24 August
Not the goalfest we had hoped for! But a good game all the same and worthy winners.
Coman the surprise package. Well, surprise isn’t quite the right word. We’ve long known about his ability in scouting but he was a hard player to bet on, particularly as up until last night Perisic has been preferred on the left wing.
And what a performance. Bayern’s best player on the park with the possible exception of the superb Neuer.
The question isn’t really whether his FI potential matches the price. It’s obvious to me that it does.
Performances like this increase his likelihood of more minutes for Bayern and likely for France too. On paper he is a solid Core performance player from Key Strategy.
It’s just whether you are willing to gamble on him staying fit. 306 days out injured since the 2017/18 season.
I have personally decided that is more of a stress than I want especially because there are no shortage of alternatives available. I may change my mind if he proves fitness over a longer period of time.
Yet, holders could end up very happy as if he stays fit he is significantly undervalued in my view.
How good was Neuer? It translates to FI too. My clear pick of the keepers in my initial analysis and player ratings and the more I see the more confident in that I am. The £1 mark is value in my opinion.
Not many suprises elsewhere. I’ve covered them a lot recently and this team are bursting with options. I couldn’t imagine going into an FI season without at least a few of them.
That may be Thiago‘s last game in a Bayern shirt, and it was a fitting one. A masterclass. Been pipped to the dividends twice by Kimmich this week but that’s just luck of the draw – his consistency shows his quality and I expect him to be up there at any big club he goes to.
Tolisso may benefit as if Thiago moves on he is a ready made replacement, assuming he can show more consistency. But he’s got the ability to fill those shoes and it’s not Bayern’s style to sign big money replacements.
Coutinho has in my mind shaken off the negativity around him and I think most sensible people will now blame Barcelona rather than him for this calamity of wasted ability.
Let’s not forget he is a potential FI powerhouse and I’d love to see him at a decent club or in the EPL. With a CL medal around his neck it seems hard to believe a good club won’t want him. Or indeed, whether Koeman finds a suitable role for him back at Barca. £2.38 could look insane value a month or so from now.
Koeman does seem to be adopting the revolutionary strategy of square peg square hole certainly with Griezmann. And it could revive Barca’s “flops”.
31 August
A comfortable win for Lyon and it’s really helpful for Depay holders that he started with such a bang.
As per the CL review his numbers in that period were dire but I suspected this was due to Lyon being up against it and playing defensively. When let loose in Ligue 1 vs soft opponents Depay has shown his quality.
He did need 2-3 goals though as the background numbers were still behind his usual. I’m not too worried about that – certainly he’s done enough to keep lots of traders interested and feeling good about him.
The big question is will he move and it does look likely. Wins like this will see him carry optimism to wherever he goes except perhaps for Everton which is a potential banana skin.
At least initially. With signings like James Rodriguez potentially we may well see Everton improve. But what holders really want is a simple move to Barcelona or Manchester United where optimism will abound.
£4.65 on the bid now and I’d say for £4.75-£4.90 or under it remains a good core pick. You have huge upside in the event of a great transfer, a reasonable outcome if he stays at Lyon, and if he moves to Everton that should at least catch plenty of media and Everton may improve.
So when you have a potential jackpot outcome and the “bad” options aren’t all that bad I think that makes a good bet.
Elsewhere this was a domination and it brings out the best in Lyon assets.
Dembelé had huge goal threat and you can either call it hugely unlucky or wasteful that he didn’t score. Pick one.
Either way, if he keeps that up it would be strange not to see him back on the scoresheet. A bit like Depay he has transfer uncertainty but for the money there are big upsides and no real terrible outcome.
You can say the same of Ekambi who was perhaps even closer to scoring yet didn’t. He is fairly dire as a performance prospect but looks a regular now and especially if the above two key men move on they may rely on him even more.
65p or 89p on Blue Button? With IPD’s doubled this looks obvious value now especially at that bid price. We should be seeing good IPD strikers touching £1.50 with ease this season.
The surprise was perhaps Guimares who I was not keen on in the preview as I favoured the cheaper Caqueret.
Guimares was much more advanced than usual this game and got forward to take 3 shots including one from inside the box. If that became consistent he could well justify that price premium over Caqueret.
It may just reflect an easy game where he could get forward without any defensive worry but there are a lot of those games in Ligue 1. An interesting thing to keep an eye on.
Mixed for Cornet who racked up a 173 score without a goal as a forward which would normally be impressive.
But he is still being used at wing back which makes a reclassification to defence or perhaps more likely midfield probable.
That makes it hard to predict but he is a capable winner especially as a forward and it could be next week or forever before OPTA bother to make the change.
Uncertain but £1.15 is reasonable and the massive 100% dividend increase makes borderline decisions like this easier.
Terrier I have optimism for but he has now got himself (deservedly) banned as he was sent off. One of those tackles that makes you wince. That could be a 3 game ban.
Unlucky for holders as especially when the market is so freewheeling and short term minded that is going to instantly drop your bid price. But long term, changes very little. Good potential player at a value price so it can be a good opportunity for non-holders to pick him up.
The other surprise was a wonderful dribble and goal for 17 year old Camavinga which resulted in a star player and a 204 score.
He’s a hype kid with generally poor performance suitability but occasionally poor players do win and it fuels the hype.
This is good for the pumpers. Pretty bad for the unwary who charge in after that win and goal because this is very unlikely to happen again anytime soon.
No goal for Gouiri and that has blunted his charge and even dropped the bid price to just £2.16 again.
Fascinating and it shows very few are paying attention or know what they are looking for because in terms of demonstrating performance potential this was better than the last game where he scored twice but didn’t see huge amounts of the ball.
For a forward with 71 touches and 50 passes in an away game without outrageous amounts of possession this is very encouraging.
With those numbers you can be a regular contender with a goal and he has scored 5 in the last 5 games. That is probably an over performance mind but 2-3 would have sufficed.
A good step and with that bid price dropping too it just got more tempting.
Second start for Kephram Thuram and he’s performing as expected. Solid baselines and we should see him net an occasional goal and get a big score or two.
Probably a long term minded pick for future transfer hype but to be a first teamer for Nice at just 19 with a chance of occasional wins for a 70p bid now I think a patient holder will like this one.
Dolberg nets twice and although he is a truly awful performance prospect he is a regular scorer and that bid price of £1.22 if you can get it (and you probably can as people flip IPD’s) makes him a solid IPD target in the Ben Yedder mould.
What has happened to Bamba?
Interestingly his numbers aren’t all that much better from his near 12 month goal drought last season. The difference is this: the shots are just going in for the last 2 matches.
