FPL Budget Picks: The Best FWD Under £9.5

Budget forwards under £9.5m: who your money should actually be buying

The sharpest number on the board this week is £6.2m. That's Wissa, and our model has him projected for around 36 points over the next six — ten clear of anything else in the bracket, at a price that leaves change for your midfield. Newcastle's run is a very kind one, starting at Coventry away, and about 2 in 10 managers have already worked this out. Join them.

Now the rest, one dry line at a time.

Isak (£9.1m, LIV) — the shiny one. About 2 in 10 own him, but the fixtures are brutal (City at Anfield first) and our numbers have him ten points behind a man £3m cheaper. That's not value, that's romance.

Kostoulas (£5.6m, BHA) — the quiet steal. A very kind run beginning at Sunderland, roughly 24 points projected, and hardly anyone has him — about 3 in 100. If you need a genuine cheap forward, this is the one that pays.

Calvert-Lewin (£6.0m, LEE) — the most-owned name here, about 2-3 in 10, and walking into Arsenal away with a very tough run. Popularity isn't a reason.

Thiago (£7.8m, BRE) — decent output projected, tough fixtures, Villa away next. Fine hold, not a buy.

Brobbey (£5.7m, SUN) and Barry (£5.6m, EVE) — both around 22 points projected, both facing very tough runs. Serviceable third forwards if you already own them.

Havertz (£7.6m, ARS) — £7.6m for the lowest projection of any proven name here. No.

Emersonn (£5.5m, IPS), Gonzalo (£6.0m, FUL), McBurnie (£5.5m, HUL) — unproven at this level, and at this price minutes are the entire game. Ask yourself who's coming off on 60 before you spend a transfer finding out.

Evanilson (£6.0m, BOU) — average fixtures, Chelsea away next, nothing that demands a move.

The call is not complicated. Wissa is the buy — the best points-per-pound in the bracket by a distance, kind fixtures, and cheap enough to fund a premium elsewhere. Kostoulas is the best alternative if £6.2m is a stretch or you want the one nobody owns yet. Everything else in this list is either overpriced, over-fixtured or unproven — and unproven doesn't pay the rent.