Ah, the trade. Like a goal from John Arne Riise, they are often too rare for one’s liking, but spectacular when they do happen. It’s not that people are inactive, or that individuals are happy with their teams, or even that negotiations just naturally drift away unsettled. The scarcity comes down to fear. The fear of being mugged off. And I would put money on it that the same is true for most managers in most leagues.
But no more. We at Fantrax are here to help. The Inner Geek has taken the Community Special to the trade table and will analyze your league’s rosters to find the players that should be swapping hands right now. A fair, honest, and impartial third party, think of the Inner Geek as everything that Mina Raiola is not. This week our winner was Luke. Congratulations – now get your league to read these eight no-brainers and let the trading commence!
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The Trade-Maker
Even if your league hasn’t been chosen this week, there are guaranteed to be some useful insights for you below!
Note: Player positions are based on Luke’s league. The scoring system is default Fantrax. Thanks to Drafterthoughts for the PP90 data.
The Categories
Kinda integral to this article is a view of all the team rosters, but before we do that, let’s break down how we analyze these squads. There are six types of players in Fantrax and these are outlined below. These categories are based on years of painstaking research, iteratively driven algorithms, and objective, independent evaluations, and in no way were thrown together in 20 minutes on Wednesday. With such a thorough approach, you can be sure to use this setup for your own trade negotiations. Just remember, players can and will fluctuate between the categories throughout the season (see Raheem Sterling dropping from Elite to Premium), so be sure to update your own version regularly.
The Rosters
The Trades
Soucek Your Corners trade Nathan Redmond (8.5 PP90) to The Name’s Bond…James Rodriguez for Jannik Vestergaard (9.8 PP90)
As always, we’re going to go in order of least to most blockbuster. Which means the Nathan Redmond for Jannik Vestergaard, all-saints swap will kick things off. TNMJR sits top of the league by three wins, but I don’t think their roster is the strongest in the league. Maybe not even in the top three. It points to the idea that this manager knows their way around the waiver wire. And also, that Bruno Fernandes is a damn good fantasy asset. Anyway, Bruno could do with a bit of help in midfield, what with J-Rod’s regular injuries and Barkley currently warming the subs bench. This is where Redmond comes in. The Southampton man is either the 6th or 7th best midfielder at Soucek Your Corners, so they can certainly let him go. And with Fulham’s schedule about to get rough, Ruben Dias and Laporte susceptible to rotation, and Townsend being a West Brom defender, bringing in Vestergaard for a relatively low price makes sense.
No Kane, No Gain trade Oleksandr Zinchenko (10.6 PP90) to Operation Rescue Bobby for Said Benrahma (10.9 PP90)
Next up we have Zinchenko for Benrahma. Trading for a defender at risk of rotation may not appeal to Operation Rescue Bobby at first, but this is a City defender, and these days, that means a clean sheet and minimum six points per start. And Zinchenko will get enough starts to make this worthwhile. Not to mention, anyway, that Operation Rescue are hardly letting go a first-teamer themselves. Benrahma has been in and out of the West Ham side – currently the latter – and even when he has started, he hasn’t set the world alight. That said, the potential upside of the West Ham forward is enough for No Kane to want to make this deal. What’s more, the roster could do with another forward – even if it is one that has regular visits to the bench. This is a move that also helps Bobby’s Roster, as they add a fifth defender, and perhaps importantly, a pseudo-handcuff on star man Joao Cancelo.
Gucci Mane trade James Ward-Prowse (11.1 PP90) to The Shaw-shank Redemption for Riyad Mahrez (14.0 PP90)
Now we’re getting to the meaningful names. JWP for Mahrez is the epitome of your “old reliable” for the “boom-or-bust” trade. These trades can often work because the players are so contrasting in styles that each can be the perfect fit for the right team. For Gucci Mane, they need help up top. I’m not going to stick a fork in Willian Jose just yet, but it looks like this is a signing that hasn’t worked. Letting go of a defender would be ideal but that ain’t going to get anywhere with Shaw-shank, so the trade will have to come from midfield. Yes, JWP is probably the best here (though Lingard’s numbers since joining West Ham would beg to differ!) but it’s the only one that can match the value of Mahrez. Plus, there’s still enough amongst the rest of the midfielders to feel comfortable. On the flip side, with Jota set to return any day now, Shaw-shank will be left holding five forwards of legitimate round 2 or above quality. One needs to go in order to fix the mess that is the midfield. Mahrez for JWP makes this happen.
Gucci Mane trade Declan Rice (7.7 PP90) and Bernardo Silva (9.1 PP90) to I Have No Digne(ty) for Dele Alli (n/a) and Gareth Bale (n/a).
