Usually EA release a big update with all of the transfers sometime in early February. However, this year they did it slightly differently. Since FIFA 13 came out, every year the EA team have made updated OVRs and potentials available for download based on real life player performances. Usually these are just slight tweaks, but after some breakout performances a player’s potential can change a lot (Raheem Sterling is a good example). This is rare, though.
So please bear in mind that the information below is based on the updated squads from 2nd February. However, there’s no need to panic if you downloaded the update on 8th February (or any other subsequent update), as most players will not change (or if they do, it’ll be by a small amount). In any case, this year potentials are very flexible, so if a player you’re interested has his potential lowered in an update, he can still reach his old potential if he plays well for you.
The ‘Avai?’ column is short for ‘available?’ (there is not enough space for the full word), and it refers to whether or not each player is available to buy in the first transfer window. ‘Y’ means yes, they are available, whilst ‘N’ means that they’re not. The number after the ‘Y’ or ‘N’ is the amount of years left on their contract. So ‘Y/2? means that yes, they are available to buy in the first transfer window and that they have 2 years left on their contract. Similarly, ‘N/5? means they’re not available to buy right away and that they have 5 years left on their contract. The ones to look out for are Y/1, as you should be able to get these players for less than their listed value. Players who are on loan will have a “-” in this column because information on their contracts is not available.
Next in the articles on midfielders we have central mids. There’s a whole range of central midfield styles, from defensive to attacking players, and I’ve tried to reflect this in my selections below:
- Tonny Vilhena
- Ivo P?kalski
- George Green
- José Rodríguez
A returning figure from before the winter update, I’ve again decided to recommend Tonny Vilhena. He is almost the complete central midfield package, being able to dribble, pass, shoot and even take free kicks, all to a very high standard for his age. He’s quick and hard working, and his strong weak foot means he can be played across the midfield. His potential has also been raised slightly, and if you’re looking for a player who can carry out multiple midfield duties, this is your man.
Ivo P?kalski is my second recommendation. His physical and mental stats are very good and he excels at passing. He has a high defensive work rate and with his abilities he will be a rock in the middle of midfield for you. He’s already got some very high stats like stamina 83, interceptions 80 and reactions 83 which will be vital to defensive play, so the fact that his contract is about to expire is fantastic news. You should be able to get him for around £2m, which is an excellent price for his starting OVR.
Third on the list is George Green. Although he is more one for the future, that’s not to say you can’t start using him now. He has got one exceptional stat for his OVR – his short passing is rated at 81! Try playing him in a slightly more advanced role and he’ll be able to deliver the killer pass when you need it. His ridiculously low price is also worth considering, especially seeing as he has potential 83.
Finally, I’m going to suggest José Rodríguez. This player may lack the all-round ability of Vilhena but he has got one thing going for him – he’s a pass master. With vision 77, long passing 80 and short passing 76 he’s going to be accurately spraying the ball around to your teammates all game long. He may not have many other stand out stats, but just give him the ball and let him do what he does best and you’ll soon find he’s an integral part of your team.
Finally, if you want to get Lehlogonolo Masalesa then you have to search his name and set the league to “Rest of World”.
