End of Season Awards – Forwards

After checking out the main Goalkeepers, Defenders and Midfielders from a Fantasy Football perspective over 2016/17, our series of end of season awards articles concludes with the men up front.

Once again, we’ve released a poll in the right column of the homepage to collect your votes – please remember that each person can cast three votes this time around.

2015/16 Fantasy Football Scout Team of the Season Review

Goalkeeper – Jack Butland

Defenders – Toby Alderweireld, Hector Bellerin, Christian Fuchs

Midfielders – Riyad Mahrez, Dele Alli, Dimitri Payet, Mesut Ozil

Forwards – Jamie Vardy,Sergio Aguero, Harry Kane

Both Harry Kane and Sergio Aguero find a place in our Poll for 2016/17.

Winner of the Golden Boot for the second successive season, the 29-goal Kane soared to the top of the FPL forward standings after netting eight times over his final three fixtures.

Scoring 33 times in all competitions in Pep Guardiola’s first year in charge, Aguero had his most successful campaign for Man City. Yet the Argentinian’s FPL season was somewhat hit and miss – he failed to produce a single double-figure haul in front of his own supporters.

Handed a 10.0 price tag after serving up 24 goals and eight assists in Leicester City title-winning season, Jamie Vardy did little to justify that lofty valuation until the club parted company with Claudio Ranieri.

Vardy mustered just five goals and three assists in the opening 26 Gameweeks, scoring in just three of those fixtures, before belatedly rediscovering his form to steer his side to safety over the run-in.

The Foxes forward produced eight goals and five assists in 13 outings, averaging 7.0 points per match (ppm) under Craig Shakespeare to suggest he may yet be a factor at a lesser price next time around.

Vardy misses out on a nomination this time around, while Aguero edges into our thinking alongside the Spurs’ talisman who is very much in the running for a third successive team of the season appearance.

Harry Kane

The only forward to start all 38 Gameweeks in 2015/16, Spurs’ top scorer was handed an 11.0 price tag last time out after claiming the Golden Boot with 25 goals.

After 10 round of fixtures, Kane’s hopes of retaining that accolade seemed slim to none – he’d found the net twice and was sidelined for five matches through injury.

Yet his relentless quest for goals was not to be denied.

Despite missing a total of eight league outings due to an ankle complaint, the Spurs striker racked up 29 goals, seven assists and 33 bonus points on his way to accruing 224 FPL points and grabbing top spot in the forward standings.

He was also number one frontman in the Telegraph game and second to Alexis Sanchez in Sky Sports.

Kane’s FPL exploits saw him rack up nine double-digit tallies, with five 15+ points hauls which included a devastating 31-point haul in Double Gameweek 37 that will live long in Fantasy folklore.

A price hike once again looks unavoidable, with Kane potentially rising to the 13.0 mark. While team-mates Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen will offer relatively cheaper alternatives, if Kane can maintain his average of 7.5 ppm over the following season and steer clear of injury, it will be difficult to avoid a player who has supplied at least 20 goals in three successive campaigns.

Romelu Lukaku

Starting out at a cost of just 9.0m, the Everton striker flourished in his maiden season under Ronald Koeman.

Named in the Toffees’ first XI in every match from Gameweek 3 onwards, Lukaku arguably exceeded all our expectations on his way to producing 25 goals, six assists and 33 bonus points – a total of 221 points was ultimately just three behind Kane at the summit.

Matching Kane’s total of nine double-digit hauls, the Belgian was particularly reliable in front of his own supporters, scoring in eight successive home matches from Gameweek 18 onwards.

While a price hike to around 10.5 or 11.0 looks on the cards, the chances of Lukaku staying on Merseyside are certainly in question. Although there’s no doubting his potential as a proven supplier of goals, both at Everton and West Brom, it may take a mooted move to Chelsea or Man United to keep a premium-priced Lukaku in the frame.

Sergio Aguero

For most forwards, 20 goals in 25 league starts (plus six appearances off the bench) would represent very good business.

Yet in a season where the likes of Lukaku and Costa were so favourably priced from the off, Aguero struggled to turn heads and justify his initial £13.0m price tag.