Now fans and pundits like stories about “he’s got his confidence back” but if you ask a statistician hot streaks or droughts are just a dry feature of probability. And all the research on that topic suggests the statos are right. (If interested in more on that you could check out a book called “Thinking Fast and Slow” which I found very interesting for trading in general.)
This goal for example was a particularly poor quality chance that just kind of bounced nicely in. On many other days it wouldn’t and we’d be here saying Bamba’s last game was just lucky. Now it looks consistent.
So what can we do in this situation? You can’t really change your whole opinion based on just two games, not rationally anyway.
What we can do is consider the price though which is all important. At a £1.06 bid or near enough there really isn’t a lot to lose because even just for assists he would do quite well for IPD.
So again, following the dividend increase, I think this decision is a lot simpler than it first appears. If he does kick on from here you’ll have a seriously undervalued player. If he doesn’t… it’s probably fair value anyway.
That’s a good example of the sort of thinking that I consider profitable – as opposed to trying to argue whether he will or won’t keep his run going because based on two games that are so different from his usual stuff you can’t really do that rationally.
Jonathan David has been underwhelming in both openers. The usual high involvement numbers from Gent are not appearing here. And he was limited to one extreme long range blast on goal.
It isn’t terrible and he could easily improve as he settles especially since he hasn’t played a competitive game previously since March. But he is starting at £2.56 so we have to be a bit harsher on him than many of the £1 to £1.50 players.
Tricky. It definitely shows an advantage of the staking strategy I discussed in portfolio clinic last week. As a player with some uncertainty a tentative small buy was probably the right entry point and now you have to re-evaluate. I would expect him to improve and maybe start scoring which will help. But he would have to improve a lot from here to become a regular performance contender.
Interestingly 20 year old US international Weah made it on from the bench after a long time out with a horror injury.
As per the preview do not write him off. He’s only £1 and before injury showed some very performance suitable numbers. He was only on the pitch for 16 minutes this time but had 2 efforts and 1 of those was a really good chance.
Obviously he is uncertain too much like David but when the starting price is £1 or £1.18 Blue Button it is much more comfortable to make this bet.
A first win for Monaco under Kovac and they seem to be improving.
It’s hard to judge the performance as they played the entire second half with 10 men but certainly in the first half we saw that encouraging possession dominant play that is so useful for FI.
A second consecutive goal for young CB Badiashile really gets him pumping.
Readers may recall I liked him in scouting last week but noted that we can’t expect goals every game! That particularly comment hasn’t appeared to age well but this is very unusual though and has to be considered more freak occurance than regular thing.
I more liked him for his consistent baselines and possible transfer potential and that is still there. I wouldn’t pay the Blue Button £1.50 but a £1.19 bid or thereabouts still look good.
If people are selling for that it does show how short termist people are and they are flitting between targets in just hours and days, probably encouraged by increased IPD.
That should settle down but at the moment it’s giving us a second chance at picking up players that might otherwise have run away in price.
That aside it’s pretty much as you were from last week’s Scouting. Another encouraging performance friendly display from Kovac’s Monaco that can only really be good for their better players like Martins, Ben Yedder and Golovin. Though Golovin exited this game injured and it is unclear how serious that is.
Aouchiche is flying on the market although performance wise I am not entirely sure why!
I’ve always pegged him as a potential talent even at IPO and I thought him a good player to take into the Ligue 1 restart in the preview.
£1.77 on a bid then but £2.52 and £2.80 on the Blue Button now. What do we really know now that we didn’t then?
The dividend increase is really the only thing which is significant but I am not sure it warrants such a push up in price alone.
The performances in the opening two are… ok. In terms of the long term potential to get minutes and generate hype for a big club move maybe by next Summer he’s progressing.
In terms of “is he going to win next week?” you’d have to say not based on the numbers. Goal threat is ok and a goal may be enough. But the numbers in the 3 games at St Etienne we have seen from him are soft for midfield.
If this continues I’d continue to take advantage of the hype but without a big improvement I wouldn’t stick around if the social media cult keep banging his drum – it could really start overheating.
We’ve had to wait a long time for performance friendly Thauvin to come back. He’s certainly made an impact with a goal and two assists plus a midfield dividend.
Exactly what holders wanted.
There is a however coming, though. I’m disappointed with the numbers.
A performance powerhouse should be doing way better than that with a goal plus two assists. He did lose the matchwinner which is a little unlucky but even so.
It’s not up to his usual standard and he just didn’t see much of the ball and his passing accuracy was atrocious.
I think I blame Marseille. I am not sure why they are giving up so much possession to Brest – if we look at pre-season results it is way better except versus Bayern understandably. The excuse might be a decimated squad because of covid including missing the superb Payet.
Given Thauvin’s history I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt here and the win and goal should keep people optimistic.
But I want to see better in the coming games because my expectations are high for him.
24 August
Big opening display from Gouri who I considered the star draw of this team in this week’s preview.
He didn’t disappoint and whilst he was beaten to the dividend by Coman’s boosted score, he got a nice price rise as a result.
There are positives and negatives to take here.
Positives are the explosive start which puts him on people’s radars. If he shows consistency and bags more goals, and pre-season form suggests he can, he could keep rising on that basis alone.
Nice is intended as a stepping stone club too, so a good season could lead to big club speculation later and this is a good start. If you watch the two goals they are classy too.
He also got set peice duties taking Nice’s only free kick. In the preview I thought this might be Lees-Melou. They may end up sharing them but if this suggests he is getting a share that’s helpful. Kamara took a corner but Gouri looked to line it up but then walked away from it suggesting he may get a share of those too.
The disappointment has to be with the final total of just 176 with 2 goals and the matchwinner. He’s 30-40 points shy of competitive on a near perfect day. That’s got to improve if we are to be convinced of his long term FI suitability.
However, he’ll get away with that for now. Ligue 1 has limited competition and if he keeps performing well and scoring he should keep rising. By then we’ll have more games to evaluate whether he’ll truly be competitive or not.
Khephren Thuram started and played 72 minutes, largely replicating his decent numbers from pre-season. I liked him in the preview as a promising youth prospect at a value price.
The start is enough for him as it suggests he could be a really young first teamer at 18. At this stage and that price that’s all we need and it gives any early adopters reasons for encouragement.
Atal‘s return was delayed by injury which should be monitored as he is coming off the back of a serious injury from last season. I can’t find anything on how serious that is at the moment.
Hassane Kamara at left back, a new signing from Reims was impressive. He was not on my radar in the preview, but he is now.
At 26 and recently moved we need results rather than hype. But we might see those.
Involvement numbers were very impressive and he’s competitive. He also provided the assist for Gouri’s goal and took a corner which are always good for assist potential and some additional points. 64p is value for those who like a rational punt.
The surprising standout performer was Bamba. I was not keen in the preview after no goals in over 12 months of competitive action and nothing in pre-season, not even particularly good threat.
This was streets ahead of anything we’ve seen recently. Not just because the goal went in, he’s numbers were better across the board and it was a tough match. This was a competitive display and if Lille had won he’d have done much better than his 141.
You can’t declare a player transformed based on just one game but he has flown back into contention after a miserable 12 months where high expectations were dashed. He was expected to fill the boots of Pepé last season. Will he now? Let’s see in the coming games.
He is puntable at the £1 mark but personally I generally like to see more than one good game before committing, certainly after such a long drought.
I was much more optimistic in the preview on Jonathan David and he started which was encouraging. The positivity ends there though this was not a good debut.
No chances at all and poor numbers generally. I won’t judge a first game too harshly but holders need to see better especially because he starts at £2+. His pedrigee is good though and I won’t change my mind on just one match.
One encouraging thing is playing position – he got around the pitch similar to what he did at Gent and this yielded good results. Jury’s out.
Renato Sanches was second only to Bamba as a standout player. A little deep perhaps but he saw plenty of the ball and versus softer sides I’d expect him forward more. A solid addition to a portfolio at £1.87 or anything under £2 in my view. We should see some big scores from him this season playing like this.
From the preview the standouts for me were Terrier and Raphinha and both were decent if not spectacular.
Terrier‘s first step was to start which suggests he is going to be a first team regular this season which is obviously helpful.
He also hit the post with his solitary effort and could have won it late on for Rennes. Involvement was pretty poor by his standards however it was for many Rennes players which can be expected in a tough away match.
Encouraging signs especially taken together with his 2 pre-season goals.
No goals for Raphinha either but he did get two decent chances. Hasn’t scored in pre-season either but not for a lack of threat. Goals look incoming.
An interesting game. Possession surged for Monaco above their usual level – over 75%. In fact it’s been higher all pre-season. This is an indicator that under Kovac Monaco might be more FI relevant in the coming season.
To be fair a lot of this was impotent tip tapping around in deep midfield but that isn’t always a bad thing for FI traders.
This was particular good for young centreback pairing Badiashile and Disasi.
Both scored, which is unusual – neither have particularly good goal threat. What they do both have is very strong passing ability though and future resale potential if they do well.
It’s almost a shame they did score because without that these good performances may have slipped under the radar. Badiashile took the dividend as a result – even though Monaco didn’t win the game. Disasi was not far behind.
There is also some links to Manchester United for Badiashile which probably explain the slightly higher price at £1.04 on the bid or £1.13. Yawn – every player seems to get linked there! You never know though.
Disasi is more budget friendly at 66p on the bid or 79p. And in the numbers there isn’t much between the pair.
I think both are good youth picks and remain good value particularly if this style continues for Monaco which is going to give them huge baselines.
We could also look at Ballo-Toure if this Monaco style becomes consistent, a 23 year old left back. 60-75% possession would give a lot of players a boost.
Naturally this also benefited their better players anyway. Golovin and Martins both looking strong. Martins in particular actually – very impressive threat and unlucky not to score and excellent underlying numbers too.
Yedder didn’t score but had a fantastic chance hitting the bar. Close. No reason not to expect his usual consistency particularly if Monaco improve.
I’m concious I am sounding very optimistic on Monaco based on just one game. What supports that is the numbers from pre-season under Kovac are better too.
It could prove a false dawn and we’ll need to see consistency to be sure. You can make smart punts though. For example Martins, Golovin and Yedder are at reasonable prices anyway after Monaco have struggled for so long. So it’s not such a big deal if it all comes to very little.
Encouraging at Monaco. So far. And they are trying to bring through lots of youngsters.
A disappointing night where they were choked of possession and whilst they had chances they couldn’t make them count.
Neuer’s brilliance is part of that but Mbappé and Neymar both had chances they will regret not finishing.
But it’s a huge step forward for the club and must lift some of the pressure and gloom and give them confidence for next season.
Disappointing numbers and no real stand out FI performances. But it’s pretty clear the usual suspects like Neymar, Di Maria and Marquinhos will return to dominating Ligue 1 and put up big scores again.
As will Mbappé but he doesn’t have the same strength on FI as the others and whilst the goals may flow the big scores don’t always follow. My concern about the price remains on this.
With the season over we may see contract developments on Di Maria and if he gets a long deal I’d be much happier to sign him up, so that’s something to watch.
Chouiar did ok overall in the first game. Plenty is expected of him and as per the preview he’s a youngster who attracts no small amount of hype.
He hasn’t had a shot in pre-season or the first game which is troubling. Baselines are decent though.
I suspect he will continue to do quite well in reality and the best holders can really hope for is goals that eventually get him eventual big club speculation.
But on FI, as happened here, Dijon are going to lose a lot of games and if you aren’t winning games it’s very difficult to post a high FI score.
I don’t think it’s a terrible choice at £2 but I do think more clear cut value options are out there with a bigger chance of making an impact. He is capable of a win but they should be very occasional.
29 July
A very attractive side that tick every box. Strong performance side playing weak teams most weeks. CL in August and for next year too. What’s not to like?
Neymar the obvious main man and an obvious beneficiary of the dividend increase and Team of the Month. After long periods injured I am not sure people quite realise how strong he is. I expect him to be challenging pretty much every game.
The only thing he lacks is Nations League and Euro 2021 but that is forgivable, particularly in early Season with so many positive things ahead.
As per recent months I remain of the view that he is one of the best Premium holds around and one of the few who really justify the money paid.
The other star draw Mbappé is more tricky. His recent injury is a short term blow but at least if PSG progress he has a chance of making the Semi Final.
For FI purposes he isn’t actually world beating. What concerns me is that he is barely getting his head above water at PSG. That’s about the easiest platform you can possibly get for performance purposes.
The problem holders have is that whilst he will almost certainly improve with age, that inevitable move to a bigger stage comes with problems. A tougher league will hurt him as he is unlikely to be smashing in 2-3 goals with the same regularity.
He’s far from a no hoper in fact he has promising signs. But the price assumes success so even if everything goes right the value isn’t brilliant. I don’t think it’s an awful hold and there is always the chance of hitting a jackpot like an unexpected Liverpool move.
I would pay £7-8 but I think for £10+ this is just too obvious and there are too many question marks to be paying top dollar for my taste.
