Welcome to the Lower League Gems for FIFA 14! If you want promising players for an absolute bargain, you’re in the right place.
If you’re not sure what these articles are all about, click the bold link below. Otherwise, let’s get straight in to the recommendations.
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These articles aim to highlight young, high potential players that are priced at £1m or less. Most articles will showcase players with a minimum potential of 78. However, in some cases I lowered the minimum potential to 77 to ensure there were a good number of players for you to choose from.
The ‘Cost’ column refers to the price your scout will bring back after he’s looked at the player. The ‘They want’ column refers to the price you will be quoted by the team if you enquire about their player. These enquiry prices are negotiable, so don’t be afraid to bid below what they want.
Sometimes teams will refuse to quote a price for their player because he has only just joined them. In these cases, I have not given a price in the ‘They want’ column. Where this is the case, I have included a player if their scouted price is £500,000 or less, as this usually equates to a price of around £1m being quoted by the player’s team.
The ‘Avai?’ column is short for ‘Available?’ and refers to whether the player is available to buy in the first transfer window. The first letter indicates this (Y for yes, they are available and N for no, they are not), whilst the number refers to the length of their contract. The ones to watch out for here are those with Y/1 or Y/0 next to their names. This means the player’s contract is about to expire, so you should be able to get them for a discount price.
Finally, because EA release update squads every week, this could mean that some of the players listed in the article below are slightly different on your game. Furthermore, players sometimes exceed their potential, while it has been noted that occasionally players don’t grow as hoped. Therefore these stats are a guide only.
Here are my recommended centre backs:
- Jonathan Tah
- Saverio Madrigali
- Terence Kongolo
- Tin Jedvaj
First up is a name that I am sure will be familiar to many: Jonathan Tah. Reportedly the subject of interest from Liverpool, Tah may only be 17 but he already has 85 strength, meaning he’ll be an absolute rock at the back. Aside from his excellent tackling and marking, he’s also a threatening aerial presence and even has decent pace for a centre back, making him a terrific all-round talent.
Saverio Madrigali is my second pick. He only starts at 56 OVR, so here’s where my treatment would be a little different – I recommend you wait until the second season to buy him. On my career he was rated 70 OVR, which meant he’d jumped a ridiculous 14 points at Fiorentina in one year, something that would be impossible to achieve on a human-controlled team no matter how well he played. He was fast and strong, and at 6’3″ made a real nuisance of himself in the air. Best of all, despite his amazing OVR growth, I was able to buy him from Fiorentina for only £700,000. Definitely not one to miss.
If you don’t want to wait a year for a player of that type, go for Terence Kongolo. Here are a few of the stats he starts out with: 90 jumping, 75 heading accuracy, 78 strength, 70 acceleration, 71 sprint speed. His tackling is good too, while his pace and high jumping ability mean he won’t get caught out by balls over the top or quick counter attacks. You should be able to get all that for less than his £775,000 asking price, so try for around £500,000 and he should be yours.
Finally, we’ve got Tin Jedvaj. I wouldn’t worry about his potential – you’ll easily be able to get him to grow more than his projected one point of growth per year. At the time of writing he is one of only five players aged 17 or under who start with OVR 69 or above, the others being Bakkali, Meyer, Shaw and Werner. He’s already and excellent talent for his age, but his low (projected) growth means that by the time he becomes available in the second season he should still be very affordable.
