⚽ Kylian Mbappé F.C. - The £150m Team (Part 3)
Our Kylian Mbappe priced team is coming together nicely having spent £93.6 of my £150m budget (£14.1m per player left). If you haven't been following and would like to catch up on my selections, please read Part 1 and Part 2 to see how we reached this point.
We're now left with the unexciting task of finding a defensive midfielder, 2 full backs and a (preferably left footed) centre back - if we've got some money left over, I'll see if there's anywhere that we can upgrade.
Defensive Midfielder
For this position, I'm looking for somebody who'll sit back and break up play. It'll be nice if they're decent ball players too but we've got plenty of creativity in the side already so this isn't really necessary. I'm thinking of somebody like Real Madrid's Casemiro (£36m) whom whoscored.com think is Very Strong at Aerial Duels, Blocking the Ball and Interceptions and Strong at Passing and Tackling. If I can find anybody close to Casemiro for £20m less, he's in.
I'll start by shortlisting the players costing less than £20m who have made an average of 2 or more interceptions per 90 minutes in the top 5 European Leagues and see where that takes us. Once again, because I'm looking at a 3 year team, I'm keeping the age limit at 32 years old and I'll remove players that have a Weakness in an area that is important for a ball winner.
Josh Brownhill (Burnley - £6.3m) is an interesting candidate. Whoscored has him as Very Strong at Ball Interceptions and Strong at Aerial Duels, Holding on to the Ball, Blocking the Ball, Defensive Contribution and Concentration. Passing (Crossing and Finishing) is a Weakness but everything else is looking good here.
Alberto Grassi (Cagliari - £2.3m) is another interesting option. Again, he's Very Strong at Ball Interceptions and Strong at Aerial Duels, Blocking the Ball and Concentration. None of his Weaknesses are a concern (Crossing).
Nemanja Maksimović (Getafe - £12.6m) is a player I owned in Fantasy La Liga Marca this season and he deserves a mention but with fewer strengths than Josh Brownhill and the same weakness, he'll get no more than a mention.
Max Christiansen (Greuther Furth - £1.4m) has some appealing strengths - Very Strong for Ball Interceptions and Blocking the Ball and Strong at Aerial Duels feels like the perfect cover for the defence.
Anton Stach who was considered for the Central Midfield role alongside Christian Eriksen cropped up again but I'm dismissing him, Salih Özcan (Koln) and Dominik Kohr (Mainz) because discipline is a weakness and they commit fouls often. Whilst this could be considered a benefit further up the pitch, I can't afford for that kind of player to be anywhere near our defensive box.
Whilst looking at the options, Ligue 1 could be where my Ball Winner comes from. Having produced some of the best ball winning midfielders who have played in the Premier League (Claude Makelele, Patrick Vieira, Michael Essien, N'golo Kante), I could find myself a bargain here.
Aurélien Tchouaméni (Monaco - £54m) stands out. As does his price which is a shame.
Lucien Agoume (Brest - £6.3m) looks like an option with Very Strong Ball Interceptions and Strong Aerial Duels, Blocking the Ball and Tackling. Does Josh Brownhill offer more? I'll shortlist him anyway.
The final option is Azor Matusiwa (Reims - £6.3m) who has Very Strong Ball Interceptions and Blocking the Ball as well as Strong Concentration.
So I'm down to 5 and let's compare some per 90 stats:
Player | Price (£m) | Tackles | Interceptions | Blocks | Fouls |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Josh Brownhill | 6.3 | 2.3 | 2.1 | 1.3 | 1.3 |
Alberto Grassi | 2.3 | 1.8 | 2.6 | 1.1 | 1.1 |
Max Christiansen | 1.4 | 2.1 | 2.9 | 2.5 | 0.9 |
Lucien Agoume | 6.3 | 2.4 | 2.6 | 1.4 | 1.5 |
Azor Matusiwa | 6.3 | 2.1 | 3.0 | 1.9 | 1.1 |
It's getting close to decision time and I feel that it's between Max Christiansen and Azor Matusiwa and a bit of YouTube tells me that Azor Matusiwa (the Dutch N'golo Kante) is my man and I wouldn't be surprised if he makes his way to the Premier League in the not too distant future - perhaps even being reunited with the man who gave him his Ajax debut - Erik ten Hag.
👉 Azor Matusiwa (£6.3m)
Central Defender
With Joachim Andersen as the main man at the back, I'd like to complement him with a left footed option. My initial thoughts are that I'd be happy with somebody who's no nonsense and will put his head in where it hurts.
I've only just started my search but whilst reviewing the Bundesliga and knowing that I've saved loads of money elsewhere, one name jumps out and it just so happens that he's left footed - Nico Schlotterbeck (Freiburg Borussia Dortmund - £25.2m).
He's been voted into every single Bundesliga Team of the Year that I can find and I've just seen that he's been bought by Dortmund, otherwise he might have come in cheaper. He's also just made his debut for Germany so I feel like I might be a bit late to the party on this one.
He's expensive, there's no doubt about it but with him and Andersen paired up in front of De Gea, we're solid.
👉 Nico Schlotterbeck (£25.2m)
Another £31.5m spent leaves me with £24.9m to spend on my Full Backs.
Left Back
With the hard working Vincenzo Grifo on the wing, I can afford to have a slightly more attacking Left Back who can put in some crosses and can be effective on the overlap. It's likely that Grifo will be cutting inside so somebody who can keep the width and leave the defenders guessing would work well.
