Last updated on July 16th, 2021
The Sky Bet Championship Player of the Season – Emiliano Buendia was pivotal in Norwich City’s promotion to the Premier League after they were relegated in 2019/2020. The attacking midfielder’s performances in the Championship earned him a five-year contract for a club-record transfer fee from the Canaries to the Villans, an Aston Villa team that played attractive and entertaining football, highlighted by a 7-2 win over the then holders Liverpool.
Priced at £6.5m in FPL, Buendia can be classed as a “Promoted Gem.” Apart from his 15 goals, he was ranked first in the EFL Championship for his 16 assists, 122 chances created and 735 final third passes completed. Regarding minutes played he averages 0.4 goals per 90 Mins and 0.4 assists per 90 Mins, in FPL terms that’s value for money!
He joins a Villa team that will produce FPL returns with Ollie Watkins having scored 14 goals and registering 9 assists, the Villa forward can thrive from Buendia’s service while Buendia can benefit from his link-up.
According to the Villa Manager, Dean Smith:
“Emiliano has just completed an outstanding season in a championship-winning Norwich side with 31 combined goals and assists and was named player of the season across the league.
He is equally capable as a wide attacker or as a number 10 and is a great addition to our attacking options. We are delighted to have made such an exciting signing so early in the summer and look forward to Emi joining up with us for a full pre-season.”
Is Buendia preparation for life without Jack Grealish? Aston Villa went through a rough patch when their captain, Jack Grealish was injured for 12 games from February to May, winning only 21% of their games. They lacked that creative spark that Grealish brought, Buendia can deliver this creativity and has the associated goal-scoring cutting edge. It is yet to be seen if Grealish will remain at Aston Villa, rumours state that Manchester City are admirers of the Villan Captain and could make a bid for his services.
Whether Grealish stays at Aston Villa or not, their first 3 fixtures cannot be ignored, which are WAT(A), NEW(H), BRE(H) and are classed at a difficulty level of 2 in FPL’s FDR. Both stats and fixtures suggest that Buendia should be in your FPL team, he will be well-rested when compared to other midfielders such as Grealish who were on international duty and ready to deliver those FPL points we dream of, he is currently in 10.6% FPL Teams.
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Regards,
Javed Khan
