of form from Raúl Jiménez in December, Fulham have struggled for a striker and it’s likely that Broja will get a run of games to prove his worth. The Albanian would have to massively up his game to be worth buying, however – he’s scored one goal from 2.4xG this season. If he can find his Southampton form again then there’s a chance he’s worth a punt, but it’s hard to imagine him being better value than Matheus Cunha or Dominic Solanke, for instance, even at £4.9m.

Adam Wharton – Crystal Palace

Signed for £22.5m on deadline day, the former Blackburn Rovers midfielder is a fabulous prospect but not FPL material. He won’t score more than a couple a season, will only pick up the occasional assist, and is likely to be rotated in and out given his age and inexperience. A quality signing for Palace, but not worth a look in the context of the game.

Daniel Muñoz – Crystal Palace

Palace’s other late signing, however, could be a major player in the FPL. Technically he was signed the day before the deadline, but he’s worth mentioning here anyway, because he scored 12 goals over the last two seasons in the Belgian Pro League from right-back. He’s likely to become a starter very quickly and while success in Belgium doesn’t always translate to the Premier League, he could be a very big player at £4.5m, which is his announced price. Absolutely one to keep an eye on as he's a big threat going forward and a strong defender who could help Palace keep some more clean sheets.

Giovanni Reyna – Nottingham Forest

American wonderkid Reyna hasn’t had much joy this season, but last year he bagged seven goals and two assists in just 625 minutes of football during the 2022/23 season for Borussia Dortmund, which is an incredible rate of return. He’s likely to get the minutes he craves at the City Ground, too, and at just £5.0m looks like an absolute bargain. There’s a very high chance that he becomes a fantasy staple at that price point, so don’t sleep too long on him if he does start games straight from the get-go.

Matz Sels – Nottingham Forest

New signing Sels is likely to be take the gloves at Forest, but they don’t have the best defensive record and he only managed three clean sheets in 19 Ligue 1 games for mid-table Strasbourg over the course of the first half of the season. No price announced yet, but very likely to be £4.5m, which is probably £0.5m too high for him to become a good asset. A quick word, by the way, on Forest’s other late signing, Rodrigo Ribeiro. A young Sporting striker signed on loan, he has too little first-team football for us to pass judgement, but we’d be shocked if he started very often.

Daiki Hashioka – Luton Town

Japanese right-back Hashioka, who can also play as a holding midfielder, has good defensive numbers from his time with Sint-Truiden in Belgium, but has only managed two goals and four assists in the last 18 months since helping his side to win promotion. We’re not sold on him as an FPL buy, but any managers who still have Issa Kaboré as a bench-riding option should note that his minutes may be reduced by Hashioka’s presence.

Lorenz Assignon & Maxime Estève - Burnley

Burnley made two late loan signings, both in defence, and we aren’t overly excited about either, not least because Burnley defenders have not proven to be great assets. Assignon is a full-back with a respectable but hardly mind-blowing five goal contributions in 46 Ligue 1 games for Rennes, while Maxime Estève is a centre-half with one career goal. Neither are likely to feature in the FPL reckoning, even at the low end of the price scale.

Morgan Rogers – Aston Villa

Villa paid £8m rising to £15m for former Middlesbrough winger Rogers, and he’s been priced at £5.0m – but unlike Reyna, he’s unlikely to get big minutes off the bat. He could well bag some occasional points when he comes on, given that he has two goals and six assists in the Championship this term, but he’s one for the future more than the present. You can do much, much better, even at £5.0m. Reyna, for starters.

And that’s our lot – not the most thrilling transfer window, by any means, and few big signings to sink our teeth into. We’re genuinely excited by Reyna and think he could be cheap enough to be worth a gamble, while Ünal and Muñoz are certainly worth keeping an eye on going forward, but from an FPL perspective we’d be surprised if there were any other hits in here.