IT’S early days in the world of Dream Team’s Euros fantasy game but Kylian Mbappe (£7.5m) has taken a narrow lead in the popularity stakes.
The France star features in 53.1% of teams and while most gaffers will have only built a first draft at this stage, it’s a strong indication of the superstar forward’s status ahead of this summer’s tournament in Germany.
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Mbappe is the only player who appears in the majority of teams almost a week on from the launch of our Euros fantasy game but it should be noted that Harry Kane (£7.5m) is a close second.
England’s captain boasts a massive ownership of 49.9% and he’s followed by team-mate Jude Bellingham (£6m), who features in 48.9% of teams.
Kane and Mbappe are the joint-most expensive assets in the game but their lofty price tags have done little to dissuade Dream Team bosses.
Selecting both strikers requires 30% of the £50million budget available to each gaffer but the duo have evidently been deemed worthy of the significant investment by many.
Mbappe took the last major international tournament by storm, claiming the Golden Boot at the 2022 World Cup via a hat-trick in the final.
The 25-year-old has scored 44 goals and registered ten assists in 47 appearances for PSG this season – an obscene record.
For France, he’s scored 13 goals in his last 12 outings having been elected captain in March of last year.
Didier Deschamps’ troops are among the strongest sides at Euro 2024 on paper and will face Austria, Netherlands and Poland in Group D.
The question for Dream Team gaffers is not whether they can afford Mbappe, but whether they can afford to go without him?
Kane will head into the tournament off the back of a similarly impressive campaign, despite Bayern Munich’s failure to win a trophy.
The ex-Tottenham striker has plundered 44 goals in as many games in the Bundesliga and Champions League this term, not to mention a respectable tally of 12 assists.
And like Mbappe, he has a World Cup Golden Boot on his mantelpiece – he required a handful penalties to claim the gong in 2018.
What’s undeniable is that both Kane and Mbappe offer top-tier attacking pedigree and the pair are bound to be immensely popular come Matchday 1.
It will be interesting to see whether the Frenchman will still be the most-selected asset in the game come June 14th, when the action gets underway.
More broadly, it’s clear which teams Dream Team managers consider the favourites this summer as every member of the top ten most-popular players represents either France (two), England (five) or Germany (three).
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