This article will explore the best budget FPL forwards for managers to consider in the £4.5 – £5.5 Million price range. This would most probably be a manager’s third-choice striker. Nevertheless, we still want someone who will get us some points here and there. Below, I will analyze the forwards that I feel have potential in this price bracket.
Article written by Jack Barrett, do follow him on Instagram: @bazzabarrett20
Check out the other first two parts of our FPL Forwards series – Best Mid-Priced FPL Forwards (£7.0 – £8.0m), Best FPL Forwards in The £6.0 & £6.5M Price Bracket
Link to all our 2023/24 Pre-Season articles including all team pre-season friendly updates, team previews, fixture analysis, position-wise analysis, differentials, players to target, budget enablers and more. Completely free to access as well!
Best Budget FPL Forwards (£4.5 – £5.5m) Analysis
João Pedro – 5.5m
Brighton’s new number 9, João Pedro could be a tempting option for managers. At just 5.5m, he offers a cheaper route into The Seagulls’ attack.
Pedro signed from Watford this summer on an undisclosed fee, reported to be in the region of a club record £30m. The 21- year old has played in The Premier League before with The Hornets and made over 30 appearances throughout 2 seasons in the top flight.
The Brazilian will want to continue last season’s form, where he registered 11 goals and 4 assists in The Championship. Pedro has already registered 2 goals and an assist in pre-season for Brighton. If he is on the pitch, Pedro has the potential to contribute to penalties, free kicks and corners. (He took the penalty in the most recent pre-season game vs Rayo Vallecano)
The only question mark I have against Pedro is the amount of game time he will get. The forward will be competing for places with the likes of teenager Evan Ferguson (6.0m) and the experienced Danny Welbeck (6.0m). Brighton’s manager recognised this in a recent interview, “Pedro is a great, great player,” De Zerbi said speaking after the loss to Chelsea. “But we have a lot of great players in attack. The difficulty is to decide on the first XI. A good problem but it is better in this case.”
Brighton also has a more than favourable set of opening fixtures. They play Luton (H), Wolves (A), West Ham (H) and Bournemouth (H) in 4 of their first 6 matches. This is shown in the table below using the Fantasy Football Hub fixture ticker (GW 1-6) which has been sorted in order of the easiest overall fixtures between GW1 – GW6.
I would definitely recommend taking a punt on Pedro, if he starts and gets regular minutes, he is a great asset and route into Brighton’s attack.
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Carlton Morris – 5.5m
Morris is the most reliable pick for a forward in the 5.5m region. He is also, in my opinion, the best forward option from any of the newly promoted sides.
The 27-year-old was Luton’s top scorer last season in The Championship, registering 20 goals as well as 7 assists. Morris has already scored 3 goals in pre-season for The Hatters and looks set to continue his form from the last campaign. It’s always difficult to gauge how forwards who are successful in the second tier will fair in the Premier League, however, managers can expect Morris to be a certain starter as well as on penalties.
With Luton being promoted and coming up to compete in The Premier League for the first time in the club’s history, I expect them to be one of the weaker sides this season. Nevertheless, Teemu Pukki and Jermaine Defoe were good examples of budget forwards in poor teams who still fared well as FPL assets when they were playing for Norwich and Sunderland respectively.
I think Morris is a great differential as he is selected by less than 2% of managers at the time of writing. One problem tho is that he blanks in GW2 as the Luton Town vs Burnley game is postponed.
Further Read: FPL GW1 Scout Picks Based On Stats, Analysis, And Matchups
Eddie Nketiah – 5.5m
About a week ago, I wouldn’t have thought about including Arsenal’s Eddie Nketiah in this article. However, with the recent injury of first-choice striker Gabriel Jesus (8.0m), Nketiah has a chance of starting for The Gunners.
The 24-year-old has played a good amount of minutes in pre-season and even started some games alongside teammate Jesus. Nketiah scored against Monaco from a corner and has impressed throughout the pre-season.
However, new teammate Kai Havertz (7.5m – midfielder) started down the middle for Mikel Arteta’s side against Man City on Sunday in The FA Community Shield. If Nketiah does get the nod for the first game of the season vs Nottingham Forrest (H), he could be a great option for managers. Arsenal have a great set of opening fixtures playing Nottingham Forrest (H), Crystal Palace (A), and Fulham (H) in their opening 3 games.
Again, using the Fantasy Football Hub fixture ticker (GW 1-6), we can see that Arsenal is predicted to score the second most goals in the league between GW1-GW6. This is based on attacking threats and fixtures. In my opinion, Nketiah is one to watch. If he starts GW1, then he could be a great route into Arsenal’s attack for managers at just 5.5m.
