FPL Budget Picks: The Best MID Under £9.0

A £6.0m player outscoring everything up to £8.3m is the sort of maths this column exists for.

We ran the rule over 67 qualifying midfielders. Here's the one-line verdict on the ones that matter, in our order of preference:

• Groß (BHA, £6.0m) — proven, lovely fixtures, ~40 points projected. The bracket's best buy, simple as that.
• Rogers (CHE, £7.9m) — around 35 projected, kind run, starts at EVE (A). Template at ~4-5 in 10 owned, and for once the template's right.
• Cherki (MCI, £7.9m) — IPS (H) next and a soft run after. The City caveat applies: who's getting hooked on 60? Still, ~30 projected and 3 in 10 own him.
• Mbeumo (MUN, £7.9m) — similar points, average fixtures, LEE (A) first up. Only 2 in 10 own him if you want to be different.
• Dewsbury-Hall (EVE, £6.6m) — decent output but a very tough run begins with CHE (H). Pass for now.
• Gibbs-White (NFO, £8.0m) — ARS (H) then more pain. Wrong time.
• Tavernier (BOU, £6.1m) — honest price, tough fixtures. Watchlist.
• Cunha (MUN, £7.9m) — hardly anyone has him (~1 in 10) but Mbeumo's the better United route.
• Semenyo (MCI, £8.3m) — kind fixtures, but priciest here for the fewest projected points. The sums don't work.
• Ødegaard (ARS, £6.8m) — fine, steady, average run. Fine and steady doesn't win you anything at NFO (A).
• E.Le Fée (SUN, £5.7m) — tasty projection for the price, but unproven and the fixtures are brutal, BOU (A) first. Not yet.
• Barnes (NEW, £6.1m) — favourable run, AVL (H) next, 1 in 10 owned. Legitimate cheap punt if you need a fifth midfielder.

The call: buy Groß. He's the cheapest reliable points in the game right now — proven, projected for a solid return most weeks through that Palace fixture and beyond, and the £1.9m you save on the mid-price options funds the big hitter at the other end of your squad. Best alternative is Rogers if you've got the extra cash and want the bigger single-week upside. But Groß first. Boring, cheap, plays every week — that's the whole job.