FIFA 13 | Lower League Gems – Target men (Winter update)

Follow @FIFAscouting

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.

Here are my choices this time:

• Jerry Mbakogu
• Andreas Cornelius
• Anthony Martial
• Matt Lecointe/Iker Hernández

My first choice this time round is Jerry Mbakogu. Although his potential has been slightly lowered since the winter update, he hasn’t become any less effective, as he is the perfect combination of speed and strength. Here are a few of his physical stats: acceleration 87, agility 80, jumping 91, sprint 92, strength 80, whilst his stamina isn’t far behind. Although his technical stats need a little work, his physical stats mean he should be almost unstoppable on the pitch, thereby helping his growth. It won’t be long before he becomes an absolutely lethal target man.

Second up is Andreas Cornelius. He’s even stronger than my last choice, already having strength 87, and at 6’4″ he’s going to be dominant in the air. Like Mbakogu, he’s not your average lumbering target man either, as he has pace as well. He’s also got very good stamina, so he’ll be giving defences headaches all game. He’s a great choice that blends the physical with the technical, mixing strength, speed, finishing and aerial ability to deadly effect.

Although the starting OVR of my third choice is a little lower than my previous recommendations, Anthony Martial‘s potential will more than make up for it. Like Mbakogu and Cornelius, Martial has pace to burn but is also very strong and great in the air. His goalscoring ability is more or less equal across the board, be it his finishing, long shots or heading, which gives him a great advantage and means he could very well become a complete forward. So not only is he a very useful target man, but he also excels with his feet – a great all-round package at a fantastic price.

Finally, I’m going to suggest you try either Matt Lecointe or Iker Hernández. I’m putting these two in because they are brilliant choices if you have very limited funds, as they are both in the final year of their respective contracts. Lecointe has better physical stats and Hernández is better technically, but either would make a great addition to your squad and grow into excellent players.

Anyway, the list in full is below: