In the final days of the transfer window, Arsene Wenger turned to Spain to strengthen his options in both defence and attack.
After seeing his side concede five times in the opening three Gameweeks, the Arsenal manager acquired Shkodran Mustafi (£6.0million) from Valencia.
A ball-playing centre-back, the Germany international is expected to feature alongside Laurent Koscielny (£6.0m) in the heart of defence, ending Rob Holding’s (£4.5m) run of three successive starts.
Mustafi carries a real goal threat from the back, too, having scored six times in his two seasons with Valencia.
With combative new signing Granit Xhaka (£5.4m) now installed in the double-pivot, Fantasy Premier League managers may well consider investing in the Gunners’ defence as the fixtures turn in their favour.
According to the Fixture Difficult Ranking (FDR) system introduced to Fantasy Premier League this season, Arsenal are given an FDR score of one in five of their next seven matches.
Upcoming meetings against Hull City, Burnley, Swansea City, Middlesbrough and Sunderland look promising for a defence that chalked up 18 clean sheets in 2015/16.
Wenger also drafted in Lucas Perez (£8.5m) from Deportivo La Coruna on the back of 17 goals and eight assists in 36 LaLiga outings.
See: 'It feels special to sign for Arsenal' | How well do you know Perez?
The new arrival should offer competition to Olivier Giroud (£9.0m) for the lone striker role, though is no like-for-like replacement for the Frenchman as Perez won only four aerial duels in Spain’s top division last season.
Instead, he offers Wenger a more versatile option and can play in any of the four attacking positions.
Perez also places Theo Walcott’s (£7.5m) pitch time under threat. The latter has started all of Arsenal’s fixtures so far, chipping in with a goal and an assist.
At present, though, Perez’ impact on the first XI is a little more uncertain than that of Mustafi.
FPL managers who are eyeing up the Gunners attack ahead of the aforementioned schedule should look to the security offered by Alexis Sanchez (£10.9m) and Mesut Ozil (£9.5m).
Both netted goals in last weekend’s win over Watford, with Sanchez’ pair of assists helping him to a 16-point return – the highest haul of the season.
