Last season, there were a number of mid-price midfielders who outperformed their price point. Bryan Mbeumo (£8.0m) started out at £7.0m, while Jarrod Bowen (£8.0m) and Luis Diaz (£8.0m) were £7.5m each. They returned 236, 193 and 183 points respectively, with Mbeumo having the season of his life.
Of course, the market has reacted accordingly, with all three now priced at £8.0m and Bowen no longer even a midfielder.
So who are the best options in the £7.0m to £7.5m bracket this season?
At present, there are 16 players on the list. Some are subject to transfer speculation, others are likely to be unavailable for Gameweek 1 due to injury. Then you have to cross out those who are at risk of rotation and the ones with a nasty schedule to kick off the new campaign.
There are, however, potential gems on offer – and here are the ones who could be worth unearthing.
Morgan Rogers (£7.0m)
Rogers was a brilliant budget enabler last season. The Aston Villa midfielder played sometimes auxiliary forward, on other occasions off the flank. He was a threat cutting in off the left, scoring eight goals and producing 11 assists.
Rogers was joint-sixth among midfielders for big chances created (16), eighth for attacking returns and eighth for total points scored. But at £5.0m he was by far the best value for money midfielder.
Like last season, he made 37 starts – and the only game he missed was due to suspension. Rogers has been and probably will remain a nailed-on starter, not least because the competition for places has reduced following the departures of Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio.
Villa have a very kind start to the season, maybe even including Newcastle in Gameweek 1 given that the Villans have scored eight goals in their last three home meeting with the Magpies.
So, the prospect of early attacking returns from Rogers is high, particularly if he can pick up from where he left off last season. From Gameweeks 30-38, no midfielder produced as many big chances as Rogers’ seven.
Justin Kluivert and Antoine Semenyo (both £7.0m)
There was not much to choose between these two Bournemouth team-mates last season – indeed, Semenyo finished with 165 points, placing him seventh among all midfielders in the game. The Dutchman was in 10th, just seven points back.
Kluivert produced a goal and an assist more than Semenyo and achieved his total in only 29 starts, compared to Semenyo’s 36.
The Dutchman also has the advantage of being Bournemouth’s penalty taker, scoring all six he took last season, including a hat-trick of spot-kicks in Gameweek 13.
Semenyo, however, is a shot monster. Only Mohamed Salah (£14.5m) and Cole Palmer (£10.5m), with 130 and 126 respectively, attempted more shots than Semenyo’s 125.
The Bournemouth pair came 10th and 11th among midfielders for expected goal involvements, Semenyo shading it by 14.33 to 13.84.
The choice lies between Semenyo’s greater trigger-happiness and regularity of starts, and Kluivert’s penalties (will he ) and efficiency on front of goal.
After their baptism of fire against Liverpool in Gameweek 1, Bournemouth’s have a smooth next six fixtures, which should offer these two Cherries plenty of low-hanging fruit.
Kevin Schade (£7.0m)
Schade had by far his most productive season to date last season. His 143 points were nearly five times greater than his meagre 33 from the previous season.
Having started the last 16 matches of 2024/25, you’d think that game-time will be even more assured now that Bryan Mbeumo (£8.0m) has gone to Manchester United and there are rumblings of a possible departure for Yoane Wissa (£7.5m) too.
Schade produced 11 goals and four assists in only 26 appearances last term and although Mbeumo’s creativity will be missed, Schade can still rely on Mikkel Damsgaard (£6.0m) to provide the bullets. The Dane produced 10 assists last season and is superb at spotting the runs of the pacy 23-year-old. There were some encouraging signs when the front four linked up in Friday’s pre-season friendly.
Over recent years, Brentford have been incredible at replacing their seemingly irreplaceable goalscorers such as Ollie Watkins (£9.0m) and Ivan Toney. Schade could well be the next star in the making.
The former Freiburg man’s stats are tracking in the right direction and he is the right age profile to soar. From Gameweek 30 last season, he came third among midfielders for goals scored (four) and joint-sixth for penalty area touches (53).
Over the whole season, he came 10th among midfielders for goals per 90 minutes at 0.42. For context, that is the same as Cole Palmer and better than Jarrod Bowen (0.39).
The Bees’ start to the season is not particularly daunting, either.
Pedro Neto (£7.0m)
It was not always easy to second-guess Enzo Maresca last season and that enterprise will be even trickier this time given their extraordinary transfer business.
Initially, Neto wasn’t a guaranteed starter under Maresca in 2024/25. But he was increasingly a staple of the Chelsea boss’s line-ups, starting 13 of the final 14 games. With Noni Madueke (£7.0m) gone, and Estevao (£6.5m) a rookie, the right-wing slot should be his – initally, at least.