Icardi is looking fantastic value at the £1.50 mark, and those very generous IPDs are a turbo boost. He can easily return 4-5 goals over 5-6 matches when in form, and he is in form a lot. An obvious IPD target still at a decent price. I like this pick a lot to take into the new season.
Di Maria is such a strong player and this time last year was one of my most profitable picks. A year makes a big difference for an older player though so we can’t always just repeat our same old tricks we have to adapt constantly.
With a longer contract he’d be an easy yes but as things stand it is set to expire in 2021. The gossip is he intends to stay. I’d be wary of signing him up before an extension was agreed.
However. At just £1.07 after this generous dividends announcement it is tempting. It would not be outrageous if he returned 30-40% of that value by late September in dividends I jest not.
And yet traders are always going to be twitchy on a player like this so any kind of injury or rotation and you could be in trouble. If you are going to buy Di Maria then now is the moment but this is one for the advanced traders who are comfortable with some risk.
Marquinhos the clear pick at the back. He slots into midfield often enough to win but probably not often enough to get himself reclassified. £1.53 or up to £1.60 is clear value for a consistent challenger at this age.
Navas is a capable keeper coming in at 
in my ratings, so he’s in my top 10. Without much competition in the coming weeks and a budget 61p price… that’s solid value especially with a clean sheet promotion on.
Those are the big hitters. There are some others who are in with a chance.
Sarabia has been improving in 2020. His main problem is that most of his goals have come in the Cup and have gone under the radar. He has scored 3 and assisted 1 in PSG’s friendlies this month though.
In truth he looks a bit lightweight in the midfield category but given his goals and assists output and the limited competition on the way, his 95p bid for a short term punt over 4-5 weeks looks solid to me.
A better case for Verratti can be made now that TOTM exists. You can see him nicking a TOTM slot particularly early on and he can win with limited competition. For under £1 he’s another decent short term punt. I think there are better targets out there though. Even with TOTM we should not get over excited for high baseline players – they are still going to get trashed by players who score.
Marseille have been fairly quiet on FI this season outside of Payet’s occasional heroics. With CL football next year, and the return of FI friendly Thauvin, we may hear more from them.
Thauvin has been injured for much of the season, and returned just in time to see the season suspended. It was possible to make a tidy profit on him regardless as traders, somewhat predictably, buy injured players sometimes more than ones who are playing.
In Ligue 1 friendlies this month he’s scored and assisted 2 in just over 90 minutes, so he shows signs of picking up where he left off. Very capable performance player and my 
rating is high yet not unreasonable.
Certainly, he looks a great player to take into next season and we can evaluate how he is getting on after the big injury. France minutes are a bonus and moving the Euros helps him. Could be a big year if he establishes for France and possibly plays his way to a big transfer by next Summer.
Payet has got interesting again. 33 he may be. But he just extended his contract by 2 years until 2024, accepting a massive pay cut to keep playing. That’s 4 years away.
He also happens to be brilliant for FI. Better even than Thauvin I would say. Very interesting with Marseille in the CL this year. In this months friendlies he’s already scored and assisted in just over 90 minutes.
With the dividend increase and IPD promotion, plus that whopping contract… I actually really like the pick despite the age. If you are picking him up for 90p on a bid he can very easily return much more than that in dividends over a couple of seasons.
Whilst you’d generally sell at some point you can actually make a case for just holding him into retirement for this money. The main risk you run is that career ending injury. So this isn’t for everyone. To be fair though he is not a particularly injury prone player, having missed just 26 games in the last 5 seasons.
An interesting trade and for the brave traders I like it. If we see him winning and rising to £1.20-£1.40 in the next few months I would not be at all surprised.
I would not underestimate Benedetto either given the IPD promotion. He’s 30 but he has scored 11 goals this season which tend to come in clumps. Available on a bid for just under 60p? Solid value as a short term pick to take into the restart.
Outside of those there isn’t much interest.
Rongier is the sort of player that a Twitter spreadsheet warrior might try to sucker some into because he has some decent stats and a high average score. It’s very unlikely to come to much though. He is capable of a very occasional win but nobody will believe it will happen again anyway.
Sanson is in a similar vein – decent goal output but he is just a bit lightweight. Actually with Ligue 1 facing little competition you could make a short term case for him. But I wouldn’t hold too long.
Rennes don’t have many worldbeaters as you’d expect, but there are some good prospects and occasional winners.
Raphinha is up there. 23 year old forward, performance suitable. Should get occasional big scores.
The main reason to hold would be a likely future big club transfer rumour. Not expecting it this Summer but maybe next. In the mean time he is a solid hold and the £1.60 mark is a decent price for a patient trader.
Martin Terrier has recently moved here from Lyon. He’s a player I was optimistic on in pre-season last year but he has endured a very difficult year of rotation and mostly poor form. There were bright spots but unfortunately for any remaining holders by January they mainly came in the cups so did not register on FI.
It wasn’t long ago he was considered one of France’s brightest young things so it will be worth watching to see if he can rejuvenate his career at Rennes. 80p on a bid is decent value but I would probably wait to see a few games and see how he gets on.
Niang, 25 year old striker at just 64p with 10 goals this season is a solid short term IPD option for the restart.
Those looking for a cheap long shot punt may like Flavien Tait. He is capable of a win every so often and with limited competition he may nick one at the restart. The 27p bid price is slightly ridiculous for a 27 year old decent player and whilst he is no world beater he only needs to win once or even just get a couple of goals to return a big percentage of the layout. A fun one.
In a similar vein Bourigeaud, 26 year old midfielder is also well capable of a few big scores per season. Not usually that exciting but with limited competition and the budget 38p price tag it’s really hard to argue against it if in the market for a good punt.
Camavinga. One of the hype buys doing the rounds off the back of “100 best wonderkids for Football Manager” and the like. Should be a high baseline player but as an FI prospect it looks very, very bleak.
He’s far too deep to be a regular challenger. He’d need a dramatic reshaping of his style of play. You can ride the hype with it at risk of the transfer falling over. But to me this is just a bad bet at this price. Lots of ways to lose and not many ways to win.
Not a huge range of options at Lille but there are a few.
Renato Sanches has shown his quality as per Scouting this season and has delivered a very tidy profit for holders. He’s shown his quality consistently in 2020. His numbers do look very good and I expect occasional challenges, but not all the time. He’s 
in my rankings which is good but not great.
Earlier in the season when people were down on him and you could get him under £1 I liked him. But the £2 fee now is basically fair value. He might be a good one to have for the restart but I’d probably move him on and consider holding again closer to a transfer window next season.
