You get 1 free transfer per Gameweek, and unused ones roll over up to a maximum of 5 banked. Every transfer beyond your free allowance costs −4 points from that Gameweek's score.
Before Gameweek 1
Before the GW1 deadline, you have unlimited free transfers. Build, adjust, and rebuild your squad as many times as you like. No points penalty applies, and changes do not count toward your weekly allowance.
Many beginners assume the squad drafted in the pre-season window is locked once saved. It is not — you can keep editing until the GW1 deadline closes.
The weekly allowance
From GW1 onward, you receive 1 free transfer each Gameweek. If you do not use it, it rolls over and adds to your bank. The maximum you can bank is 5. Once you reach 5, unused transfers no longer accumulate — the fifth is the ceiling.
Worked example:
| Start of GW | Free available | Transfers used | Banked going into next GW | |---|---|---|---| | GW3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | | GW4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | | GW5 | 3 | 0 | 4 | | GW6 | 4 | 0 | 5 (cap reached) | | GW7 | 5 | 3 | 2 | | GW8 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
In GW7, using 3 of 5 available transfers leaves 2 banked. GW8 starts with 3 available: 2 carried forward plus 1 new. Using 1 in GW8 leaves 2 banked again going into GW9.
The −4 hit
Every transfer beyond your free allowance that Gameweek costs −4 points, deducted directly from your Gameweek score.
Break-even arithmetic: a hit is worth taking only if the player coming in returns more than 4 additional points compared to the player going out — not more than 4 total, but more than the alternative would have scored. If you bring in a player who scores 8 and the player you sold scores 5, the net gain is 3, and the −4 deduction means you are 1 point worse off. The hit needed to return 5+ extra points to justify itself.
The break-even threshold is harder to clear than it looks week-to-week. A player bought for the long term may take several Gameweeks to recoup a hit cost, and by then the situation has usually changed. Rolling the free transfer is almost always the lower-risk option.
Multiple hits: each additional transfer beyond your free allowance costs another −4. Two hits cost −8, three hits cost −12. The arithmetic compounds quickly.
Transfers and chips
Wildcard: when you play a Wildcard, all transfers that Gameweek are free and permanent — including any already made before activating it. Your banked free transfers reset afterward, and you start the following Gameweek with 1 free transfer regardless of how many you had stored.
Free Hit: the squad reverts at the next deadline, and so do your banked transfers. Playing a Free Hit leaves your bank exactly as it was before the chip was played.
See FPL Chips Explained for the full chip rules and restrictions, including what happens if a Free Hit is played at GW19.
No AFCON allowance in 2026/27
The previous season included extra free transfers in December to account for the Africa Cup of Nations pulling Premier League players away. That allowance does not apply in 2026/27. AFCON does not fall in the 2026/27 campaign, so no extra free transfers are scheduled at any point in the season.
If you played last season and expect a December bonus, it is not coming. Plan transfers as normal throughout the winter months.
Missing a deadline mid-transfer
An unconfirmed transfer — one you have built but not yet saved — is not applied when the deadline passes. The deadline locks your squad as it was at the point of the last confirmed save.
An unused free transfer still rolls over, up to the 5-transfer maximum. You do not lose the rollover because you opened the transfer page without completing a change.
See FPL Deadline Time in Nigeria for the exact deadline times across 2026/27 in WAT.
Related
- How to Play FPL in Nigeria — Complete Beginner's Guide
- FPL Chips Explained
- How FPL Price Changes Work