In our position-by-position guides, we pick out the best players for Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers’ opening squads. Here, we look at the best premium midfielders, costing at least £8.5m.
- READ MORE: Best budget goalkeepers for FPL 2024/25
- READ MORE: Best £5.0m+ goalkeepers for FPL 2024/25
- READ MORE: Best £4.0m defenders for FPL 2024/25
- READ MORE: Best £4.5m defenders for FPL 2024/25
- READ MORE: Best £5.0m+ defenders for FPL 2024/25
OVERVIEW
Eight of last season’s 11 highest-scoring individuals belonged to midfield, as five topped the 200-point mark. Sure enough, 3-5-2 was the desired FPL formation for quite a while.
Unlike in our analysis of goalkeepers and defenders, finding some good fixture rotation won’t be a factor here because such premiums are there to be used week in, week out.
| Goals | Assists | xGI (per 90) | Shots (per 90) | Big chances (per 90) | CC (per 90) | BCC (per 90) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salah | 18 | 12 | 1.011 | 4.013 | 1.162 | 2.323 | 0.774 |
| Palmer | 22 | 13 | 0.914 | 3.696 | 0.746 | 2.442 | 0.576 |
| Saka | 16 | 13 | 0.818 | 3.334 | 0.648 | 2.810 | 0.494 |
| Son | 17 | 10 | 0.627 | 2.618 | 0.585 | 2.094 | 0.616 |
| Foden | 19 | 8 | 0.543 | 3.300 | 0.440 | 2.294 | 0.314 |
| De Bruyne | 4 | 10 | 0.697 | 3.214 | 0.073 | 4.310 | 1.534 |
| Odegaard | 8 | 11 | 0.541 | 2.245 | 0.233 | 2.974 | 0.496 |
| Fernandes | 10 | 9 | 0.584 | 2.742 | 0.375 | 3.291 | 0.606 |
Above: xGI (expected goal involvement), CC (chances created), BCC (big chances created)
As no midfielder currently comes with a £8.0m price tag, these are the eight players priced above the exciting collection of £6.5m to £7.5m contenders.
UNDERWAY WITH PRE-SEASON
However, thanks to the Euros, only a few of the names have played any pre-season club football so far.
Mohamed Salah (£12.5m)
The big back-and-forth debate about whether to begin with Salah, Erling Haaland (£15.0m) or both has seen the latter score two Manchester City goals but the Egyptian responded by netting against Arsenal in Philadelphia.
2023/24 was Salah’s worst in seven Liverpool campaigns but, in fairness, he was restricted to 28 starts due to AFCON duties and a subsequent hamstring injury. It put a negative spin on his still-superb 211 points when he actually ended second overall for attempts (114), shots on target (54) and expected goal involvement (xGI, 28.71).
As seen in the table, he also had the best rates here for shots, big chances and xGI per 90 minutes. Despite the uncertainties of playing under Arne Slot rather than Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool’s nice-looking early fixtures are difficult to ignore. By owning Salah, you possess Fantasy gold.
Son Heung-min (£10.0m)
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