Today I had a look for some lesser known picks at the cheaper end of the market that I haven’t covered on the site recently. I found enough for a 2 part series for this week!
These are either fairly unknown players with high potential or they can be well known but currently forgotten with a decent chance to bounce back.
These are some good picks for broadening out a portfolio beyond the solid “core performance” type of player.
They will tend to be something of a longshot but offer a high potential gain.
This is absolutely fine as long as we are getting a value price to match and I generally have 4-5 of this sort of player in my portfolio at any one time.
Sam Lammers - PSV
Performance Potential 
Lammers is a 22 year old PSV forward available for just £1.28. That’s pretty cheap compared to team mates Ihattaren, Malen and now even Cody Gakpo from the wonderkid articles who has surged recently.
The main reason he is cheaper will be his very long injury after knee surgery in July 2019. He was only just coming back in January 2020 when coronavirus shut things down.
In 18/19 though he smashed in 16 goals in 31 Eredivisie appearances. Particularly if we see other PSV starlets leave as expected, it might be Lammers (I want to call him Slammers for some reason) turn to shine.
He doesn’t look particularly fantastic for performance but neither does someone like Malen. All a young Eredivisie striker typically needs to get a big rise and transfer hype is lots of goals and he is well capable of that.
He managed 2 goals and an assist already in 546 minutes since his return which is decent after a long lay off.
He’s got a good price and some real potential, I like the pick a lot.
Side note: My only frustration is that with it being so hard to sell anything, I’ve currently got a lot of good targets like this I want and no liquid cash to buy them. I’m sure lots of members must be in a similar situation!
Hopefully some of you have some spare cash sitting around! If not, it’s ok. Having these targets in our back pocket is really helpful so that we can move quickly when things loosen up.
Sergio Gomez - Borussia Dortmund
Performance Potential
Sergio Gomez is a 19 year old Spain U21 midfielder still at just £1.13.
If that sounds cheap for a player with that kind of profile, it’s because it kind of is. I suspect the reason is that he has been out on loan at Hertha and out of the limelight.
He is expected to return to Dortmund though where pre-season performances will probably determine how much of a shot he gets at first team action.
His contract is also up in 2021 so it will be a make or break year – either he’ll get some role at Dortmund or probably get a transfer to a mid level club if not.
Performance potential looks ok, I’ve pegged it at as at a better club than Hertha he likely has the distribution ability for a decent baseline, and can add a few goals and assists.
Spain youth performances are much better than his stuff at Hertha which can be an indicator he can do better in a stronger team.
That’s not stellar, but at this relatively low price, all he really needs to do is get some sub appearances for Dortmund and he could rise in price quite nicely.
Marko Pjaca - Anderlecht (Juventus)
Performance Potential
Into the bargain basement we go for 24 year old Croatia international Pjaca.
He’s a forward on FI which is helpful and he plays on the wing. Baselines are solid for the category and goals should see him in dividend contention.
The goals record is patchy recently but he has shown historically he can put them away, and the goal threat is better than his actual goals. This suggests in a consistent team he could actually do pretty well.
But you don’t get good international players at these prices without problems.
He started the season hoping to challenge for the first team at Juventus, but a bad injury didn’t help. Sarri sent him on loan to Anderlecht in January where he started getting minutes before corona virus stopped him in his tracks.
He wants to go back to Juventus and prove himself. He might get a chance – I think in general with transfer business clearly limited this Summer, these returning loan players will get more of a look in than usual.
If not, he’s a decent player that may get a move to a mid tier club and for the money at 43p even that would be a decent outcome.
Lots of “if’s” here sure but that’s what you get in the bargain bucket end of the market. I think he’s one of the better longshots.
Steven Alzate - Brighton
Performance Potential 
Brighton players don’t often get my pulse racing but Alzate looks pretty damn good to me.
A forward on FI, actually looks more like a midfielder in reality so there is a reclassification risk there but I’m not too worried about this at the price of just 97p. And just 21 years old.
He’s made plenty of appearances already for Brighton, with some really impressive baseline stats for a smaller club player. His performance scoring history looks very poor but this is deceptive – he makes a lot of sub appearances and when he has played the full game Brighton haven’t won in his time on FI.
Also, his goal threat isn’t bad and he could have scored a couple this season despite his blank goals tally so far.
A well regarded talent who has already made his Colombia debut, I don’t think we should turn our noses up at players like this when the price is right.
Particularly in the EPL, all he needs is a decent game, a goal, and Match of the Day to mention him and he can push on significantly from 94p.
A solid long term choice in my view.
Joe Willock - Arsenal
Performance Potential
A different type of Under the Radar pick.
Most of us will obviously know who he is. The point here is timing.
In August 2019 when Willock was one of the most in demand youngsters around and was being pumped up, I wouldn’t touch a player like this.
Even though he actually does have some genuine FI potential and a great FI trend profile.
The problem is that whilst the hype pushes up the price, it also heats up the expectations to a point where these youngsters just can’t possibly live up to it.
That’s when you want to cash them in and avoid all that.
But now?
He’s still the same player, but a bit more experienced and a bit closer to acheiving his potential and making a breakthrough. For FI purposes he has vastly higher potential than someone like Martinelli who is more than double the price.
At just £1.33 now, Willock looks a real bargain again. He was £2.08 in August last year, and that’s in a much smaller market back then too.
That’s a huge price drop for a talent that really wouldn’t have to do much to get rising again.
And Don't Forget...
These are some similar players who have appeared on the site in recent months. You can find full reviews by using the Search function on the Dashboard.
I thought it was worth including them here as reminders, as they could be good prospects for the coming months.
Everton Soares - Gremio
Still has a decent chance of a transfer to the EPL and looks very FI suitable. £1.59 looks value.
Malcom - Zenit
Once one of Europe’s hottest wonderkids, now fallen on hard times and trying to restart his career in Russia. Quite likely he returns to a decent club at some point though, he has decent FI potential, and £1 is good value.
Samuel Chukwueze - Villareal
Highly rated wonderkid type with frequent links to the EPL. Price keeps yoyoing around £1.80 for a long time, and he was the same price a year ago.
Compared to the rising market though, Chukwueze is much cheaper than he was relatively speaking. And he could blow up if the right link came along. And he’ll probably retain optimism longer term if it doesn’t.
Abdulkadir Omur - Trabzonspor
Strong potential FI player who plays for Turkey and is expected to make a big club move. One I’ve long covered on the site. He’s risen slowly and steadily over the past year but I think is worth sticking with.
He’s quite similar to Thiago Almada in that I’ve mentioned him a lot and he’s quiet for a time but then boom one week he may just blow up like Almada has in recent days.
You need patience with players like this but it can pay off.