THE team budget in Dream Team Euros has increased to £53million for all managers!
This injection of an additional £3million coincides with Matchday 5, where the tournament really ramps up.
Gaffers have been able to target certain one-sided match-ups to date but the remaining fixtures from the quarter-finals onwards are set to be hotly contested.
Nothing underlines this more than Friday’s blockbuster fixtures of Spain v Germany and Portugal v France – juicy!
The unpredictable, high-profile nature of these clashes is the exact reason Dream Team Euros bosses now have some extra cash to play with – as was always planned per the Game Rules.
It stands to reason that most of the regular starters among the top teams come at a significant cost.
This budget increases ensures gaffers can still select a fully active XI at the back end of the tournament when the number of viable bargains is limited.
That’s not to say there aren’t still some affordable assets knocking about.
The lop-sided nature of the draw means that one of Turkey, Austria, Romania or Netherlands are guaranteed to make the semi-finals, where they’ll meet either England or Switzerland.
Today’s results will give a clearer indication of how things might play out in the bottom half of the draw.
Managers are not obligated to spend the full £53million but it certainly opens up other options at a helpful juncture.
At the time of writing, Theo Hernandez (£5m) is the top defender in the game having taken his overall tally to 35 points with an 11-point return against Belgium.
France’s left-back has been a great option from the get-go but the fact he’s the joint-most expensive player in his position will have put many gaffers off.
However, it’s now much easier to fit the 26-year-old into a balanced XI thanks to the budget increase.
Given that Les Bleus are yet to concede a goal from open play and Portugal failed to breach Slovenia’s defence over 120 minutes last time out, Hernandez is likely to be a popular recruit ahead of Matchday 5.
Elsewhere, Kylian Mbappe (£7.5m) and Harry Kane (£7.5m) are the joint most-expensive players in the game overall and some gaffers will now believe it’s possible to combine the pair.
The England captain has looked well below his best but he’s been on hand with two opportunistic finishes and, as a result, only four strikers have notched more points than his tally of 25 at present.
More generally, Gareth Southgate’s side have desperately struggled for attacking inspiration but if you offered them a quarter-final against Switzerland (a well-organised side it has to be said) in the more favourable half of the draw three weeks ago, the nation would have gladly accepted.
France’s No10 has scored just once (from the penalty spot) but he’s amassed 31 points thanks in no small part to his unmatched total of 11 bonus points – only Jeremy Doku (£5m) has completed more successful dribbles at the tournament.
Combining Kane and Mbappe may not be as appealing now as it might have seemed prior to Matchday 1 but this strategy is more viable following the budget increase for those who think the two pre-tournament favourites will come good in the quarters.
Whatever you decide, remember to lock in your transfers for Matchday 5 by 4pm on Friday.
