The relaunch of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) for 2024/25 is drawing nearer by the day – and we’ll soon be getting our first batch of player price reveals.
The summer refresh will also see the usual FPL positional reclassifications for a handful of Premier League players.
So, in this article, we’ll outline the case for or against a change of position for a number of Fantasy assets.
We should stress that this is purely educated guesswork on our part and is based on how FPL have gone about classifying players previously.
HOW FPL CLASSIFY PLAYERS
As a rough guide, FPL tend to classify players using the following criteria:
| Defenders | Centre-backs, full-backs, wing-backs (eg in a 3-4-3/3-5-2) |
| Midfielders | Central/defensive midfielders, number tens, wingers/wide-midfielders, players on either flank of a front three |
| Forwards | Lone strikers, both strikers who play in a two-man attack, the central striker in a three-man frontline |
So forget what you might think about heatmaps, shot counts and penalty box touches: starting position on a teamsheet has traditionally been pretty much all that matters for the folk at FPL Towers, whether you agree with that or not.
Only with a revamp of the above criteria will we see the likes of Mohamed Salah become forwards, as the vast majority of their appearances in 2023/24 were as ‘wingers’ on paper.
The positional classifications are typically based on what each player in question has done in the previous season.
PLAYERS WHO COULD CHANGE POSITION
KAI HAVERTZ (ARSENAL): MIDFIELDER TO FORWARD
One of the likelier changes on paper but not a certainty.
Two-thirds of his 2023/24 league appearances, indeed, came in a central midfield role, at least according to Transfermarkt. Usually we’d expect to see more game-time in the ‘new’ Fantasy position before a change is made.
It depends how much stock FPL put in more recent run-outs. Havertz certainly ended the season as Arsenal’s line-leading striker, delivering 18 attacking returns in his final 16 starts.
ANTOINE SEMENYO (BOURNEMOUTH): FORWARD TO MIDFIELDER
If Havertz is a possibility, then Semenyo is a certainty.
Every single one of his appearances last season came on the flanks, the bulk of them on the right.
Eight goals and four assists arrived from 25 starts and a smattering of sub appearances, which was all the more impressive considering he started the season at £4.5m.
A price rise, maybe to £5.5m or £6.0m, and a reclassification to a midfielder is almost guaranteed.
JACK HINSHELWOOD (BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION): MIDFIELDER TO DEFENDER
“Who?”, you might be asking. Brighton’s highly-rated youngster flickered onto the radar briefly before injury curtailed his campaign.
The versatile Hinshelwood got through a dozen appearances for the Seagulls, eight of them from the start.
The majority of those run-outs were as a full-back.
He’s a midfielder by trade, so FPL may opt to keep him as just that and overlook last season’s emergency cover.
JOAO PEDRO (BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION): FORWARD TO MIDFIELDER
Joao Pedro’s appearances were roughly split between central striker and attacking midfielder.
The Brazilian played across the frontline, popping up on either flank and also as a ’10’ behind Evan Ferguson and Danny Welbeck.
Only one of his last six starts came as a centre-forward, so if there is some recency bias a la Havertz then there is a chance we see him rebadged.
As Brighton’s first-choice penalty taker, a reclassification to a midfielder would only increase his appeal in FPL.
CHRISTOPHER NKUNKU (CHELSEA): FORWARD TO MIDFIELDER
We barely saw Nkunku at all last season, thanks to a succession of injuries.
He never has been an out-and-out striker, so there was some debate about whether or not he’d be listed as a forward when he signed for Chelsea 12 months ago.
The Frenchman didn’t even muster 500 minutes of game-time, with only two of his 11 appearances coming from the start.
Is that enough to reclassify him as a midfielder? We saw a little bit more of him in an attacking midfield role than we did as a bona fide striker, with the former RB Leipzig man often brought on to support Nicolas Jackson rather than replace him.
A new head coach in the shape of Enzo Maresca may have new ideas, of course, so FPL could decide to bide their time and wait another year to reassess Nkunku’s position.
CODY GAKPO (LIVERPOOL): FORWARD TO MIDFIELDER
Another new man at the helm in the Premier League is Arne Slot, who now takes charge of Liverpool.
He’ll be able to call upon the services of compatriot Cody Gakpo, who has been in fine form at the European Championship.
The Reds’ attack was a fluid one under Jurgen Klopp. Diogo Jota was used in all three positions. Darwin Nunez also had a stint on the left last year. Even Luiz Diaz was briefly moved over to the right wing.
But if we were to see one of their attackers change position, it may be Gakpo. Transfermarkt say that his appearances as a winger or even a central midfielder just outnumber his run-outs as a central striker.
What may count against any Fantasy position change is the fact that 10 of his last 13 appearances indeed came through the middle, with Klopp’s patience in Darwin exhausted.
JULIAN ALVAREZ (MANCHESTER CITY): FORWARD TO MIDFIELDER
Another question about how much discretion FPL will use.
Alvarez was the makeshift Kevin De Bruyne for a big chunk of the season, playing in that ‘8/10’ hybrid role.
It wasn’t until Gameweek 16, when Erling Haaland’s foot troubles began, that he actually started as City’s central striker.
In fact, only around a third of his 36 league appearances were as a line-leading forward.
FPL Towers know that they’d only be a Haaland injury away from Alvarez getting a string of starts as the league champions’ central striker. Would they factor that into the Argentina international’s position or just pay heed to the raw numbers of 2023/24? It’s a tricky call.
TIMO WERNER (TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR): FORWARD TO MIDFIELDER
RICHARLISON (TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR): MIDFIELDER TO FORWARD
Two seemingly straightforward positional swaps at Spurs.
The vast majority of Richarlison’s appearances for the Lilywhites came as a central striker in 2023/24.
Transfermakt say he had 21 run-outs up front, with four on the left (a further three were not specified).
Werner, who has returned to north London on loan for another campaign, almost exclusively played on the left wing.
Richarlison looks set to become a forward, then, with Werner moving in the opposite direction.
3 months, 17 days agoThe Fantasy Bundesliga game had Christopher Nkunku as a midfielder when he played for RB Leipzig, with Timo Werner listed as a striker when he was playing for the same team.
This would seem eminently sensible for both players in FPL, although Premier League clubs are notorious for playing imports in the wrong position and somehow expecting them to flourish.