Sead Kolasinac’s arrival at Arsenal could present Fantasy Premier League managers with an attacking wing-back option for their five-man defences next season.
The Bosnia & Herzegovina defender produced three goals and a five assists in 25 Bundesliga appearances for Schalke last term.
Kolasinac is comfortable at left-back or as a left wing-back and his attacking displays have been praised by Arsene Wenger.
“What he will give us is the fact that he’s a player who can give assists, who can contribute good crosses," the manager told arsenal.com. "He can contribute a lot to help us to be more dangerous going forward.”
Towards the end of 2016/17, Wenger’s switch to 3-4-2-1 helped Arsenal win eight of their final nine fixtures, including the FA Cup final against Chelsea.
Kolasinac looks set to play wing-back in this new system, with Nacho Monreal in the three-man central defence.
Last season, Monreal produced three assists and only six successful crosses in 36 appearances.
He created a goalscoring opportunity every 262.8 minutes compared with Kolasinac’s average of one every 90 minutes for Schalke. In five seasons in north London, Monreal has scored just one goal.
Kolasinac’s defensive contribution is equally impressive: he was ranked first for successful tackles (69) and second for interceptions (81) at Schalke last season.
Such qualities could help address Arsenal's recent defensive issues.
Their 18 clean sheets in 2015/16, the joint-highest that season, dropped to 13 in 2016/17. They also conceded more goals, from 36 in 2015/16 to 44.
As shown last term, the trend of wing-back formations has been kind to FPL managers, allowing them to pinpoint forward-thinking assets in defence.
Chelsea’s Marcos Alonso and Tottenham Hotspur’s Kyle Walker were the prime examples. Both offered a steady stream of attacking and defensive points to claim a place in the top-four FPL defender standings.
Considering that five of the top seven scoring defenders in 2016/17 were used as wing-backs or full-backs, the arrival of Kolasinac suggests FPL managers have another heavy-hitting candidate on their hands.
See: Wenger on Kolasinac