WHILE there are plenty of smart bargains to be had in the world of Dream Team World Cup, top quality still comes at a price.
Take Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi for example.
Alongside Harry Kane, the PSG forwards are the joint-most expensive players in the game at £7.5m but they have thoroughly justified their price tags so far.
France's 23-year-old sensation is level with Enner Valencia on three goals after two group games in what is still an early stage of the Golden Boot race.
Mbappe also provided an assist against Australia in his first outing, hence why he's two points ahead of Ecuador's captain at the top of Dream Team World Cup rankings with 28 points to Valencia's 26.
Messi's first outing was obviously a miserable one as Argentina suffered a shock defeat to Saudi Arabia.
However, the Albiceleste skipper did score from the penalty spot in that game and consequently banked eight points.
And the 35-year-old inspired his side to a 2-0 win over Mexico in Saturday night's must-win fixture, opening the scoring with a pinpoint drive from outside the box before assisting Enzo Fernandez's beautiful curling effort.
Messi claimed the Star Man award at the end of that emotional victory to pocket 15 points, taking his overall tally to 23, a total only bettered by the aforementioned Mbappe and Valencia.
The form of this world-famous pair cranks the pressure up on Kane, Dream Team World Cup's third and final £7.5m striker.
But that respectable return was followed by a glaring blank in what was a relatively anonymous showing against USA.
If the Tottenham forward fails to find the net against Wales on Tuesday night then his ownership of 26.8% will surely drop further - it was above 40% at one stage.
A costly price tag is also weighing heavily on Kevin De Bruyne this winter.
At £7m the 31-year-old is the most-expensive midfielder in the game by a full £1m but he's mustered just three points from two underwhelming outings against Canada and Morocco.
The Manchester City maestro has said publicly that Belgium are 'too old' to win this World Cup and that was before they lost 2-0 to the impressive north African outfit.
Roberto Martinez's side will probably need to beat Croatia to progress to the round of 16, which looks unlikely on current form.
26.7% of Dream Team World Cup bosses may already be thinking of who will replace De Bruyne (who is the best midfield asset in Dream Team's classic Season game at the break) if the Red Devils are eliminated on Thursday.
It's so important that gaffers are backing the right premium options.
Those who decided to invest £14.5m on Kane and De Bruyne would have been rewarded with just ten points at this stage whereas £15m on Mbappe and Messi would have returned 51 points.
