Who are the best premium midfielders in 2025/26 Fantasy?

The Scout continues a series of articles identifying the best players in each position in 2025/26 Fantasy Premier League, according to their price, statistics and fixtures.

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Premium midfielders (£7.0m and over)

Mohamed Salah’s (£14.5m) record-breaking previous campaign has made a huge impact on managers’ opening squads for 2025/26 Fantasy.

Liverpool’s Egyptian delivered the best season of all-time in Fantasy last time around, with his total of 344 points over 100 more than any other player.

That has made him the most-owned player in Fantasy this term, with 58.2 per cent of managers currently holding the Reds’ talisman.

Salah’s recorded 18 double-figure hauls last season – at least TWICE any other player – further showcases his potential for huge returns. Allied with his hefty ownership, this means he is very likely to be the top captaincy pick in the opening few Gameweeks. 

Going without Salah from the outset is clearly a massive risk and, for millions of managers, will be one simply not worth taking. 

It’s worth noting, nonetheless, that both Florian Wirtz (£8.5m) and Cody Gakpo (£7.5m) have outperformed Salah over Liverpool’s summer friendlies so far.

Whereas the Egyptian has one goal to his name, Wirtz has a goal and two assists, while Gakpo has four goals and an assist. Given that Wirtz is selected by 32.5 per cent of managers, Gakpo could be shaping up as a great differential, with a mere 5.2 per cent currently holding the Dutchman. 

With Salah as a must-have, it’s best to let the schedules help determine your next big-hitter.

Chelsea avoid all of last season’s top seven in the first six Gameweeks, a run which has also made Cole Palmer (£10.5m) a key figure in millions of managers’ line-ups.

The England international is the second most-owned player in Fantasy, found in 54.3 per cent of squads.

Crucially, Palmer offers a great armband alternative to Salah in Gameweeks 2-3, in particular. 

Chelsea face West Ham United (away) and Fulham (home) in that spell, whereas Liverpool face Newcastle United (away) and Arsenal (home). 

Meanwhile, Omar Marmoush (£8.5m) offers you a significant saving of £5.5m over Erling Haaland (£14.0m) as a route into Manchester City attack. 

According to the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR), where the difficulty of each fixture is ranked from one to five - with one being the easiest possible match and five being the hardest – just ONE of Man City’s first eight matches score more than three. 

Man City's first eight fixtures

*1=easiest possible fixture, 5=hardest possible fixture

Reclassified from a forward to a midfielder in Fantasy this season, Marmoush offers big potential for both goals and assists. From the point of his debut in Gameweek 23 last term, his 49 shots and 28 shots in the box were both team-leading totals.

He also ranked top for involvement in big chances, which are situations where the player is expected to score. Marmoush had seven of his own, while also creating a further eight for his team-mates.

Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka (£10.0m) and Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes (£9.0m) could struggle to justify their hefty price tags in the early stages as they have far tougher schedules. 

Fernandes, nonetheless, boasts the superior form of the two over pre-season, with three goals and an assist to his name. Crucially, he has retained penalty duties for the Red Devils despite the recent arrival of Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo (both £8.0m), which subsequently dilutes the appeal of both the new signings. 

Another big part of Fernandes’ appeal is that he is likely to be the main beneficiary among premium midfielders from the new defensive contribution points metric. Indeed, he would have earned 22 points if this was in place last season, the same as Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk (£6.0m).  

Lower down the price range, Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze (£7.5m) is among the best options in the sub-£8.0m bracket but he does have a somewhat mixed run of opponents. 

AFC Bournemouth pair Justin Kluivert and Antoine Semenyo (both £7.0m) have four home matches in six Gameweeks from Gameweek 2 onwards which could provide goals and assists. Meanwhile, Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers (£7.0m)  also has the pre-season form and kind early fixtures but his team-mate Donyell Malen (£5.5m) looks better value. 

So, who are the best premium midfielders?

With many managers in Fantasy swooping for Sunderland’s cut-priced forward Marc Guiu (£4.5m), the argument for starting the season with a 3-5-2 formation is gaining momentum.

Thanks to the savings afforded by the likes of Guiu and Burnley’s new goalkeeper Martin Dubravka (£4.0m), you should plan to have two premium midfielders in your initial line-up.

It’s hard to look beyond the Salah and Palmer double-up at this point, with their popularity also helping limit the risk of a tumble down the overall rankings as so many of your rivals will also own them.

That could mark out Marmoush as a big differential at this early stage, with only 13.6 per cent currently holding the Egyptian.

Next: Who are the best budget forwards?

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