five essential players for the 2026/27 season

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Five best fantasy football players

Take a look at these elite Telegraph Fantasy Football tips below:

 

Erling Haaland (£8.3m)

Comfortably last season’s top points scorer with 254, the Norwegian striker will once again likely be the first name in TFF Managers’ XIs. Having come back late from his post-World Cup break, there may be nervousness about early-season minutes. However, if he keeps up his phenomenal August goals-to-games ratio, starting without him may mean playing catch-up against the field.

 

João Pedro (£5.1m)

Having missed out on the Brazilian squad for the World Cup, the forward looks rejuvenated after a rested summer, netting seven times and assisting twice more in pre-season. With no European distractions for the Blues this season, and attacking intent shown in new manager Xabi Alonso’s selections thus far, the 24-year-old looks primed for a successful season.

 

Antoine Semenyo (£4.9m)

Perhaps one of the biggest surprises in the pricing for the new season was the City winger’s sub-£5m tag. The January recruit was the second-highest scorer in the game last season, and has looked the most dangerous of Enzo Moresca’s attacking assets in pre-season, so looks the stand-out midfield option.

 

Gabriel Magalhães (£4.9m)

Another that perhaps warranted a higher price increase, the Brazilian only missed out on breaking the 200-point barrier due to his injury late in the season. While there are cheaper options in the champions’ backline, including Christhian Mosquera (£3.7m), who looks likely to deputise for the injured William Saliba (£4.6m), getting the assurances over long-term starts and the additional attacking returns is enough to warrant paying the higher expense.

 

Nico O’Reilly (£4.2m)

The England international has incurred a position change in TFF, and will now gain points for clean sheets as a defender on top of his attacking returns. Had he scored as a defender last season, he would have topped his position table; therefore, £4.2m seems too good value to turn down.

One notable omission from the list is Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes (£6.5m). It isn’t through the belief that the veteran won’t return heavily once again this season, but rather that there appears to be more value across a wide range of mid-priced options where TFF managers can optimise value across their starting XIs.

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