An FPL AFCON update will allow players to use extra free transfers in Gameweek 16 ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations in 2025/26.
Fantasy Premier League managers this season will benefit from five free transfers before the tournament starts in December.
The extra free transfers will be given in Gameweek 16, allowing players to plan around this year’s AFCON.
Running from 21 December to 18 January, AFCON involves 24 African countries.
The tournament takes place in the middle of the Premier League season, running from Gameweeks 17-22 in FPL terms.
However, there is a strong possibility that some players will leave ahead of Gameweek 16 to join up with their national teams.
This latest change is one of a number of tweaks for the upcoming season, with the 2025/26 FPL price reveals showing how some stars are rated compared to last year.
How FPL AFCON Transfers Will Help Players
To mitigate the impact of players departing for AFCON, FPL managers will see their total number of free transfers topped up to the maximum possible of five in Gameweek 16.
This means it will be easier to react should any of your FPL squad depart early. It should also lessen the impact of any price drops if rival managers sell the same players.
In order to maximise the benefit of this, managers should aim to have zero free transfers remaining by the end of Gameweek 15.
This would therefore give you four additional free transfers on top of the usual one for Gameweek 16.
Contrastingly, players who opted to bank their free transfers from Gameweeks 14 and 15, would only gain an additional two for AFCON.
They would therefore miss out on another two that could otherwise have been awarded.
FPL AFCON Stars Expected To Be Involved
There are always a number of top Premier League stars on show at AFCON each year.
The 2025/26 tournament is expected to be no different, with some of the league’s biggest names on show.
Liverpool legend Mohamed Salah is the biggest of these, with the Egyptian forward likely to play a huge role again.
The best UK football betting sites have Liverpool at 2/1 favourites to retain their title.
But aside from Salah, other top names include Manchester City duo Omar Marmoush and Rayan Ait-Nouri, as well as new Manchester United signing Bryan Mbeumo.
Chelsea’s Nicholas Jackson and Crystal Palace’s Ismaila Sarr should also be involved as well.
But thanks to the FPL AFCON change for 2025/26, the impact of losing these stars should be lessened.
You can use the extra free transfers to navigate through the tournament. Then, in Gameweek 20, the second Wildcard will become available. giving players the opportunity to bring the likes of Salah back into their team once AFCON is over.
FPL Statistics From 2024/25 Show African Importance
It doesn’t take an expert to appreciate the importance of African players in the Premier League.
A quick glance at the top Fantasy Football points scorers from last season demonstrates that.
Last year’s top overall FPL scorer was Mo Salah. The Liverpool forward notched an incredible 344 points, 108 more than any other player.
And in second place, it was Bryan Mbeumo, with 236. Another Brentford player, Yoane Wissa, made it three African’s in the top ten with 185 FPL points last season.
With so many AFCON stars putting up huge FPL numbers, players will be grateful they can now more easily mitigate the impact of losing them mid-season.