There are plenty of players that fit the bill - Andrew Robertson (£58.5m), Theo Hernández (£43.2m) and Alphonso Davies (£63m) are all great fits for this position but as you can see, price is an issue.
Most of the players I've found are far too expensive but here are a few gems that I've found:
Cristiano Biraghi (Fiorentina - £9.0m)
Simone Bastoni (Spezia - £4.5m)
Marvin Plattenhardt (Hertha Berlin - £1.8m)
Christian Günter (Freiburg - £10.8m)
Aarón Martín (Mainz - £4.5m)
Maximilian Mittelstädt (Hertha Berlin - £4.1m)
Another look at whoscored discounts Biraghi, Plattenhardt and Gunter who all have Tackling as a Weakness. However, if I look at Fifa 22's ratings, it's these 3 players who come out on top for defensive and overall ratings.
I'm leaning towards another player that I owned, this time in Fantasy Bundesliga - Christian Günter. He's also Freiburg's captain so he's another leader on the pitch but the thing that I like most, is his pace.
What I've also just noticed is that I've got Freiburg's entire left side - Günter, Schlotterbeck and Grifo so I also know that they know each other's games.
There's very little on YouTube to demonstrate his talents but this assist gives me a good idea of what I'm getting.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4alRRG1KaY4
👉 Christian Günter (£10.8m)
Right Back
£14.1m left for my final position. With Christian Wimmer as my right winger, I definitely need somebody more defensive and happier crossing from deep. If my Right Back strays too far forward, I'd be worried that the right hand side could be a significant weakness in the team.
This time, I'll look on whoscored for players with a high number of successful tackles who also like to cross - so strengths of both Tackling and Crossing...
Very few players fit the bill and those that are close have a Very Strong Weakness in either Holding on to the Ball or Concentration - 2 things that are crucial to the team. Only 1 player seems to satisfy my criteria - Frédéric Guilbert (On Loan at Strasbourg from Aston Villa - £6.3m). He's Very Strong on Crosses and Key Passes which bodes well for Kalajdzic up front and also with Grifo and Günter coming in from the opposite side. He's also Strong on Dribbling and Ball Interceptions so he reads the game well. The Right Hand side of the team feels like the perfect contrast for what's happening on the left, with plenty of different attacking dynamics.
You won't find much on Full Backs on YouTube so this isn't the most exciting video and he looks good in attack too:
👉 Frédéric Guilbert (£6.3m)
This completes the line up - we've got £7.8m left in the bank with no obvious place to spend it.
My Kylian Mbappe Priced Team
So here's my £150m team, newly named "Kylian Mbappé F. C.".
What do you think?
Although the topic of your article does not interest me at all - 😂 you know me, I am a humanities scholar, I may say so 😂 - I just want to tell you that it was a great pleasure for me to read part 1-3. I notice as a reader how much effort and heart and soul you put into your little series. That comes across! That's what makes the gem diver fun!
Thanks for dropping any club/engagement/burn hashtags... 😉
Ha ha, thank you. I'm pleased that despite my article being of no interest, you still took the time to read it 🙂
When I started writing Part 1, I hadn't appreciated how much time I'd end up putting into it. I must have spent at least an hour choosing each position and kept thinking to myself "Is anybody even going to read this??" Fortunately, a few people have! It's a shame now that I've got such a magnificent team, there's nothing I can do with it.
I can't remember ever using the club hashtag - I like to think that people know that I power up so I don't need to keep reminding everybody! I also don't think it's engagement if you need to tell people you're engaging. And I'm still undecided about the burn hashtag - it's getting used a lot
#club100 #I-comment-more-than-I-post #🔥
#metoo 😂😂😂
Great team! 👍... Mbappe is really good but I don't know what there is about him that makes me not cherish him.... I can't really figure it out.. and that price tag was simply ridiculous!.. well, to me.
And for the RB, Bissaka will fit that position, don't
you think? 🤣🤣🤣
Whenever I've seen Mbappe, I've thought he's the best player on the pitch although I haven't watched him much. I'll only be able to truly judge him if he plays in the Premier League - if he can cope with the pace of the game every week, then he'll be worthy of it all.
🤔 If he was FREE, I'd probably say no. He's £27m 🤣🤣🤣
Yes.. if you can thrive in the premier league, you'll do well in other leagues.. usually
🥲🥲🥲🥲.... I'm so glad the new coach doesn't need him..
I see that he's being offered around... for too much money. Too much for Roma anyway. Which means it's more than FREE. Which makes it too expensive 🤣
🤣🤣🤣 oh come on..the club wasted good money on him.. we gotta get some back at least 🌝
He was cheaper than Pogba 🤣
🥲🥲
This is Creativity and i appreciate this. Though i am not good in sport, i'm not too proud or happy to say that, but what will i do ...definitely nothing.
You have Some good series of this Content, i wish other sport lovers found this, this could actually interest a lot of them.
However, i found this because i live reading and this is one good Content even though sport isn't my thing😊.
I was thinking ....Is there a way a game like this could be develope in the platform where Users Can easily play it Online here, maybe that could add more spice, who knows, maybe i could use here as my practice ground...😊
Thanks for Sharing your Content , you are such a good Content Creator.
Thank you for your kind words. It's funny when most of the comments I receive are from people who don't watch football 🤣
There's nothing I can think of which would make my team realistic in any way but I'll have a look and see what I can find 🙂
😅😅, it's quit unfortunate, who knows.., maybe i'll have to learn sport very soon.
You are really a sport person.
It's all I've ever known 😅
That's a very nice formation. Your article is very good!
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