FPL Gameweek 3 Transfer Tips: Best Picks After Deadline Day

Introduction

# FPL Gameweek 3 Transfer Tips: Best Picks After Deadline Day

The transfer window is closed, the squads are settled and FPL managers can finally make decisions without a late real-world transfer destroying their plans.

But deadline day has created a fresh problem: several exciting new signings have arrived just as Manchester City host Coventry, Liverpool travel to Ipswich and more than a million managers pile into Rayan Cherki.

So who should you actually buy for Gameweek 3—and which deadline-day names are traps?

FPL Gameweek 3 deadline

Friday 4 September at 6:30pm UK time.

Do not make an unnecessary early transfer. FPL prices now change at midnight UK time, but Friday's press conferences are more valuable than saving £0.1m if rotation or injury news emerges.

The five biggest FPL questions before GW3

Current discussion across FPL communities is dominated by five subjects:

1. Should Haaland be Triple Captained against Coventry?
2. Is Cherki essential—or a rotation trap?
3. Should Bruno Fernandes be kept after his 23-point haul?
4. Is a GW3 Wildcard justified?
5. Which deadline-day signings are ready to start?

The ruthless answers: captain Haaland, buy Cherki only if you accept the minutes risk, keep Bruno, avoid an unnecessary Wildcard and wait on almost every new signing.

What deadline day changed for FPL

Manchester City became stronger—and harder to predict

City added Enzo Fernandez and Iliman Ndiaye, giving them even more control and attacking depth. That is excellent for Haaland, but less comfortable for managers buying a City midfielder.

Cherki, Phil Foden, Antoine Semenyo and Ndiaye cannot all be treated as guaranteed starters every week. Coventry at home is the fixture everyone wants, but buying a player for one attractive match is dangerous if he only gets 25 minutes.

FPL verdict: Haaland remains the safe route. Gvardiol is the strongest defensive option. Cherki has the highest midfield upside, but he is not secure enough to be called essential.

Liverpool added Bradley Barcola

Barcola enters FPL as an £8.0m midfielder. Liverpool travel to Ipswich and then host Fulham, so the fixtures are excellent. The problem is that we do not yet know his starting role or how quickly he will be introduced.

His arrival also adds uncertainty around Cody Gakpo's minutes on the left.

FPL verdict: watch Barcola in GW3. Do not buy him before seeing where he fits.

Everton brought Grealish back—but lost firepower

Jack Grealish has returned on loan and is available at £6.5m, while Ainsley Maitland-Niles also arrived. However, Everton sold Iliman Ndiaye and Beto, and their proposed move for Folarin Balogun collapsed.

That leaves questions about Everton's attack before Manchester United visit. Grealish may eventually become their chief creator, but he is a watchlist player rather than a GW3 transfer.

FPL verdict: avoid buying Grealish this week. Bryan Mbeumo and Bruno Fernandes are the more convincing attackers in that fixture.

Newcastle added another forward

Matias Fernandez-Pardo joined Newcastle and has been priced at £6.0m as a forward. His arrival gives Newcastle another versatile attacker and could eventually affect the minutes of Yoane Wissa, Anthony Elanga or others in the front line.

FPL verdict: Wissa remains a good value pick for Bournemouth at home, but buyers must now accept slightly more medium-term competition.

The other new arrivals can wait

Mykhailo Mudryk joined Spurs, while Aston Villa added Ibrahim Mbaye and Taylor Harwood-Bellis. All may become useful, but none should be bought before we see a starting place, role and fitness level.

Deadline-day excitement is not FPL evidence.

Best FPL Gameweek 3 transfer targets

1. Erling Haaland — £15.5m, forward

Fixture: Coventry City at home

Haaland is the standout captain and the best premium buy for GW3. He has scored twice in the opening two matches and delivered 13 points against Crystal Palace.

The official FPL Scout notes that Haaland averages 9.4 points per start at home to promoted clubs. He also has 180 minutes from the opening two Gameweeks, which gives him a security that City's midfielders cannot match.

If you can reach him with one or two sensible transfers, do it. Do not wreck a good squad with repeated hits solely to own him for one match.

Verdict: Buy and captain.

2. Rayan Cherki — £7.7m, midfielder

Fixture: Coventry City at home

Cherki is the most-bought player in FPL, with more than 1.2 million GW3 transfers in. He has two goals, two assists and 22 points despite playing only 108 minutes.

That final number is both the attraction and the warning. His output per minute is explosive, but he has not yet completed anything close to two full matches. City's deadline-day additions make the rotation risk worse, not better.

Buy him if your team is stable and you can tolerate the occasional benching. Do not take a hit to sell a good, nailed midfielder purely because Cherki hauled last week.

Verdict: High-upside buy, but not essential.

3. Bruno Fernandes — £12.0m, midfielder

Fixture: Everton away

Selling Bruno now makes little sense. He scored 23 points in GW2 and leads all players with 25 points. His early underlying numbers are also elite: 2.10 expected goals and 0.74 expected assists across the first two matches.

Everton away is not as attractive as City's home meeting with Coventry, so Haaland should take the armband. But Bruno remains a premium asset with penalties, set pieces and 180 minutes played.

More than 226,000 managers have already sold him this Gameweek. Unless that money is the only sensible route to Haaland, do not join them.

Verdict: Strong hold; still a good buy.

4. Alexander Isak — £9.0m, forward

Fixture: Ipswich Town away

Isak has only one goal from the first two matches, but his 2.08 expected goals suggest the chances are arriving. Liverpool have scored freely without looking completely convincing defensively, and Ipswich conceded five at Old Trafford in GW2.

Managers are selling Isak, but this is exactly the sort of fixture where patience can pay. If you own him, keep him. If you want a second premium forward alongside Haaland, he is a serious option.

Verdict: Buy or hold.

5. Maxim De Cuyper — £4.7m, defender

Fixture: Leeds United at home

De Cuyper is listed as a defender but has been operating on the wing. He already has a goal, an assist and 17 points, while his early 1.50 expected goals is exceptional for a defender.

Brighton face Leeds at home and then Coventry away. That gives him both immediate attacking upside and a useful two-match run.

He will not sustain his current scoring rate, but the advanced role is real enough to make him one of the best defensive purchases.

Verdict: Best value defender to buy.

6. Josko Gvardiol — £5.6m, defender

Fixture: Coventry City at home

Gvardiol has produced an attacking return in both Gameweeks and now faces the weakest fixture on paper. He has started both matches, although he was substituted in each.

No Manchester City defender is completely immune from rotation, but Gvardiol offers a better combination of clean-sheet potential, attacking threat and price than the more expensive alternatives.

Verdict: Best route into City's defence.

7. Yoane Wissa — £6.1m, forward

Fixture: Bournemouth at home

Wissa has a goal, an assist and 12 points, supported by 1.35 expected goals. His low price makes it easier to carry Haaland, Bruno or another premium midfielder.

More than 659,000 managers have transferred him in for GW3. The arrival of Fernandez-Pardo adds future competition, but Wissa has earned the right to keep his place for now.

Verdict: Best budget forward, with a small minutes warning.

Best GW3 differentials

Kevin Schade — £6.0m, midfielder, 3.9% owned

Brentford host Sunderland, and Schade has already recorded eight shots inside the box. He has one goal and 13 points from 177 minutes. He is a more direct attacking pick than the increasingly popular Mamadou Sangare.

Morgan Gibbs-White — £7.9m, midfielder, 9.3% owned

Gibbs-White has 15 points, remains on penalties and faces Spurs at home. His 0.92 expected goals is encouraging, while his ownership remains below 10%.

Anthony Elanga — £6.1m, midfielder, 8.0% owned

Elanga has scored in both matches and faces Bournemouth at home. His underlying numbers are less impressive than his returns, so this is a momentum pick rather than a statistical certainty.

Buy, hold, sell or avoid

Should you Triple Captain Haaland in GW3?

Read our captaincy decision guide if you are balancing this fixture against a future Double Gameweek.

There is a strong case. Haaland is at home to promoted Coventry, has played every league minute and historically destroys promoted sides at the Etihad.

However, a single Gameweek will always carry more variance than a future Double Gameweek. The fact that FPL managers receive two Triple Captain chips this season makes using the first one now less damaging, but it is still optional—not compulsory.

Our call: captain Haaland. Use Triple Captain if you favour a guaranteed elite home fixture over waiting for a future Double Gameweek. There is no need to chase the chip simply because the community is doing it.

Should you Wildcard in GW3?

Use the wider FPL Wildcard strategy guide before spending the chip on a two-Gameweek sample.

Probably not.

Use it only if your squad has several genuine problems: no Haaland, multiple non-starters, injured players and a poor structure that cannot be fixed with two transfers.

Do not Wildcard because Cherki scored 14 points or because deadline day made new players look exciting. We still lack reliable information about the roles of the late signings, and the international break after GW5 creates a more natural reassessment point before GW6.

FPL Assistant's best GW3 core

If building around the strongest options, start here:

• Captain: Haaland
• Premium midfielder: Bruno Fernandes
• City attacker: Cherki, if you accept rotation
• Second forward: Isak for quality or Wissa for value
• Defenders: Gvardiol and De Cuyper
• Differential: Schade or Gibbs-White

Final GW3 advice

Do not let deadline-day noise force bad FPL decisions.

The best GW3 moves are still built on fixtures, minutes and proven roles. Haaland is the captain. Bruno is a hold. Cherki is explosive but risky. De Cuyper offers genuine value. Most deadline-day arrivals belong on the watchlist until we see them start.

The smart manager is not the one who owns every exciting new name first. It is the one who knows which risks are worth taking.

Use FPL Assistant's Rate My Team to rate your squad and compare transfer options before the Friday 6:30pm deadline.