We've been big on Michu over the last four or so weeks on this site but he is amongst a group of expensive midfielders who have not produced. Now he's injured and Laudrup has confirmed he will miss Swansea's GW11 home clash with Stoke. We have had a look at the form and fixtures and think it's time to sell.
A couple of weeks ago Swansea had the best set of fixtures of any team and this week in the latest update we still rank their next six 2nd in the rankings with choice games against Stoke(H), Fulham(A) and Newcastle(H) to come. However, the best of these in our estimation is Stoke, the one which Michu will miss, and a look ahead sees the fixtures soon turn for Swansea.
Upon his return and with the best fixtures arguably behind him what about form? It's not so good either. Swansea have failed to score in two games now against Cardiff and West Ham and Michu has not packed the threat you should demand from a £9m player in your fantasy team. His form card below shows a peak in Michu's performances around the Crystal Palace game with mostly poor displays since and no goals or assists to show for it.
Michu
Swansea
Midfielder
| Points | %Mins | xGoals/90 | xAssists/90 | aPts/90 | %Team | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 39 | 108% | 0.25 | 0.12 | 2.1 | 19% | ||
| MAN(H) | 2 | 90 | 1.5,0.44 | 0.9,0.14 | 10.7,3.40 | 0.8,0.26 | |
| TOT(A) | 1 | 90 | 1.5,0.00 | 0.9,0.00 | 10.7,0.00 | 0.8,0.00 | |
| WBA(A) |  | 5 | 90 | 1.5,0.03 | 0.9,0.59 | 10.7,1.96 | 0.8,0.23 |
| LIV(H) |  | 8 | 90 | 1.5,0.38 | 0.9,0.24 | 10.7,3.27 | 0.8,0.31 |
| CRY(A) | | 11 | 90 | 1.5,0.68 | 0.9,0.11 | 10.7,4.96 | 0.8,0.43 |
| ARS(H) | 2 | 90 | 1.5,0.00 | 0.9,0.06 | 10.7,0.18 | 0.8,0.03 | |
| SOU(A) | 2 | 90 | 1.5,0.39 | 0.9,0.03 | 10.7,2.72 | 0.8,0.22 | |
| SUN(H) | 3 | 90 | 1.5,0.09 | 0.9,0.00 | 10.7,0.61 | 0.8,0.06 | |
| WHM(H) | 3 | 90 | 1.5,0.25 | 0.9,0.00 | 10.7,1.70 | 0.8,0.21 | |
| CAR(A) | 2 | 64 | 1.5,0.16 | 0.9,0.03 | 10.7,1.20 | 0.8,0.18 |
If Silva is out of reach, then Ramsey is the next best bet. If you don't own him already it's probably best to swallow some pride and just do it the way he is playing, even with Arsenal at Old Trafford this weekend. He's still amazing value at £7.1m.
Other alternatives we like are Stephane Sessegnon and Marko Arnautovic. These are the two midfield players under £7m with the highest point forecast in our latest projections update and both could be very useful players to help you find the cash to afford a lucrative front three of Giroud-Aguero-Suarez. Both have tricky fixtures in GW11 though so you could wait 'til GW12.
What about holding Michu though? Well, we still rate him as in as the 6th best midfielder in the game, even on current form, and would not consider selling him with current fixtures if he was not injured, although recent poor form has cast a lot of doubt. It may be a case that this injury is a blessing in disguise. Your fantasy team can only really afford four or five players in his price range and they all need to be firing. You cannot carry them like you can a £6m player.