Neto also played a pivotal role in the Blues’ FIFA Club World Cup success this summer.
Among midfielders, Neto was the sixth highest crosser last season with 149.
Last term, Chelsea were overdependent on Cole Palmer (£10.5m) for attacking returns but with Joao Pedro (£7.5m) and Liam Delap (£6.5m) getting on the end of Neto’s service, we could well see an uptick from the meagre 10 attacking returns of 2024/25.
Chelsea’s fixture schedule is very easy on the eye to begin with, so Neto could well continue where he left off last season. From Gameweek 30, he ranked top among midfielders for crosses delivered (66), fourth for big chances created (five) and joint-seventh for shots on goal (22).
Morgan Gibbs-White (£7.5m)
Gibbs-White was one of the chief reasons Nottingham Forest challenged for a fourth-place finish last season.
Only three midfielders recorded more than the former Wolves man’s 11 assists, while his seven goals mean he placed ninth for attacking returns.
Even though Forest have been weakened by the loss of Anthony Elanga (£7.0m), Gibbs-White will fancy his prospects of returns in what is a very benign start to the season. Arsenal in Gameweek 4 are the only real fly in the ointment.
A loss of penalties and corners in recent season has somewhat dented his appeal but Elanga’s depature does leave a bit of a void on the latter. Could Gibbs-White recapture some dead-ball responsibilities?
It should be noted that Elliot Anderson‘s (£5.5m) excellent defensive contribution record would have seen him score only 12 fewer points than Gibbs-White last season, in virutally the same amount of game-time. That £2.0m could stretch a long way.
The less desirables?
Other players on the price list include Leandro Trossard (£7.0m) and Gabriel Martinelli (£7.0m). It’s worth noting that Trossard was Arsenal’s highest points scorer last season with 152. He also produced eight goals and eight assists but we have to consider that his 28 starts came largely due to the Gunners’ injury crisis, which robbed them of their entire first-choice front line for much of the second half of the season.
Martinelli recorded eight goals and four assists in 25 starts but you have to assume that the Arsenal pair’s prospects of game time will come under threat from the arrivals of Noni Madueke (£7.0m), Viktor Gyokeres, and the returning Kai Havertz (£7.5m) and maybe even eventually Gabriel Jesus (£6.5m).
James Maddison (£7.0m) would certainly be considered as Gameweek 1 option as Thomas Frank does love a playmaker, but the Spurs midfielder has been injured for a while and how fit he is for the start of the season is a big question mark. Brennan Johnson (£7.0m) was Spurs’ highest scoring midfielder last season with 137 points (four more than Maddison) but one suspects Mohammed Kudus (£6.5m) may take his place on the right.
Anthony Gordon (£7.0m) is another midfielder of high promise but the situation at Newcastle is unreliable at present with Alexander Isak-gate (£10.5m) placing the club’s preparations in no small degree of turmoil. The arrival of Anthony Elanga (£7.0m) also means Newcastle have a number of wide options, while their involvement in the Champions League will require Eddie Howe to rotate – something which he did not have to do last season. On top of that, the opening fixtures are very unappealing.
Cody Gakpo (£7.5m) has had an attractive positional change from forward to midfielder but that’s where the appeal ends for Dutchman. Gakpo managed 127 FPL points last season but he is probably quite literally a non-starter now given Liverpool’s massive investment in attacking talent.
Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekatike (both £8.5m) join the list of contenders for an attacking slot along with Darwin Nunez (£6.5m). One suspects that some players will go and some might yet still arrive but at present it’s simply not worth playing ‘Slot Roulette’ with Gakpo.
Manchester City midfielder Savinho (£7.0m) also comes into the above category as it is difficult to know how much game time he will see. The Brazilian returned 11 assists last season but with Oscar Bobb (£5.5m) fit again, and Jeremy Doku (£6.5m), Phil Foden (£8.0m), Bernardo Silva (£6.5m), Omar Marmoush (£8.5m), Rayan Cherki (£6.5m) and Claudio Echeverri (£5.5m) all queuing up for a midfield place do you fancy second-guessing Pep Guardiola?
Finally, we’ve included Eberechi Eze (£7.5m) in this section – not because he is undesirable per se but because speculation continues to surround his future.
Eze produced eight goals and as many assists last season, coming into his own in the second half of the season. The Crystal Palace midfielder struggled for end product in the first part of the campaign and was threatening to take the prize for chief xG underachiever until hitting his straps in the final Gameweeks. From Gameweek 30, no midfielder had more big chances than Eze’s five or scored more than Eze’s six.
He may stay Palace; he may move to Arsenal. If it’s the latter, there are more question marks over his reliability of minutes.
