With so many poor quality players being bought at the moment, particularly at the cheaper end of the market, it felt like a good time to pick out some longer range, cheaper prospects with real FI potential.
This reduces the temptation to get involved with weak players that will almost certainly get pumped then dumped.
There really is no need – this end of the market is always going to be hit and miss, but it’s very possible to find cheap players who have some genuine prospects with a bit of know how and a bit more effort.
And it usually results in bigger and more sustainable profits, too.
I’ve included some new selections, but also some reminders of players previously mentioned in articles/scouting provided they still have good prospects and good value.
To be clear - the primary purpose of these listings are as solid season long holds and possibly into Summer - they are not necessarily instant wins although some may deliver them.
Player
The Miranchuk Brothers
Club
Lokomotiv Moscow
Current Ability
N/A
Potential Ability
Both 24 year old midfielders playing for Locomotiv Moscow and Russia (twins!).
Some members may have noticed Aleksey creeping over £1, and then back down again, as a very vague Manchester United rumour started and then faded away in January.
He also gets occasional Juventus links.
His brother Anton will be less well known, especially since a badly timed injury this season kept him out of the Champions League games and Euro 2020 qualifiers.
Both are good, performance suitable midfield prospects, with strong goal and assist potential, and enough overall involvement for decent baselines at good performance clubs.
And both were regulars in Euro 2020 qualifying with Russia, and should at least make the squad.
Aleksey has probably nosed ahead in development due to a good season, where as Anton has been held back by injury (but is back fit and playing now).
With Aleksey dropping from £1.10 to 90p this month due to that United link, and Anton still largely unknown to traders at 44p, I think both look like solid season holds up until the Euros at least.
They may get buying ahead of that as people search for bargain bucket Euros punts, and both have a chance at hitting a decent Summer transfer link too.
As a bonus, they might actually be good on FI.
*edit* Whilst I was writing this, Aleksey just took off again! I don’t think this is my fault because it happened before I clicked publish. Maybe his United link has resurfaced? Can’t see any breaking news right now, though.
Player
Giorgian De Arrascaeta
Club
Flamengo
Current Ability
N/A
Potential Ability
25 years old and playing for Flamengo and Uruguay, he’s had a big season scoring 14 and assisting 12 so far.
Often gets transfer links, and at 25 with his contract up at the end of next season, it’s probably now or never and he is known to want a move. He’s in the kind of form to make him attractive to big clubs.
And, he has an Italian passport which helps matters.
I’d back him for strong performance suitability on this evidence.
The risk is whether a move happens. He’ll probably get rumours, whether it happens is a different matter.
But, for a rise ahead of the Summer, all we need is rumours, and holders can work out whether they want to keep him from there.
At 64p, there is a large profit potential here if the transfer drops on. Especially because he has strong performance potential at the right club.
Player
Sardar Azmoun
Club
Zenit
Current Ability
N/A
Potential Ability
24 years old, and scoring for fun for Zenit, he’s well regarded and a star for Iran. (I know that’s a bit like saying I’m starring in my local high school musical but bear with).
11 goals so far for Zenit this season, and 5 assists. Probably not a great performance player, but goalscorers have value in themselves.
Gets decent transfer rumours, including to the EPL with Palace recently, but also Lazio.
He went up to 71p in advance of January, now 58p after January prospects pretty much collapsed.
At this price, 58p for a hold until Summer hoping you drop on a good transfer is pretty good.
If you want to refine it a bit, you may even be able to get away with putting it on a watchlist for later and picking it up in a month or two.
Player
Nicolo Vlasic
Club
CSKA Moscow
Current Ability
N/A
Potential Ability
Some may remember him from a poor spell at Everton. Vlasic was sold to CSKA Moscow at the end of last season, but there are signs Everton may regret that decision. He’s bagged 11 goals in all competitions including 3 for Croatia in qualifying.
He’s got good goal threat and a strong all round game for performance scoring. I’d put him as a if playing for a good club, or Croatia at the Euro’s. For £1.09 and dropping (possibly due to no move in the January window?) he is starting to look good value.
It may be that waiting a week on him could get a further discount as the January window closes. Really though, I would never have expected a transfer so soon anyway.
The end of the season may be possible though. And, playing for Croatia, I’d see him as a good performance suitable cheaper pick for the Euros, and he may rise ahead of the tournament.
Player
Pedrinho
Club
Corinthians
Current Ability
N/A
Potential Ability
21 year old Brazilian, well regarded and playing for the Brazil U23s.
Frequently linked to Europe and it was only in late 2018 a transfer to Real collapsed amidst much “new Neymar” talk.
It really wouldn’t take much to see his price fly if a credible link emerged come Summer, which is possible.
Has some performance suitability, sees fewer touches than I usually like but he’s also quite busy and can make up for that with recoveries/crosses/dribbles etc.
I wouldn’t worry too much about that right now here – South American wonderkids are all about the hype, at least at first.
Price is very stable, so for a trader who is willing to hold up until Summer, this looks like a good bet with a decent potential upside.
You could also try and wait another month or two here to see if it can go under the radar a bit longer.
Player
Carlos Vinicius
Club
Benfica
Current Ability
N/A
Potential Ability
24 year old Brazilian forward.
Things didn’t go well for him at Napoli, but since his move to Benfica this season, he’s smashed it.
16 goals in all competitions, and 7 assists to top it off.
His overall performance stats are ropey, but with his goals/assists numbers and £1.04 price tag, that doesn’t matter too much.
He’s got IPD value at minimum and would be very likely to attract interest if he moved to a bigger club.
That’s the gamble. He seems to be enjoying life at Benfica so a Summer move might not happen. But with these numbers, he will surely get admiring glances.
As a shorter term sweetener, he does have the Europa R32 coming up against Shakhtar which is winnable.
Player
Brahim Diaz
Club
Real Madrid
Current Ability
Potential Ability
Easy to forget about Diaz, but we shouldn’t, he’s a great talent with strong FI suitability.
He’s been unlucky to not get more minutes under Zidane because given more opportunities, I would back him to show his quality.
Talk of a January loan out which would seem great to me, even to a weak Spanish club would be fine for some minutes. Diaz seems to want to stay and fight for his place, though.
Short term prospects look bleak but I would suspect a player of his talent won’t languish too long. Either he’ll get a break at Real, or he could be offloaded elsewhere by Summer.
A good one for patient longer term minded holders.
Player
Hannes Wolf
Club
RB Leipzig
Current Ability
Potential Ability
A good potential FI player, who showed great stats for Salzburg in the Austrian Bundesliga.
You have to be careful with weak league stats because they usually do not translate to bigger leagues.
Just returning from injury, but has some issues with being blocked by other talent like Nkunku.
£1.38 now, dropped from £1.51. Would probably wait to see him starting a game or two, but if starting, has the chance to make a performance scoring impact at Leipzig.
Player
Abdulkadir Omur
Club
Trabzonspor
Current Ability
N/A
Potential Ability
A good performance prospect, often described as “Turkish Messi” (yawn).
He’s not that good but he’s got some decent potential and I’d like to see what he can do at a performance suitable club. Baselines are strong and he can score and assist too.
I featured him in the October wonderkid series, he’s only moved up around 20p since but he has been out all season with a bad injury.
Looks set to be back in February though, to play himself back into the Turkey side for Euro 2020 and he should pick up transfer rumours for Summer too.
£1.20 is solid value.