Fantasy Premier League is back better than ever ahead of the start of the 2024/25 Premier League season. But an interesting record has been set when it comes to the pricing of the players. That is because Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has been granted a unique ‘first’ in FPL’s two-decade-long history.
Haaland has been granted a whopping £15.0 point value. That means in order to get him in their 15-player squad, a user will have to use up 15% of their entire budget on a single person. There is a good reason for this. He scored 27 goals in 31 Premier League games last season and accumulated an impressive 217 points.
Now, 217 wasn’t the highest managed by a player (Cole Palmer did that with 244 points), but Haaland was constantly among the highest-picked player in the game. If one opted not to pick the striker, that user risked seeing a sharp decline in their rating in case Haaland scored a flurry of goals. But now, due to his value, there is a debate on whether he should be a lock-in for the entire season or not.
Why you should pick Haaland
Despite the debate over whether he actually deserves to be the highest-rated player in FPL history, the fact of the matter is that Haaland has been a goal machine for the Cityzens. In 66 Premier League appearances, the Norwegian forward has scored 63 goals and provided 19 assists. That is actually more than one goal contribution per game.
A statistic such as this is enough to compel one to invest in Haaland in a game like FPL, where boosts in points come from goal contributions for forwards and midfielders. To make things more lucrative, the Cityzens have bolstered their attacking options with the exciting signing of Savio from Girona to add even more firepower to their attack.
Pep Guardiola’s side might employ a precise possession-heavy style, but their end goal is to feed Haaland in key areas for him to score goals. This is especially relevant in games outside those against the ‘top-4 teams’, as inferior defenders often fail to mark Haaland out of games.
In their first 10 matches of the 2024/25 Premier League campaign, the Cityzens only have three ‘tough’ games. Those include the season opener against Chelsea (away) and home games against Arsenal and Newcastle United.
Haaland has gotten a full summer of rest due to Norway’s inability to compete in Euro 2024 and will be at his peak fitness levels once the campaign begins, as long as he doesn’t get injured in the pre-season matches. As a result, he will be raring to make an early push for the Premier League golden boot by slamming goals against the midtable/lower-table sides and can give the users who trust him a nice start to their FPL campaign.
What if you don’t want to risk 15m on Haaland?
One can’t blame an FPL user, especially a veteran, to be aggrieved and reluctant to spend that much on a single player. The secret to success in the fantasy game is not relying on one star forward or midfielder, but building a compelling squad full of efficient, effective players who can bring a user a healthy amount of points in every single game-week.
Spending 15m on Haaland means users will need to cut corners on other aspects of their squad. They might not be able to spend much more on the other forwards. Or they might need to risk buying some lower-rated midfielders or defenders. Moreover, if one is to pair up the Manchester City man with someone like Mo Salah (12.5m) or Cole Palmer (10.5m).
There is a way round to solving the ‘Haaland problem’ and that is by not selecting him at all. In 15m, one can opt for two forwards who are the vocal points of their respective teams’ attack. You can buy both Darwin Nunez and Dominic Solanke for that price. The former might be error-prone, but accumulated 132 points in FPL last season. Solanke scored 19 goals with Bournemouth.
There is also the possibility of pairing up Ollie Watkins (9.0) with someone like Brighton forward Joao Pedro, who is their penalty taker too. One can also opt to switch things up and buy a midfielder with high goal contributions probability along with an effective ‘cheaper’ striker.
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes is rated at 8.5. He created the most goal-scoring chances last season in the Premier League and also scored 10 goals. Fernandes is a set-piece taker and penalty specialist, guaranteeing goal returns consistently. He can be paired up with Wolves forward Matheus Cunha, who had 19 goal contributions last season.
There are a lot of different combinations possible with 15m to spend. Haaland might be a consistent goal threat, but he isn’t guaranteed to score a hat-trick every game. He actually blanked in 12 of his 31 Premier League appearances last season and that pattern could potentially continue in the 2024/25 campaign too. The entire ‘pick or not to pick’ debate around Erling Haaland is based on gamble.
He is still likely to be the highest-picked player in the game despite the 15m valuation. But to be ahead of the curve, the FPL specialists often have to take risks. This is a risk that can help the non-Haaland pickers fly ahead of the average, but can also potentially blow up in their faces if he enjoys the best goal-scoring season of his career.
