Trading well is key to building that high upside, title winning squad but anyone who has played in a draft league will know exactly how difficult it can be to get a deal over the line!
The art to trading is knowing who to target and when to strike as well as which players to use in the trades. This weekly segments looks into the strategy of selling high on those overachievers and buying low on those studs that haven’t performed as expected…
Sell High
Emmanuel Dennis – Watford – Forward
Emmanuel Dennis has featured in all of our articles with the advice being to pick him up. In this one we are going to encourage you to sell him! If Dennis is on your roster, you will most likely have got him or waivers or (if you’re really lucky) took a punt on him ahead of GW1.
The Watford forward had a dream debut, scoring 30.5 points in a lively performance. This week he faces a depleted Brighton back line, meaning he could easily have another chance to fill his boots again. Should he do this again, his price is never going to be higher and I’d strongly advice looking to trade him out. A decent midfielder can be paired with Dennis to purchase a top midfielder or forward should things go to plan for him again and he continues his hot start.
Sergi Canos – Brentford – Forward
See above! A dream start for Sergi Canos and Brentford was instant payment for everyone who had faith in the Spaniard as their FWD3. A total of 22 points was no more than his performance deserved but that’s no guarantee that this will be a regular occurrence.
Although his attacking intentions as well as set piece duties are good avenues for points, his place at full back is a worry. There will be days, particularly away from home, where Canos may find himself in his defensive half for most of the game. Wouldn’t be the worst idea to package him in a deal after his GW1 performance. He won’t play Arsenal every week!
Paul Pogba – Manchester United – Midfielder
The enigmatic Paul Pogba’s price will never be higher than after that four assist, 38 point display in GW1. We know Pogba’s talent has no ceiling but his extremely low floor could easily just be round the corner.
It looks like Pogba is set to stay but the 38 point haul is a 2 or 3 times a season occurrence. If there’s someone short on a midfielder or a Manchester United fan in your league, now is your chance to get an elite, consistent midfielder/forward on board by using Pogba in a deal.
Buy Low
Kai Havertz – Chelsea – Midfielder
I was super high on Kai Havertz during pre-season and think the addition of Romelu Lukaku will only serve to see improve him as a fantasy asset. Havertz was never signed as a traditional number nine so now he is able to play just off a big target man, his assists will reach double figures and his goal tally shouldn’t be far off.
Now could be the time to cash in on a manager frustrated to see Havertz barely feature in GW1 or one that is worried about Lukaku’s impact on his minutes. After completing 120 minutes in the Super Cup, the German was always unlikely to feature against Crystal Palace. Judge him on his display against Arsenal this week and try and get him in before then!
Emi Buendia – Aston Villa – Midfielder
While the aforementioned Dennis and Canos enjoyed dream GW1 Premier League debuts, Emi Buendia had one to forget. Plenty of Fantrax managers used a late 1st round/early 2nd round pick on the Argentine and will have been disappointed to see him come away from what was seen as a kind fixture with a lowly score of 0.5.
In short, the advice is to be patient but if Buendia is on a team managed by a less than patient manager then now is the time to test the water! He WILL come good.
Harvey Barnes – Leicester City – Midfielder
I reached for the explosive Harvey Barnes in the second round of one of my draft leagues and despite a disappointing 3.5 points on the opening day, I’m very excited to have him on my team this. It’s clear that Barnes isn’t quite up to full speed just yet but he is a MID1 in Fantrax when he is on his game.
Like Buendia, it’s worth testing out the manager who has him to see just how much the disappointing start has knocked their confidence in Barnes.
Fantasy Football 92 