The relaunch of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) for 2023/24 is drawing nearer by the day – and there’s reportedly a “new format” in the works to get excited about.

As well as this intriguing new development, the summer refresh will also see the usual FPL positional reclassifications for a handful of Premier League players.

In this article, we’ll outline the case for or against a change of position for a number of Fantasy assets.

We should stress that this is purely educated guesswork on our part and is based on how FPL have gone about classifying players previously.

We’ll be using the graphics, stats and tools from our own Premium Members Area, as well as Transfermarkt, for a closer look at starting positions.

HOW FPL CLASS PLAYERS

As a rough guide, FPL tend to classify players using the following criteria:

So forget what you might think about heatmaps, shot counts and penalty box touches: starting position on a teamsheet has traditionally been pretty much all that matters for the folk at FPL Towers, whether you agree with that or not.

Only with a revamp of the above criteria will we see the likes of Mohamed Salah and Gabriel Martinelli become forwards, as the vast majority of their appearances in 2022/23 were as ‘wingers’ on paper.

The positional classifications are also typically based on what each player in question has done in the previous season. For example, erstwhile forward Joelinton was reclassified as a midfielder a year ago after being reinvented as a central midfielder under Eddie Howe in 2021/22.

DIOGO JOTA/CODY GAKPO

• FPL position in 2022/23: Forward (Jota)/Midfielder (Gakpo)
• Possible FPL position change in 2023/24: Midfielder (Jota)/Forward (Gakpo)
• Chance of FPL position change: Likely

Let’s start with two obvious ones, both from the Liverpool camp.

Since joining in January, Cody Gakpo has made all but two of his 17 league starts as the Reds’ nominal centre-forward. He may drift and drop deep, a la Roberto Firmino, but as we mentioned in the section above, the on-paper starting position tends to be the main consideration for the FPL classifiers.

Diogo Jota, meanwhile, has only been the central striker in two of his 12 starts this season, a campaign admittedly littered by injury. Jurgen Klopp has instead tended to deploy him on the left flank of Liverpool’s front three, the Portugal international job-sharing with Luis Diaz in the run-in. It didn’t do Jota any harm: all seven of his Premier League goals came when lining up out wide.

Darwin Nunez has also spent plenty of time on the left flank as Klopp struggles to think of the best way to incorporate his misfiring targetman but with almost twice as many appearances coming through the middle, there’s no chance of him being reclassified this summer.

MARCUS RASHFORD

• FPL position in 2022/23: Midfielder
• Possible FPL position in 2023/24: Forward
• Chance of FPL position change: Doubtful

From the probable to the less likely.

Only five players scored more Premier League goals than Marcus Rashford this season, the England international finding the net on 17 occasions and passing a double-century for FPL points for the first time.

While a steep price rise is inevitable (it seems unthinkable now that he started the year at £6.5m), a positional change looks doubtful.

Rashford did indeed spend plenty of time up top, recurring injuries to Anthony Martial, the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo and some less-than-stellar displays from Wout Weghorst seeing Erik ten Hag turn to the 25-year-old ‘midfielder’ to spearhead the Manchester United attack on occasion.

But even then, only 15 of Rashford’s 35 league run-outs saw him lead the line from kick-off or the point of his introduction off the bench. With FPL typically needing an appearance majority before they consider a reclassification, this one looks like a long shot.

BRENNAN JOHNSON

• FPL position in 2022/23: Forward
• Possible FPL position in 2023/24: Midfielder
• Chance of FPL position change: Possible

Brennan Johnson has always been a striker who has drifted into wider areas rather than loiter around the six-yard box. Even taking that into account, a continuation of the starting position he began 2022/23 in – as part of a two-man frontline – would have seen him remain a forward this coming season.

But Steve Cooper’s tactics evolved as he sought to find the right balance of personnel in Nottingham Forest’s return to the big time – and with it, so did Johnson’s role.

There were run-outs on the right wing of a 4-3-3 over the winter and, more recently, as one of the two attacking midfielders supporting Taiwo Awoniyi in a 3-4-2-1.

Transfermarkt have his positions as roughly an even split between a lone/second striker and an attacking midfielder/winger, so it’s a tough call for FPL Towers ahead of the summer relaunch.

Above: Brennan Johnson’s average position map in 2022/23

BRYAN MBEUMO

• FPL position in 2022/23: Forward
• Possible FPL position in 2023/24: Midfielder
• Chance of FPL position change: Likely

Bryan Mbeumo was reclassified as a forward ahead of 2022/23 but we could see the change reversed this summer.

Thomas Frank had used a 3-5-2 for much of Brentford’s inaugural Premier League campaign in 2021/22, with Mbeumo one half of a strike partnership with Ivan Toney. No surprise, then, that the Cameroon international became a forward a year ago.

But Frank has typically reserved the wing-back system for the ‘bigger’ clubs in 2022/23, operating in a more attacking 4-3-3 for the rest of the Bees’ fixtures.

As a result, Mbeumo made 22 starts as a right winger and just 14 as a more central striker.

Toney’s lengthy ban may be a consideration but it was Yoane Wissa, not Mbeumo or Kevin Schade, who played the central striker role in a 4-3-3 whenever the now-suspended England international was absent.

Above: How Brentford set up in their 4-3-3 without Ivan Toney in Gameweek 36. Yoane Wissa (11) operated through the middle, with Bryan Mbeumo (19) and Kevin Schade (9) flanking him.

Might Wissa also be reclassified from a midfielder to a forward, then? If FPL are proactive and forward-thinking then yes, but the games-makers would have to abandon their traditional focus on total appearances in the season just gone.

JULIO ENCISO

• FPL position in 2022/23: Forward
• Possible FPL position in 2023/24: Midfielder
• Chance of FPL position change: Likely

The umpteenth gem plucked from global obscurity by Brighton and Hove Albion and thrust onto the big stage, Julio Enciso looks like some prospect.

Like many of his teammates, he has had to be patient for a chance: he was named on the bench on 22 occasions before his first Premier League start in Gameweek 33.

Enciso went on to start seven of the Seagulls’ final nine fixtures but in only one of them, his full league debut against Nottingham Forest, did he line up as the centre-forward in Roberto De Zerbi’s 4-2-3-1.

The versatile young Paraguayan has featured on both flanks and in the hole during his short time on the south coast, so midfielder status should beckon.

OTHER LIKELY OR POSSIBLE CHANGES

• Richarlison (Forward to Midfielder): The vast majority of the Brazilian’s league appearances in 2022/23 came on either flank of the three-man Spurs attack. Should Harry Kane move on this summer, however, there could be increased opportunities for the former Watford and Everton man through the middle.
• Lewis Hall (Midfielder to Defender): While chiefly a midfielder by trade, the teenager featured almost exclusively as a left-back or wing-back for Chelsea in what Premier League game-time was afforded to him last season.
• Demarai Gray (Midfielder to Forward): Perhaps less likely to change position than Richarlison and Hall, the Everton winger has chiefly been used as a central striker by Sean Dyche since his appointment in January. Seven of Gray’s eight league starts since the change in manager came as a centre-forward. Whether FPL would disregard the many 2022/23 appearances in wide-midfield before Dyche’s Gameweek 22 arrival is another question.
• Emi Buendia/Leon Bailey (Midfielders to Forwards): Since Unai Emery took charge of Aston Villa in Gameweek 15, he’s rolled out a 4-4-2. The partner for Ollie Watkins in that system has typically been Buendia or Bailey – how FPL view their role (an orthodox second striker or more of a number 10?) is a key question with regards to a possible position change. The pair may have banked enough run-outs in the wide-midfield positions to stave off a reclassification anyway but it’s a decision that is closer than many think.

LESS LIKELY/UNLIKELY TO CHANGE

There are a number of players who (likely) won’t have done enough to warrant the following changes:

• Pascal Gross (Midfielder to Defender): It seemed like the versatile German was playing in defence more than he did: in the end, only nine of his Premier League starts in 2022/23 came as a full-back.
• Alexander Isak (Forward to Midfielder): The Swede’s late-season run-outs on the left wing will bring back some unhappy memories for his FPL owners but he still had over three times as many appearances as a central striker after his big-money move to Tyneside, so he’ll be a forward again this time.
• Julian Alvarez (Forward to Midfielder): There were actually more starts for Alvarez in an advanced number eight/ten role than there was a lone central striker but with the majority of his substitute appearances being as relief for Erling Haaland, that should be enough to see off a positional change.

INVERTED FULL-BACKS

We finish with this piece with the thorny issue of ‘inverted full-backs’.

It was a phenomenon sweeping the top flight last season, with the managers of Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool proponents of this tactic.

In a nutshell: these players are central midfielders on the ball, retreating (usually) to a full-back position off it.

With City, Arsenal and Liverpool all averaging around 60% of possession or more last season, the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold, John Stones and Oleksandr Zinchenko were spending more time in the engine room than in their respective defences.

Above: Liverpool’s average position map in Gameweek 38

Could Alexander-Arnold be a midfielder in 2023/24, then? The main argument against is that Jurgen Klopp didn’t turn to this tactic until Gameweek 30, so FPL Towers could point to the fact that Alexander-Arnold had way more run-outs as a more conventional (albeit very attacking) full-back over last season on the whole.

In any event, the money would be on FPL deciding to keep it simple – as they try and do with most aspects of their game – and treat the inverted full-back as they would an orthodox one.

Did we miss any obvious contenders for a positional change? Do you think there should be an overhaul of the classifications in FPL? Let us know in the comments below.