Chelsea head coach Xabi Alonso appeared unaware of how widely Fantasy Premier League (FPL) data can expose club secrets. After Chelsea’s 2-0 home defeat to Tottenham, he was asked whether he knew Joao Pedro’s injury had apparently been signalled through FPL transfers before the deadline.


“I am not into the fantasy team thing, so I didn’t know that,” Alonso replied.

The episode has renewed debate over whether clubs can prevent team news leaks when millions of people play FPL and when players, staff, and relatives of footballers are among them.


How FPL exposed Joao Pedro’s absence

FPL trackers noticed that accounts believed to belong to Chelsea staff, a Chelsea player, and a relative of a player had either transferred Joao Pedro out or left him on the bench before the gameweek deadline.

One prominent FPL manager, known online as FPL Karim, explained that he became suspicious after checking the team linked to Chelsea forward Morgan Rogers. He said Rogers had sold Joao Pedro several gameweeks earlier during a previous injury issue and had not re-signed him.


Karim then examined the account believed to belong to Rogers’ brother and saw that Joao Pedro had been sold that same gameweek, with Nicolas Jackson brought in as a replacement. Because Joao Pedro was among the most-owned forwards in the game, the move appeared unusual.

He shared his theory online, where it spread rapidly. By the time Chelsea confirmed the striker’s absence, the FPL deadline had already passed. Around 1.7 million managers had made Joao Pedro their captain, meaning their points would be doubled despite his non-appearance.


The absence surprised many supporters because Joao Pedro had been pictured in training in the days before Chelsea faced Tottenham. Alonso later explained that the forward was sidelined by fluid on his thigh.


Clubs are becoming more guarded

Alonso is among several Premier League managers who have become increasingly cautious about revealing fitness updates in press conferences. Earlier in the season, he said he preferred not to disclose more information than necessary.


That approach was used before Chelsea’s 3-0 defeat at Brentford, when several injury concerns—including one involving Joao Pedro, were kept private until after kickoff.

But FPL’s scale makes secrecy difficult. Official figures suggest more than 11 million people play the game, and its public leaderboard allows users to search participants and examine their transfers, captaincy picks, and bench decisions.


By linking accounts to players, club employees, or family members, FPL trackers can sometimes infer confidential developments at training grounds before clubs are ready to announce them.


A problem with a long history

The issue is not new. One of the most high-profile examples came in February 2021, when Jack Grealish was absent from Aston Villa’s Premier League match against Leicester City after FPL activity appeared to hint at his unavailability.


Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers later acknowledged that he had heard about the situation before kickoff. Villa manager Dean Smith was reported to have banned people connected to the club from playing FPL following Villa’s 2-1 defeat.

Later that year, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola criticised the practice as unethical and unprofessional.


Since then, FPL trackers have repeatedly claimed to identify revealing transfer activity connected to players or staff at clubs including Arsenal, Liverpool, Leicester, and Newcastle. The information often spreads quickly across social media, although some experienced FPL players reportedly keep discoveries within private groups to gain an edge in the game itself.

BBC Sport found accounts that trackers believe are connected to staff, players, or relatives at several Premier League clubs.


FPL Focal, one of the people known for identifying such accounts, said there are likely many more still undiscovered. He added that some players have begun using aliases, while he has received requests to remove certain accounts, requests he says he has always respected.

He explained that the public leaderboard makes it easy to search for players but verifying whether an account genuinely belongs to a footballer takes more time.


Chelsea’s repeated leak issues

Chelsea have faced several high-profile Chelsea team news leaks during 2026. Three significant incidents occurred during Liam Rosenior’s brief spell as head coach.

Two emerged before each leg of Chelsea’s record 8-2 aggregate Champions League defeat by Paris Saint-Germain, while the third came before Rosenior’s final match in charge.


Perhaps most surprisingly, it later emerged that former Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella’s barber had revealed that both Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro would miss a match through injury.

Chelsea have since reminded players to be careful about who they share information with before matches. The club has also increased security at its training ground, including installing new fencing around first-team pitches.


For a period this season, Chelsea appeared to have reduced the problem. However, the Joao Pedro FPL episode showed that confidential information can still surface through unexpected channels.


Can clubs stop FPL leaks?

Clubs have several options. They can warn players and staff about what they share publicly, restrict access to sensitive medical information, and discourage employees from selecting their own club’s players in FPL.

The most extreme response would be banning the game altogether for people connected to the club.


However, there is currently no Premier League-wide rule preventing those involved in football from playing FPL. The Premier League treats any related issue as a matter for the individual club.

Even if clubs introduce stricter internal policies, enforcing them beyond staff and players would be difficult. Monitoring the FPL activity of players’ friends and relatives presents a far greater challenge, and one that could keep exposing Premier League injury news before official announcements.