A couple of relatively unknown veterans ran away with the defender, forward and star player dividends yesterday.

Neither had particularly threatened to win performance, although you could have gone for Quagliarella for some goals dividends given his incredible form.

This is not a market I particularly go for but it does highlight the profits available if a cheap off-trend older player like Quagliarella is on a hot streak.

With 14 goals since late October, refreshing him every 30 days for In Play dividends would have made a tidy return relative to his bargain price. And if you need to exit, the commission and spread are fairly small on an otherwise unpopular player.

But fairly often, like with Wendt, an unknown spoiler does just pop up, have a big day, and steal the show. I highlighted this in my article last week for new traders looking at their first game day. Winning is hard! And there is no need to be too down on a player because they didn’t win on the day.

Elsewhere, some real quality did shine through with Havertz taking the midfielder category. With the youth trend burning so hot, one of the best things you can do to profit whilst minimising risk is ensuring you are holding the ones with the best possible chance of success rather than those built on sand.

I have long said on this site that Havertz is one of those, so let’s start with him.

Rocket Ships

Kai Havertz

Another excellent performance from Havertz and finally he gets a deserved win.

This is his 5th strong score this season and the 3rd over 200 and yet this is his first dividend. That’s fairly unlucky.

Due to his strong all around game, he won with just one match winning goal which is the ideal situation for a good performance player.

He is another I have been picking out all season through my Scout Reports.

The talent and Index suitability are not in doubt. The questions now are about value and price.

If you want capital appreciation, you have almost certainly missed the best of this trade unless you are prepared for a long term hold.

However, the Summer transfer looks fairly nailed on, and the Bayern Munich links are strong. He could be superb there so you have transfer speculation but also the option of holding. So even at this price, patient holders will probably have few causes for regrets.

But, if you want a quicker buck, at this point there are clearly better trades out there.

Julian Brandt

Brandt turns my risers list into a Leverkusen special today.

I think Brandt could be a strong performance player, and really, the only thing holding him back is a lack of 90 minute games.

He is still young and has a lot of talent, and in the midst of youth mania I am surprised he remains as kindly priced as he does.

I think it is a symptom of the fact that for many young players, actually having pitch time is the worst thing that can happen! Once on the pitch, it’s obvious that they are not Neymar as many want you to believe.

Another good one for patient holders in my opinion. Although, he is capable of grabbing a win this season and I think if that happens plenty of people will notice his talent and will be interested at under £3.

Sinking Ships

Lucas Paqueta

A big drop for Paqueta after the Napoli game but for my money it is an over reaction.

He does seem to get a bit of stick on FI social media for whatever reason, and this does have an impact on perceptions.

Some point to the two low scores at 54 and 42 but making a judgement based on two performance scores alone is weak analysis.

If you focus on what is really happening the picture is different.

The headline here is that a talented young player has come over from South America and is straight into a big team and getting minutes whilst many other young players at higher prices are warming the bench.

In his time on the pitch, although not perfect, there is plenty to give us encouragement.

In his first game vs Genoa he had a respectable 59 touches and 43 passes with 2 shots. I wanted to see him getting more forward though, and vs Napoli he did.

Yesterday he was more advanced and managed 42 touches with 7 of them coming in the area and resulting in 2 shots from in the box. He only managed 27 passes which is not great, but he did only play 69 minutes.

What will be dragging his scores down is the frequent losses of possession. He’s a confident player and perhaps he needs to turn down his showboating.

I think with a bit more time to settle he will turn out to be a decent performance player provided he can maintain the goal threat he has shown so far and someone tells him to focus more on end product rather than flicks.

Hot Gossip

Malcom

Malcom to Arsenal on loan. This seems like it would be in the interest of all parties so I give it some credit.

Barcelona can either get him game time so he can hit next season running or else put him in the shop window for a higher priced exit.

Whilst he has struggled at Barcelona, he does have the ingredients to pull his weight on the Football Index and Arsenal aren’t a bad platform to do it.

The only thing giving me pause is the price. At nearer £2.50 a month ago it would have been straight forward, but at over £3 you are running the risk of a significant dip if the transfer does not happen. On the other hand, if it does you can expect it moving close to £4.

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FIT