Yesterday saw the Premier League announce some significant changes to their FPL game before the 2024-25 season, including more transfers, a mystery chip and some notable adjustments to the scoring system.
Here, our FPL experts explain what is different, how those changes may impact the game and how you can take advantage.
GO DEEPER
FPL managers able to bank up to five transfers in changes to game for 2024-25
What is the most eye-catching change?
Abdul Rehman: Saving up to five free transfers is by far the biggest change and significantly alters the game’s landscape. You won’t be forced to make a transfer if you have saved one, unlike with the previous format, and this will benefit all types of managers. You could essentially have a mini wildcard at your disposal if you save up four or five transfers.
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The other big change is that using a wildcard or Free Hit chip won’t reset your transfer count to one. Therefore, you can save up to five free transfers, use your wildcard, and still have five free transfers the following gameweek. This will create a big divergence in strategy among FPL managers, which is great for the game.
Holly Shand: The change to the number of free transfers you can bank is the biggest fundamental change in FPL since the game launched. When the chips arrived in the 2015-16 season, this did change some strategy in certain periods of the season, particularly around the blank and double gameweeks, but it wasn’t something on our minds for around two-thirds of the season.
This change will have a weekly impact on our decision-making. It completely shakes up our approach and helps increase the appetite for those players who forget to log in each week to change their teams — now they’ll have multiple transfers after an inactive period.
How will the free transfer carryover increase impact the game?
Rehman: FPL managers can be much more creative in how they play the game and open up routes to different strategies. It will also help keep ‘casual’ managers engaged throughout the season. Those who don’t take it as seriously as others can log in after a few weeks with multiple free transfers and, in effect, catch up.
It will also allow managers to target fixture swings more easily and moving away from premium players will be much simpler. For example, if you went without Erling Haaland (£15.0m) in the old format, it would be difficult to get him back without taking a hit if you used up the rest of your cash. With this change, by saving three to four transfers, you can do that quite easily.
Swapping around premium options for good fixture runs will also be easier. For example, Phil Foden (£9.5m), Bukayo Saka (£10.0m), and Cole Palmer (£10.5m) are all around the same price. We can use the same strategy for forwards.
Shand: Our weekly performances have hinged on whether we make zero, one or two transfers, and who we pick as captain. The possibility of moves will be wide open — we could make zero or five transfers in one go without incurring a points hit. At the start of the season, there will be a temptation to save up these free transfers.
We might approach the season in chunks and look more closely at fixture swings, to jump on and off clusters of players from clubs and effectively use a wildcard of five transfers at specific points within the season.
What do you think the impact of the bonus-point changes will be?
Shand: Periodically, we tend to see changes in the bonus point system (BPS) and in 2024-25, the way that is distributed has changed again.
However, it’s important not to overthink them, since they are only awarded to three individuals per game.
When it comes to defensive players, those goalkeepers and centre-backs playing in sides who concede a lot of goals will suffer more in the new system than before.
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It seems more unlikely that goalkeepers and defenders will pick up bonus points in a game where they’ve conceded multiple goals, something that hasn’t always been the case. There are some positives for our attacking players, though, with the new system suiting those players who win lots of fouls and register plenty of shots on target.
Rehman: I am a bit torn on the BPS changes. I like how it rewards shots on target (+2 points) and fouls won (+1 points) as these benefit your players for positive actions. Also, a goal-line clearance (+3 points) deserves to be rewarded. This will make forwards who tend to shoot more and those who are fouled often more attractive.
But I am not a fan of -4 bonus points for goalkeepers and defenders for conceding a goal. It is already hard for defensive players to pick up points when conceding and this may force managers to go cheaper in defence. It also makes attacking defenders from teams with poor defences such as Pedro Porro (£5.5m), for example, less attractive. It could force FPL managers into picking from the same pool of defenders.
I do like how they have changed a penalty save from 15 to 9 bonus points as that’s fairer. Overall, the BPS changes feel progressive as they mostly reward players for positive actions.
Which players are more attractive now with the bonus point changes?
Rehman: Players such as Mohamed Salah (£12.5m), Haaland and Foden will benefit from these changes.
Below is a list of the players with the most shots on target last season. These are popular assets already, but it’s worth considering Darwin Nunez (£7.5m) and Nicolas Jackson (£7.5m), who you may not have expected.
Players with most shots on target last season 🎯
Haaland – 59
Salah – 56
Foden -48
Watkins – 47
Darwin – 46
Palmer – 46
Isak – 43
Bruno – 41
Jackson – 41
Alvarez – 40
Son – 40
Cunha – 38
Solanke – 38
Bowen – 37
Saka – 37
Eze – 34Source – https://t.co/0qLJkMUqO3
— Abdul Rehman (@FPL_Salah) July 16, 2024
Bruno Guimares (£6.5m) won the most fouls (108) last season and Bukayo Saka (£10.0m) and Anthony Gordon (£7.5m) were in the top 10 for fouls drawn, too. This doesn’t suddenly make Guimares a must-own as, in the grand scheme of things, the BPS changes won’t make a huge difference.
However, it’s worth looking at and comparing already good assets and seeing where they rank, as this can be the deciding factor on which one to choose.
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Shand: Haaland has to top the list here: he had more shots on goal than any other player last season and should hoover up the bonus points more so than he has in his two previous seasons. This change in ruling does justify his price increase from £14million to £15million, especially since he’s now even more attractive as a captaincy option.
Team-mate Foden registered 60 fouls won in 2023-24 and is another who will see a significant increase in the BPS rankings. Salah was second to Haaland for shots on target last campaign, with Foden, Ollie Watkins, Nunez and Palmer making up the top six — the problem will be affording them all!
What style of FPL manager will benefit the most from the announced change?
Shand: The new announcement will benefit all managers, relative to their engagement in the game. For those who drop off early, banking transfers will give them a good route back into the game after absent weeks. The planners will also benefit, with patient managers rewarded, but there is the danger of being too conservative and banking a transfer where using one would be more favourable.
Fewer blank and double gameweeks are expected next season due to the FA Cup fifth-round and quarter-finals games being scheduled on different weekends from the Premier League, so these changes will add a new dynamic.
Rehman: All types of managers will sense an opportunity. It can reward aggressive FPL managers who take more punts. For example, saving three-plus transfers and not having the transfers reset after using a wildcard allows you to use it more impulsively and get away with it.
Patient managers can use their bank of transfers to make wholesale changes to target fixture swings and be well prepared for any injuries that may occur, while casual managers also will not be at as big of a disadvantage if they miss the deadline for one or two weeks as they have the chance to make amends.
This is why I like the transfer banking change as it benefits everyone and offers more options — which can only be a good thing.
What is your theory about the ‘Mystery Chip’?
Rehman: I have no idea but do have some good ideas (in my opinion) for it.
- All Out Attack — All your forwards get double points
- Highest Captain — The highest-scoring player in your team gets double points
- Goals Doubled — Every goal scored in your team gets double points
- Double Captain — You pick two captains who both score double points
- No Goalkeeper — Instead of selecting a goalkeeper, you get to pick an additional outfield player.
I don’t like the fact the identity of the Mystery Chip isn’t available from the start, however, as it can alter your strategy. For example, if it was something like the ‘Unlimited Budget’ chip in the Euro 2024 game where you have an unlimited budget to pick your squad for one week, then it might alter when you used your Free Hit or Wildcard.
I hope it’s a chip that doesn’t require you to plan (which is the case with Bench Boost) and one you can use on a whim similar to the Triple Captain. I also think it could be a good idea to avoid using it in a double gameweek so we don’t all activate it in the same week.
Shand: I’m a little sceptical about whether Fantasy Premier League has finalised its plans for this chip — maybe it will take a little more technical work to build into the game. We could see the introduction of chips seen in other fantasy games, like the Euro 2024 game, where managers were granted an unlimited budget for one gameweek.
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It could be an additional Free Hit or Bench Boost chip, or perhaps we will see the reintroduction of the All Out Attack chip, which we saw in 2015-16 and 2016-17 before it was replaced by the Free Hit, allowing managers to play a 2-5-3 formation with the maximum five midfielders and three forwards. Time will tell!
(Top photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)