Tutierov FPL: Is He Worth Buying After The Move?

Tutierov to Sunderland: the £5.0m punt that isn't one

Sunderland have signed Tutierov, FPL have listed him at £5.0m in midfield, and ahead of GW8 he's owned by 0.0% of managers. Before anyone talks themselves into a cheap new-signing gamble, here's the honest picture — and it's a short one.

What has he actually done? We have no record of him in this division. That's not a hedge — it's a fact worth stating plainly. No minutes, no starts, no goal involvements in this league to point at. Every argument for him right now is a guess, and my numbers don't deal in guesses: his six-week projection is effectively nothing.

Where does he fit — and does he play? This is where it falls apart. On my numbers there are ten Sunderland players ahead of him in the pecking order. Ten. He is nowhere near first choice, and the midfield competition is genuinely stacked: Le Fée (£5.7m) is my top-ranked Sunderland midfielder and good for a steady return most weeks over the next six, with Xhaka (£5.4m) just behind him. Even Sadiki at £4.8m and Angulo at £5.0m — the same price as Tutierov — sit comfortably above him. If you want a Sunderland midfielder, the queue forms elsewhere.

Set pieces? None. Diarra has penalties, Angulo takes direct free kicks, Le Fée has corners. There's no back-door route to points here.

And then there are the fixtures. Sunderland's next six are a brutal run: LEE (H), COV (A), CHE (H), AVL (A), TOT (H), LIV (A). Chelsea, Villa, Spurs and Liverpool in four of six gameweeks is a stretch where even the nailed Sunderland assets need a hard look — never mind a new arrival with ten bodies in front of him.

The one thing in his favour is the price, and £5.0m isn't even cheap for a midfielder who may not see the pitch. A £4.5m enabler who plays beats a £5.0m mystery who doesn't, every single time.

My call: leave alone. Not watch — leave alone. If he starts forcing his way into the XI, I'll flag it and we can revisit when the fixtures turn. Until then, if you're shopping at Sunderland, Le Fée is my pick, and Tutierov shouldn't be anywhere near your squad.