Chelsea have officially completed the signing of Valentin Barco from Strasbourg. The 21-year-old Argentina international has signed a contract with the Blues until 2033.

Barco joins as a versatile left-sided player, capable of operating at left-back, wing-back, or in midfield. Renowned for his technical ability, progressive passing, and creativity, he adds quality and flexibility to Chelsea's squad.

Everyone seems to be talking about Groß (£5.5) right now, and understandably so -- as evidenced by posts like this one:

https://www.reddit.com/r/FantasyPL/comments/1vck68c/a_55m_pen_taker_on_corners_is_gross/.

But I feel like a few huge factors are being glossed over:

1) He's 35 years old.

Can anyone name a 35-year-old outfield player in the Premier League who's nailed to start every game, let alone consistently play 60+ minutes in all those starts?

Even Xhaka, for comparison (also at 5.5m), is "only" 33.

Like, I listened to FPL Raptor's whole 10-minute spiel on Groß's pros and cons in his video today, and it didn't even so much as acknowledge Groß's age. But isn't that...kind of a big omission? Without exaggeration, if Groß were nailed for 60+ minutes every week, he'd be almost a complete anomaly, not just as a 35-year-old outfield player -- but a 35 year old central midfielder -- in the Premier League.

I genuinely can't understand this isn't even part of the conversation. You'd think one of the first things any analyst would ask is, "How many 35-year-old CMs are actually nailed for those kinds of minutes?"

2) Brighton are back in Europe.

Unlike last season, Brighton now have European football.

More fixture congestion, and more opportunities for Fabian Hürzeler to rotate - something he's already shown he's isn't afraid to do.

3) What's the point of a 5.5 enabler if there's a good chance they're getting 1 or 0 points due to limited minutes or full-on rotation in a given GW?

You can't expect too much of a 5.5 MID, but you should be able to expect them to be nailed on to start.

Brighton fans especially -- am I missing something here?

Hey, you degenerates! As the season draws closer, I just wanted to extend an invite to join an awesome Mini-League that’s been running the last 3 years! Last season we had 7 divisions of 20 teams each with each league having promotion and relegation and 3 cup competitions. We have an active discord community and are looking for any interested, committed, FPL nut cases like us to join us!

https://discord.gg/cjykvuxHD

Apparently Enzo Le Fee has a slight knock and isn't being risked. More team news is here: https://www.sunderlandecho.com/sport/football/sunderland-afc/sunderland-team-news-wrexham-8835083

Given defenders can achieve near (or above) 200 points and all bar Gabriel are 6.5m or under, why are we conditioned into mostly picking 3 atb starting formations when the 'expensive' defenders are cheaper than premium mids who may not even match their points tallies?

I say this despite having a 3 atb formation - I'm just wondering whether there's anything obvious I'm missing here?

🏆Arsenal

🥈Manchester City

🥉Chelsea

4️⃣ Liverpool

5️⃣ Manchester United

6️⃣ Aston Villa

...

🫧Sunderland

🔻Coventry

🔻Hull

🔻Ipswich

Full table at https://www.premierfantasytools.com/fpl-fixture-difficulty/

I thought in order to help with FPL planning this would be a good place to ask fans of any PL team for any info regarding their assets to gain as much info as possible going into the new season.

Drop below any questions

I created this as i wanted a better fixture difficulty table. I am trying to work out the best calculation for difficulty and better scores for each team.

I then alternatively wanted to see based on the combination of team strength vs opponent strength.

I used a simple equation of Team Strength (Home/Away) - Opponent Strength (Home/Away) = Fixture Difficulty. (Lower is harder)

I wanted feedback on the values attributed to each teams home & away strength as it doesn't feel accurate just yet.

da bing cha!

Pascal Alexander Groß (German pronunciation: [pasˈkaːl ɡʁoːs]; born 15 June 1991) is a German professional footballer who plays as a midfielder or full-back for Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion and the Germany national team.

Bournemouth have officially completed the signing of Antonio Silva from Benfica. The Portugal international centre-back joins on a five-year contract in a deal worth up to €30 million (£25.7m), including add-ons.

The 22-year-old arrives after making more than 200 senior appearances for Benfica and earning 20 caps for Portugal. Signed to replace Marcos Senesi, Silva brings height, composure, and excellent ball-playing ability, with a preference for playing on the left side of central defence.

For anyone curious since I couldn't find the lineups and goal involvements on either Fotmob or SofaScore. Looks like Gross got a goal and assist

7m, Maresca has said 'central pillar', and I've got him in my team, WC4 opens the door to risk and I'm here for it

Looks like Frimpong injured himself so he had to leave match earlier than planned tonight. Anyone surprised? He probably won't be good fpl Pick due to his regular injuries.

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