A strong start to the new campaign suggested Nani had carried on the form that made the winger a near-essential acquisition in last season’s Fantasy game. The arrival of Ashley Young only seemed to spur the Portuguese star on to greater performances and while a return of 23 points in the 8-2 win against Arsenal had propelled Young into many a Fantasy team, the former Aston Villa player suffered from an inconsistency- the Gunners match is the only time he’s found the net so far.
Nani, on the other hand, was producing the goods with far greater regularity- 3 goals, 3 assists and 7 Fantasy Premier League (FPL) bonus points in his first six games returned 45 points, an average of 7.5 per game. Since then, though, his season has somewhat stuttered. In fact, scrap that – that’s underplaying the decline. Let’s be honest, Nani’s season has ground to a halt quite spectacularly since gameweek seven.
A loss of form has seen him play just one hundred and eighty-four minutes over the last four matches and with no goals, assists or bonus points, he’s picked up 7 Fantasy points; 1.75 per game. Priced at 10.1, he’s burning a hole in the budget of 26.2% of teams right now and while similarly-priced Rafael Van der Vaart tears up the top-flight and David Silva is producing consistent, if unspectacular returns, many are starting to ponder Nani’s value in their Fantasy squads.
Using our own ICT Index and the Opta stats available to our Members, we analyse just how his season has unfolded, paying particular attention to his performances in comparison with both Van der Vaart and Silva:
