FPL tips: Hakim Ziyech in demand as transfer market revs up again

Hakim Ziyech‘s immediate impact on Chelsea has made him a wanted commodity in Fantasy Premier League but one of his club-mates provides a cautionary tale this week.

After a pair of substitute appearances, Ziyech’s first two Premier League starts have brought a goal, three assists, a pair of three-point bonus hauls and 25 points in total.

That is enough to earn the £8.2million man over 364,000 net transfers in for gameweek nine, leaving him top of the weekly standings.

Third in that list, though, is Blues defender Ben Chilwell with over 200,000 net transfers in early in the international break – leaving a lot of armchair managers sweating on his fitness after an injury on England duty.

Chilwell is rated 75 per cent likely to play against Newcastle on Saturday by the FPL website but the uncertainty shows the value of patience in an international window.

Fellow England full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold is the most transferred-out player this week after his own injury diagnosis caused nearly 300,000 managers to free up the £7m-plus tied up in the Liverpool star. His less-selected team-mate Joe Gomez shed a similar proportion of his overall ownership after suffering a long-term knee injury.

Romain Saiss (-155,000 net transfers) has been dumped in favour of Wolves team-mate Max Kilman (62,000), who has also taken the ‘cheap defensive starter’ mantle from Crystal Palace’s injured early-season stand-out Tyrick Mitchell (-165,000).

Two of the league’s form players feature in midfield, with Aston Villa and Three Lions stand-out Jack Grealish splitting Ziyech and Chilwell with 232,000 net transfers in while Liverpool star Diogo Jota has over 140,000.

Further forward, Danny Ings is the most transferred-out striker with almost 200,000 managers responding to his recent injury.

He is joined on the discard pile by Newcastle’s Callum Wilson and Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic, while the transfers in focus on a familiar list of names – Villa’s Ollie Watkins providing the low-cost option, Leicester’s Jamie Vardy the premium pick and Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin the middle ground.