Most of us Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers will be praying for our squad to emerge from this international break unscathed.
But the two-and-a-half-week gap between Gameweeks will also allow some already injured players to get closer to a return to action.
Here are some medium-to-long-term absentees who we may be seeing in Gameweek 30 or soon after – and who might soon reappear on the Fantasy radar.
For the latest updates on some of the shorter-term injuries, check out the below links:
- READ MORE: Mateta injury latest as Palace striker discusses return date
- READ MORE: When Alexander-Arnold could be back in FPL as return date mooted
- READ MORE: Robinson injury update after USA squad withdrawal
- READ MORE: Cunha to return in FPL Gameweek 32 after extra ban dished out
- READ MORE: Palmer injury latest – and why we might not know if he’s fit before Gameweek 30
- READ MORE: Gordon injury update: “It does not look good”
BUKAYO SAKA
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“He’s getting closer. He’s stepping up and making very good progress, I would say. Let’s see when we decide to throw him in with the team, how he reacts and how fit he can get quickly” – Mikel Arteta on Bukayo Saka, speaking on Friday 14 March
Bukayo Saka‘s (£10.2m) return is probably the most keenly awaited in Fantasy circles.
The winger has been out since December with a hamstring injury but his comeback from a three-month absence is looming.
The Evening Standard reported this week that Saka “will be involved in longer and more intense one-on-one fitness sessions over the next few weeks, while he will also begin working with the ball and training with his team-mates”.
The UEFA Champions League double-header against Real Madrid, which takes place on either side of Gameweek 32, will no doubt be a key target.
FANTASY PROSPECTS
We all know how much Mikel Arteta loves Saka. As soon as he’s fit, and even when he’s half-fit, he tends to be in the starting XI.
It’s also worth pointing out that Martin Odegaard (£8.2m) was thrust straight back into the team upon his own recovery from a two-month-long injury in Gameweek 11. No gentle reintroduction off the bench for him.
It’s still worth proceeding with caution until we actually see Saka on the field. Arteta is notorious for his non-committal press conference updates (“we’ll see” etc), and he’s unlikely to tell us outright before Gameweek 30 whether Saka is ready to go.
Gameweek 33 might be the time to pounce, should Arsenal get a Double Gameweek then. That would hinge on Crystal Palace reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup and Arsenal’s Gameweek 34 clash with the Eagles moving forward to Gameweek 33.
Above image from Legomane
We’ll also know by then not just how fully fit Saka is but also if the Gunners have been eliminated from Europe. If so, the focus at that point would purely be on the Premier League.
The fixtures aren’t great from Gameweek 35-37 but then they aren’t for the other premiums at Liverpool and Chelsea, either. Southampton away in Gameweek 38 on the other hand…
Ethan Nwaneri‘s (£4.6m) game-time will suffer further when Saka is back. With Gabriel Martinelli (£6.5m) also now fit, Leandro Trossard (£6.8m) and Mikel Merino (£6.0m) face a fresh scrap for their places.
Above: Bukayo Saka is third for points per match (6.7) this season
NICOLAS JACKSON + NONI MADUEKE
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Nicolas Jackson (£7.7m) and Noni Madueke (£6.0m) have been out since Gameweek 24 and 25 respectively. Both players have had hamstring injuries.
The two Chelsea attackers are closing in on a return, however:
“He could be back, probably after the international break. Him and Noni also. This is good news. Before the international break, we have two games tomorrow and Sunday and then we have the international break, we can recover energy, recover players and then go for the last [bit of the season].” – Enzo Maresca on Nicolas Jackson, speaking on Wednesday 12 March
A Gameweek 30 comeback would fit with Jackson’s six-to-eight-week timeline.
FANTASY PROSPECTS
Jackson has himself been skewered throughout his time at Chelsea but his recent absence seems to have lifted his stock. The Senegalese’s shooting needs a lot of work but his link-up play and movement are commendable, attributes the Blues have been lacking of late.
Ignoring the 4-0 win over arguably the worst side the Premier League has ever seen, Chelsea have scored just two goals in four league matches since Jackson’s injury, losing three of them. They also bowed out of the FA Cup and failed to impress against FC Copenhagen.
While many FPL managers will eschew Jackson as an option, his return could re-invigorate Cole Palmer (£10.8m). As it happens, that was the subject of an article we put out earlier this week.
The Blues’ appeal dips beyond Gameweek 32, however, with tricky fixtures and no Double Gameweeks to come. They do at least play in Gameweek 34 when as many as eight teams could blank.
OSCAR BOBB
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Cast your minds back seven months and Oscar Bobb (£4.7m) featured in a fair few early FPL drafts. A strong pre-season had ended with a promising showing in the Community Shield and, with several teammates late back from Euro 2024, a Gameweek 1 start beckoned.
