Our ‘Buy, Keep or Sell’ article returns as we consider various transfer dilemmas for Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers in Gameweek 5.
These are the players with the most transfers in/out ahead of Friday’s deadline…
| Player | Transfers in (round) | Player | Transfers out (round) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rogers | 269,748 | Szoboszlai | 176,761 |
| Gvardiol | 159,804 | Shaw | 101,401 |
| Gross | 152,180 | Tzolis | 100,165 |
| Schade | 137,074 | Cherki | 98,249 |
| Belloumi | 135,748 | Porro | 94,121 |
| De Cuyper | 135,535 | B Fernandes | 88,319 |
| J Pedro | 131,095 | Thiago | 80,113 |
| Gibbs-White | 129,929 | Isak | 79,845 |
| Konsa | 123,988 | White | 77,389 |
| Tarkowski | 117,901 | Mbeumo | 73,532 |
The merit of some of these moves is open to debate – and that’s exactly what we’ll be weighing up in this article.
We’ll try and avoid repetition with previous weeks. For example, Ezri Konsa (£4.5m) was a ‘buy’ last week and Dominik Szoboszlai (£7.0m) a ‘keep’, so we’ll not cover those two again.
MORGAN ROGERS
Morgan Rogers (£7.7m) continues to tick along nicely for his 36.5% ownership.
He’s the only player to have supplied either a goal or an assist in each of the first four Gameweeks, with no blanks.
A nailed-on route into Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea attack, averaging 87.3 minutes per appearance, he feels like a bit of a no-brainer for FPL managers.
The underlying numbers provide further encouragement.
Only four players have surpassed Rogers’ total of 10 chances created this season. He’s already scored three times from 11 shots, too.
There may be better mid-price options than Rogers this week, especially with Chelsea only ranked joint-eighth for projected goals in Gameweek 5, such as Morgan Gibbs-White (£7.9m) and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£6.5m).
However, over a longer period, Rogers feels like a superb ‘set-and-forget’ asset given Chelsea’s favourable, European-less fixture schedule, even in the absence of penalties, free-kicks and corners.
Rogers should certainly be of interest to those Fantasy managers who want to include both Bruno Fernandes (£12.0m) and Erling Haaland (£15.5m) in their squads, given his cheaper cost than Cole Palmer (£9.7m).
VERDICT: BUY, BUT NOT A PRIORITY THIS WEEK
PASCAL GROSS
Pascal Gross (£5.6m) has produced five attacking returns in four Gameweeks, a period which has seen him average 8.2 points per match.
With multiple routes to points, including open-play assist potential, penalties, free-kicks and corners, the German is an ideal fourth or fifth midfielder for our squads.
That’s not to say he hasn’t massively exceeded expectations recently, having scored two goals and supplied three assists from 2.27 expected goal involvement (xGI).
Still, at a price of only £5.6m, with eight shots and 13 chances created (the most of any player!), Gross’ underlying data is more than satisfactory, especially given the current form of Brighton and Hove Albion.
Fabian Hurzeler’s men are top for goals scored (13), Opta ‘big chances’ (19) and expected goals (xG):
Gross is probably the best pick in his price bracket, then, but with Arsenal up next, you can certainly afford to wait another week before adding him to your squad.
If you already own Gross, you obviously retain him.
After the international break, Brighton face Sunderland and Crystal Palace, with European ties around those fixtures.
Image from Legomane
But Given Gross’ importance to Albion, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if the 35-year-old is given a breather now and again in the Conference League. You’d probably want to bench him in Gameweeks 8 and 9 anyway, before another decent fixture run gets underway.
VERDICT: KEEP, BUY IN GAMEWEEK 6
KEVIN SCHADE
Kevin Schade (£6.0m) flattered to deceive for Brentford in 2025/26.
A frustrating Fantasy own, he actually ended the season as the second-best FPL midfielder for non-penalty expected goals (NPxG), with 11.39.
However, the German winger missed 15 of his 22 big chances, blanking in 18 out of his 32 starts.
So, what’s changed, and why has he started the 2026/27 season so strongly, with three goals in four matches?
Over the weekend, Brentford boss Keith Andrews said…
“I felt like it’s been bubbling with him. The goals, you can see the goal he scored against Leeds, the confidence he’s playing with, and today the way he took those two goals again was really nice.” – Keith Andrews on Kevin Schade
Playing with confidence, it certainly puts Schade on the Fantasy radar.
In terms of his underlying goal threat, we’ve seen a shot uptick this season, albeit from a very small sample size.
| 2025/26 (mins per) | Schade | 2026/27 (mins per) |
|---|---|---|
| 48.2 | Shots | 35.8 |
| 49.1 | Shots in box | 39.8 |
| 19.4 | Penalty box touch | 16.3 |
| 225.6 | xG | 365.3 |
The most important factor is potentially his game time, however.
With Dango Ouattara (£6.4m) and Jaidon Anthony (£5.9m) sharing minutes/starts on the opposite flank, Schade has averaged 89.5 minutes per appearance.
Upcoming opponents Chelsea, Aston Villa and Liverpool are hardly watertight at the back, but it isn’t a perfect entry point for Schade, and it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if other midfielders such as Dewsbury-Hall and/or Harvey Barnes (£6.0m) outscore him over this run…
For that reason, we don’t think Schade needs to be a priority buy.
The same applies to Bournemouth’s Marcus Tavernier (£6.1m), another popular purchase this week.
He faces Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United over the next four Gameweeks. The Cherries’ European campaign starts this week, too, with a trip to Real Sociedad on Thursday night, another factor to consider.
VERDICT: KEEP
JAMES TARKOWSKI
We turn our attention to Everton centre-back James Tarkowski (£6.1m), who has been acquired by over 117,000 managers this week.
The Toffees’ ever-present captain has delivered two clean sheets in four matches.
Additional points have arrived from a late set-piece strike at Bournemouth, as well as defensive contributions (DefCon).
Indeed, Tarkowski has reached the DefCon threshold twice, but only narrowly missed out in his other two matches, with eight and nine against Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace respectively.
Looking ahead, Everton face all three newly-promoted clubs over the next six Gameweeks.
Against the other three opponents, Chelsea, Arsenal and Newcastle United, he has decent DefCon potential.
Tarkowski isn’t a particularly flashy pick, but he is reliable and should deliver.
If he is beyond your budget, you could also look at fellow centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite (£5.5m). No Everton player has racked up more DefCons over the first four Gameweeks, with 40, which is one more than Tarkowski.
VERDICT: BUY
CHRISTOS TZOLIS
Christos Tzolis (£6.4m) has provided two assists across four Premier League matches this season.
After bouncing back from his half-time substitution at Villa Park in Gameweek 2, he has since played for 170 minutes against Chelsea and Sunderland, a really positive development.
As long as Tzolis remains part of the Arsenal XI, he’ll never be a bad Fantasy pick, and there are signs of a productive partnership forming with left-back Riccardo Calafiori (£5.8m).
However, for Fantasy managers, Tzolis’ low shot volume is a potential concern.
The winger has recorded only four goal attempts in his first four matches (see image below), which is fewer than five other Arsenal players, including two defenders: Calafiori and Gabriel Magalhaes (£8.0m).
In terms of creativity, with one key pass every 36 minutes, Tzolis should continue to contribute with assists while his minutes are good.
However, we’d ideally like to see an increase in his shot volume.
Certainly, Martin Odegaard (£6.7m) looks like the superior mid-price option at Arsenal right now.
While he is in the starting XI, Tzolis probably won’t ever be a priority sell, but a potentially tricky trip to Brighton might present an opportunity to replace him.
VERDICT: SELL
