FPL Begin Releasing Player Prices Via Twitter

There’s nothing quite like a slow reveal to elevate the anticipation. This afternoon, the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) took the decision to tease and tantalise us Fantasy managers, offering a glimpse into what’s to come next season by rolling out three player prices on their official twitter feed:

It started just after midday, with the following tweet…

Ahead of Fantasy Premier League 2012/13 launching later this month, which player values would you most like to know now

An hour later, after a frenzy of requests, our appetites were momentarily sated with the next little titbit of information:

Here are today’s three player values: Eden Hazard (CHE) £9.5m, Pavel Pogrebnyak (RDG) £5m and Park Ji-Sung (QPR) £6m.

You have to give them credit here – it’s a clever little ploy, with the opening line in particular leaving us desperate for more now. After this evening’s tweet (below) we’re eager for further revelations:

Thursday’s player values will include new signings Gylfi Sigurdsson (TOT) and Shinji Kagawa (MUN)

Tomorrow is set to bring more our way, then, ahead of the game’s release sometime in the next week or so, while the prices so far give us plenty to ponder:

Eden Hazard comes in at 9.5 – the same valuation afforded to Juan Mata last season – though his classification, as yet unclear, will be crucial. The Belgian’s former team mate Gervinho arrived as a forward in 2011/12 and both played in the wide areas in Lille’s 4-3-3; the difference is that the Ivorian played on the flank in a 4-3-3 role at Arsenal, whereas Chelsea are set to roll out a 4-2-3-1, meaning Hazard will be utilised as an attacking midfielder next term. Classifying Hazard as a midfielder would clearly be the ideal scenario for Fantasy managers for the upcoming season – the idea of him as a forward holds far less appeal. Relatively speaking, what will today’s news mean for Mata’s price? After accruing 162 points in his debut campaign, you’d expect some sort of rise – if this proves to be the case, Hazard could well pick up plenty more suitors as we look to balance our budgets. Looking at the Sky game, Mata is considerably dearer than Hazard, coming in at 8.9 to the new boy’s 7.7.

Pavel Pogrebnyak’s 5.0 valuation is lower than most had anticipated. The Russian looks nailed-on for Brian McDermott’s promoted side and his exploits with Fulham in the second half of last season suggest he could be something of a bargain. Six goals in 12 games at the Cottage harvested an average of 4.5 points per game in 2011/12 and with game time guaranteed as the target man in a front two, many could be swayed by such a price. The acquisition of Nicky Shorey may also inadvertently boost the Russian’s appeal – Shorey is likely to vie with Ian Harte for starts and, if the latter is not on the pitch, Pogrebnyak may be the next in line for spot-kicks. FPL have certainly been kind to Reading’s new signing in comparison to other Fantasy games – Pogrebnyak’s exploits last time round have earned him a mid-price valuation in the Sky game, at 7.2; only 0.3 less than Djibril Cisse, for example.

A cost of 6.0 for Ji-Sung Park was pretty much as anticipated. The South Korean shifts from his previous FPL starting price of 7.0 at United and represents a drop in faith in QPR’s midfield assets last term – the likes of Joey Barton and Adel Taarabt both finished last term with a valuation of less than 6.0. Taken in context, though, it asks questions of Taarabt’s likely price this time round – the Moroccan picked up attacking returns in four of his last five home games and began to find his feet as the season drew to a close. A similar valuation is likely to see him favoured over Park by many, with set-piece duties also in his locker – while the former United man is reasonably priced, he may still struggle to pick up interest. Judging by the Sky game, not much separates them; Park is 4.8 to Taarabt’s 5.2, while Barton comes in at 5.0.