As the Premier League is gearing up for a comeback, FPL managers are getting busy for the complex season ahead. With 17 game weeks left, Erling Haaland has created a problem for the managers who do not have him or sold him. The star is valued at £13.9m, which has not dropped much despite his injury. Here, we look at the potential reasons for his price being stagnant, despite not playing.
The Norwegian has already missed five games so far, and his presence in the next few is also uncertain, as Pep Guardiola is not ready to risk him. However, the possibility of a reduction in his price tag looks unlikely, much to many of the FPL managers’ disappointment!
It was no surprise that the top goal scorer of the 2022–23 season would get the highest valuation in the FPL (£14m). But why is there only a 0.1 drop in the price tag of Erling Haaland despite his constant absence? Whereas Mohamed Salah and Son Heung-min after taking a massive surge of 0.8 and 0.9 saw a rapid decrease of 0.2 in just two to three game weeks? This is due to FPL’s demand dynamics and other factors like alternative options, form, and the availability of the player.
One major reason could be the lack of a potential replacement for the monster. Two top scorers in the FPL, Mohamed Salah and Son Heung-min, have left for the AFCON and AFC Asian Cup, respectively. These players have already missed a week and may not be available until Gameweek 24. This leaves Erling Haaland, who is always knocking at the team’s door without being completely out for a long time, as the most popular pick, unlike the other two.
Another major factor is that the price of the player mainly depends if the managers decide to sell him. Haaland’s influence is so high that, despite an average loss of 7.5 points per game, over 51.5% of FPL managers decided to keep the star. Whereas only 27.6 % have selected Salah and 20.7% of the managers selected Son which has decreased both their values by 0.2.
In Haaland’s case, despite his unavailability, his previous form and reputation are too impressive to see a devaluation. The player remains FPL’s 4th-best scorer with 112 points. Additionally, he is still the king of this season with 14 goals, two more than Dominic Solanke at 12.