The Effects of the FIFA Club World Cup on EPL Draft Fantasy Football

Draft Society
Jun 30
7 min read

FIFA so desperately want the Club World Cup to be.... a thing. And though the crowd sizes may not be what they were hoping for, the teams taking part in the tournament actually seem to be taking it seriously. That being the case, what can EPL Draft managers expect in terms of developments or reverberations as a result of the CWC? Read on as we jump into the key takeaways from this tournament and the ways in which we think it might affect draft assets for the coming season. Though the tournament lasts until the 13th of July, we aim to have this information to you on Draft Kit launch day of July 1 with updates to come as needed.

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What are the effects of the Club World Cup on EPL Draft Fantasy Football?

The way we see it, the effects of this tournament will be a mixed bag, and we'll touch on all of them below. We'll also lay out some of the takeaways we've been able to glean so far from the (fairly limited) performances we've seen from the draftable Premier League players taking part. After all, there are only two Premier League teams competing in this tournament in Chelsea and Manchester City. Regardless, there are three key things to monitor as it pertains to this Club World Cup for EPL Draft managers:

Teams' use of the early transfer window and what that says about their 25/26 intentions.
Player fitness levels, fear of exhaustion, and possible post-tournament break.
Team tactics and player performance indicators that could be an indication of they'll set up for the upcoming season.

Teams' Use of the Early Transfer Window

We saw both Chelsea and Manchester City jump headfirst into the transfer market as soon as the Premier League season ended, a clear sign that they fully intended to compete in this tournament in earnest. Let's take a brief look at some of the signings made by each team.

Chelsea

Before the tournament, Chelsea signed Liam Delap (ST), Estevao (RW), Dario Essugo (CDM), Mamadou Sarr (CB), and Kendry Paez (CAM). With the exception of Delap, all of these players are 20-years-old or younger and appear to be ones for the future. In fact, only Essugo even joined the team in the US for the tournament. We'll get into the match takeaways later, but Delap is the only notable 25/26 transfer to feature at the CWC for Chelsea until Joao Pedro turns up around the 1st of July.