FPL Pre-Season Insights: £4.5m Forward and £4.0m Defenders Shine

The final weekend of pre-season offered exactly what Fantasy Premier League managers crave in August: clues. Not theories, not training-ground whispers. Actual line-ups, roles, and a couple of budget players forcing their way into our thoughts.

Ipswich Town’s 4-2 win at Union Berlin and Hull City’s goalless draw with Nice put the spotlight firmly on the cheap end of the FPL pool – £4.0m defenders and a £4.5m forward who refused to go quietly.

Ipswich: £4.0m defenders take shape, £4.5m forward makes his move

At Ipswich, the fog is finally lifting.

Gary O’Neil named the same back four he used in the Tractor Boys’ penultimate friendly, a huge late-pre-season tell. We’re past the phase of mass changes and fitness drills. This is the “this is my team” stage.

Dara O’Shea, Issa Diop and Jacob Greaves – all priced at £4.0m – had been locked in a “two from three” battle for centre-back slots. That scrap looks different now. O’Shea started at right-back again, effectively reshaping the defence.

With Leif Davis (£4.0m) bombing on from left-back, Ipswich often resembled a back three in possession, Davis pushing so high that Daizen Maeda (£5.5m) was frequently the one tucking in behind him. O’Shea’s new role paid off on the scoresheet in Berlin, too: he curled in a goal of his own, one of four Ipswich strikes in a 4-2 win.

The attacking upside at full-back is nice, but for most FPL managers, £4.0m defenders are about one thing: DefCons. Those steady defensive returns will arrive far more often than the odd screamer from 20 yards. On that basis, Diop still looks the most straightforward route into the Ipswich backline for those hunting reliability over romance.

Davis is a different conversation entirely. He finished pre-season with more attacking returns than any other Ipswich player – four in total – and added another assist on Saturday, whipping in the cross for Jack Clarke (£5.5m) to score. His average position was often higher than Maeda’s, underlining just how aggressively he operates down that flank.

The question is whether that attacking promise can finally translate into sustained FPL value in 2026/27, two seasons on from his previous disappointment. Newly promoted centre-backs last year, like Esteve and Ballard, churned out DefCons in around half of their starts. For many managers, that kind of baseline will be hard to turn down for a £4.0m defender. Davis will need to keep the returns coming to justify the extra risk.

Behind them, Kjell Scherpen (£4.5m) remains a work in progress. Union Berlin’s two goals were not glaring errors, but both were the sort a goalkeeper might feel he could have done better with. It’s early, and the sample size is tiny, yet he hasn’t yet offered the same quiet reassurance that the new Hull and Coventry keepers have hinted at.

The real jolt to the FPL radar, though, came further forward.

Sindre Walle Egeli, priced at £4.5m, started and produced two assists – one each for Emersonn (£5.5m) and O’Shea. He ends pre-season with the fifth-highest minutes in the Ipswich squad, a notable achievement for a budget forward trying to elbow his way into a crowded attack.

There is a catch. His long-term minutes are anything but secure. Walle Egeli started on the right flank in Berlin, having played as a No. 10 the previous week. In both roles, he has heavy competition: Abdul Fatawu (£5.5m) is close to returning from a knock, and Julio Enciso is on his way through the door. For now, Walle Egeli feels like a short-term punt rather than a season-long gem – but he’s made himself very hard to ignore.

One more subplot: Jaden Philogene (£5.5m), scorer of 12 league goals last season, finally appeared for the first time this pre-season. He has been heavily linked with a move away, and the sense lingers that his Gameweek 1 club might not be Ipswich at all.

Hull: rotation clouds, £4.0m centre-backs, and a busy £4.5m keeper

Hull’s 0-0 draw with Nice told a very different story. Less chaos, more questions.

Elliot Stroud (£5.0m) went straight into the side on debut, starting on the left wing. Three other summer signings made their first appearances from the bench: central midfielder Lucas Gourna-Douath (price TBA) and centre-backs Lucas Herrington (£4.0m) and Nobel Mendy (£4.0m). Another new arrival, Joe Gelhardt (£5.0m), missed out entirely.

Manager Sergej Jakirovic explained why:

“Because he had an injury. He has an injury from Leeds, three weeks already gone. I expect in two weeks he will be on the pitch with the team. Right ankle.”

Hull’s injury list is already long, but there was at least some relief. John Egan (£4.0m), Jens Hjerto-Dahl (£5.0m), Paddy McNair (£4.0m) and Liam Millar (£5.0m) all returned after scares last weekend, with Egan and Hjerto-Dahl starting.

Even so, this still looked like a side with one foot in the Championship. Eight of the XI began last season in the second tier. The sense is of a squad mid-transition rather than one fully ready for the Premier League’s opening bell.

That’s especially true at centre-back. Egan and Semi Ajayi (£4.0m) started this final friendly, but the security of their places looks flimsy. Herrington and Mendy were eased in off the bench, and Mendy in particular – the club’s record signing – looms as a serious threat to the established order.

For FPL managers, that uncertainty is a red flag. Ipswich and Coventry’s £4.0m defenders already look more appealing in early Bench Boost plans because of fixtures; Hull’s rotation risk only strengthens that argument.

Jakirovic’s comments up front hint at more change to come. Oli McBurnie (£5.5m) currently faces little competition, yet that won’t last.

“I hope also we will bring, in a few days, another option for the striker position,” the Hull boss said.

In midfield, two £4.5m options – Regan Slater and Matt Crooks – are just about hanging onto their spots. Their survival owes plenty to injuries elsewhere rather than irresistible form. Gourna-Douath, on Saturday’s evidence, looks more likely to push Hjerto-Dahl than either of those two, with the Norwegian still building sharpness. Hull continue to be linked with more midfield recruits, which only deepens the rotation shadows.

The match itself rarely sparked. Hull’s main threat came from set pieces, with corners from Slater and Mohamed Belloumi (£5.0m) troubling Nice. Egan, Hjerto-Dahl and Mendy all had half-chances from dead balls without finding the breakthrough.

Belloumi was the standout in open play. The winger looked the one player capable of injecting something different, fashioning Hull’s best chance for himself before seeing his shot beaten away. Beyond that, Jakirovic’s side struggled to open Nice up.

One position, at least, looks nailed for Gameweek 1: goalkeeper. Konstantinos Tzolakis (£4.5m) impressed again, underlining why he’s expected to start the season as No. 1. His standout moment came late in the first half, when he produced an excellent double save to preserve the clean sheet. On this evidence, he will not be short of work once the real stuff begins.

For FPL managers, that might be the clearest takeaway of all. Ipswich’s £4.0m defenders are edging towards clarity, a £4.5m forward has thrown his hat into the ring, and Hull’s new keeper looks set for a season of heavy involvement.

The prices are right. The minutes and roles are almost there. Now it’s down to how brave you feel when the Gameweek 1 deadline hits.