Christian Atsu has made a permanent switch to Newcastle United from Chelsea after spending the 2016/17 season at Newcastle on loan in the Championship. Atsu signs a 4-year deal for a fee around £6.2 million.
Rafael Benitez made his first signing for the upcoming season in the Premier League after being impressed by the 25-year-old winger during his loan spell last season. Christian Atsu failed to make an appearance at Chelsea but did have brief loan spells at Everton and Bournemouth making 5 appearances with 1 assist.
This is what Benitez thinks of his addition to the squad:
“We are happy to sign a good player. He’s shown us that he’s a good professional and someone who is very keen to learn and improve.
“Christian has been a key part of our promotion campaign and he wants to help us to build something for the future.”
Fantasy Premier League Potential:
The agile winger made 32 appearances in the English Championship in 2016/17 season, grabbing 5 goals to contribute to the title winning campaign. Often playing as a left attacking midfielder, with brief spells on the right wing shows his versatility in an attacking role. Having to compete with the likes of Matt Ritchie, Yohan Gouffran and at times Ayoze Perez, making 32 appearances in the league alone is impressive.
For Fantasy Premier League managers Atsu may be a cheap option for a squad to make the bench or simply to afford marquee players as will probably be priced around 5.0m due to appearances last season. Although, with the likes of hot prospect Rolando Aarons recovering from injury may add tough competition for the left wing position for Newcastle’s starting XI.
Newcastle United’s opening fixtures are as follows; Tottenham (H), Huddersfield (A), West Ham (H), Swansea (A) and Stoke (H), which may be a key factor to include Atsu or not with 3 out of 5 opening games being held at St James Park. Newcastle United will look to make St James Park a fortress as a key factor to help avoid relegation in the upcoming season.
If you have enjoyed this early view of the fantasy potential of those moving teams this transfer window, be sure to check the others here.
Written by James Milburn (@jamesmilburn95)
