The 2026-27 FPL season has dropped its prices, and one number towers over every other decision in the game: £15.5 million. That is the cost of Erling Haaland, the most expensive asset in FPL history by a margin of £1.5 million over the previous record held by — you guessed it — Erling Haaland. The question facing all 11 million FPL managers is brutally simple. Is he worth it?
The numbers from 2025-26 are both the prosecution and the defense. Haaland scored 28 goals and added 9 assists in 35 Premier League appearances last season, returning 236 FPL points with three double-digit hauls and the Golden Boot. That is exceptional output by any measure. But it was down from his 31-goal, 262-point campaign of 2024-25, and significantly below his record-shattering 36-goal, 272-point debut season in 2022-23. The trend is gently downward — not alarming, but present. At £15.5 million, the bar for justification is not “excellent.” It is “untouchable.”
The Math: What £15.5M Demands
FPL pricing is about opportunity cost, and £15.5 million is the opportunity cost to end all opportunity costs. Building a squad around Haaland means sacrificing a premium midfielder — a Bruno Fernandes at £12.0 million or a Bukayo Saka at £13.5 million — and spreading the savings across the rest of the squad. A Haaland team will have a weaker fourth midfielder, a compromised bench, and less flexibility to react to form and fixtures. A no-Haaland team will have two premium midfielders, a balanced squad, and a bench that can actually contribute points during the inevitable injury and rotation crises of a Premier League season.
But here is the counterargument, and it is the only one that matters: captaincy. Haaland is the most captainable player in FPL. He takes penalties. He starts essentially every league game when fit. He is the focal point of a Manchester City attack that creates chances at a rate no other team in the division can match. The two-point captaincy margin — Haaland as captain versus a premium midfielder — can easily exceed 100 points over a season if Haaland delivers at his historical rate. That is the math that makes £15.5 million defensible. It is not about his individual points. It is about points multiplied by two.
For managers willing to bet against the Norwegian: the no-Haaland draft opens up glorious possibilities. Two premium midfielders, a balanced defense, a bench that actually plays. But every weekend, when the City team sheet drops and Haaland is starting against a promoted side at the Etihad, the cold sweat will return. You can build a better squad without him. But can you build a better FPL season? That is the £15.5 million question.
The Captaincy Premium: Why It Changes Everything
The Haaland captaincy argument requires historical context. Over the last four seasons, Haaland has averaged 8.1 points per game at the Etihad and 7.4 points per game overall. Triple-captained on a double gameweek — the strategy that has defined FPL winners in recent seasons — he has the potential for a 50-point gameweek that can end mini-leagues before Christmas. No other player in the game offers that combination of ceiling and reliability. The £15.5 million is not paying for Haaland’s points. It’s paying for Haaland’s points with the armband, multiplied, in the gameweeks that matter most.
For those who prefer the no-Haaland route, the squad flexibility is genuinely liberating. A front three of Isak, Sesko, and Hlozek, backed by a midfield of Saka, Fernandes, Palmer, and Eze, is a team that can score points from eight positions rather than relying on one man. The question is whether that distributed approach can outscore the Haaland captaincy advantage over 38 gameweeks. The data from 2025-26 says yes — the highest-scoring team in the official FPL game last season faded Haaland after Gameweek 25 and won the overall title. But 2025-26 was also the season Haaland missed six games through injury. If he stays fit — and City’s medical staff are the best in the business — the calculation changes. FPL is a game of probabilities. Haaland at £15.5 million is a bet on the most probable outcome in the sport: that Erling Haaland scores goals. Lots of them.
Sources: Premier League, Fantasy Premier League
Last updated: July 31, 2026