This Southampton student is one of the world’s best Fantasy Football players

It’s the classic 21st century problem. You’ve had one too many lageritas on a Friday with the boys and you’ve woken up realising you’ve missed the 12:15pm transfer deadline for Fantasy Football. You’re going to ride a Norwich home defeat all the way down the Lads League, being overtaken by some guy called Chris who frankly shouldn’t have been added in the first place, while begging on the WhatsApp that you – yes, really – you actually were going to put Costel Pantilimon as your triple captain this week.

Harry Majin, a third year Law student, has learned to beat all these problems on his way to becoming one of the world’s top Fantasy Football players- he’s currently ranked 821st out of over 3,500,000 worldwide.

We caught up with him in his plush Sirdar Road living room to chat about the highs and lows of life at the top.

Congratulations on breaking into the top 1000. How much dedication has gone into this?

I would say I put more effort into fantasy football than I put into my degree. Why do compulsory reading when you can watch Match of the Day and play FIFA?

Do you read expert blogs to pick your teams or is it all based on your own knowledge?

I do all my own research. In the ideal world you don’t want to be following trends but setting them, otherwise you can never overtake the average player.

Have you hit a hot streak this season or have you always been this talented?

I had a shocker last season, I was bottom of my mates’ league for most of the year barring a strong comeback near the end. This season my hunches have paid off.

So is it fair to say there’s an element of total randomness? Or is there skill involved?

There’s always an element of luck in football but you need to do everything you can to make your own luck, so use obvious indicators like form and upcoming games when bringing in players.

Has your success affected your relationships with your friends at all?

The guys have threatened to kick me out of our league because of my hefty lead. It doesn’t help that I’m the opposite of a gracious winner. I’m always sure to keep them updated on how well I’m doing on the group chat, much to their disgust.

The attention from girls is pretty crazy. I’ll be at a gathering and they’ll be like ‘Oh my god it’s that guy with no life!’ Fantasy football excellence is a blessing and a curse.

What’s surprised you the most this season?

Jamie Vardy would be the obvious one, you’re a fool if you didn’t bring him in after the first couple of games.

As a Chelsea fan it’s also been surprising and heartbreaking to see how appalling we’ve been, when Hazard was a sure thing last season.

Who’s your picks for this week?

My picks for this week would be: Lukaku, in great form. Tadic, changed the game when he came on vs City and is playing a leaky Aston Villa team.