06 Aug, 2025
We rank our best budget Midfielders between £5m-£6m ahead of GW1 of the 25/26 FPL season. Midfield enablers could be key to those heavy premium player drafts if you want to have teams with 3 or even 4 of Salah, Haaland, Palmer, Saka and Isak.
Budget midfielders are pivotal to certain team builds in FPL, specifically teams where you are trying to stack 3 or 4 premium players in your team. In the upcoming 25/26 season, if you are trying to have a successful team that includes Salah, Haaland and Palmer for example, you are going to need to hit on a couple of a budget Midfielders, along with a few budget players in other positions.
Luckily, the budget Midfield market often produces some gems that provide great value for their FPL price and enable managers to own multiple premium asset, especially if you hit on your budget options early before their EO and prices rise! Last season we had Midfielders like Semenyo, Kluivert, Rogers and Murphy providing incredible value for £6.0m or less. But with every new season comes new context and circumstances, and those players have now risen in price and are not guaranteed to replicate their production. So we need to reassess the budget midfielder market for the 25/26 season and see which players are in line to make a mockery of FPL’s GW1 pricing and be the midfield enablers we all need!
| 1. Minteh |
| 2. Tonali |
| 3. Tielemans |
| 4. Wilson |
| 5. Caicedo |
| 6. Anderson |
| 7. Smith-Rowe |
| 8. Hudson-Odoi |
Yankuba Minteh is going to push himself into the FPL limelight this season. The former Newcastle man is a highly respected talent within Europe. He only started 25 games last season, but that was mostly due to an injury that kept the Gambian sidelined from October 6th-November 29th where he missed 5 league games. This season, Minteh will be a guaranteed starter almost every GW.
Minteh scored 6 goals from 4.1xG last season despite being played in a couple of different positions including wing-back for a few games. While Minteh did overperform his xG by a full 2 goals, his post-shot xG of 5.8xG explains the gap; Minteh’s finishing accuracy was high level. In pre-season, Minteh scored a brace in a 2-2 draw against Southampton on August 3rd and should have had an assist to boot, only for Mitoma to fall over before finishing.
Minteh is a very good chance creator for teammates with his pace and dribbling ability allowing him to get to the byline regularly for cutbacks, as well as having a nice whipped delivery in his toolbox. Yet his teammates let him down last season only helping him reach 4 assists despite amassing 5.0xA. Again, hopefully playing as a full-time forward will help his xA number grow and his teammates help him out a little more…
In 25/26 with the potential to start an additional 10-13 league games, and with individual growth that is expected for young players, as well as a bigger role as the team’s best forward alongside Mitoma, I expect all of Minteh’s individual stats and his output to take a significant jump. If he can produce 10 G/A in 25 starts last season, some being at wingback, there is no reason Minteh can’t produce 15 G/A minimum this season. I really believe Minteh is going to make that £6.0m price-tag look like an immense bargain and is going to see his ownership jump massively after a few GWs so get in there early and you’ll look like an FPL guru to all your league-mates.
Tonali proved he is one of the best midfielders in the Premier League last season, especially in the second half of the season. FPL manager should realise Tonali being as good as he was last season, after nearly a year out from football due to his gambling suspension, is not normal. A lot of players would have taken a long time to readjust to top flight football.
Tonali came on strong around the mid point of the season, once he regained fitness and form after the long period out suspended. He bagged all 6 of his G/A (4 G + 2 A) last season from GW23 onwards. That is 6 G/A in the final 16 Gameweeks, which is better than a goal or assist every 3 games. I also expect the Italian midfielder keep up that pace, if not slightly increase it as he will have to take on a greater role for Newcastle to have a successful season in 25/26, with Isak likely leaving the club.
Tonali accumulated 4.4xG last season which is a solid number for a deeper lying midfielder but we hope that can increase this season with the need to spread goals around with Isak. He registered 2.8xA in 24/25, but any manager owning him will hope his xA and assist tally improves playing alongside a pacier, more talented winger duo this season with a healthy Gordon and the newly signed Elanga.
My expectation is for Tonali to start 34-36 games this season health permitting, and to approach or even hit 10 G/A, and then there is the added bonus of DC points. Sounds like great value for £5.5m to me!
Harry Wilson looks to be a major factor for Marco Silva and Fulham this season. He has had a blistering pre-season, scoring 3 goals plus providing an assist in 2 games against Al-Ittihad and Nottingham Forest. Beyond just the goals and assists in pre-season; his performances have been electric and the young Welsh winger was creating chances for fun in these 2 games.