Bamba used to be a big deal and was expected to fill Pepe’s shoes. He hasn’t. A goal drought going back to August and just 1 goal all season makes him very hard to recommend.
Ikoné is more promising and as covered yesterday he has a shot at a big transfer, possibly to Dortmund. For the money it’s a decent bet because you can take him into the restart hopefully for some IPD and if you drop on the transfer you might do well from it.
Osimhen is almost certainly Napoli bound where he may be worth considering if he drops further in price. Beware the hype kid transfer. When they don’t get the destination people hoped for it tumbles down fast. Napoli are a good club and we may see goals but his performance credentials are very weak.
I might pay £1.50 for him but no more. Long way to fall from his high of £2.86 and this is another example of why I don’t gamble on weak transfers.
Gabriel Magalhaes is Manchester United and Arsenal linked right now. Decent enough but as a Centre Back it’s going to be very hard to actually succeed at those clubs in this scoring system. An 85p bid isn’t terrible but… this feels uninspiring at this stage.
Soumaré picks up some hype kid interest but nah. Unlikely to ever be FI relevant outside of some initial media hype. Price crashing. Deservedly so.
A few interesting options at Nice and their recent inclusion in the Europa thanks to PSG’s cup win is a boost for them.
Youcef Atal is a highly rated young player who was once heavily favoured on FI on social media AND by me too. He looked really strong but his reclassification to midfield by OPTA really killed him off. He was playing as a wing back in defence which was a big advantage. Now he is firmly at Right Back but he is a genuine RB so the goal threat is gone too.
I can’t recommend him for likely big scores but it is possible that a big transfer comes along one day. Sometimes when traders get disappointed they oversell and this may be the case here. Picking him up for £1.09 on a bid with a long term view is not a bad shout.
Amine Gouri is a strong prospect I like. I didn’t love the move away from Lyon but now that Nice have Europa football I am coming around to it. He has a much better chance of playing at Nice afterall. Very high potential player and he can win even at Nice.
It will need patience but I think anyone picking him up for £1.43 as a high potential youth player with a season hold in mind will end up happy.
Cyprien has his fans and he tends to come out of spreadsheet based analysis well. But I’ve never been keen. Price has been stagnant for a long time. Whilst he is capable of a win he is very penalty reliant whilst also relying on big transfer rumours for his price.
This is a paradox. If as a holder you get lucky and hit the right transfer to a big club what happens? Is he walking into a big club and snatching the ball off their established big hitting penalty taker? Almost certainly not. So your occasional winner just became a very, very occasional winner. That’s bad.
Coupled with the high price it’s no surprise to me that this price has stagnated for so long and the bid price is low now.
Dolberg is not normally of interest – he is fairly awful for performance purposes. But with limited competition and a huge IPD promotion he looks decent for £1. With 12 goals this season and consistent high threat scoring is not a problem he has. Could return a nice IPD haul so taking him into the restart is not a bad move.
Lyon are a strong performance club boasting big hitters like Depay so seeing them out of European competition would be a blow. They do have a credible chance to make the Europa and a lot depends on this weeks Cup Final vs PSG.
They also have the CL in August as a short term boost but away at Juventus is a tough ask. They do take a goal advantage into the game though so it is no sure thing for Ronaldo and Co.
I did a full review of Lyon just yesterday in the CL preview so I will paste that here for convenience but if you read it there is no need to do so again.
Depay should be fit and is the obvious main man. Really high quality player as readers will know. The big downer on him is a very likely lack of European football next season. He may well move to get that and the delayed transfer window helps him as he can prove fitness.
He’s back amongst the goals already in Lyon’s recent preparation friendlies and looking as strong as ever.
A little tricky but I would say yes, £4.23 is decent value for such a high quality player. Best to have a long term view in mind and consider any transfer a bonus.
Dembelé scored in the friendlies too and he has a big stage to shine on. Transfer rumours have cooled but they are still possible. Wouldn’t be a priority buy right this moment but if holding I’d stick with him for the price.
Aouar is always a contender. Can win. Has other reasons to hold him including the expected big transfer. Could break into the France team. Price has dropped recently well into value range. Not a hard decision to call him a solid choice.
Cherki signed a contract extension scotching any EPL transfer rumours. But that’s no bad thing at least at Lyon he might play. Does look FI suitable but still just 16 and £4+ is just silly. Raw social media hyping in play. If holders get lucky and he scores in this game you can always get a boost but I just don’t think it’s a particularly good bet for the cash.
At the bargain end we have Cornet and Traoré as valid options, either of which are capable of a win. Both value right now actually as the sort of player who has been slayed by the Matching Engine. But that overpessism may well bite those who are too gloomy and sell too cheap – these are good players for what you pay.
I would go for Traoré as the punt right now as he is cheaper and has some low key EPL rumours. He’s a punt sure but for around 50p not a bad one. Cornet I’d watch from the sidelines since he may permanently find himself as a wingback which is bad news for him. But back as a normal winger I’d be optimistic so one to watch.
Ben Yedder at Monaco is a consistent IPD favourite and I’ve been able to trade in and out of him a few times over the season for big profits. If a player like this is starting at £1 or so then getting them to £1.20 or £1.30 is a huge profit. And on the way you can collect big chunks of IPD too.
I think one of the mistakes people make on FI is thinking that every trade has to be sexy. You are more likely to make 30% on Ben Yedder at £1 than you are in many popular but already highly priced players.
He’s such a consistent goalscorer and only 29. It’s such low risk for the chance of a huge gain especially with the boosted IPDs on offer. He’s even scored and assisted in a warm up friendly already this month so looks like picking up where he left off.
Also at Monaco we have Gelson Martins, who started brightly at the club but faded a bit. He is most in the news lately for pushing a referee and getting a big suspension which should be lifted for the new season. A shame because he was showing really nice numbers in 2020. He is a capable winner and certainly can return some IPD.
That ban was costly for holders but the negativity has gone overboard – a bid at anything close to 60p looks good value to me, certainly to take into the restart and evaluate.
Alexander Golovin is a decent player and never far away from a transfer rumour. Had a particularly good spell in October/November, reaching £2.63 off the back of good displays. In Scouting at the time I thought that had got out of hand.
But then a long goal drought has sent him down to £1.99 or £1.80 on the bid. That looks much more sensible with occasional wins and a big transfer in mind later on. And Russia will be at the Euro of course. I note in a friendly this month he finally scored and the goal threat in general has been decent despite no competitive goals in 2020.
