Cristiano Ronaldo has finally been priced up by Fantasy Premier League (FPL) following the completion of his transfer from Juventus to Manchester United.
The 36-year-old striker has been listed as a forward in FPL and comes in at £12.5m, making him the joint-most expensive player in the game alongside Mohamed Salah.
Ronaldo is £1.0m pricier than Romelu Lukaku (£11.5m) and some £400k dearer than Bruno Fernandes (£12.1m), who many Fantasy managers are seemingly offloading in order to fund a move for his incoming compatriot.
The former Juve and Real Madrid man’s FPL price, as is the case with all new additions, will be locked for seven days upon his Tuesday lunchtime inclusion in the game.
Fernandes remains, for now, the most-owned player in the game despite the 100,000+ sales since the Gameweek 3 deadline.
2 years, 7 months agoIf Ronaldo was playing at City, where the rest of the mids and forwards buzz around relentlessly to win back possession, I wouldn't have any question about bringing him in. But if you listen to journalists who covered him in Serie A (e.g. James Horncastle who spoke about it on yesterday's Totally Football Show) there is a lot of info that gets lost behind his recent goal record. Juve as a team scored fewer after he arrived, his authority often unbalanced the side with players always looking for him rather than the best pass, and he did so little pressing off the ball (and I quote) 'it was like Juve were playing with 10 men' for many games.
The questions for me are: can Ole fit him into a system that allows him to do zero defensive work? Can other players exert any authority over him when he is demanding the ball? (including players like Bruno who have a better record at pens & fks). Can Ole exert the authority to use him sparingly IF the dynamics of the team demand it?
Obvious disclaimer: Ronaldo is the best goal machine ever etc; I'm sure he will deliver a good amount of goals; and he couldn't ask for a better opening game than Newcastle in their current shape.
BUT he is 12.5 and when measured against others in that range, particularly Salah and Lukaku, is he the best pick? And if you blitz your side to fit him in, are you confident that your selection of budget players could keep up with the range of mid priced players that are delivering very well so far?
I might have to hide behind the sofa for the Newcastle game but it's a wait and see for me.