How Lovro Budišin Won FPL 2024/25: Captaincy, Calculated Hits & a Gakpo Gamble

What does it take to be world number one in Fantasy Premier League? Thanks to the Skills Benchmark tool in our Preseason Pack, we’ve analysed every key decision Lovro Budišin made in his title-winning 2024/25 season – from game-changing transfers to painful regrets.

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❌ His Season Nemesis? Yoane Wissa

Every manager has that one player they never owned who kept punishing them. For Lovro, it was Brentford’s Yoane Wissa, who racked up an impressive 185 points across the season. A thorn in his side, and the top scorer he never brought in.

Discover your season's nemesis, hero, most-played player and biggest benchwarmer with the Skills Benchmark tool in the Preseason Pack.

👑 Mo Salah: The Undisputed Hero

There were no surprises when it came to his season’s MVP. Mo Salah – in his record-breaking campaign – was Lovro’s most-started and highest-scoring player.

Remarkably, he only missed out on starting him in Gameweeks 15 and 29 when he didn't have a fixture, yet stayed loyal and simply benched him rather than selling. That loyalty paid off in a big way.

🪑 Budget Benchwarmer: Ben Johnson (Ipswich)

His most-benched player was budget defender Ben Johnson, who sat on Lovro’s bench 29 times.

The Ipswich man filled the classic ‘third sub’ role for most of the year – pure bench fodder, but useful for squeezing value into his starting XI.

🔁 Transfer Brilliance: Gakpo In, Jesus Out (GW23)

His best short-term transfer came in Gameweek 23, selling Gabriel Jesus for Cody Gakpo ahead of Liverpool’s fixture against Ipswich.

Gakpo responded with a brace, an assist, and max bonus – 16 points in just 67 minutes. That one-week switch showed elite-level instinct and timing.

Use the Transfer Assessment Tool to uncover your best and worst moves of the 2024/25 season – but be warned, it might make for painful reading!

🧪 Quick Recovery: From Nkunku to Rogers

It wasn’t all plain sailing. Like many managers, Lovro started the season with Christopher Nkunku, who failed to deliver.

But his decision to act quickly – selling him in Gameweek 3 for Villa’s Rogers – turned out to be his best long-term transfer. Rogers remained in his squad until Gameweek 27 and delivered a solid 60 points in that time.

❌ Worst Short-Term Transfer: Bruno ➡️ Kluivert (GW26)

Even the world number one made mistakes. His worst short-term transfer came in Gameweek 26 when he sold Bruno Fernandes for Justin Kluivert.

The Cherries midfielder had a favourable home fixture against Wolves but blanked with just 2 points. Meanwhile, Fernandes netted away to Everton and picked up max bonus – a net 8-point loss.

📉 …And His Worst Long-Term Transfer Too

That move continued to haunt him. Bruno went on to score 10 vs Ipswich, 9 vs Arsenal, and 17 vs Leicester, before a quiet 2 points against Forest.

Over that stretch, Kluivert managed 10 (Brighton), 5 (Spurs), and 2 (Brentford) – but crucially didn’t play in Gameweek 30. It proved to be Lovro’s worst long-term transfer as well.

📊 Transfer Patterns: Midfield Priority

Across the season, Lovro made fewer goalkeeper and defender transfers, similar numbers of forward moves, but more in midfield than most managers as shown in the Fix Transfer Benchmark tool.

That trend extended to budget allocation too – he played a 3-4-3 formation in 65.8% of Gameweeks and allocated 44.6% of his budget to midfielders.

To put that in context:

• Top 50 Managers: 42.1% to midfield
• All-Time Top 50 Managers: 41.4%
  

💰 Team Value Masterclass

He didn’t just make the right moves – he made them at the right time.

By Gameweek 23, his team value peaked at £106.3m, well ahead of:

• Top 50 Managers average: £105.8m
• All-Time Top 50 Managers average: £104.7m

Several of his transfers were made as early as Sunday night, showing clear awareness of price changes and early market movement.

💥 Calculated Hits: 3 All Season

Lovro only took three hits all season, and each had a purpose:

• Gameweek 29 (Blank GW): Took a hit but only played 10 players as Fabiański didn’t feature – a calculated risk in a tricky week.
  
• Gameweek 36: Sold Marmoush and Rogers ➡️ Wood and De Bruyne, who returned 11 points combined, while the outgoing players returned 7 points. The hit broke even and came after a team leak revealed De Bruyne would start and Marmoush wouldn’t.
  
• Gameweek 38: Final day punt – sold De Bruyne and Mateta ➡️ Saka and Evanilson. Saka came off the bench for 1 point, Evanilson got 2, while the outgoing players got 3 combined. The move cost him 4 points, but not the title.
  

🎯 Captaincy Wins the Crown

His captaincy picks were elite!

Lovro scored 819 points from captaincy, a massive 100 points more than the Top 50 manager average (718.5).

• 76.3% of his captaincy choices scored 5+ points
• Top highlights:
  
  • Son (GW2): 16 points vs Everton (2 goals, 3 bonus)
  • Saka (GW7): 16 points vs Southampton (1 goal, 2 assists, 3 bonus)
    

🔍 Want to See How You Compare?

With the Skills Benchmark tool in the Preseason Pack (just £1), you can analyse your own 2024/25 season in the same detail – and compare your stats to:

• Lovro and the Top 10 Managers
• Our Elite XI: Team Reveal contributors
• Even real Premier League players

Whether you’re aiming for world number one or just looking to beat your mates, this is the sharpest way to level up your game.

The Elite XI: Team Reveal managers share over 80 Top 10k finishes between them.

Follow their every move and learn the strategies behind their success. Click here to get started!