Now that we’re through that, here’s the complete list of centre backs:
| Pos | Name | OVR | Pot. | Age | Cost (£) | They want (£) | Wages (£) | Club | Avai? | Foot | Weak foot | Skills | Traits | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CB | Jamaal Lascelles | 63 | 84 | 19 | 180,000 | 850,000 | 3,000 | Nottingham Forest | Y/3 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Luiz Eduardo | 65 | 83 | 20 | 325,000 | - | 4,000 | Náutico | - | Left | 3 | 2 | On loan from São Paulo | |
| CB | Jonathan Tah | 68 | 83 | 17 | 500,000 | - | 2,000 | Hamburger SV | N/3 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Sergey Bryzgalov | 70 | 82 | 20 | 975,000 | 775,000 | 20,000 | Spartak Moskva | Y/3 | Right | 4 | 2 | Injury prone | |
| CB | Lucas Hernández | 62 | 81 | 17 | 170,000 | 775,000 | 3,000 | Atlético Madrid | Y/3 | Left | 3 | 2 | Long passer, power header | |
| CB | Riccardo Serpieri | 62 | 81 | 19 | 180,000 | 450,000 | 4,000 | Lazio | Y/4 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Ruben Semedo | 67 | 81 | 19 | 375,000 | - | 6,000 | Sporting CP | N/5 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Jherson Vergara | 67 | 81 | 19 | 375,000 | - | 10,000 | Milan | N/5 | Right | 2 | 2 | ||
| CB | Matteo Bianchetti | 67 | 81 | 20 | 425,000 | - | 6,000 | Hellas Verona | N/3 | Left | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Saverio Madrigali | 56 | 80 | 18 | 50,000 | 250,000 | 2,250 | Fiorentina | Y/3 | Right | 2 | 2 | Injury prone | |
| CB | Sebastián Vegas | 55 | 80 | 16 | 50,000 | 300,000 | 750 | Audax Italiano | Y/5 | Left | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Mathias Bossaerts | 56 | 80 | 16 | 50,000 | 325,000 | 2,250 | Manchester City | Y/3 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Ferid Matri | 56 | 80 | 19 | 50,000 | - | 2,000 | FC Luzern | N/4 | Left | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | John Souttar | 60 | 80 | 16 | 120,000 | 700,000 | 1,500 | Dundee United | Y/3 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Ben Nugent | 61 | 80 | 19 | 120,000 | - | 3,000 | Brentford | - | Left | 3 | 2 | On loan from Cardiff City | |
| CB | Koray Günter | 62 | 80 | 18 | 170,000 | 625,000 | 3,000 | Bor. Dortmund | Y/1 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Josip Elez | 66 | 80 | 19 | 375,000 | - | 5,000 | Lazio | N/5 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Muniesa | 67 | 80 | 21 | 425,000 | - | 6,000 | Stoke City | N/4 | Left | 3 | 2 | Injury prone | |
| CB | Nuno Reis | 69 | 80 | 22 | 600,000 | 1,000,000 | 6,000 | Sporting CP | Y/2 | Right | 2 | 2 | Power header | |
| CB | Jean-Charles Castelletto | 57 | 79 | 18 | 70,000 | 425,000 | 750 | AJ Auxerre | Y/3 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Pol Tena Garcia | 62 | 79 | 18 | 170,000 | 825,000 | 3,000 | Juventus | Y/3 | Left | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Marian Sarr | 63 | 79 | 18 | 170,000 | - | 3,000 | Bor. Dortmund | N/3 | Left | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Luca Milesi | 63 | 79 | 20 | 200,000 | 400,000 | 3,000 | Atalanta | Y/2 | Right | 2 | 2 | ||
| CB | Terence Kongolo | 67 | 79 | 19 | 375,000 | 775,000 | 6,000 | Feyenoord | Y/2 | Left | 4 | 2 | Long throw-in, power header | |
| CB | Jomar | 67 | 79 | 20 | 425,000 | - | 6,000 | Vasco da Gama | N/4 | Right | 2 | 2 | ||
| CB | Tin Jedvaj | 69 | 79 | 17 | 500,000 | - | 7,000 | Roma | N/3 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Hardy Cavero | 57 | 78 | 17 | 70,000 | 300,000 | 750 | Colo-Colo | Y/4 | Left | 2 | 2 | ||
| CB | Leo Chambers | 57 | 78 | 17 | 70,000 | 300,000 | 2,250 | West Ham | Y/1 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Kaan Ayhan | 60 | 78 | 18 | 120,000 | - | 2,000 | FC Schalke 04 | N/4 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Stephen Sama | 62 | 78 | 20 | 200,000 | 400,000 | 5,000 | Liverpool | Y/1 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Dankler | 63 | 78 | 21 | 200,000 | - | 3,000 | Botafogo | N/2 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Arlind Ajeti | 66 | 78 | 19 | 375,000 | 825,000 | 4,000 | FC Basel | Y/1 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Frauches | 67 | 78 | 20 | 425,000 | 525,000 | 6,000 | Flamengo | Y/3 | Right | 2 | 2 | ||
| CB | David Costas | 68 | 78 | 18 | 500,000 | - | 2,250 | Celta Vigo | N/5 | Right | 3 | 2 |