Following the news that Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne (£11.9m) will be ruled out for the next 4-6 weeks with a hamstring injury, FPL managers will be disappointed that they now must have to offload the Belgium international ahead of GW20. 

It is likely that the majority of FPL managers will replace De Bruyne with highly owned/expensive players like Bruno Fernandes (£11.3m), Mohamed Salah (£12.5m), Heung-Min Son (£9.7m) or Raheem Sterling (£11.5m).

However, we differentiate and take a look at three of the best, cheap alternatives that will save you money and bring you points over the next few gameweeks...

Ilkay Gundogan - Manchester City (£5.3m)

One of the most ideal replacements for the injured De Bruyne, would be to replace him with another Man City midfielder. While the likes of Phil Foden (£6.3m) and Bernardo Silva (£7.4m) are good options to choose from, Ilkay Gundogan offers the best value. 

At £5.3m he is £6.6m cheaper than De Bruyne, and has been in excellent form over the past few weeks. Although he struggled to find game time at the start of the campaign, he now has five goals in his last seven games and has been given the luxury of being penalty taker as well. 

He is expected to step it up in the absence of his midfield partner and City have a fantastic run of fixtures. West Brom (A), Sheffield United (H) and Burnley (A) await, and all of them are fighting a relegation battle.

Gundogan could be the perfect replacement and is available for cheap. 

Paul Pogba - Manchester United (£7.7m)

Pogba

Man United's record signing Paul Pogba has been criticised for his performances at the club ever since he joined in 2016, but there is nothing to criticise at the moment.

The Frenchman is in unstoppable form next to Bruno Fernandes and is one of the main reasons they are at the top of the league right now. He is starting to look like the world-class midfielder that they paid £89m for and now has three goal contributions in his last four games.

While Bruno is the obvious choice to replace De Bruyne, Pogba is the next best player if you wanted to save your money - at £7.7m. United play bottom-placed Sheffield United in GW20, where Pogba can earn lots of points and continue his remarkable return to form. 

James Maddison - Leicester City (£7.2m)

J Mad

Leicester City's James Maddison is another player that has been putting in great performances of late.

Leicester are now third, two points from top spot, and Maddison has been an integral part of their success over the last couple of months. 

Across the whole campaign, he has now scored six goals and produced four assists. The 24-year-old has also scored in each of his last three games, earning FPL managers 27 points over that duration. Considering the form he is in, the England international is hard to ignore at £7.2m. 

Leicester travel to Everton on Wednesday and, without the injured Jamie Vardy, Maddison will need to maintain this level of form if Leicester want to mount a serious title challenge this season.

There are also potential attacking returns in their next three games, against Leeds (H), Fulham (A) and Wolves (A) for Maddison, and he is looking to be a great replacement for the injured Kevin De Bruyne.