Weeks of planning, preparation and patience finally paid off in Gameweek 22 for the group of 34 FPL veterans being tracked for this series of articles. This bunch of Fantasy management stalwarts, made up of previous winners, FFScout moderators and contributors and those riding high in the Hall of Fame, invested heavily in Sergio Aguero and Harry Kane over the month and it paid off handsomely.

While Aguero was in just 16.7% of teams overall and 17.1% of top 10,000 teams, amongst our veterans he is owned by an incredible 79.41%. Kane is another veterans favourite. The Spurs man is in a huge 85.29% of teams, compared to just 34.8% overall and 48.5% of top 10,000 ranked teams.

TRANSFERS

This week veterans were quiet on the transfer market, making only 0.68 transfer per team, less than half the average for Gameweek 21 when they made 1.67 transfers. On the back of an 11-point haul in Gameweek 21 Dimitri Payet was among the key targets going into Gameweek 22.

Transfers by positions (% of all transfers in bracket)

– Goalkeepers: (17.39%)

– Defenders: (21.74%)

– Midfielders: (47.83%)

– Forwards: (13.04%)

It seems that most of the veterans have settled down with their forwards, having invested in Kane and Aguero over the last few Gameweeks and most already having Romelu Lukaku in place.

Transfers In:

– Dimitri Payet (WHM): 39.13%

– Christian Fuchs (LEI): 13.04%

– Sergio Aguero (MCI): 8.70%

– Kasper Schmeichel (LEI): 8.70%

Leicester defenders failed to repay the veterans’ faith in them as they conceded against Aston Villa. With a decent fixture at home to Stoke in Gameweek 23 it is clear the veterans have been consulting the fixture list and will be hopeful the likes of Fuchs can make amends.

Dimitri Payet also blanked in Gameweek 22, but after Manchester City this weekend, he has four relatively easy games (AVL, sot, nor, SUN). Once again he looks to be a shrewd long-term investment for the veterans.

Transfers Out:

– Aaron Ramsey (ARS): 13.04%

– Ross Barkley (EVE): 8.70%

– Kevin De Bruyne (MCI): 8.70%

All of the above are midfielders and all in reasonable form, but the allure of Payet proved too strong. It did not cost them greatly though, with De Bruyne the only one to deliver returns, with an assist against Palace.

CAPTAINS

– Sergio Aguero (MCI): 58.82%

– Harry Kane (TOT): 29.41%

– Others: 11.77%

Last week 15% more veterans captained Sergio Aguero than in Gameweek 22. The Man City striker’s failure to score in Gameweek 21 may have influenced their thinking. In addition, Harry Kane offered a strong armband option as well this week. In the end it was the Aguero captainers that profited the most as the Argentine delivered them a welcome 32-point haul, compared to just 20 points for those that backed Kane with the armband.

Captaining Aguero proved pivotal to overall rank as well, as just one in ten managers and a similar proportion of top 10,000 managers backed him with the armband.

While a similar proportion of top 10,000 managers (28.7%) to veterans handed Kane the armband, just 13.8% of managers overall had the Spurs striker as their captain.

MOST POPULAR PLAYERS

Top Starting Goalkeepers

– Jack Butland (52.94%)

– David de Gea (11.76%)

– Kasper Schmeichel (8.82%)

Top Starting Defenders

– Hector Bellerin (41.18%)

– Toby Alderweireld (38.24%)

– Aleksandar Kolarov (29.41%)

– Alberto Moreno (29.41%)

– Danny Simpson (20.59%)

Top Starting Midfielders

– Riyad Mahrez (97.06%)

– Mesut Ozil (82.35%)

– Kevin De Bruyne (79.41%)

– Dele Alli (64.71%)

– Dimitri Payet (50.00%)

Top Starting Forwards

– Harry Kane (85.29%)

– Sergio Aguero (79.41%)

– Romelu Lukaku (73.53%)

– Odion Ighalo (20.59%)

– Jamie Vardy (11.76%)

OVERALL RANKINGS

The far higher ownership and captaincy of Aguero and Kane amongst the veterans helped see them surge up the rankings. While the average score was just 46 points and the top 10,000 managers’ average was 48, the veterans’ average was 65 points.

This meant that the bulk of the veterans (85.3%) gained a green arrow this week and their average overall position is 120,198 – 67,668 places better than at the end of Gameweek 21.

Just under a quarter of the veterans (23.53%) are now in the top 10,000. If Aguero and Kane can continue to deliver, January could prove a month to remember for the veterans.