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It is fair to say that this week’s transfer window deadline day was on the extreme under side of whelming.
Big name last-minute deals at desperate prices were conspicuous by their absence as the Premier League mirrored what we’ve all been doing for a while now – keeping things in-house.
But that doesn’t mean there wasn’t a deal or two that might lead to a nice bit of business on Football Index.
Football Index is a real-money betting platform where you can buy and sell shares in footballers.
You buy shares in individual players whose value can rise or fall depending on their performance both on and off the field.
I’m actively using FI this season with more than a nod to FPL, seeing which aspects of each game marry up, and which don’t.
Josh King (£0.62) made the loan move from Bournemouth to Everton, with his price jumping from £0.51 as a result.
He’s a proven Premier League performer, if a patchy one, and he may not barge his way straight into the Toffees starting XI unless there is an injury to one of the regulars up top.
Carlo Ancelotti did highlight the player’s versatility and ability to play on the flank, however, so there could still be room for the Norwegian alongside the established first-teamers.
King will also be playing for his Premier League future, so he’ll need monitoring, although Everton’s immediate schedule – Man United and Liverpool away, Fulham, Southampton and Burnley at Goodison Park – is not the easiest.
And talking of Liverpool and Southampton…recent years have suggested the best way to become a regular at the former is by playing for the latter.
So the loan move of Takumi Minamino (£0.70) to St Mary’s looks like a smart piece of business for all parties.
The Japanese midfielder watched on as the Saints got their annual 9-0 drubbing out of the way on Tuesday night and that chastening result could further persuade boss Ralph Hasenhuttl to freshen up his team by introducing Minamino sooner rather than later.
He’s an interesting prospect in both FI and FPL as Hasenhuttl could use him as an out of position striker as well as a more traditional attacking midfielder, which he has done in the past with Theo Walcott and Nathan Redmond.
And if he can get the minutes, he’s got the matches – Southampton’s fixtures are set fair for a good stretch, with Chelsea and Spurs the toughest tests over the next ten games.
A week on from writing about the ‘new manager bounce’ for Chelsea under Thomas Tuchel, the Blues have won one, drawn another and kept two clean sheets ahead of a Thursday night trip to Tottenham.
There have been winners and losers in the Chelsea squad since the German was appointed, with some of the hitherto regulars in the Blues’ backline losing their places and a bit of value in FI.
But it’s not been so bad higher up the pitch, with some much-maligned Germans rising in price.
And the real winner in all of this has been Callum Hudson-Odoi.
The England starlet was widely touted as being a big part of Tuchel’s plans and he’s started both matches to date.
In FPL, his attractiveness has been somewhat offset by the manager’s desire to play him as a wing-back – a role he seems to relish.
But on FI, the only way has been up for Hudson-Odoi.
Available for £1.02 on January 23, his price at the time of writing had risen to £2.29.
With a decent set of domestic fixtures and European action to come in the short term, and a place in the England squad to earn for the summer’s European Championships, that price has the potential to continue rising for some time to come.
With a decent set of domestic fixtures and European action to come in the short term, and a place in the England squad to earn for the summer’s European Championships, that price has the potential to continue rising for some time to come.
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