Best budget players for Serie A Fantasy

As the new season of Italian football is edging closer we dive into some of the best budget players for Serie A Fantasy. We bring in Serie A Fantasy expert @FPL_Crisk to reel off some of the best cheap options in the game for the campaign ahead.

Taking a look at the best budget players for Serie A Fantasy can be detrimental to the success of any managers season. Budget players help enable the more expensive options within our squads and finding the best ones can be extremely helpful towards rank and mini-league position.

Goalkeepers

This year all of the major teams have their starting goalkeeper priced at €5m or above. In order to not waste the opportunity to double up on outfield players from those teams, it might be very useful to settle for a budget GK from a weaker side.

Terraciano (€4.6m) is the cheapest route into Fiorentina’s defence. This season there is no UEFA competition for the Florence side and it might make their league performances more consistent. The best opportunities might come from the transfer market. Falcone was a top five goalkeeper for total points last season while at Lecce, with the side eager to buy him back.

Empoli lost Vicario to Spurs but are very close to Caprile, a very promising GK who did amazingly last year in Serie B and will surely be under-priced. Ochoa (€4.6m) also performed really well last season for Salernitana, while Carnesecchi (€4.4m) is definitely one to watch in case he climbs up the ranks at Atalanta.

Defenders

Last season defence was one of the most important position in the game, with cheap gems like Posch, Carlos Augusto and Parisi (now becoming the unsung heroes of many teams. There are no obvious choices, for now, but there are a couple of players that have caught my eye.

Ehizibue (€4.4m) should get lots of minutes at RWB for Udinese. Despite Udogie and Becao’s departures weakening the team, a WB providing crosses for their tall strikers is nothing to laugh at. Depending on what happens in the transfer market, Schuurs (€4.8m) could be a great way into Torino’s defence (best xGA during the last 11 games). Ebuehi (€4.6m) or Cacace (€4.4m) have the potential of becoming the new Parisi (who has left Empoli for Fiorentina).

European level teams can also offer potential bargains in defence: Casale (€4.6m) is extremely cheap for a Lazio defender. Gatti (€4.8m) is bound to get more minutes for Juventus. Kristensen (€4.4m) could easily be Mourinho’s first choice at RWB for Roma whilst Darmian (4.8) has settled pretty well at RCL for Inter and is bound to get minutes despite his age.

Midfielders

Last season Monza finished three points short of 8th place. This was despite losing the first six matches of the season. They are not a weak side and I think players like Pessina (€6m), sometimes on penalties and Ciurria (€5.2m) are kindly priced and may be worth a punt.

Samardzic (€5.8m) might have a breakthrough season if he stays at Udinese. Ferguson (€5m) scored seven goals last year for Bologna. Baldanzi (€4.8m) had a great U20 World Cup campaign. Strefezza (€5.4m) takes most of the set plays at Lecce. Speaking of Lecce, Hjulmand (€5m) was a cheap workhorse last season, outperforming some premium options with recovery points alone.

Ngonge (€4.6m) may be a hidden gem this season. He scored three goals in around 700 minutes playing as CAM/ST for Verona. Honourable mentions include Rabiot (€6.6m), Nico Gonzales (€6.6m) and Boga (€6.6m) who are great options whose price barely exceeds my definition of “budget” player.

Forwards

The forward bracket was the lowest scoring position in the game last season. That may have been the case but the most appealing forwards are still priced around €7m. This makes it difficult to find hidden gems. Cabral (€6.4m) had a great run in early 2023 and, with Fiorentina not needing to rotate as much, he could find himself in teams as the season goes on.

Milik (€6.8m) might also get many minutes under Allegri. Hojlund (€7.0m) was €4.6m last season. He wasn’t expected to play as many minutes as he did. However, Zapata’s injuries gave the young Dane help. This year Lorenzo Lucca (€4.6m) could follow the same path at Udinese, with starting striker Beto relatively injury prone. The transfer market around forwards is always in continuous evolution. Teams like Inter and Roma all are in desperate need for a #9, while lower-table sides are in constant wait for a loan opportunity to arise like Colombo (€5m) from AC Milan who performed really well for Lecce last season.