A new season of FPL is here.
When building your initial squad, it’s easy to slip into what you know. Mo Salah, Erling Haaland, Bukayo Saka, Virgil van Dijk etc. All FPL staples that have been fantastic over the years.
At the same time, you can forget new arrivals. There are three new teams in the FPL each season, with Leeds United, Burnley and Sunderland getting involved in the game.
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While you may generally opt to steer clear of the promoted sides, there will be one or two players to look at. And, of course, there are new signings to consider.
So we’ve picked out five new players (that weren’t in FPL in 2024-25) we think are worth considering for your squads.
Djordje Petrovic
- Position: Goalkeeper
- Club: Bournemouth
- Price: £4.5m
Now, we’re starting with a cheeky one. Djordje Petrovic is a new FPL player in that he didn’t have a score last season. But he does have history in the FPL, earning 71 points in 22 starts for Chelsea in 2023-24.
The goalkeeper spent last season on loan at Strasbourg and impressed to help them seal European football. So how does that translate to FPL? Although he only averaged 0.32 clean sheets per 90 minutes in Ligue 1 last season, Petrovic made 3.58 saves per 90. That’s over the threshold for save point. The Serbian also saved 74.5% of the shots he faced, and prevented 6.9 goals in total. Petrovic looks to be a decent signing for Bournemouth and could be a good cheap goalkeeper option for FPL.
Diogo Coppola
- Position: DEF
- Club: Brighton
- Price: £4.5m
We’ve already spoken about Diogo Coppola in our focus on FPL’s new defensive points system. And that’s exactly why we’re doubling down on him. Coppola isn’t a goalscoring defender, nor is he a creator. Last season in Serie A the Italian centre-back averaged 0.06 goals per 90 and 0.03 Expected Goals. He was also part of a Hellas Verona defence that kept 0.25 clean sheets per 90.
But Coppola averaged 10.95 defensive contributions per 90 in Serie A. For the uninitiated, that counts clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles. And a player needs to hit at least 10 in a single game to get two extra points. Coppola was in the 95th percentile and above for his clearances (5.97), blocks (0.74) and interceptions (2.21) per 90 last season.
Florian Wirtz
- Position: MID
- Club: Liverpool
- Price: £8.5m
This is hardly ground-breaking. But there may be some who have doubts over how Florian Wirtz’s ability will translate to the Premier League — and more importantly, FPL. Wirtz scored 0.38 goals per 90 in the Bundesliga last season, from 0.39 xG per 90. While that’s a slight underperformance, these numbers are boosted by the fact that Wirtz is a midfielder. So any goal will be worth five points.
Wirtz was also a good creator with frequent assists. He averaged 2.18 chances created per 90 in the Bundesliga last season, with 0.46 assists per 90. Wirtz will rely on the goals and assists, as he doesn’t really get the defensive contribution points. But that’s okay. It isn’t the Defensive Contribution FPL.
Thierno Barry
- Position: FWD
- Club: Everton
- Price: £6.0m
It feels like a bit of a risk to pick an Everton striker at times. The Toffees haven’t had a reliable goalscorer in what feels like decades. But Thierno Barry could be the one to end the curse. The 22-year-old striker averaged 0.43 goals per 90 in La Liga last season. But he ranked 11th for xG per 90 at 0.55.
There wasn’t much difference between his xG and post-shot xG either, with the latter only dropping slightly to 0.54. He won’t be your main striker, but Barry could be a good inclusion for a lot of squads given his price.
Wilfried Gnonto
- Position: MID
- Club: Leeds
- Price: £5.5m
Another player with FPL history, Wilfried Gnonto scored 55 points in 14 starts, with two goals and four assists when Leeds were last in the top flight. He returns to the Premier League off the back of a decent season in the Championship. And, again, he might be a good cheap option to rotate in if and when you need him.
Gnonto scored 0.36 goals per 90 in the Championship last season, from 0.32 xG per 90. So he’s not bad at putting chances away, even if his 0.29 post-shot xG shows a hint of poor finishing. The Italian also created 1.82 chances per 90 and provided 0.24 assists in the Championship last season.