With Fantasy Premier League (FPL) live for 2023/24, we’ll be welcoming back our team of Hall of Famers and guest writers for the new campaign.
We’ll be hearing from a different contributor every day in the aftermath of the FPL relaunch, to get their thoughts on the pricing and to see their initial picks.
Our writers will be providing regular articles and team reveals throughout the new season, with only Premium Members able to access every single one.
You can sign up here for the new campaign – once you’re aboard, you’ve locked in the price of your Premium Membership for good, so long as you don’t cancel!
Next up, The Wire co-host Pras shares his initial thoughts for the new season.
It’s good to be back into the full swing of things, with the official game launch last week. While there are drafts flying around, we all know it only takes one big transfer, injury or pre-season bandwagon to have a ripple effect of mass changes in the “template”.
I, therefore, thought that for my first article this year, I talk through the various price points rather than any direct player comparisons. It is far too early for that.
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ULTRA-PREMIUMS + PREMIUM-LITES
With the way the game has been priced, there are four ultra-premiums in the shape of Erling Haaland (£14.0m), Mohamed Salah (£12.5m), Harry Kane (£12.5m) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (£8.0m). These I feel are fully priced, reflective of not only the historical output but more importantly the points potential this year.
However, the overwhelming feeling is that the premium-lites in Bukayo Saka (£8.5m), Marcus Rashford (£9.0m), Martin Odegaard (£8.5m), Son Heung-min (£9.0m), Bruno Fernandes (£8.5m) are all at least £0.5m-£1.5m cheaper than their true potential. You could argue the same for the £5.0m-£5.5m defenders in Luke Shaw (£5.5m), Reece James (£5.5m), John Stones (£5.5m), Pervis Estupinan (£5.0m), Gabriel Magalhaes (£5.0m) etc.
Taking the above into consideration, the game effectively makes you choose a maximum of two ultra-premiums (although some will try to have three) and then fill it up with as many premium-lites as possible.
Most varieties of drafts you will see therefore essentially boil down to the below iterations (Salah and Kane are interchangeable in a five-in-midfield vs three-up-front structure):
We covered this table in our first episode of the Wire last week, which you can watch here.
This is just a framework that helps narrow down what exactly are the sacrifices one needs to make at which price points to, for example, get from an Alexander-Arnold and Haaland draft to a Haaland-only set-up.
No doubt there are some brave no-Haaland souls, some Kieran Trippier (£6.5m) aficionados and some Kevin De Bruyne (£10.5m) enthusiasts. I encourage them to create a similar table for their own template.
Alexander-Arnold + Haaland draft
Starting with what I can see as the early front-runner for the engaged manager’s template, this seems like a fairly balanced draft with good price points.
So let’s look at what sacrifices are needed to move Alexander-Arnold to Salah or what upgrades can be made by losing the Liverpool right-back, as well.
Salah + Haaland draft
