Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka as an FPL asset has embodied consistency so far. He’s provided returns in all games he’s played, barring one, and has emerged as one of the best assets this season.
But it isn’t his performances that have brought him into the FPL twitter spotlight, it’s an unexpected price change that see’s the entirety of the FPL community confused and some annoyed.
Saka was priced at 10m prior to the change- a price that can be considered fair for the premium asset he is.
But heading into Gameweek 10 he increased in price by 0.1m which completely defied the basics of what we as FPL managers know about price changes.
For those unaware as to how and why price changes in FPL go by, here’s what there is to know-
Player prices may change when they are heavily transferred in or out by FPL managers. A player’s price can rise by £0.1m per day if they are a popular transfer in. However, if a player is heavily sold by FPL managers, their price can drop by £0.1m per day.
These price changes are often automated and take place overnight UK time. Managers try and plan moves in advance to counter expected price changes, many use websites to help predict these changes as well.
Now that we know this, one would assume Saka was heavily transferred in which caused his price to increase, but the complete opposite took place. Saka was transferred out by over 1 million FPL managers which should ideally cause a change in the other direction.
Speculation amongst members of the community range from manual manipulation of the FPL price system to a glitch in the algorithm that deals with price changes.
The twitter community seems to blame the unknown entity termed as the “FPL cartel” or “FPL Towers”.
This unpredictability has led some managers to question the transparency and reliability of FPL’s pricing system- as price changes this season have been volatile and plenty.
After all, it’s not just about picking players but about managing budget, balancing risk and reward, and squeezing maximum value out of each position. Unjustified price increases can upend these calculations, particularly for managers who don’t have the luxury of extra funds to spare.
While Saka’s price rise of 0.1m is marginal his performance against Liverpool maybe justifies the rise to some extent even though it’s not how the price changes work. The Arsenal winger marked his comeback from injury with 9 points (1 goal scored) .
Maybe it’s time to adjust to the new pricing gods of the FPL that bring about changes disregarding the transfer trends.