Arsenal have made their first signing of the summer transfer window – and that’s news that will prick the ears of fantasy football managers.
Sead Kolasinac will join the Gunners on July 1 after his contract with Bundesliga side Schalke runs out at the end of the month.
The Bosnian international will now compete with Nacho Monreal and Kieran Gibbs for the first-team left-back slot, although Arsenal’s switch to a 3-4-3 towards the end of last season could see a left-wing back role also in the offing.
Kolasinac might not be a household name amongst English fans yet but his performances in Germany in the last five years caught the attentions of Liverpool and Chelsea as well as Arsenal.
It is also the second time Schalke have lost a key player to a Premier League club for absolutely nothing in the space of 12 months after Joel Matip’s move to Liverpool last summer.
Kolasinac is built like a brick s***house but also a creative force too, with no Bundesliga defender recording more assists than his five last season.
What could this mean for your fantasy football team?
Arsenal players, by virtue of playing more games than a lot of their Premier League counterparts domestically and in Europe, will be popular picks again next season on Dream Team.
Kolasinac is expected to be a regular starter under Arsene Wenger and after a brilliant season in Germany it’s easy to see why.
WhoScored, Dream Team’s ratings providers, gave the bustling 23-year-old an overall rating of 7.27 and 7.32 in the Bundesliga.
Dream Team 2017/18
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To put that in some context, the only defenders to out perform him were Hoffenheim’s Benjamin Hubner and Cologne’s Frederik Sorensen, while he recorded the same rating as Mats Hummels.
His three goals and five assists last season also lend evidence to the prospect of him operating well as a left-wing back, capable of forging forward and picking out the right pass or shot in the final third.
Given the initial prices of Seamus Coleman (£3m) and Luke Shaw (£2.5m) this season, we’d expect Kolasinac to be valued in the same ballpark next season.
When can I sign up?
You can start getting your teams in as early as July 3 2017 – some six weeks before the Premier League season gets underway.
That gives you an awfully long time to monitor the transfer market and choose your team accordingly, with City’s new signings likely to be hot on the agenda for Dream Team managers.
The closing date for the season game, therefore, will be the first day of the Premier League campaign on August 12 2017.
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