The rest of the list is below:
| Pos | Name | OVR | Pot. | Age | Cost (£) | Wages (£) | Club | Avai? | Foot | Weak foot | Skills | Traits | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CM | Tonny Vilhena | 69 | 85 | 17 | 1,500,000 | 2,000 | Feyenoord | Y/4 | Left | 4 | 3 | ||
| CM | Josh McEachran | 71 | 85 | 19 | 2,400,000 | 6,000 | Middlesbrough | - | Left | 3 | 3 | On loan from Chelsea | |
| CM | Alessandro Florenzi | 73 | 85 | 21 | 3,600,000 | 10,000 | Roma | Y/4 | Right | 3 | 3 | ||
| CM | Leon Goretzka | 64 | 84 | 17 | 1,000,000 | 750 | VfL Bochum | N/4 | Right | 3 | 3 | ||
| CM | James Ward-Prowse | 67 | 84 | 17 | 1,400,000 | 2,250 | Southampton | Y/5 | Right | 3 | 3 | ||
| CM | André Gomes | 68 | 84 | 18 | 1,500,000 | 3,000 | SL Benfica | Y/7 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CM | Sergi Roberto | 72 | 84 | 20 | 3,600,000 | 6,000 | FC Barcelona B | Y/3 | Right | 3 | 3 | Long shot taker | |
| CM | George Green | 58 | 83 | 16 | 275,000 | 2,250 | Everton | Y/3 | Right | 2 | 2 | ||
| CM | Kyle Ebicilio | 60 | 83 | 18 | 450,000 | 2,250 | Arsenal | Y/1 | Right | 2 | 3 | ||
| CM | Adrien Rabiot | 65 | 83 | 17 | 1,000,000 | 1,750 | Toulouse FC | - | Left | 3 | 2 | On loan from PSG | |
| CM | Josh Vela | 66 | 83 | 18 | 1,400,000 | 1,500 | Bolton | Y/3 | Right | 3 | 3 | ||
| CM | Will Hughes | 68 | 83 | 17 | 1,500,000 | 2,000 | Derby County | N/3 | Left | 3 | 2 | ||
| CM | Jonathan Espericueta | 62 | 81 | 17 | 650,000 | 1,000 | Tigres | Y/5 | Left | 3 | 2 | Power free-kick, long passer | |
| CM | Bruno Zuculini | 66 | 82 | 19 | 1,100,000 | 2,000 | Racing Club | Y/1 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CM | Ravel Morrison | 67 | 82 | 19 | 1,100,000 | 3,000 | Birmingham City | - | Left | 3 | 3 | Flair | On loan from West Ham |
| CM | Gary Gardner | 69 | 82 | 20 | 1,500,000 | 5,000 | Aston Villa | Y/2 | Right | 3 | 3 | Injury prone, long passer, long shot taker | |
| CM | Ogenyi Onazi | 69 | 82 | 19 | 1,500,000 | 5,000 | Lazio | Y/4 | Right | 2 | 3 | ||
| CM | Tom Carroll | 69 | 82 | 20 | 1,500,000 | 5,000 | Tottenham | Y/4 | Left | 2 | 3 | ||
| CM | Jordan Veretout | 69 | 82 | 19 | 1,500,000 | 4,000 | FC Nantes | Y/3 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CM | Samba Diakité | 73 | 82 | 23 | 3,100,000 | 9,000 | QPR | N/4 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CM | Markus Henriksen | 73 | 82 | 19 | 3,200,000 | 9,000 | AZ | N/5 | Right | 4 | 3 | Engine, long shot taker | |
| CM | Jonathan Dos Santos | 73 | 82 | 22 | 3,400,000 | 15,000 | FC Barcelona | Y/3 | Right | 4 | 2 | Long shot taker | |
| CM | Afriyie Acquah | 73 | 82 | 20 | 3,400,000 | 9,000 | 1899 Hoffenheim | Y/5 | Right | 4 | 2 | ||
| CM | Matti Steinmann | 59 | 81 | 17 | 275,000 | 2,000 | Hamburger SV | N/1 | Right | 4 | 3 | ||
| CM | Christian Nørgaard | 59 | 81 | 18 | 275,000 | 2,000 | Hamburger SV | N/3 | Right | 3 | 3 | ||
| CM | Rubén Pardo | 69 | 81 | 19 | 1,400,000 | 4,000 | Real Sociedad | Y/3 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CM | José Rodríguez | 69 | 81 | 17 | 1,400,000 | 1,000 | RM Castilla | Y/4 | Right | 3 | 2 | Long passer, long shot taker | |
