Paul Pogba’s impact on his return has been instant, both on Manchester United and on Fantasy managers.
His double-figure return from a goal and assist against Newcastle United helped spark a revived attacking performance from Jose Mourinho’s side.
He set up Anthony Martial’s equaliser and reinvigorated Romelu Lukaku to snap a seven-match drought in a United shirt.
Pogba was cited as the inspiration for United’s devastating early season form and now, with the Frenchman back in the fold, we can only hope that Mourinho’s side will rekindle their relentless goal scoring exploits of the first five Gameweeks.
There are some who required little encouragement to invest in Pogba’s influence.
Having dropped back to his initial valuation of 8.0, he is already the top transfer target in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), claiming 55,000 new owners at the time of writing.
While impressive against the Magpies, this seems classic knee-jerk material, particularly with United’s fixtures soon stiffening and managers eyeing up a potential exit for Lukaku from Gameweek 14.
Chelsea’s Alvaro Morata will doubtless be the target as the striker’s replacement, with Spaniard doing little to put that trade in jeopardy with today’s performance at West Brom.
His eighth goal of the season, and fifth on his travels, took him to the top of the FPL forward standings.
Indeed, United’s rebirth as an attacking force coincided with another convincing display from Chelsea in which Morata and, in particular, Eden Hazard again sparkled.
Pushed up in a central role in tandem with the striker, the Belgian is beginning to convince as a midfield heavy-hitter.
But unlike Morata, Hazard remains on the periphery of our thinking.
Part of just 5% of squads, his net ownership actually dropped ahead of today’s 18-point haul as he struggles to convince managers to make him part of their plans.
Even now, hours after his Hawthorns performance, Pogba, Leroy Sane and Mohamed Salah are all enjoying greater transfer traffic than a player who amassed 224 points last season – Hazard’s third tally over 200 points in his five-season FPL career.
Maybe our standards and expectations have altered.
While Morata can be eased into our line-ups in a swap for one of the rotating Man City strikers or a stuttering Harry Kane and Lukaku, Hazard requires major surgery in an area of our squads well served by cheaper and more consistent performers.
The aforementioned Salah continues to run riot, producing 16 points to top the overall standings. Sane, meanwhile, kept ticking over with an assist in Man City’s victory at the King Power Stadium.
Pogba has rapidly rejoined this contingent of midfielders threatening to better the likes of Hazard and certainly Alexis Sanchez, as our perception of what constitutes a midfield heavy-hitter is challenged.
I don’t doubt that Hazard will have more to say on this but, for now, it’s Pogba’s potential that has convinced Fantasy managers to act.
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