The international gameweek – the transfer gamble 

For some of you FPL managers this article may be coming too late. When is the best time to make those International gameweek transfers? As soon as the previous gameweek ends or at the last minute on the Saturday before the next gameweek kicks off? There’s no hard and fast rule for this but we’ll ask some of FPL’s regulars and get their opinion along with some of my own thoughts and hopefully some of your thoughts as we search for FPL supremacy.

This week I have already made 3 transfers for a -4. This is not the normality for me but the International gameweek has forced my hand. The transfers I made include Sanchez, Chadli and Siggurdsson who could all potentially rise 0.3 over the fortnight and its 0.9m I just didn’t have to spare. Those transfers were forced upon as my team value is not what some of the FPL elite teams value are at the moment. I took the risk that they all would survive their respective international matches and now sit watching my twitter feed in the hope that my 3 transfers don’t make an appearance for anything I should be concerned of.

Are non-international players less of a risk? We’ve seen Charlie Austin receive a wealth of new owners since his display against the champions but is his signature any more is less risky than an international player?

I think personally that each transfer has its pro’s and cons. A key factor will be the value of the transfer and whether a players value will decide whether that transfer will go ahead later in the week if it’s left to a later date. If you have the luxury of waiting to the last few days before the following gameweek then that’s the best in my opinion despite losing 0.1 or 0.2 especially in the spring international break, the earlier breaks managers tend to focus on building team value for the second half of the season. I tend to try and leave my transfers for the second half of the break but in the end it just comes down to experience and instinct and in a small part luck.

I have gathered some thoughts from two of the biggest names from the world of FPL and this is what they had to say on the transfer conundrum:

@FPLHints

The benefit with an early transfer is that you can avoid being priced out of buying a popular player before his price increases.  Moreover, if you want to sell a player who is likely to fall in price you can prevent losing out there too.  But be warned, there are consequences that may bite you back.  What if the early purchase gets injured on the eve of the gameweek? What if the player who was about to lose value has a cracking gameweek?

The benefit with "late transfers" (Friday night / Saturday morning) is that you can avoid buying players who were injured midweek.  Of course it also means that a popular player that you are interested in may also have an increased valued by £0.1M to £0.3M, which makes spare cash in the bank all the more imperative.  You don't want to see your balance reading £-0.1M for a player you wanted when you know you could have bought him earlier.

With the above in mind, in my experience there is no point buying too early or too late unless there are mitigating circumstances, i.e. buying a popular player early because you won't be able to afford him by midweek or selling one of your players unless you have definite confirmation that he won't play (which is often authenticated on Friday after the managers conferences).  As an unofficial rule of thumb I tend to make my transfers on a Thursday evening.  Sure, it means that I may pay more than the early birds, then again that's offset with injury news risk.  Ultimately, buy and sell when you deem appropriate.  Judge each transfer case by its own merit.

@FPLWalt

Okay, first and foremost, I can't stand international breaks. They bite, they suck, and every time they come around I want to kick them in the crotch. Personally, I try to NEVER make any transfers until after the second round of international fixtures are over AND there's been sufficient time to get wind of any injury issues. 

I know some people get stuck with budget issues and feel "forced" to move early, but to avoid that I do everything I can to keep money in the bank. Money in the bank allows me to beat the early transfer urge and gives me a sense of cushion that I personally like to have for issues such as int'l breaks and not being forced into a move based on one player rising or falling.

So we’ve heard from a few key figures in the game that we all rely on for information and thank them for giving Fantasy Football Fix their thoughts, what do you do? Drop us a comment!