BRUNO BUZZ
Bruno Fernandes - will he, won’t he? One name has dominated the media rankings in January and that name is Brunoooooooo (as Rio Ferdinand put it).
Transfer speculation has been non-stop for two weeks now as Manchester United can’t seem to agree a fee for a player desperate to come from a team desperate for money, when they themselves are desperate for some quality in midfield. It's desperate all round and it's desperately difficult to understand why or how this deal might not come off, but at the time of writing it seems more likely to not happen, causing a Bruno drop back down closer to the £4 mark.
For traders that bought Bruno at the beginning of this new wave of rumours that Manchester United were back in for him, the capital appreciation (he was around £2.75 at the beginning of the month) and constant media dividends. Lovely.
And if you, like me, bought Bruno when Football Index announced their risk-free offer on 10 January, it has been a pretty sweet deal if you have continued to hold throughout this saga, and holding him despite this current fall probably makes sense.
But in general traders have a decision to make - Bruno's numbers for performance buzz (PB) are good but even if he signs, will he be able to translate that form to a team where, with the exception of Marcus Rashford, no-one is doing much to write home about? Has his value peaked, or will a PB performance for United in the run-in bring out the rocket emojis?
⚽ Bruno Fernandes needs to reign supreme to be a Man United success
IP OH NO
They say a week is a long time in football and on the Index it can feel like an age. Drama arrived in the form of the returning IPO’s (Initial Player Offering). Rejoice! On the first day, just three players were added, a strange amount, but one in particular was sought after - Japhet Tanganga of Tottenham.
After what happened with Rayan Cherki of Lyon, when his IPO price got stuck and the FI technology struggled to cope with demand, some were silently hoping it might happen again. Unbelievably, it did and people had a free shot at buying Tanganga around his initial IPO price.
The bids froze at the 85p mark for a few minutes and after a short moment where the system was inactive, people ploughed in buying thousands once access was restored. Once the tech sorted itself out and caught up with the buys, Tanganga skyrocketed all the way up to £3.47.
IPOs, or Initial Player Offerings, is Football Index's way of introducing new talents to the platform. Traders are given a heads up on which players will be added, along with a guide price.FI Definitions
Advice for new users - this isn’t the norm. This has only happened once before and that was during the last set of IPO's. You would think the tech will have been fixed for the next batch, but you can bet your last pound people will be eager and hopeful of it happening again. I know I will.
And if you're new to the platform, IPO's are something to be wary of, and probably avoided, until you get more experience of the platform. It's a ruthless business waiting for a player to be added and it's a case of fastest finger first. A coveted player can go up really quickly and you might end up buying at a higher price than you wanted to. And worth knowing that Instant Selling isn't allowed on IPO's for a period of time after release - so you need to sell back to the market, and you won't be the only one doing so.
SILLY SEASON
The January transfer window has always been an intense time. I had my first experience last year so I knew what to expect this time around, and now we have a lot more traders which means even more people with Twitter notifications set up on certain accounts to hear the news first.
We see rises on all kinds of rumours, some with not that much meat on the bone at all, as people just buy for either a quick flip or perhaps thinking they have struck oil nice and early. With Sky Sports News' insistence on over-hyping this month a contributing factor, I can’t see the Index ever changing once the new year begins.
Our new BIGGEST payout
— Football Index (@FootballIndex) January 13, 2020
Introducing Transfer Window Dividends
10p for a secured transfer
5p for a secured loan
For all the information you need https://t.co/bta5VS0V8O#FootballIndex #FICommunity pic.twitter.com/dMdaqvu8lX
Even FI HQ have got in on the act by offering “transfer dividends”. At first I liked the idea but now it has been in practice, it doesn’t really have a role in this window. What it has caused is even more over the top 'pumping' of players anywhere near £1 as this is the price they have decided players must be to qualify for the dividend.
Why they have done this, I am not too sure, but perhaps these dividends will start to make more sense in the final days of the window as deals start to get done on a more regular basis. Speaking of which, has Bruno signed yet?
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Japhet Tanganga 
Tottenham 
