FPL pre-season lessons: Haaland turns heads, Rogers impresses

The Scout highlights the main takeaways for managers in Fantasy Premier League from the summer friendlies so far.

Haaland ownership rises after first goal in pre-season

Erling Haaland’s (£15.0m) first goal of the summer has quickly caught the attention of managers in Fantasy.

The Norwegian has risen from 32 to 33 per cent ownership just hours after scoring in Manchester City’s 4-3 loss to Celtic on Wednesday morning.

Though his ownership is in stark contrast to last season, when Haaland started in over 70 per cent of squads, he is still the third most-selected forward at present, with only Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins (£9.0m) and Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak (£8.5m) owned by more than 56 and 54 per cent respectively.

There’s no doubt that Haaland’s record-breaking price tag of £15.0m has played a big part here, with the majority of the current total of 2.1million managers choosing to spread the funds across their squads instead.

Haaland now has three more summer friendlies to change their minds and make himself a must-have for the start of 2024/25, with Pep Guardiola’s side facing both AC Milan and Barcelona in the week ahead.

Crucially, the Man City forward is among a host of key big-hitters – including Liverpool's Mohamed Salah (£12.5m), Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heung-min (£10.0m), Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard (£8.5m) and Newcastle’s Isak – who were not involved in the summer international tournaments.

While this allows them to approach Gameweek 1 on the back of a full pre-season, the same cannot be said for a number of other premium picks, with Cole Palmer (£10.5m), Bukayo Saka (£10.0m), Phil Foden (£9.5m) and Watkins all part of England’s run to the UEFA EURO 2024 final.

To counter that, it's worth noting the comments of Arsenal’s manager Mikel Arteta, who has downplayed the idea that any of his international stars who were involved in the late stages of tournaments will miss the start of the season.

"I do not think so," he said on the club's website. "Let’s see what condition they come back in.

"All of the messages I have got from them, they are really excited to come back and have a great season again. I do not expect anything else."

Clearly, at this point in a pre-season which has been decimated by the involvement of high numbers of players across Copa America and EURO 2024, there is only so much you can learn from the line-ups. 

The comments of Chelsea’s new head coach Enzo Maresca, meanwhile, have handily shed more light on his plans for the fit-again Christopher Nkunku (£6.5m) in 2024/25. 

"He can play everywhere," said Maresca. "These kind of players for me, they can play winger, they can play attacking midfielder, they can play No 9, they can play in different positions."

While Maresca’s comments underline why the versatile Frenchman has been changed from a forward to a midfielder in Fantasy this season, a potential role as one of Chelsea’s two No 8s alongside Palmer could be particularly beneficial and lift his appeal as a top pick in the mid-price midfield bracket.

Rogers leads rush to be next Palmer

Villa’s Morgan Rogers (£5.0m) has continued his late-season form in 2023/24 to suggest he could follow Palmer’s lead to emerge as a vital budget midfielder pick in Fantasy.

The left winger has played as a second striker in both Villa’s summer matches, producing three goals and an assist. Encouragingly, Rogers made seven of his eight starts in 2023/24 during Gameweeks 27-35. He scored three goals - second only to the five of Watkins - and supplied an assist to average 4.6 points per start.

Rogers' goal v Walsall

Elsewhere, Oscar Bobb (£5.0m) has benefited from the absence of a host of Man City regulars to outshine team-mate Haaland with a goal and two assists. 

Callum Hudson-Odoi (£5.5m) is another cut-price midfielder showing form, with a goal and two assists across Nottingham Forest’s opening three friendlies.

His team-mate Chris Wood (£6.0m) has scored twice and could provide an option for managers’ forward lines for their kind early run of opponents. According to the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR), five of Nott’m Forest’s first six matches score only two.

Forest's first six fixtures

Among the promoted sides, Leicester City pair Stephy Mavididi (£5.5m) and James Justin (£4.5m) have impressed in their first two matches under new manager Steve Cooper.

Mavididi played as a left winger for Enzo Maresca last season, scoring 12 goals and producing eight assists. But under Cooper, the 26-year-old has thrived in a more advanced central role, scoring against both Villarreal and Shrewsbury Town. Meanwhile, Justin’s raids forwards from the left of defence have helped him supply an assist in each of those matches. 

Southampton’s Adam Armstrong (£5.5m) scored two goals in a 7-1 win over Eastleigh to offer a timely reminder of the qualities he offers. The striker combined 24 goals with 13 assists for the Championship playoff winners last season.