FPL Budget Picks: The Best GK Under £5.0

Budget Keepers: Who's Actually Worth £5.0m or Less

The best-value goalkeeper in the game right now costs £5.0m, starts every week for Leeds, and is owned by barely 1 in 20 managers. That's Trafford, and our model has him top of the whole budget bracket — good for around 25 points over the next six, starting with Newcastle at Elland Road, then a very kind run after that. He hasn't got years of Premier League saves behind him yet, which is the honest caveat, but at this price you're buying minutes and fixtures, and he has both.

The rest of the bracket, in the order we'd rank them:

Verbruggen (BHA, £4.5m) — the sensible template pick, and about 2 in 10 managers already agree. Starts, proven, lovely fixtures beginning at Coventry. At £4.5m he's the best pound-for-pound keeper in the game.

Roefs (SUN, £5.0m) — quietly projected almost as well as Trafford, owned by hardly anyone (~3 in 100). Arsenal at home first is ugly; it gets kinder after.

Kelleher (BRE, £5.0m) — proven, nailed, decent fixtures. Bournemouth away to start. Nothing wrong with him; just marginally behind the two above.

Kinsky (TOT, £4.5m) — nearly 2 in 10 own him, but the projection sits a chunk below Verbruggen at the same price. Everton at home is fine; the maths says there's better.

Petrović (BOU, £4.5m) — a genuinely tidy £4.5m alternative if you want off the beaten path. Starts, proven, Brentford at home first.

Horníček (NEW, £5.0m) — the deep cut, owned by about 1 in 100. Projects well, but unproven and starts at Leeds — against Trafford, funnily enough.

Rushworth (COV, £4.5m), Sels (NFO, £5.0m) and Tzolakis (HUL, £4.6m) all start and all live, but none clears the pack above.

Avoid at this price: Emiliano Martinez (CHE) and Lammens (MUN). Both start, both face a tough run — Lammens gets Man City straight away — and both project noticeably worse than keepers costing the same or less. Paying £5.0m for a keeper with bad fixtures is how budgets die.

The call: Trafford is the pick — £5.0m, nailed, and the friendliest run in the bracket. If you'd rather bank the extra £0.5m for your outfield — and frankly that half-million buys real upgrades elsewhere — Verbruggen at £4.5m gives you nearly everything Trafford does for less. Buy one of those two and stop thinking about goalkeepers.