Trades can make or break your Fantasy EPL season. Fact. A successful Fantrax Draft Premier League manager needs to be active in the trade market, always sniffing out a deal to improve their roster. Be it trading in a player before they explode, or trading out a player who just isn't performing, our Gameweek 30 Trade Advice article has all of your needs covered!
Get out there and use the below advice for Fantrax trades this week. Trading is fun!
Trade In Advice
Here we're going to be recommending Fantasy EPL players to trade into your side. These may be Premier League players who are performing consistently well and are likely to continue to do so. Or they could be players who are currently underperforming but are likely to improve their points haul in the near future. These are your "buy low" players.
Diogo Jota
Position: Forward
Team: Liverpool
Rostered: 97%
Prospects: Jota has just returned from a long time on the sidelines and has hit very good form. He scored a goal and added ghost points as well against his former employers and, as a whole, made Liverpool's attack look the liveliest they have looked this calendar year. He added three more for A Seleção during the international break to well and truly announce his return. Liverpool have one of the softest schedules going forward and the Portuguese striker will be a mainstay in the lineup.
Verdict: Starting negotiations by highlighting the fact that Firmino is back in first team training should sow some doubt in the other manager's confidence in his player's ability to start consistently. Gareth Bale, Martin Odegaard or Danny Ings could land you Jota in a 1-1 trade.
Bukayo Saka
Position: Midfielder
Team: Arsenal
Rostered: 99%
Prospects: The Arsenal youngster is surprisingly still his team's top scorer in Fantrax Default Scoring despite not scoring double digit points since mid-February. Arsenal actually have the most favourable schedule for midfielders with their next 6 including every team from the bottom 4. After being selected for England, he missed out on playing with the team due to his ongoing hamstring niggle, but his injury should not prevent him from featuring heavily in the aforementioned schedule run.
Verdict: With Saka's score being very low and his injury worries, he is definitely someone you can get "on the cheap". Ranked 27th in our Consensus Ranks, he should provide great value going forward, especially if you can get him for the likes of Wilfred Zaha, Ademola Lookman, Lucas Moura or Kelechi Ihenacho.
Trade Out Advice
Here we're going to be recommending Fantasy EPL players to trade out of your side. These may be Premier League players who are performing badly and are likely to continue to do so. Or they could be players who are currently overperforming and are likely to decline in value of the coming weeks. These are your "sell high" players.
Riyadh Mahrez
Position: Forward
Team: Manchester City
Rostered: 100%
Prospects: Mahrez is the top-scoring overall player in the last 30 days of Premier League football. He has constantly shown he's able to score upwards of 30-35 points when he gets the rub of the green. Then why am I recommending trading him? His form might be his downfall. With City's grip on the Premier League title tightening, they will surely focus on pushing for the long-coveted Champions League. This, coupled with Pep Roulette and the fact that they have one less game to play, makes him a prime candidate for selling high.
Verdict: When selling high on Mahrez, I would probably aim to package him for a premium asset like Mané or Son, who might be available in a 1-1 due to his injury situation.
Kelechi Iheanacho
Position: Forward
Team: Chelsea
Rostered: 70%
Prospects: 5 goals in 3 games and trading him out? Have I gone mad? No, I have not. However, I am a vocal proponent of selling high on players not being guaranteed minutes in a team's starting XI but scoring extremely well. This is a very risky strategy, as the player on hot form might still continue his high-flying days as a starter. But eventually, they all peter out.
Verdict: I would look to target the aforementioned pair, Saka and Jota, but would also try an offer for Alexander-Arnold.
Strategy in Focus: Red Herring
Quite a straight forward strategical tool in a Fantrax trader's arsenal and one I love to use every time I can, but I have not encountered it a lot during my countless dealings. The strategy hinges on convincing the manager you are trying to trade with that you are looking to trade for one of his players, which should not really be a problem. The catch is, the player you are in negotiations for is the Red Herring. You, in fact, do not want that player, but instead prefer a different one of his players (ideally lower ranked than the Red Herring).
"This is when the switch of focus happens. You 'reluctantly' introduce a different player to trade for (the one you were after all along) to somehow salvage the negotiations that have been going so well."
During negotiations, you are free to throw around absurd valuations for the Red Herring for your opponent to start feeling confident that he will get a good deal from you. Once you have convinced them that the Red Herring is the player you want, slowly lower your offer to the point where you are just not offering enough value for him. This is when the switch of focus happens. You "reluctantly" introduce a different player to trade for (the one you were after all along) to somehow salvage the negotiations that have been going so well. With your opponent convinced that he has managed to divert you from your original target he will gladly do a deal for the player he perceives to be your less desired choice.
Trying to "win" a trade or "get one over your opponent" is almost as important during trade negotiations as getting a "value win," and this strategy feeds into people's desire to "win trades."
Use it wisely.
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