New Fantasy Premier League Signings: Tzolis, Schlager, Targett

The transfer window is beginning to reshape Fantasy Premier League, and three new names dropped into the game on Friday offer very different puzzles for managers: a high-ceiling Arsenal wildcard, a bargain-basement destroyer at Nottingham Forest, and a cut‑price defender at newly promoted Hull City.

Each comes with a price tag. None comes with a guarantee.

Tzolis: Box-office numbers, bench-risk reality

Christos Tzolis arrives at Arsenal with the sort of headline figures that make Fantasy managers sit up. Seventeen goals, 23 assists, a Belgian title with Club Brugge – that is elite output from a wide man, whatever the league.

FPL has him at £6.5m. On paper, that looks generous. In practice, it screams one thing: rotation risk.

Mikel Arteta’s 2025/26 title winners were ruthless, but they were not kind to Fantasy managers hunting for secure minutes in attacking midfield. The numbers are stark. Declan Rice at £7.5m and Martin Zubimendi at £5.5m were the bedrock, starting 35 and 34 matches respectively in central roles. Bukayo Saka, even through an injury-hit campaign, was the only other Arsenal midfielder to start more than 21 league games, with 25 starts and six substitute appearances.

Beyond that, it became a carousel.

Leandro Trossard, Eberechi Eze, Martin Odegaard, Noni Madueke, Gabriel Martinelli, even Mikel Merino – all talented, all involved, none trusted with heavy 90-minute loads. Every one of Eze, Odegaard, Madueke and Martinelli averaged under 60 minutes per appearance last season, and FPL has grouped them together at £6.5m, the same price as Tzolis. It tells you exactly how the game views Arsenal’s attacking midfielders: dangerous, but disposable.

Tzolis has the profile to thrive when he starts. He can score, he can create, and his Brugge numbers underline that he’s not a one-dimensional winger. But in a squad where Arteta rotates his attacking pieces relentlessly, managers picking a £6.5m midfielder need reliability, not a lottery ticket.

At that price point, there are safer, arguably smarter routes. Dango Ouattara at Brentford, Ismaila Sarr at Crystal Palace and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall at Everton all offer something Tzolis cannot currently match: a strong chance of being on the team sheet every week. Until pre-season or early Gameweeks show a clear pathway into Arsenal’s XI for the Greek, he looks like a luxury punt rather than the foundation of a Fantasy midfield.

Schlager v Sangare: Forest’s DC battle

At Nottingham Forest, the picture is very different. Xaver Schlager comes in from RB Leipzig at £5.0m, and his job description is simple: help fill the defensive midfield void left by Elliot Anderson, who has departed for Manchester City at £6.5m.

The problem, from a Fantasy angle, is that Anderson was a monster for defensive contribution (DC) points. The system is brutal in its clarity: two DC points for a midfielder who hits 12 Clearances, Blocks, Interceptions and Recoveries (CBIRT) in a match. Anderson lived in that zone.

Last season he averaged 8.3 recoveries per 90 minutes on his own. Ibrahim Sangare and Schlager, combined, managed only 12 recoveries per 90 between them. That is a gulf, and it feeds directly into DC potential.

Look at the full defensive output per 90 in 2025/26:

• Anderson: 1.3 clearances, 0.4 blocks, 1.1 interceptions, 8.3 recoveries, 2.8 tackles – 13.9 defensive actions in total.
• Sangare: 2.2 clearances, 0.8 blocks, 1.1 interceptions, 4.9 recoveries, 2.6 tackles – 11.6 total.
• Schlager: 1.1 clearances, 0.1 blocks, 0.3 interceptions, 6.1 recoveries, 1.4 tackles – 9.0 total.

The conclusion is not subtle. Forest will struggle to replicate Anderson’s DC machine numbers with any single replacement. But if you have to pick one of the new pairing for Fantasy, Sangare currently edges it.

He already sits at £5.0m, the same as Schlager, but his volume of clearances, blocks and tackles pushes him closer to that DC threshold. Schlager’s recoveries are decent, yet his overall CBIRT total lags behind. The Austrian does have one trump card: familiarity with new head coach Olivier Glasner from their previous work together, which could help him into the XI.

Pre-season will matter. Glasner’s summer friendlies should offer a clearer view of who anchors Forest’s midfield and how much defensive work they are asked to do. For now, though, if you are hunting DC value at £5.0m, Sangare looks the more promising pick, with Schlager more of a watchlist name than an early lock.

Targett in Hull, but Hughes is the hook

Hull City’s new left-back Matt Targett also lands at a budget-friendly price: £4.0m. On name recognition alone, that will tempt plenty of managers. He is an established Premier League defender, arriving on a free after leaving Newcastle United, and will go head-to-head with Ryan Giles, also £4.0m, for the starting role on the left.

There was a time when Targett was a genuine Fantasy asset. Back in 2020/21 with Aston Villa, he racked up 138 points, combining clean sheets, minutes and the odd attacking return. That feels a long way away now.

The game has changed. So has the scoring.

The introduction of DC for defenders last season shifted the value landscape towards centre-backs. While full-backs can still shine through attacking output, the bread-and-butter of clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles is often owned by the players in the middle.

That is where Charlie Hughes enters the conversation. Also priced at £4.0m, the Hull centre-back looks a far sharper Fantasy weapon than either Targett or Giles. Defenders now earn two DC points when they hit 10 Clearances, Blocks, Interceptions and Tackles (CBIT) in a match, and Hughes lived above that line in the Championship.

He averaged 11.8 CBIT per 90 minutes last season – more than any other defender from the promoted clubs. Those are elite defensive volume numbers, the kind that can quietly stack DC points even when clean sheets are scarce.

So while the arrival of Targett adds intrigue to Hull’s left side, the real Fantasy story sits in the heart of their defence. If Hughes carries anything close to his Championship output into the Premier League, he has the profile to become one of the standout DC assets of 2026/27 at a rock-bottom price.

The transfer window will keep throwing shiny new names into FPL, but the early lesson is clear: look past the badge and the reputation. The game now rewards minutes, roles and defensive volume as much as flair. Who are you trusting with your budget when the first deadline hits?