Five long term holds that are under the radar

With the leagues slowly coming back online it’s quite apparent a lot of traders have switched their attention to those offering PB wins and quick gains. It’s fair enough too. The key to FI though is diversification. That’s exactly what this list of five Football Index long term holds is trying to give you and because they’re largely players out of the headlines, they won’t cost the Earth either.

Number 5. Diogo Leite, £0.61

Last year Leite, 21, was a huge part of the Porto youth team that beat both Tottenham and Chelsea on the way to lifting the UEFA youth league. His first team involvement has increased this season with Leite playing 90 minutes in all bar one of their matches in the run to the final of the Taca de Portugal Placard where they’re due to face Benfica. Despite limited league appearances, he’s highly thought of at Porto – who sit top of the Liga Nos table – but they might lose him without him hitting his best. Rumours suggest Sevilla see him as the ideal replacement for their centre half Diego Carlos who looks set to move on.

Number 4. Tyler Adams, £1.08

Adams is one of a number of promising young US talents currently plying their trade in Europe. The 21-year-old holding midfielder or right back joined RB Leipzig in January 2019 and made a good impression in the second half of the campaign. This season hasn’t been quite so enjoyable with just his second full game coming yesterday after a combination of injury and covid-19 had disrupted his flow. If he can get a decent run of games under his belt then there is a real chance he’ll kick on a level with his ability to break up play and recycle accurately two prized assets in today’s game.

Number 3. Marin Pongracic, £0.55

Okay, so Pongracic has had some recent headlines after his brace in Wolfsburg’s 4-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen. Anyone following us on social media will know we were big fans prior to that. The young Croatian defender came through the system at Bayern Munich – proof that he’s no mug – but a move to Salzburg is where he really started to show his potential. A January transfer back to Germany was a welcome move for Pongracic but expect Wolfsburg to be a stepping stone to bigger things and a senior international cap is surely on the horizon too.

Number 2. Thomas Strakosha, £0.36

Lazio bought Albanian keeper Strakosha from Greek outfit Panionios when he was just 17-years-old. He had to bide his time in their youth setup but when Federico Marchetti suffered a knee injury in the 2016/17 season Strakosha seized his opportunity and hasn’t looked back as he’s established himself as both Lazio’s and Albania’s number one. Now 25, he’s attracting attention from several clubs with English trio Leicester, West Ham and Tottenham all linked.

Number 1. Rayan Ait Nouri, £1.38

Here is an 18-year-old with a big future. The young French under 21 left back only played 54 minutes of football in Ligue 1 last year. 45 of that was in a 5-0 mauling at the hands of Lille too. This year has been a different story though with Ait-Nouri providing three assists in 17 appearances before fracturing his jaw. His desire to get forward from defence – doing so with quality on the ball too – has caught the attention of bigger clubs with Wolves and Man City monitoring his situation. It’s fair to say that Angers will do to keep hold of him for long. We give it until next summer at the latest.

There you have it, five players we see as ideal Football Index long term holds with plenty of room to grow over the next 12 months or so.