And then, horrible timing: a broken leg in the days before the season started ruled him out for the rest of 2024 and beyond.
Then there was an abortive return to training in February.
Now, though, he’s back. A reappearance on the training ground led to a run-out for the under-21s last weekend, with Bobb getting through an hour. That was his first action since August.
“It has been a long, hard slog for him and hopefully he starts to rebuild some confidence in his body and getting back to where we know he’s capable of being.
“He’s never going to lose the quality, his quality with the ball at his feet is unparalleled.
“I think all he needs now is time to train and time to get some minutes under his belt and to feel comfortable on a pitch again.
“Both physically and mentally it’s just to give him time to get back to where he was.” – Man City Elite Development Squad coach, Ben Wilkinson, speaking last Sunday
FANTASY PROSPECTS
It’ll likely be some time before Bobb is challenging for a regular first-team spot. Pep Guardiola likes his players to have rhythm, for one, and he’s got plenty of wide-midfield options while Bobb is rediscovering his.
Cast your mind back to Kevin De Bruyne‘s (£9.3m) drawn-out wait for serious minutes after a four-month lay-off last season. At least with Bobb, this isn’t a muscular injury at risk of recurrence.
When he is back up to full speed, Bobb adds to the rotation headache on the flanks. Jeremy Doku (£6.2m) has now started the last four league matches out wide, Savinho (£6.2m) the last six. But there are also Phil Foden (£9.2m), Jack Grealish (£6.4m) and Omar Marmoush (£7.3m) as options on the wings.
Bobb had been terrific on the right flank in pre-season, so it’s Savinho’s spot he may covet. Let’s see if Guardiola holds the young Norwegian in the same high esteem he did last summer.
LEWIS DUNK
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Lewis Dunk (£4.2m) has been sidelined since the FA Cup fourth round at the beginning of February. Sustaining a rib injury in that win over Chelsea, he has subsequently missed the last five Gameweeks.
The weekly updates from Fabian Hurzeler have been a bit ‘samey’ (“getting closer”) since. He was a bit more specific ahead of Gameweek 29, suggesting the FA Cup quarter-final at the end of March was a target.
“He’s getting closer but he’s still not an option. So, hopefully he can use the international break so that he will be back for the game against Nottingham [Forest in the FA Cup]” – Fabian Hurzeler on Lewis Dunk, speaking last Friday
FANTASY PROSPECTS
Dunk’s low, low price is his main appeal as we enter Bench Boost season. A cracking fixture in Double Gameweek 32 (when Palace and Newcastle play twice) could be followed by a Double Gameweek of his own, depending on Albion’s progressing in the FA Cup.
Occasionally good for a goal, he was also typically a reliable starter.
The problem right now is that the Seagulls are in a cracking run of form without him. Adam Webster (£4.3m) has confounded expectations by coming into the side and forming a solid partnership with Jan Paul van Hecke (£4.5m). So good has Webster been that a once unthinkable question has to be asked: does Dunk even get back in the team?
Gameweek 30/31 Wildcarders will need to know the answer to that pretty soon, so van Hecke and Bart Verbruggen (£4.5m) remain the safest routes into Hurzeler’s backline for now.
MARCOS SENESI
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We’ve not seen Marco Senesi (£4.6m) since Gameweek 13. A hamstring injury cut short his afternoon that day, leading to a four-month absence.
Now, though, a return is imminent.
“He has been this week [seeing his surgeon] in Finland. That was the plan and he’s doing all the tests and all the checks and we’ll see how he comes back. But he’s doing well, but the plan is the international break.” – Andoni Iraola on Marcos Senesi, speaking ahead of Gameweek 29 (via the Bournemouth Echo)
FANTASY PROSPECTS
Senesi was a bit of a cult Fantasy hero in 2023/24, delivering four goals and five assists. He’s not been able to replicate that this season, failing to register a single attacking return before injury struck.
Goals or no goals, he had been a regular at centre-half for the Cherries. But now, like Dunk, he has the problem of a deputy stepping up to the plate.
Dean Huijsen (£4.5m) has been in terrific form in Senesi’s absence, to the point where he got a Spain call-up. There are even reports of Liverpool, Real Madrid and Chelsea eyeing him up this summer.
It’s therefore difficult to see Andoni Iraola benching Huijsen initially. There’s also the fact that Senesi has been out for four months, so his return might be gradual – as has been the case with other Bournemouth players recently. Even after a much shorter spell out with a hamstring injury in 2023/24, he was a substitute in his comeback game.
Bournemouth do have an FA Cup tie before Gameweek 30, which Huijsen is actually suspended for. It’ll be interesting to hear what Iraola has to say on Senesi ahead of that, and whether the Argentina international features.
