The relaunch of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) for 2026/27 is drawing nearer – and we’ll surely soon be getting our first batch of player price reveals.
The summer refresh will also see the usual FPL positional reclassifications for a handful of Premier League players. Four of them – Eli Junior Kroupi, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Omar Marmoush and Patrick Dorgu – were, seemingly, confirmed by the FPL X account before the post was swiftly deleted.
In this article, we’ll discuss that quartet and outline the case for/against a change of position for several others.
Once the changes are confirmed post-launch, we’ll calculate how many points each reclassified player would have scored in their new positions.
HOW FPL CLASSIFY PLAYERS
As a rough guide, FPL tend to classify players using the following criteria:
| Defenders | Centre-backs, full-backs, wing-backs (eg in a 3-4-3/3-5-2) |
| Midfielders | Central/defensive midfielders, number tens, wingers/wide-midfielders, players on either flank of a front three |
| Forwards | Lone strikers, both strikers who play in a two-man attack, the central striker in a three-man frontline |
So forget what you might think about heatmaps, shot counts and penalty box touches. Starting position on a teamsheet has traditionally been pretty much all that matters for the folk at FPL Towers, whether you agree with that or not.
Only with a revamp of the above criteria will we see the likes of Antoine Semenyo become forwards. The vast majority of his appearances in 2025/26 were as a ‘winger’ on paper.
The positional classifications are typically based on what each player in question has done in the previous season.
↓ SEEMINGLY CONFIRMED AS CHANGING ↓
ELI KROUPI (BOURNEMOUTH): FORWARD TO MIDFIELDER
A new managerial appointment at Bournemouth brings some uncertainty with it.
Will Marco Rose favour Eli Junior Kroupi in a ’10’, as Andoni Iraola increasingly did towards the back end of 2025/26? The summer acquisition of striker Alvaro Rodriguez, who will compete with Evanilson for a spot, would perhaps hint at that.
There’s also the possibility, of course, that the much-admired Kroupi is snapped up by another club.
Looking back at last season, Kroupi made 15 starts in ‘the hole’, and just six as a line-leading centre-forward. That would appear to be the logic behind the positional change in FPL, although his dozen substitute appearances mostly came as a striker.
Kroupi hit double figures for both goals (13) and clean sheets (10) in 2025/26, so he’d have prospered even more as a midfielder, given the extra points on offer in that position.
OMAR MARMOUSH (MANCHESTER CITY): MIDFIELDER TO FORWARD
And the same again with Omar Marmoush. Solid grounds for a positional change, but with the arrival of a new manager – this time Enzo Maresca – perhaps planting the seed of doubt.
Still, that doubt doesn’t seem to have dissuaded FPL.
Marmoush was only reclassified as a midfielder 12 months ago. The Egyptian was predominantly used off the left, drifting infield, in his first half-season in the north-west.
In 2025/26, however, he was mostly Erling Haaland’s relief. Five of his last six league starts (he only made eight all season), indeed, came up top. So, too, were the bulk of 13 substitute appearances.
PATRICK DORGU (MANCHESTER UNITED): DEFENDER TO MIDFIELDER
Patrick Dorgu was primarily a wing-back under Ruben Amorim but, following the Portuguese boss’s departure, Michael Carrick ditched the 3-4-2-1 and largely favoured a 4-2-3-1.
Dorgu was consequently reinvented as a left-winger, starting Carrick’s first two matches in charge before injury struck in January.
He missed three months of action before returning to the matchday squad in the run-in, finally edging his way back into the starting XI in Gameweek 38. Again, he was ‘out of position’ (OOP) on the final day.
And that’s exactly where we saw him on Saturday, in United’s first pre-season kickabout.
“It’s good to play a bit higher up, you have cover from your left back and have a bit more freedom in the pitch, so it’s nice to play there.
“Hopefully I will play many more games to improve my game there and to be even sharper in that position.” – Patrick Dorgu, speaking on Saturday
It looks like he’ll be a midfielder this season, then.
MYLES LEWIS-SKELLY (ARSENAL): DEFENDER TO MIDFIELDER
Like Marmoush, Myles Lewis-Skelly is another player who looks set to come 360.
The Arsenal man was a midfielder in 2024/25 and a defender in 2025/26, and now he’s poised to return to his original position.
Had it not been for FPL’s inadvertent leak, we wouldn’t have been sure about this one.
Lewis-Skelly spent the vast majority of the season at left-back, and it wasn’t until May that he was reinvented – very successfully – as a central midfielder. That, seemingly, was enough for FPL to reclassify.
He faces a mammoth task at keeping his place this season, however, with Messrs Rice, Odegaard, Zubimendi and Merino already aboard and others (Bruno Guimaraes has been heavily linked) possibly to follow.