It is almost impossible to imagine a world where Wilson is not one of Silva’s main attackers with fairly secure expected minutes. He is a better goal threat and chance creator from the wing than any of Fulham’s other midfielders or attackers not named Iwobi.
He managed 6 goals from only 12 starts last season. Wilson could end up starting more than double that amount of games and and he would likely double his G/A tally along with it. A 15 G/A season is certainly in the cards. 10 G/A seems almost certain. For £5.5m, those are some very tasty outcomes for managers and Wilson has a real shot at being the best midfield enabler in 25/26.
Tielemans has some of the most secure expected minutes of any Midfielder in the league after his incredible 24/25 season and the way Emery relies on him for ball progression and chance creation. Tielemans is one of Villa’s leaders, who they will massively need to bounce back after a tough end to last season. Tielemans will also likely stay on free kicks and corners along with McGinn this season, which provides him great opportunities for G/A.
Can he match his 3 goals and 7 assists from last season? I don’t see many reason why he won’t, especially with the new signing of very talented striker Evan Guessand from Nice as another forward option alongside Watkins, Malen and Rogers. Tieleman’s incredible passing and delivery from crosses/set pieces can net him 6-8 assists with those talented forwards running ahead of him. He is also one of Villa’s top two penalty takers along with Watkins who’s future is uncertain. Tielemans should once again be one of the highest scoring FPL midfielders priced at £6.0m or below.
Caicedo is one of Chelsea’s 2 best players and is a guaranteed starter every single week, whether in midfield or right-back under Maresca. He scored 98 FPL points last season, nothing crazy. But he missed out on what would have been 44 defensive contribution points if they were available last season, the most for any Midfielder in FPL. Add to that Chelsea’s improved attacking unit which could help his goal or assist tally improve from the 5 G/A he managed last season, and Caicedo seems like great value at £5.5m. I would be surprised if he does not break the 140 point mark with DC points in play this season.
The case for Anderson is a very similar one to Caicedo’s, except Anderson sometimes plays in a more advanced role than Caicedo ever does. However, with new signing Ndoye and a now fit Hudson-Odoi, my guess is Anderson settles back into playing in the deeper midfield role, with injuries or rotation being the only reason he will play further forward in 25/26. However, if he can near enough replicate his 8 G/A from last season, with the added bonus of Defensive Contribution points, Andersen will be a very good midfield enabler. DC points is where Andersen shines, averaging at least 1 DC point per 90, as he averages 13.4 CBRIT per 90. You won’t find many better midfield profiles for £5.5m!
Smith-Rowe had a tough second half to last season and found himself out of favour in Silva’s starting XI. However he was one of Fulham’s most expensive signings ever. That was also his first season ever really being a key starter in the Premier League, he is talented and Silva clearly hasn’t given up on him. Smith-Rowe has been starting and shining in Fulham’s pre season. He scored a goal against Al-Ittihad and also netted against Nottingham Forest in pre season, linking up well with Wilson and Muniz. It looks like, as of now, he should be the starting number 10 for Fulham over Pereira, and if he can take his game up a level, there is no reason he can’t be one of the best budget Midfielders in FPL.
This one is pretty easy. A talented starting winger, with very safe expected minutes, on a team that finished 7th last season. Forest have only last 1 of their 4 key attackers from 24/25 and added a highly thought of replacement for Elanga in Ndoye. Hudson-Odoi managed 7 G/A in 25 starts last season, so the potential for his output to increase with more starts and more minutes is there. Injuries were what hampered him for some of last season, so if niggles and knocks can be avoided, Hudson-Odoi could have his best season yet in the Premier League and be good value for £6.0m. If Forest play a slightly more attacking brand of football this season that would really help CHO’s output.
Now that you have the best budget midfielders down to a T, we ranked the best budget Forwards this season. We also looked at the best £4m Defenders and best £4.5m Midfielders ahead of GW1. And don’t miss out on our Best FPL players to target and avoid for every team ahead of GW1 – starting off with Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea players.
An absolute FPL Fanatic, with a strong background in sports Journalism and statistics, Ahsan is one of the key writers here at ingenuity. Ahsan’s content stretches from How-to guides right up to analytical deep dives on players, making his content appealing for both the serious fantasy player and newbie alike.