Looking ahead to a possible Double Gameweek 33 (again, dependent on FA Cup progression), you do wonder whether Iraola might consider giving Senesi a game by that point – especially if it’s a three-match week with an FA Cup semi-final at the end of it.
Illia Zabarnyi (£4.4m) and Kepa Arrizabalaga (£4.6m) are probably safer longer-term budget bets from the Bournemouth backline, then.
RICO HENRY
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All the above absences pale in comparison to this budget defender. We’ve barely seen Rico Henry (£4.3m) in the Premier League since September 2023, thanks to knee and hamstring injuries.
An 18-month absence was punctuated by an 87th-minute substitute appearance in Gameweek 21 (and a run-out in the FA Cup third round) before he disappeared again to the physio room.
A second comeback seems to be nearing. The last week has seen Henry get through 45 minutes for the under-21s and another 45 in Friday’s friendly with Gil Vicente.
FANTASY PROSPECTS
When Henry is ready to return to the first-team squad, expect substitute minutes at first.
Keane Lewis-Potter (£5.0m) has proven to be a surprisingly capable deputy at left-back in 2024/25, so there’s no pressing need to rush Henry back. You wouldn’t be surprised, indeed, if Thomas Frank is looking more towards next season with Henry.
Perhaps a few starts towards the end of the campaign is possible, to get the long-absent left-back back in the swing of things before a full pre-season.
DWIGHT MCNEIL
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Another player who has been out since 2024. Dwight McNeil (£5.1m) has been sidelined for four months since a knee injury cut short his involvement in Gameweek 14.
It had been described as a niggle at first and had previously ruled him out in Gameweek 11.
It soon became apparent that there was something more serious at play.
Surgery became a necessary course of action, with McNeil ruled out for an estimated six to eight weeks in February.
There have been mixed messages this week.
Firstly, David Moyes didn’t seem too positive when talking to in-house media.
“I don’t think we’re necessarily going to have any of them back after the [international] break but we’ve got three boys there – Dwight, Ili and Dom – who we could all do with seeing back if we could.” – David Moyes to EvertonTV, earlier this week
But the usually reliable ‘El Bobble’ suggests that McNeil is back in light training.
Both Moyes and predecessor Sean Dyche have been careful with players returning from lengthy lay-offs, so Gameweek 30 may still be an ambitious target.
FANTASY PROSPECTS
Unlike some of the players we’ve discussed above, McNeil’s deputies haven’t exactly made convincing cases.
Even Moyes said recently that he wanted more goals and assists from Jesper Lindstrom (£5.0m) and Jack Harrison (£5.2m). Lindstrom was benched, indeed, in Gameweek 29.
You get the feeling that when McNeil is fully fit, and that may only come after a few substitute appearances, he won’t have much trouble reclaiming his place – whether that’s in the ’10’ role he shone in under Dyche or out wide.
Everton’s testing initial schedule above, plus no more Double Gameweeks, means we Fantasy managers can watch and wait with McNeil.
If he’s fit and firing by May, there might be some late-season interest in a cheap £5.1m midfielder with two excellent home fixtures in Gameweeks 35 and 37.
Historically existing in the FPL netherworld between watchlist candidate and lame duck, he’d actually had a really good start to 2024/25. Three goals and five assists in 13 starts sees his points-per-match average at a very competitive 5.0:
With Moyes showing a bit more attacking ambition than Dyche, there may yet be a few Fantasy returns left in the current campaign for McNeil.
THE LATEST ON A FEW OTHER MEDIUM-TERM ABSENTEES
Lewis Dunk’s teammate Joel Veltman (£4.3m), absent since Gameweek 25, is similarly aiming for a return after the international break.
Tariq Lamptey (£4.4m) and Jack Hinshelwood (£4.9m) have deputised well enough in his absence but the haste with which Veltman returned to the Brighton XI after the last month-long absence hinted at the esteem in which Hurzeler holds him.
Timothy Castagne (£4.2m) owners should take note: Kenny Tete (£4.4m) was said to be 2-3 weeks away from a return ahead of Gameweek 29, so he should be approaching matchday contention when domestic football resumes.
Tete’s teammate Harry Wilson (£5.2m) had also been earmarked for an April return.
Niclas Fullkrug (£6.7m), a pretty disastrous signing from West Ham, was back in training ahead of Gameweek 29 but didn’t feature then. He’ll be hoping for more of a look-in than Evan Ferguson (£5.5m), who has yet to start since his loan move from Brighton.
Another forward whose season has been beset by injury, Richarlison (£6.8m), is aiming for a return after the break. So too is teammate and shorter-term absentee Dejan Kulusevski (£6.2m).
With rotation happening around European ties, the domestic form patchy and a large number of attackers for Ange Postecoglou to choose from, Spurs players aren’t exactly appealing picks right now – even though there’s a Gameweek 31 hosting of Southampton to look forward to.
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