With the next Fantasy Premier League (FPL) deadline on the way, we’re getting articles and team reveals from our panel of Hall of Famers and guest writers. Here, five-time top 1k finisher Tom Freeman talks through his team and the transfer he has lined up in Gameweek 15.
“[Foden] is not ready. No [timescale on that].” – Pep Guardiola
Phil Foden (£9.1m) has been a disastrous transfer in. He delivered just one assist in six matches before bronchitis ruled him out of Wednesday’s 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest. He’s “not ready” for Gameweek 15 either, so naturally, I’m in the market for a new midfielder.
In this piece, I’ll run through my top two replacements. I’ll also talk about the wider impact each player has on the rest of my squad.
JARROD BOWEN
First up is Gameweek 14 underachiever, Jarrod Bowen (£7.4m). He basically has everything I’m looking for in a midfielder right now:
- Nailed-on to start
- Rarely gets subbed off (mins played per appearance in 24/25: 88.4)
- Talisman
- Pens if Lucas Paqueta (£5.8m) isn’t on the pitch
- Good short-term fixtures (WOL/bou/BHA/sou)
West Ham are in poor form, which isn’t ideal, but Bowen is still putting up decent underlying numbers, so he ticks a lot of boxes. The only downside is that he costs £7.4m.
This has a wider impact on my squad, because ideally, I want to start pushing more funds into my backline, with just £23.8m of my current budget spent in defence.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (£6.9m) and Jurrien Timber (£5.6m) are my two top targets, with Virgil van Dijk (£6.4m) and Josko Gvardiol (£6.2m) in the tier below.
This Trent quote on Arne Slot popped up on my timeline earlier today and reinforces why I want him.
“The style with which he coaches, and the style with which we play and the identity we have as a team is something that is there to see. We’re all enjoying it, he’s getting the best out of players, that’s all you want as a player. We’re all willing to learn to improve. That’s what you want, he’s someone who will coach that into us. Like you’ve seen, the lads have bought into it from day one. That’s what you need as a new manager, when you’ve got willing lads to learn and receive feedback, then you’re halfway there.
“The tactics are mind-blowing as well. If I’m honest, I don’t think anyone would have said we’d be as good as we are. Looking back to the first few days of meeting him, it’s not that much of a surprise to me now – because of how in-depth and in detail he is. And the level of detail he goes into, it really doesn’t surprise me that we look so good as a team, because he’s drilled that into us.” – Trent Alexander-Arnold on Arne Slot
So, to enable a Nathan Collins (£4.5m) > Alexander-Arnold upgrade in Gameweek 16, a cheaper midfielder than Bowen is required.