Looks much better value and you want to be buying a player like this when the spotlight is off them.
Malang Sarr is a decent young prospect as covered in my Under the Radar article in May. Not brilliant for FI but he does have fashionable passing ability as a CB and that can mean big transfers are inbound. He has let his contract run down and is the subject of bidding including from Arsenal as a free agent. On a 71p bid that’s not bad.
Teji Savanier has been a poster boy this season for the dangers of bad analysis. Bad analysis is sometimes worse than no analysis at all. At least the guy who hasn’t done any analysis won’t stubbornly clutch his spreadsheet and insist things will turn around. Bad analysis can give you unwarranted confidence.
Savanier comes out of lots of spreadsheet metrics well but the reason he was able to get above £2.60 was a failure of common sense mixed with social media pumping. Performance Gods do not play for Monpellier. And these kinds of sense checks need to be made when considering tempting numbers that are served up on social media.
However. If you are looking at him as a cheaper player who can win occasionally that’s fine. Because he can be an occasional winner. If you pick a time when the price is right he’s a good option. £1.40 really isn’t bad for a player who can, on his day, put up a very big score and clinch a Gold Day. The danger is believing the hype and paying too much for him, so if he does get a decent rise a holder would probably be best served by cashing in.
I knew I was missing someone. Aouchiche!
The 18 year old midfielder is now at St Etienne after he rejects PSG to get first team football. Bold. And potentially quite annoying for holders. At PSG all he’d really need to do is come on and score. At St Etienne… he has a tougher task because he’ll need to impress week in, week out.
We’ve yet to see numbers on him for St Etienne. But we can say that his PSG senior and youth numbers are very special.
For most players I’d consider a career step like this to be a hammer blow. But Aouchiche is so strong that he could win even from St Etienne and playing every week may be no bad thing for him. For youngsters with weak ability playing lots of games can be the worst thing because it exposes their weakness.
Aouchiche may just be good enough to push through anyway. Clearly, if holding, selling a few months ago would have been ideal as the price has dipped. But that was tough in this market.
As things stand, I think taking £1.77 for one of the best looking FI prospects feels cheap. I’d re-evaluate once I’ve seen some games at his new club.
Ligue 1 also offers rich pickings in the cheap IPD market. Which given Ligue 1 will get a long run as the first league to restart with the IPD promotion still active could be lucrative.
Denis Bouanga at St Etienne is a good one. Consistent threat , 13 goals in all competitions this season. And just 74p on a bid.
Andy Delort at Montpellier comes in even cheaper at 41p on a bid or 52p Blue Button. 12 goals in all competitions.
24 year old Guirassy at Amiens. 9 goals this campaign, including 4 in his last 4 matches. 66p on a bid or 88p Blue Button.
Leicester veteran Slimani, who was on loan at Monaco, could be of interest. He is getting Spurs rumours (less appealling since he could get benched a lot) but also Marseille and Lille.
Interestingly Slimani is a big victim of the season being cancelled because his numbers looked fantastic for Monaco. He is a strong IPD player but he can also win performance in general. So if he ends up at a decent Ligue 1 outfit I’d be very interested for around 50p on the bid.
Habib Diallo at Metz. 25 years old. 13 goals this campaign. 83p on a bid or £1.05 blue button.
And finally Adrien Hunou at Rennes. 11 goals this season, including 2 in his last game in March. Just 39p or 48p on a bid.
With just one goal returning 5p for these guys, they can be clearing 5-10% of their value with just one goal. They’ll get 5 big match days to do that.
The better strategy may however be to buy them early and consider selling after the first game rather than waiting for the entire 30 day window though – plenty of people will be targetting them most likely. So the only advantage you get is to buy first and sell first.
August
24 August
A great game and if there was a disappointment it was only that the winners were 3 unfashionable veterans that were very difficult to go for in advance.
Banega was a very likely winner but an impossible bet for obvious reasons – he’s essentially retiring soon but it hasn’t stopped him dominating the month and giving any holders who failed to forsee this risk a (possibly undeserved!) final pay day.
But so it goes sometimes you get lucky and you tend to get luckier if you hold good players. One of the (many) reasons I gravitate towards quality players is that even if you do make a mistake or get caught out by misfortune you may still have something to cling onto. If this had happened to a poor FI player holders wouldn’t have had a chance.
But Banega has pulled remaining holders out of the fire with his brilliance this month. Goodbye to a low key FI powerhouse. We had good times together.
Luuk De Jong is very difficult to punt on because he’s in and out of the team and been in awful form since moving to Sevilla. I have tried to punt on him particularly early on given his incredible scoring history but there wasn’t a great deal of recent evidence to go for that before the FInal.
And Navas is really getting on and whilst you’d be happy with the win it’s a bit like a bad one night stand – you’d enjoy it but then regret it in the morning.
There is hope for the encouraging options though and Sevilla are shaping up nicely for holds next season.
Suso looked lively and showed some decent numbers. He looks settled in the side now which bodes well for next season.
Reguilon didn’t do anything special in the Final but the transfer rumours including Chelsea are really heating up in recent days. PSG is an alternative and that’s a decent move too.
He’s seems so well thought of in FI circles that I suspect those moves trigger a rise from his current £1.40/£1.60 and could go on closer to £2. And at that price holding him at Sevilla is fine too.
This is another example of how powerful being willing to pick up a good player on a downer is. It was only in July I reviewed him which his bid price down at £1.04! Traders get way too down on players who have had a recent misfortune and this is worth remembering when considering players in our portfolio we may think we want to sell and when buying new targets.
Do we really need to sell them? Or are people just overly negative on them and will it turn around? Should a player we are looking at really be tanking in price or are people overreacting?
Most of the biggest possible profits I’ve seen in recent months has been exploiting the over pessismism of others and I suspect that will continue for a while yet.
Ocampos was threatening and unlucky not to score. Now his bid price has dipped with the Final behind them £1.10 looks solid to me. He isn’t the best performance player but he is capable of occasional wins, IPD, and he has live EPL rumours with Wolves which is a decent move.
24 August
Lots to be resolved at Inter and Conte is due to have showdown talks this week. As always, it’s his way or the highway.
The most sensitive to this appears to be Eriksen who continues to be sidelined by Conte. The early excuses Conte gave of “he’s getting up to fitness” now seem like cover for “I don’t like him all that much”.
It’s a problem and a particular shame because Eriksen looked set to be an FI powerhouse based on his previous minutes.
I’d be quite happy to see Conte go for that reason and because the negative football we see at times holds some Inter assets back.