Chipping in with five assists and 32 bonus points, Aguero still averaged a very reasonable 5.6ppm, yet a score of 175 points means that his total points haul has dropped year on year from a career-high 216 in 2014/15.

Nonetheless, he fired more shots (139) and attempts in the penalty area (100) than any forward but ultimately suffered from a patchy 14.4% conversion rate.

Next season, though, Aguero is faced with a tough task to remain Fantasy royalty. City new boy Gabriel Jesus provided seven goals and four assists in just 10 league appearances, averaging 6.7 ppm, and is surely set to come in with a kinder price tag.

As evidenced by his converted penalty against Leicester City in Double Gameweek 37, the latter also seems to be on spot-kicks for City, which may well tip the balance in his favour when it comes to assembling our squads for 2017/18.

Diego Costa

Chelsea’s disastrous title defence saw their lone striker afforded a 9.5 price tag as the 2016/17 got underway with new manager Antonio Conte at the helm.

Serving up a goal or assist in 15 of Chelsea’s first 19 league matches, Costa proved one of the most consistent options around in the first half of the season, in particular, soaring as high as 11.0 in cost by Gameweek 17 to vie with Eden Hazard as our preferred route into Conte’s attack.

A lack of Champions League duties certainly helped as Costa amassed 20 goals, 11 assists and 25 bonus points on his way to earning 196 FPL points – a career-high for the Spain international, yet almost 30 points behind Hazard’s 224 as the top scoring Blues’ asset.

A price rise to 10.5 or even 11.0 looks very likely and, with his average of 5.6 ppm bettered by team-mates Hazard (6.2) and Marcos Alonso (5.7), Costa could struggle to retain the degree of popularity that earned him over 4 million transfers in, more than any player in the game.

Fernando Llorente

The top value forward in FPL, Swansea City’s target man bagged 15 goals in his debut season at the Liberty.

Starting out at 6.5, Llorente took his time to acclimatise in the Premier League – a single goal in the first 12 Gameweeks earned a price drop to 6.1 as we turned to Gylfi Sigurdsson as the prime source of Swans coverage.

By the time Gameweek 34 came around, the Spaniard had scored in just seven of his first 28 appearances, with his tally ticking over mainly thanks to four braces over that period.

Yet a switch to a midfield diamond, with Llorente partnered by Jordan Ayew up front, helped him find the net in all but one of his side’s remaining five league matches.

A slight rise to around 7.0 seems liklely, although if he can maintain that end-of-season inconstancy, Llorente could emerge as a key target in the mid-price range.

Should Sigurdsson stay, though, the target man faces a tough task to overcome him as our go-to Swansea option.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Snapped up from PSG over the summer, the veteran shrugged off suggestions that he would struggle to adjust to the rigours of the Premier League.

By the time he sustained a season-ending knee injury on Europa League duties, Ibrahimovic had played a part in 50% of Man United’s 48 goals in the opening 33 Gameweeks – netting 17 times and supplying seven assists.

With his totals of 115 shots and 47 key passes more than any forward over that period, the Swede offered a consistent pick for our three-man frontlines – he produced points on 17 of his 27 starts, with six sets of double-figures.

Although he finished sixth in the overall FPL forward standings, Ibrahimovic’s average of 5.8 ppm was enough to claim fourth and bettered both Aguero and Costa on 5.6 apiece.

With the veteran uncertain to stay and ruled out until after New Year anyway, Jose Mourinho’s summer shopping spree will be eagerly anticipated by Fantasy managers.

Jermain Defoe

Despite plying his trade for a doomed Sunderland outfit, Defoe was a force of nature in the opening half of the season – a total of 14 goals in the first 24 Gameweeks was level with Kane and only two behind top scorer Lukaku.

Despite finding the net on just one more occasion, he still finished second to Llorente for value in terms of points per million (22.4) value. Furthermore, totals of 15 goals and three assists meant that Defoe played a part in 62% of his side’s efforts in 2016/17 – more than any other forward.

With the Black Cats now relegated, reports continue to link the veteran with a switch back to former club Bournemouth.

There’d be no surprise if he remained around this term’s starting price of 7.0 if that move transpires, though Defoe’s arrival could see him vie with Josh King as our favoured Bournemouth option – particularly if he’s handed spot-kicks.