Fantrax Finds: Transfer Deadline Day Waiver Wire Pickups

Fantrax Finds: Transfer Deadline Day Waiver Wire Pickups

This article is part of our Fantrax Waiver Wire series.

Ahead of each Premier League gameweek, I'll take a look at sub-50 percent rostered players on Fantrax whose situations may have changed or improved, and assess whether or not they are worth a pickup in season-long leagues.  

GOALKEEPERS

Odisseas Vlachodimos (zero-percent rostered): Vlachodimos makes the move to Nottingham Forest from Benfica, bringing with him four years of Champions League experience. The keeper will compete with Matt Turner (11 percent) for the starting role and has a chance to surpass his American counterpart based on European top-flight experience, though Forest aren't exactly the first team to want to have a keeper from in most matchups.

Dean Henderson (nine percent): Henderson made a permanent move to Crystal Palace from Manchester United, signing a five-year deal that will see him compete with Sam Johnstone. The move greatly improves Henderson's situation as he was never going to start for United and while he may not take the job right away at Palace, he has every opportunity after losing half a season at Nottingham Forest a year ago due to injury. Henderson is a few seasons removed from allowing just 33 goals in 36 appearances in 2019/20 with Sheffield United and will be playing for a defensive-minded team at Palace.

DEFENDERS

Sergio Reguilon (45 percent): United needed a left-back desperately, as they were already struggling with injuries at the position. Though Reguilon didn't start against Arsenal, he'll be an option to make the XI going forward until Luke Shaw returns from a muscle strain. Diogo Dalot can play there and could continue to start, though his preferred side is on the right. Reguilon sent in 146 crosses in 52 appearances across two seasons with Spurs while also having eight goal involvements. He won't be playing wing-back like he did under Antonio Conte, but Reguilon offers nice attacking upside while playing for a big-six side.

Nuno Tavares (zero percent): Tavares is a solid gamble on upside, as he moved to Forest on loan from Arsenal getting an 18-minute run out at the weekend against Chelsea. The left-back impressed on loan last season with Marseille, scoring six goals while creating 24 chances and crossing 96 times in 31 appearances. That's an excellent attacking return from a full-back with Tavares needing to just outplay Ola Aina to take over a starting role with his new club.

Other transfers include Timothy Castagne (nine percent) joining Fulham where he'll offer depth behind Kenny Tete and Antonee Robinson, as he's capable of playing both full-back roles. Clement Lenglet (zero percent) will be the fourth center-back for Aston Villa this season and could be set for spot starts with the team competing in UECL.

MIDFIELDERS

Cole Palmer (47 percent): Palmer switches shades of blue after joining Chelsea from Manchester City. I'm not sure much has changed in terms of situation for Palmer, as he's still in a muddy situation on a team with too many attacking options, but now he plays for a team seemingly always in need of help. Palmer has talent, but he will need to become a consistent starter before being a relied upon Fantrax option.

Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (zero percent), Nicolas Dominguez (zero percent), Ryan Gravenberch (zero percent), Ibrahim Sangare (zero percent), Sofyan Amrabat (zero percent): Are you into defensive midfielders? Plenty have joined the league since the closing of the window including big-name options in Amrabat and Gravenberch. With all of these names I'm not expecting a ton for fantasy purposes, as only Bellegarde offers much in terms of attacking with eight goal involvements, 57 chances created and 123 crosses for Strasbourg last season.

Bellegarde, Amrabat and one of Dominguez or Sangare have the best paths to immediate playing time. Bellegarde will replace Matheus Nunes at Wolves, Amrabat could partner Casemiro in defensive midfield at United and one of Dominguez or Sangare could become a starter in Forest's midfield. Gravenberch is stuck behind Wataru Endo, Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister, but offers depth in any of the three midfield spots for Liverpool. 

It may be best to let others spend up on the World Cup star in Amrabat and the exciting youngster in Gravenberch, and try to sneak Bellegarde for cheap, though he's not guaranteed the same set-piece role he saw with Strasbourg. 

FORWARDS

Beto (42 percent): Beto landed with Everton shortly following last week's article and started at the weekend scoring nine points on the back of four shots against Sheffield United. Neal Maupay is gone and Dominic Calvert-Lewin is always hurt, so the path to the starting No. 9 role is clear, but I wonder how much upside to expect on a poor Everton team. Still, forward is very thin, so if Beto is available he's worth picking up. 

Cameron Archer (10 percent): Archer moved from Aston Villa to Sheffield United before last week's article and I wish I had included him after he scored a goal and put in a second that was ruled as an own goal after a shot that hit the post and bounced in off Jordan Pickford. Archer impressed with a 13.5-point in a strike partnership with Oliver McBurnie and likely earned himself more opportunities in the starting XI. Archer is thought of as a talented young player, but his next two matches come against Spurs and a Newcastle team who desperately need to start winning games.

Other forwards who made moves include Callum Hudson-Odoi (four percent), Ansu Fati (zero percent), James McAtee (zero percent), Divock Origi (zero percent) and Luis Sinisterra (zero percent). The biggest name is Fati who joined Brighton on loan from Barcelona after bursting onto the scene with seven goals in La Liga in 2019/20 at the age of 17 before suffering injuries in the following years. He had 10 goal involvements in 36 appearances a year ago and provides Brighton with depth across their frontline.

McAtee is an impressive young player, as well, scoring nine goals and providing three assists with Sheffield United in the Championship last season. He's back with the Blades and will compete for one of the midfield spots if not play as an attacking midfielder in a 3-4-2-1 formation. 

Origi, Sinisterra and Hudson-Odoi all seem like depth options for now but are players to monitor if they can become starters with forward always being a tough position to find worthwhile options at on waivers. Hudson-Odoi would be my pick of the three as he can provide fantasy output with more than just goals or assists as a winger and should find immediate time with Brennan Johnson no longer at Forest. Sinisterra will also get plenty of spot starts at Bournemouth, as he takes the spot of Jaidon Anthony in the team's depth chart.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ethan Sexton
Ethan Sexton covers soccer and is RotoWire's original League of Legends content provider (starting in late 2015). He is a fan of the Philadelphia Phillies, Chelsea FC, Bayer Leverkusen, AS Roma and the Boston Bruins.
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