I picked 23 players for the initial ‘performance fund’, with most players costing less than £1.50 but a few outliers at the top end, like Havertz at £3, because I think he’s now established as one of the best players in the Bundesliga, and Van Dijk at £3.05, because of his MB pull. Kimmich also came in a little higher than I’d planned at £2.53 but his performance stats are solid and I expect him to return to a defender at some point, when Opta get their act together.

In the middle bracket, I’ve picked solid PB players based on their track record last season – like Thiago, Marquinhos, Savanier, Xhaka, Laporte and Fabian Ruiz. All of these are seasoned dividend earners, with at least 5 scores over 165 points last year and a minimum of 3 dividends wins, so I expect people to be picking these up as the start of the season approaches.

I’ve gone for a few players in the sub-65p bracket too – players like Mendes, Raman, Defrel, Beric, Politano, Lala and Cafaro. At this price level, I think we could see these players getting some decent CA next season if they can hit some good form and notch up some goals and assists.

Rashica had a great season at Werder Bremen and is looking most likely to benefit from the departure of Max Kruse, including taking on penalty duties. He’s also just fired Kosovo into Euro 2020, so definitely one to watch next year.

I’ve picked a couple of players that were a little inconsistent last year. Suso had a really up and down year at Milan but when he was good, he was very good indeed, with a PB average of 100 and 4 scores over 175. Kramaric had a dip in form towards the end of the season but finished up with an average of 92 and a massive 22 goals to his name – at only 76p, that made him a no-brainer really.

Another goalscorer making the cut is Khazri, with 13 goals and 6 assists over the course of the season. He’s one of the first names that traders think of for IPDs and with St Etienne making the Europa League next season, I had to bring him on board.

Some wildcards – I’ve picked Frenkie de Jong, assuming his Ajax form will continue at his new club Barcelona. He could’ve slotted into the ‘Potential’ fund but I think we can consider him an established player now, despite his age.

I’ve also gone with Griezmann, despite the uncertainty about where he will play next season. Even if he stays at Atletico Madrid, his previous PB stats speak for themselves – but I’m obviously running the risk of a price dip if a move is (or isn’t) confirmed.

Likewise Lo Celso – I’m fully expecting him to move during the summer but, even if he doesn’t, his average PB score of 78 and a decent 14 goals last season, puts him in my team for performance reasons.

Since purchasing these players, the fund has seen a slight rise in value, equivalent to roughly 1%. Not a bad start.

You can view the full list of players and their loss/gain so far on the Performance assets page – let me know if you think I’ve picked well or if I’ve missed any gems.