Hypothetical Premier League Draft: Hull City Selects Erling Haaland First Overall

Hull City selected Erling Haaland with the first pick in a hypothetical draft following Manchester City's unprecedented 114 rule violations.

Hull City selected striker Erling Haaland with the first overall pick in a hypothetical Premier League expansion draft conducted by ESPN’s Ryan O’Hanlon. The draft follows a report finding Manchester City guilty of 114 rule violations, an unprecedented scale of cheating that has resulted in DraftKings placing the club's relegation odds at plus-170, or approximately 37%. Haaland, the league's all-time leading scorer, currently leads the second-ranked player in expected goals by nearly a full point through five games of the current season.

Coventry City used the second pick to select attacking midfielder Rayan Cherki, who holds an 86 out of 100 possession-value rating on the Futi stats app. Ipswich Town took winger Jérémy Doku at number three, while Sunderland selected 23-year-old midfielder Elliot Anderson fourth. Rounding out the top five, Leeds United chose Enzo Fernández, despite the midfielder never exceeding a 70 rating in Futi’s performance model.

Defensive selections began at pick six with Nottingham Forest taking Marc Guéhi, followed by Crystal Palace selecting Josko Gvardiol at eighth to address a league-worst defense. Everton utilized the seventh pick for Phil Foden, who recently received a red card against Manchester United. In the middle rounds, Tottenham selected 21-year-old Nico O'Reilly at eleventh, making him a younger replacement for 32-year-old Andy Robertson. Brentford took 29-year-old Rúben Dias at twelfth, and Brighton drafted Abdukodir Khusanov with the thirteenth selection.

Late-draft movements included Newcastle United acquiring goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma at sixteenth as an upgrade over Lukás Hornícek. Aston Villa selected 28-year-old Matheus Nunes seventeenth, leaving Liverpool to draft winger Allan Elias at eighteenth after missing out on right-back depth. Arsenal concluded the exercise by selecting 21-year-old Rico Lewis with the nineteenth pick, a player who has already recorded over 4,000 Premier League minutes.