Omar Marmoush (£7.5m), the No 1 transfer target for Gameweek 30, snapped up by more than 1.35million Fantasy Premier League managers, immediately rewarded his new owners with a goal and nine points on Wednesday night.
The Egyptian, who replaced the injured Erling Haaland (£14.8m) in Manchester City's starting XI, scored and claimed maximum bonus in a 2-0 win over Leicester City.
Marmoush has now totalled 40 points across his last four home matches, notching two double-figure hauls over those encounters.
He fared better than his international team-mate, Mohamed Salah (£13.8m), the most-captained player of the Gameweek, handed the armband by 5.44m managers. Salah blanked at Anfield for the first time since Gameweek 4, finishing with three points as Liverpool beat Everton 1-0.
Unusually for Fantasy's record-breaker, he had only one shot in the match, his lowest tally in any game this season.
GW30 most-captained active players
| Player | Captained by | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| Salah | 5,439,894 | 3 |
| Isak | 601,450 | 8 |
| Marmoush | 540,785 | 9 |
| Palmer | 481,816 | - |
| Fernandes | 219,732 | 2 |
Alexander Isak (£9.4m) scored and earned a share of the bonus in Newcastle United's 2-1 win over Brentford.
It took him up to 20 goals for the campaign and 177 points, his best return across his three seasons in Fantasy.
There was less to cheer about for the 291,000+ who opted to captain Bruno Fernandes (£8.6m), as he mustered just two points in Manchester United's 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest. It brought to an end an excellent spell for the Portuguese, who had racked up 46 points in his four previous outings.
Who were the most-bought players?
There was disappointment, too, for the majority of the 2.91m managers who transferred in a Crystal Palace player for Gameweek 30.
After winning 3-0 in the FA Cup last weekend, hopes were high ahead of a visit to bottom side Southampton.
However, popular trio Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.6m), Daniel Munoz (£5.1m) and Ismaila Sarr (£5.7m) all blanked in the 1-1 draw at St Mary's Stadium.
The only members of Oliver Glasner's (£0.8m) side to produce returns were Brazilian Matheus Franca (£4.4m) and Colombian Jefferson Lerma (£4.8m), recruited by just 121 and 339 managers respectively.
Nonetheless, with two matches for Crystal Palace in Double Gameweek 32 (DGW32), owners of Eagles players will be crossing their fingers that they prove a good investment over the medium term.
GW30 most-bought players
| Player | Bought by | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| Marmoush | 1,354,267 | 9 |
| Mateta | 863,153 | 1 |
| Isak | 799,720 | 8 |
| Sarr | 767,876 | 2 |
| Munoz | 611,544 | 2 |
Joining Haaland among the most-sold players were Cole Palmer (£10.7m) and Bryan Mbeumo (£8.1m), along with injured duo Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.3m) and Chris Wood (£7.2m).
Palmer has been ditched by over a million people in each of the last two Gameweeks and is without an attacking return since his assist against West Ham United in Gameweek 24.
However, a home encounter with Tottenham Hotspur could prove just the tonic for his 42 per cent ownership. Palmer has never blanked against Spurs and notched 18 points in the reverse fixture in Gameweek 15.
GW30 most-sold players
| Player | Sold by | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| Palmer | 1,354,608 | - |
| Wood | 1,283,106 | 0 |
| Alexander-Arnold | 852,791 | 0 |
| Haaland | 675,550 | 0 |
| Mbeumo | 479,924 | 8 |
Mbeumo's sellers may already be regretting their decision to part company with the Cameroon international after he scored in Brentford's defeat at St James' Park.
He totalled eight points to add to his 13 points from his earlier meeting with Newcastle this season.
Since the turn of the year he's amassed 77 points, placing second among all players, behind only the 107 of Salah.
The 479,000+ who ditched him will be hoping that a tricky run for Brentford stems his flow of points; their next two opponents are rated at four in the Fixture Difficulty Rankings (FDR).
GW30 chips played
| Chip | Used by |
|---|---|
| Wildcard | 658,984 |
| Assistant Manager | 276,833 |
| Bench Boost | 70,180 |
| Free Hit | 33,497 |
| Triple Captain | 32,218 |
Over a million chips were deployed for Gameweek 30, with the Wildcard activated by more than 658,000.
It's the third-highest total this season and the most since the second Wildcard became available in Gameweek 20.
In addition, 276,000 Assistant Manager chips were played, meaning that more than 675,000 Fantasy bosses are currently using the chip.
Eddie Howe (£1.5m), whose Newcastle side also double in DGW32, and Glasner saw the biggest ownership increases, each gaining in excess of 60,000 new owners.
Howe came out on top on this occasion, registering eight points to Glasner's four.
It's worth noting for those who have backed Glasner, that Crystal Palace no longer benefit from table bonus in their Gameweek 31 encounter with Brighton & Hove Albion, as they sit just four places below the Seagulls following Wednesday's results.