Further Read: List of Free to Join Prize FPL Mini Leagues Ahead of 23/24 Season
Matheus Cunha – 5.5m
Matheus Cunha may be a less familiar name, nevertheless, he offers valuable points priced at just 5.5m. He started 12 games last season after joining in the January transfer window, on loan, from Athletico Madrid. Wolves have now signed him on a permanent deal and with Raúl Jiménez (5.5m) joining Fulham this summer, Cunha is expected to be the main man up front.
Cunha has already scored 3 goals in pre-season and is confirmed to be Wolves’ first-choice penalty taker. He stepped up and converted a penalty last week in a pre-season game vs Celtic.
The only downside is Wolves’ set of fixtures. They are due to play Man Utd (A), Brighton (H). Liverpool (H) and Man City (H) in 4/7 of their opening fixtures. There have also been a lot of exits such as Jiménez, captain Rúben Neves, Adama Traoré and Nathan Collins to name a few. Furthermore, Wolves have not added quality players to their squad due to FFP issues which have left the manager frustrated.
Despite this, it has worked out quite well for Cunha, as he will undoubtedly get regular game time and hope to make an early impact at the start of this season. I think he is an interesting option for managers and a good differential selected by just 0.3% of managers at the time of writing.
Further Read: Best FPL Picks Outside Top 6 Teams | 2023/24 FPL Season
Raúl Jiménez (5.5m) vs Carlos Vinícius (5.0m)
These two Fulham forwards look set to play regular minutes, with teammate Aleksandar Mitrović (7.5m) wanting a move away from Craven Cottage.
Raúl Jiménez – 5.5m
Jiménez would be my pick of the two. The Mexican came on to replace Vinícius and make his debut vs Chelsea last month. He then started the following game up front with Vinícius dropping to the bench. If on the pitch, it is thought that Jiménez could take penalties as well.
As mentioned earlier, Jiménez left Wolves to join Fulham earlier in this transfer window. Fulham signed the 32-year-old for around £5.5m. We all know what he is capable of and has 40 Premier League goals and 18 assists registered to his name. However, since his head injury, Jiménez has struggled to regain form. He has scored just 10 goals in the past 3 seasons. A change of club could be just what Jiménez needed to relight his flame. He is already off of the mark for the London-based club, after scoring in a 2-1 win over Hoffenheim last week.
Further Read: Best £4.0 Million FPL Defenders For The 2023/24 FPL Season
Carlos Vinícius – 5.0m
Alternatively, there is also Vinícius. The Brazilian has played more minutes for Fulham during pre-season. He has also got himself on the scoresheet, finding the net in a 3-2 win over Brentford. Vinícius scored 5 goals and registered 2 assists last season for Fulham. He is priced at just 5.0m. However, if managers want a Fulham forward I would recommend paying the 0.5m extra for Jiménez. I don’t think Fulham would sign Jiménez if they didn’t intend to start him on a regular basis. With Mitrović potentially on his way, Jiménez could be a bargain for managers if he starts picking up points.
Further Read: Best Premium FPL Midfielders (£8.0 -£12.5 Million) | 23/24 Season
Pressure at Palace?
A similar situation is happening at Crystal Palace, where there are also 2 forwards competing for the same spot. It’s unclear if Jean-Philippe Mateta (5.0m) will start over Odsonne Edouard (5.5m). They both have impressed throughout pre-season, scoring 3 goals each. They both seem to be relishing the pressure of who will get the number 1 striker’s spot. I wouldn’t recommend managers picking either of these but just wanted to mention them after their successful pre-season. If you want an attacking Palace asset, Eberechi Eze (6.5m – midfielder) is your man.
Further Read: FPL Rotational Pairs and Combinations- Defenders and Goal Keepers
Best 4.5 Million Budget FPL Forwards
Once managers have picked the majority of their FPL squads and filled out the main positions with the likes of Erling Haaland (14.0m) and Mohamed Salah (12.5m), the attention shifts to their bench options. A cheap player for your bench may seem quite insignificant in the grand scheme of things. However, they can be vital assets to a manager’s squad.
The likes of Marcus Rashford (9.0m – midfielder) started out as a 4.5m forward back in the 2015/16 season. In this season he scored 5 goals and registered 2 assists. This is exactly what we are looking for in a 4.5m forward. Someone that will come on off of the bench, score the odd goal and if we are lucky start the odd game. Having a cheap 4.5m forward in your squad will allow you to have that extra 1.0 – 2.5m in the bank to utilise elsewhere. For me, there are 4 potentials in this category.
