The rules

• Before your first deadline, transfers are unlimited and free.
• After that you get 1 free transfer each gameweek.
• Each extra transfer in the same gameweek costs −4 points.
• Changes lock at the deadline, 90 minutes before the gameweek’s first kick-off.

Saving transfers

Don’t use your free transfer and it carries over: next week you have two. You can save up to five. Saved transfers also survive a Wildcard or Free Hit.

Why it matters: saved transfers give you room to react. When three of your players get injured in the same week, managers with a few banked transfers fix it for free; everyone else pays −4 for each.

Hits

A hit is an extra transfer that costs −4. It comes off your score for that gameweek. Hits aren’t always wrong, but they’re easy to overuse: each one has to win back four points before it helps you.

Is a hit worth it?

Ask how many more points the new player will score than the old one, over the weeks you’ll keep him:

• Usually worth it: replacing a player who won’t play at all for weeks (injured, suspended or dropped) with a regular starter.
• Sometimes worth it: moving to a player with two matches in a double gameweek, or out of a club about to face a run of hard fixtures.
• Rarely worth it: swapping one fit, starting player for another because of last week’s points.

A rough test: if you wouldn’t bet that the new player outscores the old one by more than 4 points over the next few weeks, keep the free transfer for next week instead.

Good habits

• Plan two or three weeks ahead. Know who you’ll sell next, so one transfer a week keeps you on track.
• Wait for news when you can. Late transfers dodge surprise injuries, but early ones can beat a price rise. Weigh which matters more.
• Don’t chase last week’s points. A big haul is already in the past. Look at minutes, fixtures and underlying numbers.
• Sell problems, not just poor scorers. A starter who blanks against a top side is fine; a player who isn’t starting isn’t.

On Pitchline: Advice suggests this week’s transfer, the Planner stages moves over five gameweeks, and Compare puts options side by side. Pitchline can’t see your free-transfer count, so check it on the official site before you confirm.