Aaron Wan-Bissaka‘s (£5.5m) price increase in Fantasy Premier League is as eye-catching as the £50m move to Manchester United that followed in late June.
In 2018/19, Wan-Bissaka was the much-heralded budget defensive gem, starting 35 of Crystal Palace’s 38 matches and returning 120 FPL points over the course of the campaign.
Wan-Bissaka – who was priced at £4.0m in Gameweek 1 of last season – was on the pitch for all 12 of the Eagles’ clean sheets, while he racked up 18 bonus points to compensate for a lack of attacking returns (no goals, three assists).
A year is a long time in FPL.
Championed for his value for money (26.1 points per million spent) last season, there has been something of a backlash against his price rise this summer.
Still, that hasn’t stopped over one in three FPL managers from drafting Wan-Bissaka into their initial squads.
Virgil van Dijk (£6.5m) and Andrew Robertson (£7.0m) are the only two defenders who are proving more popular in FPL at the time of writing.
As we have said before, that 34.1% ownership can perhaps be explained by a number of factors – a nostalgia for his returns in 2018/19, a move to a ‘big six’ club and a higher rate of so-called casuals playing the game at this stage of the year.
We shouldn’t just ignore those FPL managers who have acquired him, though, as there is much to admire about Wan-Bissaka’s game.
Whether there is enough to warrant a price rise to £5.5m is something we’ll be exploring in the Members’ article below.
