Since the Premier League Fantasy game began in 2002-03, it has grown into a massive global database with millions of players. But who are the biggest icons of the competition’s official game over the past quarter century?
With the help of our resident FPL expert Thomas Woods and extensive research by the Fantasy Football Scout, I’ve ranked the top 10 based on stats and value. What makes a player iconic – raw points or exceptional bargain value? Let’s find out.
10. Harry Kane, Tottenham, 2014-15, starting price £5m
England captain and record goalscorer, three-time Premier League Golden Boot winner. After a series of loans and having not yet established himself at White Hart Lane, the young Spurs striker began the 2014-15 campaign as a likely £5m back-up to Emmanuel Adebayor and Roberto Soldado.
Kane didn’t find the net until November in the Premier League, a 90th-minute winner after coming off the bench at Aston Villa, but it was the first of 21 goals in the competition that season. An eight-match run from gameweek 18 to 25 saw Kane notch 77 points with nine goals, four assists and 16 bonus points.
Kane started at £5m but registered 191 points in 2014-15 [Getty Images]
For those who gambled on him early, Kane proved a bargain. He rose from £5m to a peak £6.4m, racking up 191 points and ranking 11th on the all-time value list, despite playing fewer minutes than all those above him.
9. Charlie Adam, Blackpool, 2010-11, £5m.
The great budget enabler. Blackpool’s Charlie Adam took penalties, free-kicks, corners and would probably have had goalkicks too if they let him. He’d had a good season in the Championship, scoring 16 times, but no one really gave the Seasiders any hope on their Premier League debut.
Despite Ian Holloway’s outfit eventually succumbing to the drop, Adam delivered a points tally that was only bettered by Manchester United’s Nani that season – on the back of 12 goals, his 192 stood as the highest score by a promoted player at the time.
Charlie Adam scored in Blackpool’s defeat at Old Trafford on the final day of the season [Getty Images]
8. Michel Vorm, Swansea, 2011-12, £4m
Michel Vorm conceded four goals on his Premier League debut – that stacks up for a £4m keeper, you might think. Yet the Dutchman made 11 saves that day at Manchester City, more than anyone else would manage in a single game that season.
Vorm kept 14 clean sheets in total and earned the second-most points for a goalkeeper behind City’s Joe Hart, who started the game £3m more expensive. The Dutchman peaked in price at £5.3m and was the fourth-most owned player in the game at one point.
Michel Vorm saves Clint Dempsey’s penalty on his way to earning 158 points in the 2011-12 season [Getty Images]
7. Stuart Dallas, Leeds, 2020-21, £4.5m
Under Marcelo Bielsa, Stuart Dallas was a FPL dream. Racking up defensive clean sheets while operating further forward than his listed position suggested, cheap as you like, and even doing it against league heavyweights Manchester City, where he scored twice for 17 points.
“The Northern Ireland international’s versatility played into the hands of FPL managers because, even though he was classified as a defender, he played all over the place for Leeds in 2020-21 – more often than not as an attacking midfield,” explains Woods.
“And for a starting price of £4.5m you got eight goals, 12 clean sheets, three assists and a total of 171 points. Bargain.”
“Defender” Stuart Dallas scored twice as Leeds beat Manchester City in 2021 [Getty Images]
6. Michail Antonio, West Ham, 2019-20, £7m
Michail Antonio is a curious pick, but deserves FPL cult hero status for one of the most memorable months in the game’s history. Classified as a midfielder but deployed up front, Antonio’s value actually dropped during a campaign disrupted by injury and the coronavirus pandemic.
Following the restart, Antonio was unstoppable. He played seven times in July 2020, scoring eight goals. Incredibly, four of those came in West Ham’s 4-0 away win at Norwich, where the midfielder posted a 26-point haul – the joint-most on record for a player valued under £7m, alongside Cole Palmer.
5. John Lundstram, Sheffield United, 2019-20, £4m
Lord Lundstram, as he was fondly known, didn’t notch a season total as high as some on this list, but his bargain price, out-of-position listing and the fact he seemingly appeared from nowhere saw him achieve legendary status in FPL.
“A £4m defender is usually the last spot on FPL managers’ benches but Lundstram was misclassified by FPL towers and was actually a box-to-box midfielder,” says Woods. “He scored five goals and delivered four assists while picking up clean sheets along the way to 144 points, with his two-goal 21-point haul in week 11 particularly memorable.”
Lundstram was listed as a defender but played in midfield for Sheffield United [Getty Images]
4. Riyad Mahrez, Leicester, 2015-16, £5.5m
Riyad Mahrez was a goldmine for Claudio Ranieri and FPL bosses alike during Leicester’s title-winning season. He flew out of the blocks with a 15-point haul in week one against Sunderland, rewarding the 5.9% of managers who started the season with the winger in their side. Mahrez made double figures in five of the opening six gameweeks, his 56 points among the best starts ever to a FPL campaign.
Jamie Vardy, of course, had a dazzling season of his own, returning a goal or an assist for 15 weeks on the bounce, though he started £0.5m more expensive than his team-mate. Mahrez finished the campaign as the top scorer in FPL with 240 points.
3. Michu, Swansea, 2012-13, £6.5m
Michu was the epitome of an on-screen cult hero, going from relative unknown to bagging 190 points, his price rising by £2m throughout the year. He is probably the biggest one-season wonder in FPL history.
“A few savvy managers picked up on the fact the Spaniard had scored 15 goals in La Liga the season before and had him on the opening day when he scored twice at QPR,” adds Woods. “He was effectively a £6.5m striker classified as a midfielder. It felt like he was in most managers’ teams by the time he ended 2012-13 with a whopping 18 goals.”
Michu was a one-season wonder for Swansea in 2012-13 [Getty Images]
2. Mohamed Salah, Liverpool, 2024-25, £12.5m
Other Liverpool assets were perhaps unfortunate to miss out on this list – flying full-backs Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson were consistently must-have picks. Luis Suarez, meanwhile, boasts the third-highest score ever.
But if we can allow one premium pick, it has to be Salah. And if we have to pick a season, it must be his record-breaking 2024-25 campaign when the Egyptian produced a staggering 344 points. Remarkably, it came off the back of his lowest score the year before – although low for Mo was still upwards of 200 points. Salah, simply, is FPL royalty.
Salah topped 200 points in eight successive seasons [Getty Images]
1. Cole Palmer, Chelsea, 2023-24, £5m
You have to put Cole Palmer’s 2023-24 season into context. He wasn’t a household name, like now, having left Manchester City for more gametime at Chelsea.
The youngster began the season as a £5m midfielder and did not start a game for the Blues until matchweek seven. Only 63,575 managers owned him (0.6%) for his first double-figure return at Burnley the following week. That crept up to 4.5% for his next 12-pointer at Tottenham in gameweek 12, which then triggered a surge in popularity.
More than five million owned Palmer when he scored four goals against Everton during a 26-point haul in gameweek 33. “Based on starting price, Cole Palmer in 2023-24 is the best-ever value player in Fantasy,” concludes the Scout.
Palmer finished as the season’s top scorer with 244 points and was handed the biggest price rise in FPL history of £5.5m, meaning he cost £10.5m at the start of the 2024-25 campaign.
Cole Palmer scored four against Everton in 2024 [Getty Images]
