FIFA 13 | Lower League Gems – Left midfielders

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The idea behind these articles is providing quality players to teams limited funds. With that in mind, none of the players in these articles cost more than £1m.

As before, remember that player contracts have a huge impact. The fewer years left on the contract, the more likely you are to get a good deal. So if a player only has 1 year left on his contract you can get him for much less than his asking price. As such, I’ve added a column that says how many years are left on each player’s contract, and whether you can get him in the first transfer window. That’s the “Avai?” column (short for “available?”). To save space I’ve formatted it like this: Y/3 would mean yes, you can buy this player in the first window, and he has 3 years left on his contract. If it says something like “N/5″ that means he has a 5 year contract and you can’t get him at first (the “N” is because he’s just joined the club), but you may be able to get them in the next window. The ones to look out for are Y/1 or Y/0, as some players only have months left on their contracts. Players who are on loan will have a “-” in this column because information on their contracts is not available.

This has been a great year for cheap players on FIFA. So much so in fact, that I’ve had to make the minimum potential 76 (last year it was 74) because there are just so many cheap, talented players out there! So the players on these lists will have a minimum potential of 76, will cost no more than £1m and will be aged no older than 25.

As with wide right players, there are two types of wide left players in FIFA 13 – the forward-lying left winger (LW), and the deeper left midfielder (LM). Wingers are typically very fast, have good dribbling and skill moves, and have good finishing. They are often used in an attacking trio – two wingers and a striker. The LM is typically better at crossing, and is expected to create goals, not necessarily to score them. As before, if you’re considering buying a player make sure you look up his stats to see which type of player he is, and whether this fits in with what you need in your squad.

Now for my recommendations:

• Lucas Piazon
• Oussama Tannane
• Soslan Gatagov

A lot of people will recognise my first recommendation – Lucas Piazon. He’s a firm favourite from back in FIFA 12 and he’s got just as much potential this year. Potential 85, four star skills and weak foot and a ridiculously low price mean you absolutely have to make him one of your first purchases.

Oussama Tannane, my second recommendation, is a lot like Brian Span in the right midfielders article in that he’s quick but also big and strong. He’s got great dribbling and a thumping shot, and like Piazon he’s got four stars for his weak foot and skill moves. Unfortunately you can’t get him straight away, but he should become available either in January or the following summer.

My final suggested player is Soslan Gatagov. He’s more of a deeper-lying right midfielder than a right winger, and he’s actually just as strong offensively as he is defensively. He can provide excellent cover at left back if you need it and because his passing is good he could even play in central midfield if you needed him to. His versatility is his main asset, and he has a lot of potential as well.

Players are ordered by potential, then cost, so it should be pretty simple to find someone who meets both your budget and ability/potential requirements.

Finally, if you’ve had any experiences of good players’ prices changing wildly (especially if their price drops), please post it in the comments!

Here’s the complete list: