Ranking the top 10 premium players in Fantasy Premier League this season

The pricing in Fantasy Premier League this season is more varied than ever, with just two players coming in priced over £10million.

Manchester City forward Erling Haaland (£15.5m) is the game’s most expensive player ever, while Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes (£12.0m) has been hit by a £3m hike from the relatively affordable £9m cost he had this time last year.

With the next-cheapest forward and midfielder this season priced at £9million and £9.5m respectively, how should we be splurging our £100million budget in the premium price-point category?

These are the top 10 players in that group to go for.

10. Morgan Gibbs-White (£8.0m)

The Nottingham Forest playmaker has been handed a half-a-million price rise for 2026-27, having finished the previous campaign with 19 goal involvements: scoring 15 times, with four assists.

Over half of those returns came in the final 10 gameweeks, and Gibbs-White has had a full summer off to recharge and prepare after failing to make Thomas Tuchel’s England squad.

It will be a fresh season at the City Ground with yet another new head coach in Oliver Glasner and freedom from the added European demands of a year ago, but the departure of fellow midfielder Elliot Anderson to Manchester City leaves me with a few questions.

9. Alexander Isak (£9.0m)

Isak never really got going in his debut season for Liverpool, playing just 694 Premier League minutes and producing three goals and one assist.

It was an underwhelming campaign following his big-money move from Newcastle United, where he surpassed the 20-goal mark in both of his previous two top-flight campaigns.

He’s a form player, and I’d like to see evidence of that before investing. A long-term injury to fellow striker Hugo Ekitike (£7.5m) should help Isak’s early-season minutes, and with Mohamed Salah having left Anfield this summer, there’s a chance he’ll be taking their penalties.

8. Ollie Watkins (£8.0m)

Unlike Gibbs-White, Watkins was with England as they got to the final weekend of the World Cup, so we have yet to see him in pre-season action for Aston Villa.

He’s at his lowest initial price for four seasons and having averaged 16.5 Premier League goals across the past four years, we shouldn’t write off his consistency. However, I expect Villa to have a quiet start to their campaign, as they face Brighton & Hove Albion, Arsenal and Forest over the first four gameweeks.

7. Antoine Semenyo (£8.5m)

Semenyo had a sensational 2025-26 season, delivering 17 goals and six assists while playing for Bournemouth and then Manchester City, following an early January transfer, earning him a £1.5million price rise from a year ago.

We don’t know what to expect from the post-Pep Guardiola era, but it’s hard to write off Semenyo as an option from City’s midfield, even if team-mate Phil Foden is £1.5million cheaper and City’s new signing Anderson comes in at just £6.5m.

Antoine Semenyo’s superb form continued last season after his move from Bournemouth to Manchester City (Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

6. Bukayo Saka (£9.5m)

Saka and Cole Palmer are the joint-third most expensive players in the game, but the Chelsea midfielder, who missed large periods of last season due to injury, has been hampered by another knock during pre-season, so (spoiler alert!) fails to make our premium-player power ranking altogether.

Arsenal may be able to play with a bit less pressure after their historic title win, to end a 22-year wait, with Saka producing 17 or more Premier League goal involvements for a fifth season in a row.

He is perhaps the safest way into the north Londoners’ attack, with plenty of routes to points given his involvement in set pieces, including penalties.

5. Gabriel (£8.0m)

Sticking with Arsenal, Gabriel is up in price by £2million this season, and is close to being the joint-most-expensive defender in FPL ever (Liverpool full-back John Arne Riise and Chelsea captain John Terry cost £8.5m each in 2003-04 and 2004-05 respectively).

Mikel Arteta’s team kept a remarkable 19 clean sheets on the way to the title in May, so it’s hard to back against their defensive consistency going into this campaign.

Gabriel’s routes to points are sensational, with eight goal involvements last season, plus earning defensive contribution points on 11 occasions and 30 bonus points.

However, fellow centre-back William Saliba (£6.0m) looks set to miss the start of the season with an injury suffered at the World Cup. Their defensive colleagues Riccardo Calafiori, Piero Hincapie, Ben White and Cristhian Mosquera (all £5.5m) are £2.5million cheaper than the Brazilian.

Gabriel is very expensive this season – but has many routes to points (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

4. Igor Thiago (£8.0m)

It feels to me like Thiago is going under the radar, sitting in just 16 per cent of sides at the time of writing, despite a remarkable 22 goals for Brentford last season.

Penalties certainly helped the Brazil forward get to that tally, plus the majority of the 22 came against weaker opposition, and 13 of them were in home matches, but it feels like Brentford are one of the most settled sides going into the 2026-27 Premier League.

Head coach Keith Andrews’ team also have an excellent-looking start from an attacking perspective, with games against Tottenham Hotspur, Leeds United, Sunderland, Bournemouth and Chelsea taking them to the September international break.

3. Bryan Mbeumo (£8.0m)

Maybe it is my Manchester United bias but I couldn’t put Mbeumo any lower than third in this list after the winger produced 14 goal involvements in 31 starts in his 2025-26 debut season at the club.

Designated as a midfielder in FPL, the former Brentford man is a versatile player, sometimes occupying the No 9 role, sometimes playing off the right flank, and is also on some set pieces, which gives him the edge over team-mate Matheus Cunha, who comes in at the same price point.

United have one of the best fixture lists for the season’s opening three gameweeks, facing promoted side Hull City and Ipswich Town in their opening two games, before going to Everton.

Bryan Mbeumo is a more attractive option than Manchester United team-mate Matheus Cunha (David Lidstrom/Getty Images)

2. Bruno Fernandes (£12.0m)

I’m fully invested in doubling up on the United attack, with Fernandes being one of the first names on my team sheet. The United captain is on penalties, while almost dominating set pieces.

He had a remarkable 2025-26 season, with nine goals and 24 fantasy assists, as he broke the Premier League assists record (21).

In 18 appearances after Michael Carrick became head coach in January, Fernandes produced 21 goal involvements and became essential. I expect him to pick up for the new campaign right where he left off.

1. Erling Haaland (£15.5m)

The FOMO with Haaland is real.

He has been the most consistent goalscorer in the Premier League since his arrival four years ago, with 112 in 132 appearances. He is also known for making red-hot starts to seasons, so it would take a braver manager than me to back against him when City host Bournemouth in Gameweek 1.

A wildcard would be essential to get Haaland in if you don’t initially set up with him.

There are a few more question marks than in previous years, given his exploits with Norway at the World Cup, so there’s potential that he doesn’t begin the campaign with the same energy we’re used to. It’s also difficult to know just what to expect from City now manager Pep Guardiola is gone and Enzo Maresca’s in charge.

However, I can’t envisage not having Haaland in my team come opening weekend.