Brozovic’s future is uncertain too and again he is one of Inter’s more relevant FI players. HE could be transfered. He’s a solid player who probably should have had more goals than he has got, certainly in 2020. And just 1 can give him a huge score. Provided an assist in the Final and played well.
I’d be interested to see where he goes and it could be another one of those situations where traders go way too far on the negativity when a player is out of fashion. £1.07 for Brozovic on a bid is a steal.
Barella was arguably Inter’s stand out player and this should solidify him as a first team regular. Definitely improving as noted in the preview and when a player is improving whilst the price is dropping that’s generally a good time to pounce.
Similar for Lukaku and the short term mindedness of traders continues to astound. Down to £1.68 on a bid now after it being £2+ before the Final. That was just one game it barely matters at all to long term value and never did.
Just bad trading for those paying top dollar and then selling low around just one game. This is a solid pick up at that price. Anything below £1.80 I’d consider very good.
3 August
With a European spot secured (they have to go through a qualifying round but the opposition is very soft) it sets Milan up for a better season than they’ve had.
Theo Hernandez hasn’t done anything recently but his numbers are good. We’ve seen high average scores but no big scores. That’s not the whole picture though – he’s getting chances to score and assist and he can easily put up competitive scores.
Regular readers will know I tend to lazer focus on only the best quality defenders (or the very cheap ones!) as so few of them have the ability to consistently challenge. I’d put Theo in that category and £2 or thereabouts is fair value for a solid Core player.
Hakan put in yet another fantastic display. Didn’t score this time but was very close. Looks superb and as per last review he looks seriously undervalued even after a price rise.
It’s another example actually of how short term minded many are that he is dropping as Serie A finishes! A good opportunity to pick him up with next season in mind.
Leao finally got a start, and played superbly. It was a shame that he was forced off by injury on 38 minutes because he was looking very good.
Hit the post twice in that time including an overhead kick attempt that hit the bar. Also made two key passes.
I’ve had my eye on him for a while as given the minutes he could be a real FI suitable talent. This performance will put him in the managers mind for next season.
For £1.21 I think he could be worth picking up as next season draws closer, or at least stick him on the watch list.
Zlatan. Can you buy a 38 year old without being bats crazy? Maybe, actually.
If he signs this rumoured 1 (possibly 2) year deal to extend at Milan and you can pick him up for his 24p bid or anything 50p or under… you can make a case.
He hasn’t won any performance dividends this year but he is capable – that’s bad luck as much as anything. No reason he can’t – in fact it is probable we do see him win at some stage particularly with AC Milan back in the Europa.
IPD is obviously there and may attract interest particularly if Serie A returns in the promotion window as expected. (He scored 5 and assisted one in the last 4 games! If he does that at 25p he’s paid for himself then some).
And with European competition his media prospects improve too.
One for the brave but I think if you think he is likely to get the contract and can get him on a 25p bid or so holders may end up happy with that.
Risk is the contract falls through of course but I’d be confident on him delivering some decent returns for that rock bottom price.
Never far from drama, this club.
With a thumping finish to the season dispatching both Napoli and Atalanta Conte has started a fight with the board. Perhaps he sees this as a position of strength to bargain from. Maybe it is.
So he may quit and it has big implications for players.
Eriksen is the player most caught up in this. When he plays at Inter he looks like an FI dream. But in the gossip it feels less and less like Conte is waiting on his fitness as previously said and more like Conte doesn’t like him all that much.
Tricky. But gossip is treacherous and changes very fast. We don’t want to let it guide our trading too much.
Fundamentally he’s not a particularly high risk player and is in his prime years. Hard to predict what’s going to happen at Inter. Conte could go. Eriksen could go. Eriksen could settle. All likely fine. A season languishing as a rotation option is the outcome holders want to avoid.
My decision would be to hold if holding but I would wait for a little more clarity before buying any more.
If Conte does stay and continues to use Barella in a more forward role, he could become much more FI relevant.
Like many young hype kids they get a price they don’t deserve and then once the big move happens and reality bites they crash.
But sometimes they do improve at a time when the price is dropping and it brings them back into value range. He hasn’t scored since January but he’s had a few good chances, particularly in the last 6 games.
His improvement may come at the expense of Eriksen if what we have seen recently continues.
One for the pre-season Scouting radar – if he is shaping up like this in friendlies and we know a bit more about Inter’s future I could get interested now he’s under £1 on the bid.
Zaniolo’s price is sliding, something I’ve expected for a while.
He’s such a real life talent that it makes traders want to like him – and that can be dangerous.
For all his ability the more we see of him the more obvious it is that he is going to really, really struggle on FI. For a midfielder he is incredibly lightweight. And there is no real reason to reclassify him as a forward currently.
Price is sliding and it’s another reminder of why I don’t hold transfer holds too long especially if they have high prices and poor performance credentials.
Holders may get lucky and drop on that big move and he could well rocket – but it will be lucky as opposed to particularly good trading.
I would certainly not hold in hope of massive performance scores pushing the price up it’s just not likely.
When I saw Insigne score a matchwinner I logged in fully expecting to see him clearly in the lead with possibly another win on the way.
But he ended up with a soft 177 – the sort of score he has achieved in recent games without a goal! What gives?
There is actually no single obvious cause – it feels more like this was just a tough game versus Lazio where it can be hard to build monstrous scores.
He was subbed off 10 minutes early, so that’s a few points. Maybe a third fewer touches than he gets versus softer teams which is a big factor. I think the biggest factor is a notable lack of chances created which is incredibly unusual for him.
Disappointing in that on most days a matchwinner is pushing Insigne to 250+. But nothing to really worry about – he’s had two wins recently and a player that is getting this close this often has much more to come and he’s looking a superb choice to take into next season.
Actually incredible he is still available for a £1.50 bid as people chase short term media around etc.
Ruiz scored as well, one of his regular long range efforts happened to go in this time (not an overly spectacular one mind).
Like Insigne a soft-ish result though. Holders are unlucky that his one goal since the restart has dropped on a tough game because had it come on others he could have been well clear of 250.
Politano also came on from the bench to add the third goal. That’s two since the restart and bodes well for next season as a quality budget option who has a performance win or two in him.
Napoli feel like the “Kimmich” club of FI right now. Lots of good stuff but it’s not coming together on the same day. Statistically speaking though it should.
Pulgar puts another win and more dividends on his CV – that’s always useful. Even though you may not get an immediate price rise – lots of people shop by “historic dividends” etc so it can mean people follow into the player later.
Last review of Pulgar was 6th July after another win – again with a penalty.
I highlighted there how early in the season when he was pumping to £2.39+ this was disgustingly overpriced as covered here.
