Dream Team prices confirmed for Philippe Coutinho, Kieran Trippier and Everton full-backs
THE first week of the January transfer window has been surprisingly eventful.
Among the usual outgoing loanees and low-profile youth signings, three Premier League clubs have made notable moves early doors.
Everton have signed a pair of full-backs in the form of Vitaily Mykolenko and Nathan Patterson.
The former has 21 international caps for Ukraine under his belt already at the age of 22 and caught the attention of several scouts while at Dynamo Kiev.
With Lucas Digne (£2.6m) seemingly on his way out of Goodison Park having failed to synchronise with Rafa Benitez, Mykolenko may well be thrust immediately into first-team action.
The Toffees’ new left-back will start with an affordable Dream Team price of £2.0m.
20-year-old Patterson arrives from Rangers having cultivated a notable reputation in rapid time.
The Glasgow-born right-back has only featured in 26 senior club games but has already established himself as a regular for a Scotland side on the rise.
He too will start at £2.0m although it seems more likely that he is a signing for the future rather than somebody who will be expected to make an instant impact.
In slightly more glamorous news, Aston Villa have today confirmed the loan signing of Philippe Coutinho.
The Brazilian will play under his former team-mate, Steven Gerrard, until the end of season having been deemed surplus to requirement by Xavi at Barcelona.
We published an article yesterday detailing the 29-year-old’s impressive Premier League history with the most important takeaway being: he averages a goal or assist every 150 minutes in England’s top flight.
Whether he will be able to recapture the form he displayed for Liverpool, most impressively from 2014 to 2018, remains to be seen.
His penchant for long-range shooting, general attacking instincts, and star power will make him a midfielder of interest in the realm of Dream Team, though surely most gaffers will wait to see how he adapts to a new challenge before making a concrete decision.
Coutinho returns to Dream Team with a starting price of £3.0m – a pleasantly tempting figure given he once went for £142million in real life!
Finally, Kieran Trippier will be added to the game at £2.0m.
The England international was a key player for Atletico Madrid last season when Diego Simeone’s men were victorious in La Liga.
His permanent transfer to Newcastle sees him trade Champions League football for a relegation scrap – the Magpies have won just one of their 19 league games this season.
Despite that bleak statistic, Eddie Howe’s side are only two points from the safe zone with Norwich, Burnley and Watford also struggling.
As the richest club in the world by a huge margin, Newcastle fans can expect more recruits this month in hope of avoiding the drop and laying the foundation for what is surely an inevitable ascent towards European football and beyond.
It’s probably too soon for Dream Team managers to back Toon defenders given they’ve got the joint-worst defensive record in the league right now but Trippier may well become viable asset down the line.
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