Further Read: Best £4.0 Million FPL Defenders For The 2023/24 FPL Season
Cameron Archer – 4.5m
Aston Villa’s Cameron Archer is a strong option at 4.5m. He scored 11 goals and made 6 assists whilst on loan at Middlesbrough last season. This averaged out to around a goal every other game.
Archer won’t be picked by manager Unai Emery over the likes of Ollie Watkins (8.0m), but we could see him making appearances as a sub. Especially with Villa playing in the UEFA Conference League this season, I expect to see Emery make use of his squad and even out the game time. If Watkins gets injured or the team needs a goal, I can see Villa turning to Archer.
Archer is also in good form after scoring 2 goals and providing an assist for England U21s at The Euros this summer.
Further Read: 2023/24 Pre Season Summary of All 20 Premier League Teams
John McAtee – 4.5m
Another 4.5m option for managers is Luton Town’s John McAtee. McAtee was pivotal for Grimsby in gaining promotion back to the football league in 2022. He scored several goals in the play-off campaign before earning a move to Luton. Once signing for The Hatters he returned to Grimsby on loan to continue his development.
At the age of 24, Luton now feels he is ready to have an impact at first-team level. He has had a strong pre-season scoring a goal and providing an assist. He is a more than capable player and definitely, one to watch at just 4.5m.
Further Read: Best £6.0 -£7.5 Million FPL Midfielders | 2023/24 Season
Folarin Balogun – 4.5m
Folarin Balogun scored 21 goals and provided 2 assists in 37 appearances on loan at French side Reims last season. The 22-year-old surprised many with his impressive form as he finished as the 4th top scorer in Ligue 1. The Arsenal loanee scored more goals than the likes of the legendary PSG duo, Lionel Messi (16) and Neymar Jr (13).
Balogun has played some pre-season games despite being linked with a move away from The Emirates. He made an impact after coming on in the 55th minute against FC Nürnberg to hit the post. With the injury to teammate Gabriel Jesus (8.0m), Balogun could potentially see some game time for The Gunners.
Arsenal play Nottingham Forrest (H), Crystal Palace (A) and Fulham (H) in their opening 3 fixtures. At just 4.5m, Balogun could be worth a punt. However, the question mark over the lack of game time is still a bit of a concern.
Further Read: Best £5-£5.5 Million FPL Defenders for the 2023/24 FPL Season
Divin Mubama – 4.5m
Divin Mubama is in my opinion the best option for managers looking to purchase a 4.5m forward. The 18-year-old has had a very strong pre-season scoring 3 goals. This is the joint most for any West Ham player during pre-season.
With teammates Gianluca Scamacca leaving the club earlier this week to join Atalanta and Michail Antonio still linked with a move away, Mubama could see himself getting some regular minutes for The Hammers.
Mubama has not only catch viewers’ eyes, but also the eyes of his coaching staff.
First-team coach Billy McKinlay recently said;
”I think Divin has given us something to think about. The gaffer said in Australia that he was really pleased with his contribution in the two games.”
If managers need a 4.5m forward, Mubama should be your man.
Further Read: Premier League Penalty & Set Piece Takers | 2023/24 PL Season
William Osula
The exit of Ndiaye has meant that Osula has become the first choice forward for Sheffield United. He has played 346 minutes in pre-season which is the 3rd most amongst Sheffield United assets. Don’t expect a lot of returns tho with Sheffield struggling to add to their team and have lost key players including Berge, Ndiaye and the Man City loan duo James McAtee and Tommy Doyle haven’t returned yet.
Which FPL Budget Forward would I pick?
If I had to choose a budget forward for my team, I would probably go for Brighton’s João Pedro (5.5m). Although he’s not 100% certain to start every game, I just feel that Brighton has a great set of opening fixtures in which they’re going to score goals. Pedro is the new player and will want to impress early on. I think the fact that he is also potentially on penalties too is a tempting prospect. Luton’s Carlton Morris (5.5m) is a close second. However, with Luton blanking in GW2 and them being new to the league, I am unsure as to how effective he will be in the opening few game weeks.
Divin Mubama would be my 4.5m pick if I had to choose one. However, I doubt I will as statistically 4.5m defenders and midfielders outscore the 4.5m forwards over the course of the season. I feel a defender like Matty Cash (4.5m) or a midfielder like Elliot Anderson (4.5), would be more beneficial in the long run rather than a 4.5m forward who will play a bit here and there. Nevertheless, if you need a 4.5m forward, I would go for Mubama.
Thanks for reading this article. Best of luck to all managers for the start of the season. If you haven’t done so already, please join our ALLABOUTFPL League by using the code – bf866r
Jack Barrett
Instagram: @bazzabarrett20
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