This trade here is all about Gucci Mane having the stones to take a risk. Bale and Alli have played less than 500 minutes between them. By contrast, Declan Rice has played 2,340 himself. But man, imagine if the Spurs duo were to rekindle their former glories? This trade could end up so lopsided…but in both directions. Regardless of Alli’s playing time, if Bale starts 10 league games for the remainder of the season, he will outscore Rice and Silva. But it’s a big if. He could just as likely (maybe more likely?) start just two more. In which case, IHND have just acquired a week-in-week-out 7.5 pointer and a City asset who’s going to get game time with Pep rotation in full swing, basically for the cost of nothing. I really like this trade – it’s one of those risky ones that even if it ends tragically for one side, should be applauded by the rest of the league.
Jack Be Nimble, Jack Be Quick trade Bukayo Saka (11.1 PP90) and Raul Jimenez (9.4 PP90) to The Name’s Bond…James Rodriguez for Jack Harrison (11.7 PP90) and Dominic Calvert-Lewin (14.6 PP90)
Okay, we’re back with the soon-to-be league champs TNBJR (by the way – great team name). I was reluctant to let DCL go – as I’m sure the manager will be too – but I like the other three forwards enough (more than enough actually) to feel that the loss here will be worth it to improve elsewhere. Elsewhere being midfield, of course. We said before that Bruno could do with some help, and adding in Arsenal’s best player Saka would certainly do that. Similarly, JBN-JBQ won’t want to see Saka depart, but with Mount and Grealish there the midfield shouldn’t miss a beat. And the arrival of DCL will vastly improve the forward line that consists basically of one man – whichever City forward Pep opts to play. The way I see it, Saka’s superiority over Harrison is equal to DCL’s superiority over a currently injured Jimenez. Both rosters become more balanced without really losing out.
Soucek Your Corners trade Allan Saint-Maximin (12.8 PP90) and Ilkay Gundogan (15.4 PP90) to The Shaw-shank Redemption for Riyad Mahrez (14.0 PP90) and John Stones (9.7 PP90)
Maybe that JWP for Mahrez trade didn’t suit Shaw-shank. So how about this one instead? Soucek give midfielders Saint-Max and Gundogan in exchange for Mahrez and the kicker of John Stones. Dropping down to five midfielders isn’t ideal (they’re probably the hardest position to find this season), but Soucek still have their three best assets here in Son, Matheus Pereira, and Soucek, so it hardly becomes a weak spot on the roster. And whilst the three forward they currently have can do the job, bringing in Mahrez improves it big-time. The Stones kicker also means that Soucek own all three City centre-backs. This is a great deal for them. So why does it work for Shaw-shank? Well as mentioned before, they need to offload a forward. It is actually criminal to be holding five – use it to strengthen elsewhere, even if this comes at a perceived loss (note, this is “perceived” – it is often not a loss in reality). Anyway, Saint Max should be back for Shaw-shank’s playoff run, and Gundo will prove valuable enough. It should also go without saying that they shouldn’t miss Stones too much, particularly given their other defenders.
I Have No Digne(ty) trade Marcus Rashford (13.3 PP90) to Jack Be Nimble, Jack Be Quick for Mason Mount (14.0 PP90)
I initially had this down as a Salah for Grealish swap, but given the name of the team involved, I couldn’t let Jacky boy leave. So instead, we’ve gone from A-list-blockbuster trade to A-minus-list-still-pretty-big-time trade. In all honesty, there’s not a whole lot to say here. IHND are another team with the 5-man-forward predicament; JBN-JBQ essentially only has one. IHND needs a midfielder; JBN-JBQ has seven. Finding ways to balance a roster can often be the key to a successful trade, and this is another example here. Rest of the season, is there much difference between Grealish and Salah? I think most would give the Villa man the edge, but we don’t know for sure exactly when he will be back and if he’ll be back at the same level. What’s more, you could easily make the case that Villa will regress downward, and Liverpool will regress upwards. So its quite conceivable that the two elite stars end up with similar points ROS, or even with Salah edging it. Either way, I don’t think there’s much in it, and with the trade leading to a more balanced roster for both sides, it is a must-do.
No Kane, No Gain trade Kevin De Bruyne (18.2 PP90) to Operation Rescue Bobby for James Maddison (14.5 PP90) and Raheem Sterling (13.0 PP90)
We have to end with a big one, and it doesn’t get any bigger than that man K. D. B. Who is worth KDB? Well, obviously nobody alone. Even for a ‘returning-from-injury-and-likely-to-get-rested-for-Champions-League’ KDB. But what about two players? One elite asset for two premium assets might fly, and Maddison and Sterling are at the upper end of the Premium ranking. It’s simple from Operation Rescue’s perspective: you don’t turn down the chance to get KDB. But from No Kane, No Gain’s perspective it’s a close call. As a KDB owner myself, I’m really torn as to whether I would give him up for Maddison and Sterling…I think I would. I’d put money on Maddison being back for gameweek 28 and Sterling has returns of 22, 23.5, 19, and 20.5 in his last six starts. But then…it’s Kay, Dee, Beeeeeeeeee! I’d be interested to see this as a Twitter poll actually…Draft Answers, help us out here?
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