| CM | Campaña | 71 | 81 | 19 | 2,000,000 | 9,000 | Sevilla FC | Y/2 | Right | 3 | 3 | ||
| CM | Fillipe Soutto | 71 | 81 | 21 | 2,100,000 | 6,000 | Vasco da Gama | - | Left | 2 | 2 | On loan from Atl. Mineiro | |
| CM | André Santos | 70 | 81 | 23 | 2,100,000 | 6,000 | RC Deportivo | - | Right | 3 | 3 | Long shot taker | On loan from Sporting CP |
| CM | Jorginho | 70 | 81 | 20 | 2,300,000 | 6,000 | H. Verona | Y/2 | Right | 3 | 3 | ||
| CM | Beram Kayal | 73 | 81 | 24 | 2,700,000 | 10,000 | Celtic | Y/3 | Right | 3 | 3 | Injury prone | |
| CM | Federico Casarini | 72 | 81 | 22 | 3,400,000 | 7,000 | Cagliari | - | Right | 3 | 3 | Early crosser | On loan from Bologna |
| CM | Eddy Gnahoré | 59 | 80 | 18 | 275,000 | 1,500 | Birmingham City | Y/2 | Right | 3 | 3 | Flair | |
| CM | Danilo Cataldi | 59 | 80 | 17 | 275,000 | 2,250 | Lazio | N/5 | Right | 4 | 3 | ||
| CM | Dylan McGeouch | 63 | 80 | 19 | 650,000 | 2,000 | Celtic | Y/1 | Right | 3 | 3 | ||
| CM | Mustafa Amini | 63 | 80 | 19 | 650,000 | 2,000 | Bor. Dortmund | Y/3 | Right | 4 | 3 | Long shot taker | |
| CM | Medrán | 63 | 80 | 18 | 650,000 | 1,000 | RM Castilla | Y/5 | Right | 4 | 3 | Long passer, long shot taker | |
| CM | Willyan | 62 | 80 | 18 | 650,000 | 2,250 | Torino | N/3 | Right | 3 | 3 | ||
| CM | Marcel Ritzmaier | 65 | 80 | 19 | 825,000 | 2,000 | PSV | Y/2 | Left | 3 | 3 | Long passer | |
| CM | Florent Cuvelier | 64 | 80 | 19 | 825,000 | 2,250 | Stoke City | Y/2 | Right | 3 | 3 | Long shot taker | |
| CM | Joel Valencia | 66 | 80 | 17 | 1,00,000 | 2,250 | Real Zaragoza | Y/1 | Right | 4 | 3 | ||
| CM | Lorenzo Crisetig | 66 | 80 | 19 | 1,000,000 | 3,000 | Crotone | - | Left | 3 | 3 | On loan from Inter | |
| CM | Henrique | 67 | 80 | 21 | 1,100,000 | 750 | Portuguesa | Y/5 | Right | 4 | 3 | ||
| CM | Fran Mérida | 67 | 80 | 22 | 1,100,000 | 4,000 | Hércules CF | N/4 | Left | 2 | 3 | Long shot taker | |
| CM | Lehlogonolo Masalesa | 66 | 80 | 20 | 1,100,000 | 3,000 | Orlando Pirates | N/3 | Right | 4 | 3 | ||
| CM | Filipe Augusto | 68 | 80 | 18 | 1,300,000 | 2,000 | Rio Ave FC | Y/5 | Left | 2 | 2 | Flair | |
| CM | Marco Benassi | 69 | 80 | 18 | 1,300,000 | 4,000 | Inter | N/5 | Right | 3 | 3 | ||
| CM | Abdisalam Ibrahim | 68 | 80 | 21 | 1,400,000 | 5,000 | Manchester City | Y/2 | Right | 3 | 3 | ||
| CM | Fabian Delph | 71 | 80 | 22 | 2,100,000 | 8,000 | Aston Villa | Y/3 | Left | 3 | 3 | Acrobat, injury prone | |
| CM | Oleg Shatov | 70 | 80 | 21 | 2,100,000 | 6,000 | A. Makhachkala | Y/3 | Right | 4 | 3 | ||
| CM | Isaac Cofie | 70 | 80 | 21 | 2,100,000 | 6,000 | Chievo Verona | N/4 | Right | 3 | 3 | ||
| CM | Henri Lansbury | 70 | 80 | 21 | 2,100,000 | 6,000 | Nottingham Forest | N/4 | Right | 3 | 2 | Injury prone | |
| CM | Panagiotis Kone | 73 | 80 | 24 | 2,700,000 | 10,000 | Bologna | N/6 | Right | 3 | 3 | ||
| CM | Josuha Guilavogui | 73 | 80 | 21 | 3,100,000 | 10,000 | Saint-Etienne | Y/4 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CM | Ivo Pękalski | 72 | 80 | 21 | 3,100,000 | 7,000 | Malmö FF | Y/1 | Right | 3 | 3 | Injury prone | |
| CM | Roberto Pereyra | 72 | 80 | 21 | 3,100,000 | 9,000 | Udinese | Y/4 | Right | 4 | 4 |