Ryan Babel has reportedly recovered from the ankle injury that kept him out of Euro 2008 but the winger is still a major doubt for the season opener due to potential involvement in the Olympics [source].
Having returned to fitness, a call-up to the Dutch Olympic squad for Beijing is anticipated by Rafa, much to his frustration. That would see Babel miss Liverpool’s opening two games against Boro and Sunderland. Liverpool are already without Mascherano and Lucas due to Olympic involvement with Argentina and Brazil.
Babel could well be an interesting fantasy prospect. I identified him as a possible sleeper for this season in my review of last season’s midfielders and I can see him improving significantly on last season’s return of 4 goals and 3 assists. He’ll need games of course but it does appear that in this latest story, Rafa is hinting that Babel will play a more significant role in the side this term.
“This season is very important for him. In his first season he was settling in but this time he has more experience and we are looking for him to give something from the beginning, so it is really important for him to start working with his team.”
With 30+ Premiership starts and a successful season for Liverpool as a whole, I can see Babel pushing close to doubling his returns this season. Babel is also expected to be classified as a midfielder across the fantasy games rather than a forward. Certainly in the Telegraph Fantasy Football he is priced at £3.9 – ranking him alongside Essien and City’s Petrov. In the Fantasy Premier League meanwhile, he comes in at 7.5 – a price he shares with Downing, Arteta and Petrov again.