Gameweek 16 has seen Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers handed a transfer bonanza.
Everyone has had their free transfer allowance topped up to five, regardless of what they had going into the Gameweek.
Managers don’t have to use all of their free transfers this week – but it predictably hasn’t stopped a rush of activity.
Here are six ways you can approach the Gameweek 16 transfer top-up.
‘MINI-WILDCARD’ IN GAMEWEEK 16
First off, you could use your five free transfers in Gameweek 16 to play a mini-Wildcard, removing the deadwood and bringing in players who have favourable fixture runs.
For planning purposes, here’s the schedule sorted by difficulty in Gameweeks 16-22, which covers the entirety of AFCON.
Brentford and Fulham begin favourable stretches in Gameweek 16, while Arsenal have the best fixture out there this weekend: at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Injured or out-of-favour players like Cody Gakpo (£7.5m) and Mohamed Salah (£14.0m) can be dealt with, too.
USE ONE A WEEK FOR THINKING SHORTER TERM OR ADDRESSING WEAKNESSES
You do not need to use all your free transfers in Gameweek 16, of course.
If your team is already in a good place, four transfers can be saved for future Gameweeks and used whenever needed.
They’ll surely come in use during the hectic festive period, which frequently brings fixture congestion and player rotation.
The extra transfers will provide you with greater flexibility to manage this situation, along with any injuries or suspensions that may arise.
You can still use one free transfer every week to address the weakest area in your squad, or even keep one spot open for thinking shorter term.
For instance, you could bring Declan Rice (£7.1m) in for the home match against Wolves in Gameweek 16, moving him on to Rayan Cherki (£6.4m) for Manchester City’s Gameweek 17 clash with West Ham United. Cherki could then become Dominik Szoboszlai (£6.6m) for Liverpool’s Gameweek 18 hosting of Wolves. And so on, and so on.
This short-term, aggressive play style is not something we usually have the luxury of doing in FPL, but five free transfers may allow us this.
STOCK UP ON PLAYERS FOR A BENCH BOOST
For those who haven’t played the chip already, you could use the extra transfers to help prepare for a Bench Boost.
Gameweek 18 carries appeal, as this is the only remaining round in which Burnley, Leeds United and Sunderland all have decent fixtures.
Additionally, it’s a good week for budget midfielders such as Granit Xhaka (£5.2m), Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£5.1m) and Josh King (£4.5m).
Gameweek 18 is, of course, a post-Christmas round, so the usual caveats apply, i.e. rotation/minute management and lack of team news.
BOOST TEAM VALUE
As of 9.30pm on Monday 8 December, we’ve sailed over the six million mark for transfers in. We’re barely two days past the Gameweek 15 deadline.
FPL managers haven’t been able to help themselves with all the frees available, moving swiftly.
With not far off five days to go until the 1.30pm GMT deadline on Saturday, we’re well on course to smash the total transfers made in previous weeks:
| Gameweek | Transfers |
|---|---|
| GW10 | 14,380,415 |
| GW11 | 10,882,725 |
| GW12 | 13,914,718 |
| GW13 | 16,415,537 |
| GW14 | 9,442,288 |
| GW15 | 11,765,293 |
| GW16 (so far) | 6,015,917 |
As a result, we’re seeing an inordinate number of price rises.
Look at this Gameweek compared to the first two days of previous rounds – we’re even beating Gameweek 14 so far, when there was a quick turnaround in deadlines and managers had to act fast to make their moves:
| Gameweek | No. of price rises in first two days |
|---|---|
| GW10 | 5 |
| GW11 | 8 |
| GW12 | 6 |
| GW13 | 5 |
| GW14 | 11 |
| GW15 | 6 |
| GW16 (so far) | 12 |
So, making an early transfer (or more!) to increase team value, or stop haemorrhaging it, is one play here.
Naturally, there are risks associated with transferring a player in early – the main one being they may get injured in training or in the midweek European ties. Look at Cody Gakpo (£7.5m), for instance. However, with five free transfers at our disposal, the difference this time is that we have a bit of a safety net. Sure, it’s not optimal to use a transfer bringing in one player and another to ship him out. But when the difference is between being able to afford a player or not, or being able to give yourself a massive team value boost, perhaps it’s worth the risk.
If you’re on a Gameweek 16 Wildcard, even better; trade away to your heart’s content to try and play the market. You’ll still have five free transfers to use in Gameweek 17 after doing so.
For reference, here are the players close to a price rise according to the industry-leading price predictor from LiveFPL…
Price Change Predictions
GET THE BENCH IN ORDER FOR CHRISTMAS
Even if you’re not on the Bench Boost, getting the substitutes ship-shape for the upcoming fixture rush is something to consider.
Be it unexpected absences like Daniel Munoz‘s (£6.1m) on Sunday or a surprise benching like Salah’s in Gameweek 13, this is the time of the year when we typically see most disruption to the teamsheets.
Gameweeks 18-21 look particularly ripe for rotation, with teams contesting four Premier League matches in less than two weeks:
Now is a good time to ensure you have reliable bench options to call upon if they are required during the hectic winter months.
That could mean ditching an injured Sean Longstaff (£4.9m) or a seldom-used Josh Acheampong (£3.9m), for example, in favour of a Xhaka, a Dewsbury-Hall or a Maxime Esteve (£3.9m).
PLAY A CHIP IN GAMEWEEK 16
Finally, there are a decent chunk of managers out there who still have a Free Hit or Wildcard to use.
Indeed, we’re likely to see a fair few Free Hits in Gameweek 16.
Why a Free Hit? Well, you might be well invested in Crystal Palace and Manchester City assets and, for one week only, want to reduce your representation from these clubs when they meet at Selhurst Park.
You might also want to go big on Arsenal for their home match with Wolves but perhaps not fancy a triple-up for the trickier matches to come.
The same goes for in-form Aston Villa and their trip to West Ham United, which precedes some tougher clashes.
Playing a Free Hit in Gameweek 16 (you only have until Gameweek 19 to use it) is one viable route here, then.
Like Gameweek 16 Wildcarders, you would have five free transfers back at your disposal come Gameweek 17.
Let us know how you’re playing the free transfers below!
