Branthwaite has come onto the scene and set the world alight, securing a starting birth as the left-sided CB.
He started 35 games and registered 12 clean sheets last season, along with being on the scoresheet 3 times. If he replicates those returns this time round, he’d still be a great asset despite the £5m price.
Jake O’Brien
New CB signed from Olympique Lyon in the summer.
Will initially provide depth for Tarkwoski, with a view to taking over one of the starting spots should Tarkowski decline or should Branthwaite leave.
James Tarkowski (£5m)
Tarkowski has started and finished all 38 Premier League games for the last 2 seasons, so he should be a shoe-in to play the vast majority of minutes at RCB this season as well.
I’d expect him to improve slightly on his goalscoring numbers at the other end of the pitch, especially considering the fact that Dyche will have a full season to refine their attacking set piece tactics.
Ashley Young (£4.5m)
Young started 27 times last season and should play the majority of games at RB this season.
He may occasionally be deployed on the LW or RW and even at LB in case of injury to Mykolenko, but isn’t expected to get a lot of attacking returns either way.
Not necessarily a bad FPL asset, but neither is he a great one.
Vitaliy Mykolenko (£4.5m)
Everton’s 1st choice LB/LWB should get plenty of game time this season, having impressed in a Sean Dyche setup last campaign.
Expect some 6 pointers and the odd goal but bear in mind he usually picks up injuries that keep him out of action.
Would definitely pick Mykolenko over Young on the other side due to his attacking threat.
