FPL Injury News: The Players Returning Within A Week
The call — Doku, Gelhardt, Jacob: three dated returns, one week out FPL lists Jeremy Doku with a calf injury and a return date of 5 September. His chance of featuring in the next round is zero. He does not play this week. That is the fact managers keep missing when they buy early.
What has not being with FFIQ cost you this season?
One squad, picked before a ball was kicked and run for six gameweeks on three transfers — no hits taken. Scored on FPL’s own results.
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The case for planning ahead is thin. Doku costs £7.4m. Barely one manager in a hundred owns him. Our projections have him at roughly seven points across the next six gameweeks — about a point a week. That figure reflects the obvious problem: wingers returning from calf injuries at Manchester City do not walk back into 90 minutes. He shares his flank with team-mates who did not get injured. First weeks back mean managed minutes. The projection says the same thing in numbers.
Hull City have two names on the same date. Joe Gelhardt (£5.0m, ankle) and Jacob (£4.0m, hip) are both listed as expected back 5 September, both ruled out of the next round. Ownership on each is effectively nil. Our projections give them under a point combined over six gameweeks. Neither is an FPL asset. A £4.0m man who does not start is a bench slot you cannot use.
The pattern with returning players is settled. Managers move a week early, the player sits or plays 20 minutes, the transfer is wasted. The counter-case — buying before a price rise or before the crowd — does not apply here. Nobody is buying Doku at one in a hundred owned. There is no crowd to beat.
The call. None of the three is worth a transfer this week. Doku goes on the watchlist: check his minutes in his first match back, then decide. Gelhardt and Jacob are not FPL picks at any point of this timeline. Hold your transfer. Spend it on a player who is on a pitch this weekend.