FFFL - Auction Number 26 - The Stats

The summer transfer market came to life on 13^th July, as 14 mangers once again gathered to battle it out in pursuit of the FFFL League Trophy, Châteauneuf du-Pape Cup and those delightful 12 shots of Unicum and chilli vodka.

The weather stayed dry and eventually the sun shone brightly, as these sad bunch of 40 and 50-year-old somethings exchanged a staggering £687 million of fictional money at the prestigious Fareham Fantasy Football League auction.

The Premiership of all fantasy football leagues was attended by a full-house of managers and for the first time ever 3 auctioneers were in place to make sure all proceedings took place in a civilised manor.

Previous years has seen headlines on the back and front pages of the tabloid newspapers for the wrong reasons, with alcohol fuelled shenanigans which included the infamous Chateauneuf du-Pape and Chablis theft debacle, a ground sheet tunnelling exhibition and the most successful title winning manager under hallucinations that Lundekvam and Unsworth were a current day Van Dijk and Laporte. 

However, this year it could be argued that the auctioneers themselves were more pissed than the managers and with a civilised after auction curry, could it be said that the managers are influenced by others and are just innocent scapegoats of recent years.

Back to the football, and with the high scoring points on defenders last season and the movement of attacking wingers from midfield to forwards, it was an eye-opening auction that left many managers kicking themselves whilst others were punching the air in delight.

The most amount of money spent was with defenders at £232m, a case you need 4 playing defenders may take that into account, this was followed with £218m on midfielders, forwards at just £187m and then goalkeepers at £50m.

These were interesting stats with an overall spend increase of 13%, positionally defenders were up at 37%, midfielders down by 6%, forwards up by 14% and goalkeepers with an increase of 10%.

So, who was the money spent on? The highest transfer of this summer was outlaid by Alan with £14.6m on Aubameyang, the Arsenal forward would appear to be keeping his value having signed for FC Banhamcelona for £14.75m last season.  In midfield the highest transfer was with Steve at £9.25m for Kevin De Bruyne.  After an injury plagued season, the Man City playmakers value has dropped by £4.75m, although more value is expected if injury free.  With Alan and Steve finishing bottom 2 last season they are both showing financial muscle to make sure they avoid the wooden spoon shot.

In defence Foxy recorded both top 2 highest buys with Van Dijk at £8.9m and Robertson at £8.2m, on last season’s performance we believe this is great value for money with just under 400 points totalled.  Finally, in-between the sticks, Allison smashed any other signing out the water at £6.1m from Jiggy.

The talking point though was when it came to the forwards and the newly moved Mane and Salah going for a combined total of £9.7m (Mane at £4.7m to Dunk and Salah £5.0m to Darrell).  With cards held close to their chests, most managers thought others still had big cash to spend, but with money being spent earlier it has probably left the Liverpool duo as arguable even bigger bargains than Eden Hazard at £3m last season.

As we approach the official transfer deadline day and the new season, over the next few weeks we shall individually review each managers team, looking at their strengths, weaknesses and if they are serious contenders for silverware.