In Fantasy Premier League (FPL), each manager is given an initial £100m budget to build a squad of 15 players. Such is the ever-evolving status of player form, injuries, suspensions and team fixtures throughout the season, this squad needs to be regularly refreshed with some new blood via free transfers.
The next instalment in our series of introductory guides explains how such moves work in FPL.
- READ MORE: What is the FPL Wildcard chip and when should it be used?
- READ MORE: What is the FPL Free Hit chip and when should it be used?
- READ MORE: What is the FPL Triple Captain chip and when should it be used?
- READ MORE: What is the FPL Bench Boost chip and when should it be used?
FREE TRANSFERS
Once the season starts, each manager receives one free transfer per Gameweek, to be within budget and used pre-deadline (no later than 90 minutes before the week’s first match kicks off).
These details are shown when you select the ‘Transfers’ tab.
When removing an individual – by selecting ‘Replace’ on the app, or clicking the player’s top-left cross via desktop – the money you have to spend updates immediately. But don’t worry, the transfer won’t be confirmed until you finalise it later.
The weekly free transfer can be carried over into the following Gameweek but no more than two can be saved up. Trying to collect a third just means it’ll disappear.
Ideally, FPL managers wait until nearer the deadline to confirm transfers, once real-life bosses have spoken about injuries in their press conferences. However, an imminent player price change means this isn’t always possible.
PRICE CHANGES
Yes, that’s right. After a large number of purchases or sales, a player will rise or fall £0.1m in price. For example, Kieran Trippier began the 2022/23 campaign at £5.0m but ended it as a £6.1m option. Similarly, Eddie Nketiah began at £7.0m but was £6.3m by the final weekend.
The price shown on the ‘Transfers’ page is a player’s selling price. If they’ve risen, you’ll make a profit of 50% (rounded down to the nearest £0.1m) but, if they’ve dropped, you receive that exact lower amount.
PRICE WHEN BOUGHT | CURRENT VALUE | SALE PRICE | |
---|---|---|---|
TRIPPIER | £5.0m | £6.1m | £5.5m |
NKETIAH | £7.0m | £6.3m | £6.3m |
SPEND POINTS ON EXTRA TRANSFERS
If your FPL squad is full of injuries, suspensions and unfancied players, there’s always the option of spending four points on an additional transfer. This risky tactic is especially liked when a Double Gameweek arrives, as selling a one-match player for a two-matcher should – in theory – redeem part of the hit just from appearance points.
You can even choose to spend eight points on two extra transfers, 12 points on three of them etc.
EXCEPTIONS
Meanwhile, FPL gives us five chips per season – three of which allow unlimited player swaps at no cost:
Free Hit – Using unlimited free transfers to form a squad for one Gameweek only.
2 x Wildcard – Using unlimited free transfers to transform your squad for current and future Gameweeks. One is to be used in each half of the season.
It’s up to you as an individual manager to decide when these are used, adding a more methodical, forward-planning approach to the game.
TOO LONG, DIDN’T READ?
In a nutshell, every FPL manager gets one free transfer (within budget) per Gameweek. If things are fine, you can carry it over into the following week but no more than two can be collected at once.
Beyond that freebie, you can also spend four points per additional transfer but it’s a risky tactic that could backfire.
On three occasions each season, using an FPL chip will allow you to make unlimited free transfers – although the Free Hit squad is for one week only.