FIFA 13 | Lower League Gems – Central midfielders (Winter update)

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Welcome to the Lower League Gems series for the winter update to FIFA 13! If you want promising players for an absolute bargain, you’re in the right place.

These articles aim to highlight young, high potential players that are priced at £1m or less. The pre-winter update version of this series had 76 as the minimum potential, but there were simply so many eligible players this time round that I’ve had to up it to 77.

This year EA have been updating the game week by week. This means that player OVRs and potentials can change slightly depending on real world performances. As such, please note that the player stats on your game may slightly vary from those depicted in the table below. I tried to be as accurate as possible, but it’s conceivable that if you download the squad update in, say, two months time, some of the stats may be different.

Just remember that this year players can exceed their potentials if they play enough games and play well enough. Thus take this table to be a guide only. A player listed with potential 78 could reach the mid 80s (or even higher) if he consistently plays well!

As a final note, people have asked me what the ‘Avai?’ column is for. ‘Avai?’ 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.

Seeing as there were so many eligible players for this article, I’ve decided to choose five recommendations:

• Marcel Ritzmaier
• Jonas Svensson
• George Green
• Brice Ntambwe
• Joel Valencia

Marcel Ritzmaier is first up, and I’ve chosen him because he is so flexible. Whilst many players excel at either defending or attacking, Ritzmaier is equally capable of doing both. Not only is he good at passing (long and short), but he can take free-kicks and shoot from distance. His defensive stats are just as good, so he can quite easily fit in at CDM or left back. His great potential and exceptional versatility mean he should be the first player you go to.

Jonas Svensson of Rosenborg in Norway is next. Like Ritzmaier, Svensson is a very flexible player and will be able to play right across the midfield. Although his potential isn’t quite as high, this is negated by the fact that he can exceed his potential if he plays well enough. He is quick as well as strong, and has high/high work rates and great stamina. His sheer hard work and, like Ritzmaier, his versatility should make him a strong contender for you.

My third recommendation is George Green. Whilst his OVR is quite low, he’s still only 16 and is priced at £275,000. His real standout stat, though, is his short passing – already rated at 81! Try putting him just behind the strikers (or make him sit deeper but make forward runs) and he will quickly become a vital assist-provider to your team.

Number four is Brice Ntambwe, a player who is more defensive minded than my other choices. He is strong as well as fast, and his high defensive work rate combined with these two attributes will ensure he always works hard to win the ball back for your side. He’s tall and will become a threat in the air with a bit more growth, so will be useful going forward as well. A solid defensive player like this priced at just £275,000 is a seriously tempting offer.

Finally, I’m going to suggest Joel Valencia. Whilst he seems to be a bit on the expensive side, he only has a one year contract, so you can get him for around £700,000. He is a much more attacking player, already possessing great balance and dribbling, and his pace and strong weak foot mean he should be able to play in a large number of midfield positions. His OVR is relatively high for his age, and with so many years of growth ahead of him I imagine it should be no trouble getting him to grow higher than 80.

The full list of players is given below: