Five surprise FPL stars from pre-season - including the 1.1%-owned pick managers are overlooking

Five surprise stars have emerged as potential hidden gems for Fantasy Premier League during pre-season.

The 2026/27 Premier League season is almost upon us with just two weeks until reigning champions Arsenal welcome Coventry back to the top flight in the opening fixture.

With the start of a new season comes the launch of the next Fantasy Premier League (FPL) season, with millions of managers rushing to build their first drafts.

In the 2025/26 season, a record amount of over 13 million managers registered FPL teams, making it harder and harder to identify the perfect players to help you stand out from the crowd and gain rank each week.

Perhaps more than ever, it's important for FPL managers to keep an eye on what's happening in pre-season to try and identify those low-ownership players that could emerge as gems a few weeks into the season.

So far, only a few players have stood out as potential stars, here are five that we think you should consider putting into your FPL drafts ahead of Gameweek 1.

Trai Hume, (SUN, DEF) - £4.5m

Without a doubt one of the biggest debates ahead of the start of the FPL season so far has been selecting the best defender priced at £4.5million.

So far, Manchester United's Luke Shaw is by far the highest-owned player at this price point, currently in nearly 25% of all teams.

However, if Sunderland's pre-season is anything to go off, the 2.3% owned Hume could be an even better pick as the Northern Ireland international has been playing out of position as a forward.

The 24-year-old has played each the last three games of pre-season and five games of the Premier League in the right wing and scored two goals in that time.

Plus, with Ipswich and Fulham in the first two games, there's a strong chance of clean sheet points even if he doesn't get an attacking return.

But, it's worth keeping an eye on Sunderland's business in the transfer market before locking Hume into your GW1 drafts, as the Black Cats are expected to sign at least one more forward before the window closes.

Joe Rodon (LEE, DEF) - £4.5m

Sticking with the £4.5m defenders, Rodon appears to a steady and reliable pick at the back for Leeds United.

Leeds' new signing Tarik Muharemovic (£5.0m) has attracted a lot of attention as many expect him to be a great pick for scoring Defensive Contribution (DEFCON) points.

But for 0.5m less, Rodon could provide much better value for a similar output, with the Welshman hitting the DEFCON requirement of 10 in 30% of his games last season, placing him 4th for £4.5m defenders.

Add to that the fact he sometimes pops up with a goal from set pieces, and Rodon could be a nice pick to just sit in your team throughout the season.

Again though, he's one to watch some Leeds fans have expressed concerns that Rodon could fall out of the starting line-up should manager Daniel Farke decide to play a back four, rather than the current back five.

Joe Rodon could be a DEFCON beast in FPL this season. (Image: Getty Images)

Pascal Gross (BHA, MID) - £5.5m

By far the most popular pick on the list is Brighton veteran Gross, who is now owned by over 8% of managers, and for good reason.

The German international has proven in pre-season that he's able to provide managers with several different routes to points.

Gross averaged 7.97 DEFCONs per 90 minutes following his return to Brighton in January, getting DEFCON points in 11% of the matches he started and he also picked up bonus points on several occasions.

But perhaps most appealing about Gross is the fact that, following the surprise departure of Danny Welbeck, it is now expected that the 35-year-old will be on all set-pieces, including penalties.

READ MORE: Five FPL hidden gems emerge as 2026/27 season officially launches

Justin Kluivert (BOU, MID) - £6.0m

Admittedly Bournemouth have a tough start to the season with Man City in their opening fixture and Liverpool and Chelsea also in their opening fix matches.

Despite this, it's hard to ignore Kluivert's recent pre-season performance against Italy's oldest existing football team, Genoa.

The midfielder scored a hat-trick in the 10-1 thrashing, two of which were penalties suggesting that he will be the talisman in the absence of the injured Eli Junior Kroupi.

Granted, Marcus Tavernier, who could also be the penalty-taker, was not on the pitch when Bournemouth were awarded the spot kicks, but given the fact Kluivert was on pens when he was fit in 24/25, it's likely that he'll keep the privilege while Kroupi Jr recovers.

With an average of 0.54 goal contributions per 90 over the last two seasons and a ownership of just 1%, Kluviert could be a sneaky steal for the start of the season.

Igor Jesus (NFO, FOR) - £6.0m

Without a doubt, the standout player in terms of form during pre-season has been Nottingham Forest striker Jesus.

Under new manager Oliver Glasner, Forest are expected to be much more of an appealing attacking outfit this season, and Jesus has proved he can be the key man up front.

In pre-season so far, the Brazilian has scored four goals in four matches, continuing his impressive form at the end of last season.

At 6.0m, Jesus is competing with the likes of Leeds' Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Sunderland's Brian Brobbey as the best budget striker, but such impressive form is hard to ignore.

But, an opening set of fixtures of LEE (H), LIV (a), TOT (H), AVL (a) may be enough to put the less daring managers off the Forest star.