Defenders from Aston Villa, Tottenham and West Ham are all among the bargain players that you should be considering in your Fantasy Premier League drafts ahead of the new season.
Of course, we’d all love to squeeze Virgil van Dijk, Gabriel Magalhaes and Josko Gvardiol into our squads, but we’re all limited by the £100m budget.
Here are six defenders, priced £4.5m and under, that you should be considering for your FPL team.
El Hadji Malick Diouf – £4.5m
While West Ham’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka is proving to be a popular pick (30.6% ownership), we think that his new teammate, Diouf, could be a steal at £4.5m.
The left-wing-back scored seven goals in the Czech First League last season and has looked like a real attacking threat for the Hammers during pre-season.
With an opening fixture against newly promoted Sunderland, he looks like a very tempting pick for gameweek one.
Ezri Konsa – £4.5m
If you’re looking for a reliable player that won’t cause you any headaches, look no further than Konsa.
The 27-year-old started in 33 of Aston Villa’s 38 league matches last season and is practically a guaranteed starter when fully fit.
His attacking output is limited, but he still chips in with the odd goal now and again.
Given Villa’s decent fixture list at the start of the season, he looks like a sensible pick for anyone looking for a £4.5m defender.
Micky van de Ven – £4.5m
Tottenham had one of the leakiest defences in the entire league last season, conceding an average of 1.71 goals per game.
However, Thomas Frank should be able to improve them from a defensive aspect and make them harder to beat.
With that in mind, a player like Van de Ven at £4.5m starts to look like a tempting pick. He’s a guaranteed starter when fully fit and is £0.5m cheaper than his centre-back partner Cristian Romero.
Considering those factors, it’s no surprise that 20% of managers currently have him in their starter drafts.
Maxime Esteve – £4.0m
Now we’re really talking about budget defenders.
For £4.0m, you won’t find better value than Burnley’s Esteve. Scott Parker’s side had a water-tight defence in the Championship last season and only conceded 16 goals in 46 matches.
Of course, they’ll concede more in the Premier League this season, but we wouldn’t be surprised if Burnley manage to rack up a handful of clean sheets, especially at Turf Moor.
The sale of James Trafford does hurt Burnley’s backline, as does CJ Egan-Riley leaving to join Marseille.
However, Esteve is a guaranteed starter at £4.0m and could be a decent rotation option for your squad.
Gabriel Gudmundsson – £4.0m
Signed to replace the outgoing Junior Firpo, Gudmundsson is another £4.0m defender who should be a nailed-on starter when fully fit.
The 26-year-old will look to get into advanced areas down the left-hand side and has even taken some set-pieces for Leeds during pre-season.
If he quickly adapts to the Premier League, he could be a steal at just £4.0m.
Reinildo Mandava – £4.0m
The last £4.0m defender to consider is Brazilian full-back Reinildo, who joined Sunderland this summer from Atletico Madrid.
Sunderland have a relatively kind fixture list to start the season, with opening games against West Ham, Burnley, Brentford and Crystal Palace.
If Reinildo becomes a nailed-on starter, there’s potential for Sunderland to rack up a few clean sheets early on.
However, the recent signing of fellow left-back Arthur Masuaku makes Reinildo less of a guaranteed starter.
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