As the youth would say: Reece James (£5.3m) has entered the chat.
Chelsea’s rampaging right-back was a Dream Team sensation last season, racking up over 200 points despite missing a significant portion of the campaign through injury.
However, much like the Blues as a whole, 2022/23 started slowly.
Prior to Game Week 8, James had mustered 17 points which wasn’t befitting of his price tag or his popularity.
After another blank against Crystal Palace at the weekend, the 13.8% of gaffers currently backing the England international may have been thinking of ditching him on Friday when transfers are refreshed.
But then came a genuinely world-class performance against Milan on Wednesday night.
James was the best player on the park, contributing a goal and an assist, as Graham Potter’s side swept the Serie A champions aside with a comfortable 3-0 victory.
Add in a 7+ rating plus a Star Man award and the 22-year-old banked 20 points when all was said and done at Stamford Bridge, more than doubling his overall tally in one fell swoop.
Suddenly James is the joint-fifth best asset in his position and all looks rosy for his backers.
One of the four defenders with more points than James at this stage is Thiago Silva (£5.7m), who has amassed 52 points – only Joao Cancelo (£7.6m) boasts a greater tally (60).
The experienced Brazilian has achieved his impressive total by virtue of four Star Man awards – the joint-most alongside Erling Haaland (£8.7m) this term.
Granted, he probably should have seen red against the Eagles at the weekend but Dream Team gaffers should focus on what actually happened rather than what almost occurred.
Generally speaking, Chelsea have conceded more goals than they would have liked this season but a quick glance at their upcoming fixtures suggests we should expect more points from James and Silva.
This weekend, Potter’s men take on a Wolves side that have scored just three league goals this season.
After that it’s a trip to Italy for the reverse fixture against Milan which looks much more favourable after the one-sided affair in west London.
Game Week 10 then gets underway with a trip to Aston Villa and while Steven Gerrard’s mob may not be as blunt as Wolves in attack, they’re still the joint-third lowest scorers in the league.
A pairing of James and Silva would take up a sizeable chunk of a gaffer’s budget but it’s not unthinkable they could return a wealth of points in the next ten days given the state of their opponents.
And James’ showing in midweek indicates more attacking returns could be on the cards as well as probable clean sheets.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
