Deciding whether or not to stick or twist with Bruno Fernandes

Even at this stage of the season, the question of which premium assets to trust holds true.

I played my Wildcard in Blank Gameweek 33 and a large part of my thinking and planning was spent on deciding which of the more expensive options to own, and which to ditch.

The fact that Spurs and Manchester City did not play a league fixture this weekend just past made that decision easier as I saw their blank as an opportunity.

I sold Son Heung-min (£9.5m) on the basis that I wasn’t sure which Spurs midfielder would be the right one under Ryan Mason’s managerial spell – especially given Gareth Bale‘s (£9.1m) importance in the Southampton game in Gameweek 32.

Selling Son, who was due a price drop, would enable me to make an informed decision on the Bale/Son debate ahead of their match against Sheffield United in Gameweek 34 as well as allowing me to watch them both play in the EFL Cup final.

As part of my Wildcard, I replaced Son with Mohamed Salah (£12.6m). I also held Bruno Fernandes (£11.5m) which, if I’m honest, was more through fear than anything else.

Heading into Gameweek 34 I now have some big decisions to make:

• Do I sell Salah to get Son/Bale?
• Do I sell Fernandes to Son/Bale?
• Should I hold Salah and Fernandes and not bring in a Spurs midfielder?
• Should I sell Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.6m) and Diogo Jota (£7.1m) for Son/Bale and a 5.1m or under defender?

After Salah’s goal in Gameweek 33 he has now returned in three of his last four Premier League matches and seems to be finding form at the perfect moment for the Liverpool fixture swing. Therefore selling Salah is no longer an option.

Selling Fernandes is not something that I ever thought I would do. After the first 16 Gameweeks of the season he was averaging a double-digit haul every other game and was probably the most assured member of my FPL squad. Fast-forward to Gameweek 33 and Fernandes has failed to return in his last three Premier League matches. Indeed he has only registered one goal and one assist since Gameweek 26.

For his price tag, FPL managers would rightly expect Fernandes to be performing better than he has.

However, Fernandes’ ownership is a big concern for those, like myself, who are considering parting company with the Portuguese international. Currently Fernandes is in 56.3% of FPL teams, making him the most owned player in the game.

Fernandes is an easy sell based on his form and his current points return per million spent. However, his potential for points is extreme given he is Manchester United’s penalty taker and has some set-piece responsibility and when he scores he nearly always receives bonus points on top. It is this coupled with the ownership that make FPL Managers wary of losing United’s midfield magician.

Couple this with Son’s recent performances and Bale’s minutes and he becomes an FPL asset that I often feel I am holding through fear rather than through desire to own. Son has returned just two goals and one assist in the last eight Gameweeks and his performance in the EFL Cup final was incredibly disappointing. Likewise, Bale who put on a fantastic performance in Gameweek 32, had not returned in the five matches previous and started the EFL Cup final on the bench, thus not exactly inspiring confidence.

Fernandes is yet to score against Gameweek 34 opposition Liverpool in the Premier League, although he did net an outstanding free kick for the Red Devils in the FA Cup.

While on paper selling Fernandes feels like the right thing to do especially considering the gulf in fixtures for Manchester United and Spurs in the next Gameweek, I’m not sure it’s something that I am brave enough to do. Now’s the time for me to decide whether I play the rest of this season with a shield or sword mentality. Keeping Fernandes is a shield, selling him is very much a sword.