↓ VERY LIKELY TO CHANGE ↓
MATS WIEFFER (BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION): MIDFIELDER TO DEFENDER
So, onto the players not yet leaked by FPL!
Almost certain to change is Mats Wieffer, who made 23 starts for Brighton and Hove Albion last season – and all of them came at right-back.
Had he been classified as a defender a year ago, he would have benefitted further from the two goals and six clean sheets he registered.
The Dutchman was a defensive contributions (DefCon) machine, too, banking DefCon points in 11 of the 17 matches in which he lasted 75+ minutes. Had he been a defender (ergo not eligible for ‘recoveries’), he would only have missed out in three of those 11 fixtures.
So, he’s most definitely better off as a defender.
One to watch in 2026/27 – especially if he can shake off the niggles that plagued him earlier this calendar year.
RYAN SESSEGNON (FULHAM): MIDFIELDER TO DEFENDER
Ryan Sessegnon was reclassified as a midfielder last summer – and that change looks set to be reversed this month.
The versatile 26-year-old played almost the entirety of 2025/26 as a left-back. The form and fitness struggles of Antonee Robinson meant that Sessegnon ended up making 20 starts, indeed.
Sessegnon scored three goals and kept six clean sheets, contributions that would be worth an extra 21 FPL points as a defender.
He would have lost only four DefCon points, meanwhile.
Of course, with a new manager (Alvaro Arbeloa) on board, there’s plenty of uncertainty about not just where Sessegnon will play in 2026/27 but if he will at all. A potential ‘out of position’ asset? Or back-up left-back if Robinson rediscovers his mojo?
↓ MIGHT CHANGE ↓
GEORGINIO RUTTER (BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION): MIDFIELDER TO FORWARD
We often think of Georginio Rutter as a ‘second striker’ but, surprisingly, the Frenchman made almost twice as many appearances up top as he did in the hole or on the flank in 2025/26.
Jack Hinshelwood’s excellent performances in the ’10’ role meant Rutter was often relief for Danny Welbeck in the second half of the campaign.
BRYAN MBEUMO (MANCHESTER UNITED): MIDFIELDER TO FORWARD
We’ve already mentioned one Manchester United player who is destined for a position change. Might Bryan Mbeumo be another?
The Cameroon international spent the bulk of his time under Amorin as a right-sided ’10’. In FPL terms, that’s a midfielder. Nothing to see here, it seems.
However, once Carrick was appointed, things changed. Mbeumo made 15 league starts under his current boss, with eight of them – including his final two run-outs of 2025/26 – coming as a striker as Benjamin Sesko struggled to nail down a place. Is a near-50/50 appearance split enough to warrant a change? Perhaps not, but the example of Lewis-Skelly means we can’t rule it out.
LAMARE BOGARDE (ASTON VILLA): DEFENDER TO MIDFIELDER
One to file under ‘Partridge shrug’, as it’s hardly going to cause ripples in Fantasy circles.
Lamare Bogarde, surprisingly, got through 28 Premier League appearances last season, although 17 were as a substitute.
In any event, the bulk of his run-outs came in the engine room, so a reclassification as budget midfield bench fodder probably beckons.
↓ LESS LIKELY/UNLIKELY TO CHANGE ↓
Finally, a word on some other players we think are maybe less likely or even unlikely to change.
Nick Woltemade was sporadically trialled in an ‘8/10’ role by Eddie Howe from February onwards, although it wasn’t a particularly convincing experiment. The vast majority of his appearances in 2025/26 were as a striker, too.
Still, he made six end-of-season starts behind Anthony Gordon/Will Osula, so it’s not totally out of the question that he becomes a midfielder.
Kai Havertz, who had an injury-ravaged campaign, saw his game-time split between centre-forward and attacking midfield. There’s probably not sufficient evidence or need to change him, then, especially as Mikel Arteta turned to him as his starting striker in the UEFA Champions League final.
Arne Slot may have had reservations about Jeremie Frimpong as a right-back but the Dutchman’s starts and overall appearances in defence still outnumbered his ‘OOP’ runouts in midfield, so he’s another one who is unlikely to change.
Elsewhere on the defender front, it felt like Nico O’Reilly featured more in midfield than he did in reality. He didn’t get into double figures for ‘OOP’ appearances, in fact, so there’s little chance of him being reclassified. He finished the campaign at left-back, too.
Sunderland’s Trai Hume, similarly, had far more appearances at full-back than he did further forward.
Keane Lewis-Potter may be a bit closer, as his mid-season was spent on the wings. However, 13 of his 22 starts came at left-back. Indeed, his final nine starts of the campaign were all at full-back, and FPL often give extra weighting to what happens at the end of a season (eg Dorgu, Lewis-Skelly).
