Running down his Fulham contract, a brilliant 2025/26 campaign surely had Harry Wilson (£6.5m) catching the attention of top-half clubs, so seeing him join Leeds United is surprising.

Then again, the Welsh international was about to move there last summer, until a deadline-day deal sheet problem.

So, can the season’s seventh-best midfielder make a similar Fantasy Premier League (FPL) impact in 2026/27?

We’ll attempt to answer those questions below.

CAREER SO FAR

Born in Wrexham, Wilson remains the youngest player to represent Wales (16 years, 207 days), achieving this before making any senior club appearances.

He joined Liverpool’s academy aged eight, but only ever made two cup appearances for the Reds.

Until last season, many saw Wilson as being a Championship-standard player who occasionally chipped in at top-flight level.

Early loan spells came at Crewe Alexandra and Hull City, followed by 16 goals and four assists that helped Derby County reach 2018/19’s second-tier play-off final versus Aston Villa. He grabbed one of each when overturning a semi-final first-leg deficit to Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds.

This was enough to earn a year of Premier League football, being sent to Bournemouth for a year. Wilson quickly scored past Villa, Manchester City and Southampton, then bagged a brace against Tottenham Hotspur, but ended the season as a substitute as the Cherries were relegated.

So, he spent 2020/21 back in the Championship, this time at Cardiff City. It peaked with a hat-trick away at Birmingham City.

Impressed, Fulham chose to sign Wilson, and he adapted brilliantly. 10 goals and 20 assists, including five attacking returns in a 7-0 thrashing of Reading. It was one of three occasions where Marco Silva’s side won by that scoreline, alongside a couple of 6-2s. Wilson, Fabio Carvalho and 43-goal Aleksandar Mitrovic ensured promotion as champions.

However, a knee injury forced him to miss the first couple of months. He didn’t get a run of starts until the final nine occasions, though it continued into 2023/24’s first five. From then, Wilson was in and out of the XI, but churned out a final-day 15-pointer versus Luton Town.

A series of 2024/25 benchings meant he didn’t start until Gameweek 14, though one cameo appearance saw him score two stoppage-time goals in a west London victory over Brentford. A broken foot occurred later on.

WILSON’S TOP 2025/26

Yet something clicked in the campaign just gone. Five pre-season goals didn’t carry over but, after the Leeds transfer fell through, Wilson started all available matches between Gameweeks 4 and 36. He thrived with this more prominent status.

On the first day of November, his FPL price was only £5.2m. From then until 1 March, he delivered eight non-penalty goals and seven assists in 19 matches, including a 16-point haul at Burnley and Match of the Day’s Goal of the Season, a glorious trivela against Crystal Palace.

Above: The top Fantasy players between Gameweeks 10 to 28

Wilson felt essential across those four months, a period where he was FPL’s joint-best midfielder for goals, second for points (117) and joint-third for shots (45) – though merely two were big chances. In fact, he accumulated a tiny four of these over the whole season, alongside an ordinary 39 chances created.

Above: The layout of Harry Wilson’s 2025/26 shots, shown by The Athletic

The +7.71 expected goal involvement (xGI) overachievement hinted at eventual stagnation and, sure enough, his attacking returns faded during later weeks. Too many long-range shots were going in.

Indeed, the Members Area Finishing Skill table shows a season-long +3.10 shot quality (compared to chance quality) that only Richarlison could beat. His previous three campaigns were a negative number.

WHERE WILSON FITS IN AT LEEDS

Does all this make the 29-year-old a coup? Unlike signings from abroad, Wilson is ready to go from day one.

Emotions played a part in his decision, after last summer’s drama. And he’s played plenty of times with Daniel James (£5.0m), Joe Rodon (£4.5m), Ethan Ampadu (£5.5m) and Jayden Bogle (£4.5m).

“When the season finished and I became a free transfer, I felt Leeds were the team that really showed the interest in me. And as a player, you want to play for a team which you feel like they want you and you feel like they are doing everything to get you. Speaking with the Welsh boys, I think it was pretty clear that this was the place that I wanted to come.” – Harry Wilson, upon arrival

Instead, the main question is regarding his position. Wilson’s joy came from the right wing, as defenders allowed him to cut inside and shoot left-footed.

But, from Gameweek 14 onwards, Leeds have deployed a three-at-the-back system. Whether it was 3-5-2, 3-4-1-2 or 3-4-2-1, it usually involved Brenden Aaronson (£5.5m), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£6.0m) and either another centre-forward, or Anton Stach (£6.0m) being pushed into a more advanced role.

So, will Daniel Farke switch formation for 2026/27? If not, Silva occasionally used a 3-4-2-1 last season, meaning Wilson isn’t averse to floating behind a striker.

SHOULD WILSON BE AN FPL TARGET?

Our Fixture Ticker believes Leeds have one of the best schedules between Gameweeks 1 and 5, before facing Arsenal (a) and Manchester United (h).

• READ MORE: Jump on, jump off – Best FPL fixture runs for all 20 clubs

On the other hand, they won’t meet a promoted team until Gameweek 12.

Combined with an anticipated initial price of £6.5m, up from £5.5m, it might be worth waiting. Wilson certainly hasn’t overly impressed in pre-season, not that that’s always a good barometer.

The Welshman can be quite streaky: he blanked in 10 of his last 14 appearances in 2025/26.

Stach and Ampadu are arguably more reliable, cheaper picks with their DefCon potential – and attacking threat in Stach’s case.

Based on last season’s points and this season’s prices, Stach is FPL’s best-value midfielder.