But having crashed back down there is some merit in it as he can be an occasional winner.
I would emphasise occasional though – based on his numbers two wins in two months is pretty fortunate.
However as it is the end of the season the price hasn’t moved and he may be available for £1.10 or thereabouts.
That’s a good bet I think because he does have that occasional win in him, and with a good record of dividends on his CV it would not surprise me at all to see buying as we head towards next season.
I would probably cash any rise out for this sort of player rather than waiting for the games however. You may be waiting a long time for that win.
The final player review of a very, very long season goes to De Paul. He’s a worthy subject.
He’s no stranger to Scouting in July but it is worth noting yet another incredibly consistent display that netted him another 200 score.
When he’s getting close to winning at a small club without even scoring you know something is up.
Transfers are always a risk because you never know quite how they will be used at a new club. He has done enough to get the benefit of the doubt though and I’d like to see him lining up somewhere like Milan or Juventus next term.
If he stays put though it is no disaster because as we have seen – he can do the business even at a smaller club. Which means he is a relatively low risk transfer trade we can still be involved with at this stage.
None of this is new though – what is a development is the bid price is dropping. Despite more evidence of his quality – the end of season is reducing demand for many good players.
As people chase short term priorities they often ignore what is right around the corner.
This is a great chance to be stocking up portfolios for next season with really solid players.
30 July
Insigne wins again but it was frustrating as he is capable of so much more. It was a soft score at 129 but that can win it on a Bronze Day.
This was with no goal though and losing the game so it shows how he is always a whisker away from monstrous scores.
This is a really consistent theme in 2020 and especially frustrating given the number of quality chances he gets. 5 shots in this game and they aren’t all just blasts from range (though he does like to do that!) he’s getting really big chances at close range too.
At least he is winning but I want more from him. If these numbers keep up more wins look inevitable, and more convincing ones too. Looks a great Core Key Strategy player to take into next season.
5 shots again for Zielinski as the threat continues to improve. That’s not quite the full picture though because these are long range speculative efforts. Still, eventually one of these will likely fly in and he can put up very big scores. For the money at 69p it’s a steal.
We also saw an encouraging full match from youngster Elmas. It’s been a whilst since he has played the full game. And he’s really shown his quality. Good chances to score, 3 efforts. Wonderful run through multiple defenders to make his first chance actually.
As covered previously he looks a good youngster to take into next season.
Lazio hit form again but too late as the League is alraedy gone. Still helps holders of their Key Players though.
This was a demolition of Brescia.
Immobile scored 1 and assisted 1 but this could have been a hatrick easily. Maybe should have been. Reached double figures for chances which is rare outside of Ronaldo or Lewandowski. But then we shouldn’t be suprised by that Immobile belongs in that company.
With just one game left the urgency on picking up Serie A players has lessened. But still available on a bid at £1.49 I think that’s great value to take into next season and if he scores/assists again in the final game that is a hefty return for just one match.
Savic and Alberto both clocked in with 6 shots a piece too showing how dominant Lazio were.
Alberto the midfield winner with 203 which is a bit soft. But with good chances he could have been up nearer to 250 or even 300. Was only 3 days ago in Scouting I called him a sleeping giant – I don’t think I was wrong.
Muted market reaction to the win with a soft score but all dividend wins are positive – they get returns on a players CV and it is likely to increase buying later on as the seasons restart.
Savic wasn’t far away either and had really good chances. The improvement in 2020 and particularly since the restart is clear to see.
Enormous goal threat in the last 6 and decent baselines. Hitting form at a good time when he is trying to attract a big club move. I like the pick as per the Transfers article this week.
I’m aware I have covered Hakan a lot recently but he keeps forcing himself into Scouting with performances that are difficult to ignore.
The consistency is incredible and the IPD alone in this promotional period will have been fantastic for any new buyers at 15p on a relatively cheap player.
No win this time but he’s unlucky to be subbed off on 68 minutes after a goal and an assist. If he stays on he almost certainly beats Alberto to the midfielder dividend this time.
Finally realising the potential he always had and the news of the current manager staying on is mana from heaven for holders. He’s central to this Milan side now.
The incredible thing is that he was so undervalued that even after all he has done rising from £1.18 to £1.80 he is still excellent value.
Particularly because the Matching Engine allows us to pick him up for £1.52 or thereabouts potentially.
To put it into context I would happily pay £2.50 to take him into next season.
As covered here Sassuolo are a rare smaller club with excellent performance credentials.
Berardi will be very familiar to Scouting readers and he’s close again here. A goal and 2 assists – any recent buyers are going to be delighted with a 15p dividend off the bat.
And he has Udinese next in the final game so that’s another good chance.
His 231 is competitive for a Silver Day but he was blown away by another site favourite Chiesa with a hatrick. So it goes.
Berardi is yet another good player who is remaining good value because the Blue Button prices aren’t moving. Good performances are closing the spreads but at the moment there is very little reason for anyone to pay Blue Button prices. That will change when the “Offer” side of the Matching Engine comes in.
For now we had better just make the most of this whilst it lasts because it means that even when players demonstrate strength they are staying in value range in a lot of cases.
Nice to see a win for Chiesa, a player I’ve liked for a long time. I don’t actually expect wins from Fiorientina he is a pick mainly for his future potential.
But, I’ll take it! It’s a special day when a player gets a hatrick so I would not be expecting these scores all the time.
It’s a good reminder for any clubs circling in the transfer window. And it gets a very big score on his CV which always helps when it comes to selling him.
As covered in the Transfers article this week a big move is likely, probably in Serie A. That’s all good – he has a nice FI style and at a big club I think we could see him challenging frequently provided he is given his natural role.
Solid hold. Italy involvement icing on the cake and I think with the Nations League in September internationals are going to be important much sooner than Euro 2021.
Also at Fiorentina (one day I’ll learn to spell that club without looking it up) we have Milenkovic.
He’s a 22 year old highly rated CB. I covered him back in April in my Series on wonderkids.
CB’s are not prime FI candidates but this is the sort that can do really well. He has the style that attracts big clubs and if he hits the right move he can do really well on the market, particularly at his 57p starting bid price.
He’s scored 2 in the last 2 games. That’s unusual for him, though he is capable of a few goals a season.
But having that on his record will help convince people when they look at him in the event of a big transfer.
Serbia minutes help.
Gets links to Manchester United, Napoli and Milan. For the money that’s a decent chance of a big win but it’s no disaster if the EPL move doesn’t happen.
Explosion Imminent
Players by position showing exceptional performance strength in recent games
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