The aim of this series, as last year, is to provide a shortlist of players that meet this requirement. All players have at least potential 80, and all will have an OVR of 73 or lower. The original intention of this (in the FIFA 12 series) was to keep costs down, but looking at this list I’m not sure that’s a problem any more! Still, I’ll stick to 73 or lower for the sake of avoiding overwhelming you with options.
A new addition this year is 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.
Finally, if you see that a team is low on this position when you go to buy a player, don’t be put off. On FIFA 12 this meant, essentially, that you’d never be able to buy this player, as his team would never buy backups and thus would always refuse to sell him. In FIFA 13, however, it just means that you have to pay a little extra to get him.
So, onto the centre backs. Just as with the goalkeepers, there are some real cheap gems in here. Last year we were lucky to find an 80+ potential centre back for less than £2m. Now they make up about half of the options in this article! Here are my recommendations:
- Nathan Ake
- Luiz Eduardo
- Jan Kirchhoff
I nearly fell off my chair when I first saw the price of Nathan Ake. At only £275,000 he is absolute peanuts for someone who grows to 84 OVR. He’s very fast and so versatile – looking at his stats, hardly any are much worse than the others. The only downside is that you can’t buy him in the first transfer window. No worries there, you could loan him or try a loan to buy offer. Sometimes this unavailability is gone by the winter transfer window anyway. Even if you can’t get him and he signs a new contract next season (as he currently only has 1 year left), he’ll still be way down the pecking order at Chelsea, and in FIFA 13 this means they may be willing to sell him at a discounted price. Whatever happens, do all that you can to get him, because players of this potential with this rock bottom price can’t be missed.
If you can’t get Nathan Ake then try going for Luiz Eduardo. Readers from my FIFA 12 centre backs article will remember that I recommended him then. Well, he’s still one of my favourite CBs and he’s even cheaper this year. His jumping is fantastic so he’ll score you plenty of goals, he’s quick (for a centre back) and his passing is very decent. He’s very versatile and you could even use him at full back if you really needed to. He’s a great all-round defender (with attacking qualities), an absolute steal at £1.1m.
My last recommendation is Jan Kirchhoff. He’s a big strong defender who’s good in the air (he’s got the aerial threat speciality), but he’s surprisingly fast for a 6’5″ centre back (sprint 76). His passing is fantastic, so he can spray the ball around and start attacks right from the back. His OVR is already high for this list, so he could also go straight into your starting lineup. Don’t be put off by his price tag, the all-important thing is that his contract only has 1 year left. If you go to put in an offer for him it says you can probably get him for between £1.7m and £2.3m. Brilliant! Don’t wait around for him to sign a new contract, get him while he’s cheap. I love this new contract feature!
If you want to get Eric Mathoho then you have to search his name and set the league to “Rest of World”. Kaizer Chiefs are in the game, but for some reason you can’t search for them in the “Rest of World” league, so you have to find him this way. This goes for any player who plays for either Kaizer Chiefs or Orlando Pirates (both Rest of World).
As in FIFA 12, make sure you keep checking these players, as their prices and OVR may fluctuate radically after over time. If you’ve had any experience of this (especially if a player’s price drops), please post it in the comments.
Here’s the complete list:
| Pos | Name | OVR | Pot | Age | Cost (£) | Wages (£) | Club | Avai? | Foot | Weak foot | Skills | Traits | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CB | Alberto Masi | 71 | 88 | 19 | 3,300,000 | 1,000 | Vercelli | - | Right | 2 | 2 | Power header | On loan from Juventus |
| CB | Prince Désir Gouano | 65 | 85 | 18 | 975,000 | 1,000 | Lanciano | N/4 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Kurt Zouma | 73 | 85 | 17 | 3,200,000 | 4,000 | Saint-Etienne | N/4 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Tomáš Kalas | 72 | 85 | 19 | 3,500,000 | 6,000 | Vitesse | N/3 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Nathan Ake | 59 | 84 | 17 | 275,000 | 2,250 | Chelsea | N/1 | Left | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Daniele Rugani | 63 | 84 | 17 | 600,000 | 2,250 | Juventus | N/3 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Alessio Romagnoli | 67 | 84 | 17 | 1,300,000 | 3,000 | Roma | N/5 | Left | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Vincenzo Camilleri | 71 | 84 | 20 | 2,300,000 | 6,000 | Cagliari | - | Right | 3 | 2 | Power header | On loan from Reggina |
| CB | Luca Caldirola | 70 | 84 | 21 | 2,300,000 | 6,000 | Cesena | N/3 | Left | 3 | 2 | Power header | |
| CB | Marek Suchý | 72 | 84 | 24 | 3,000,000 | 7,000 | Spartak Moskva | Y/2 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Michele Camporese | 72 | 84 | 20 | 3,400,000 | 8,000 | Fiorentina | Y/4 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Luiz Eduardo | 67 | 83 | 19 | 1,100,000 | 3,000 | São Paulo | Y/4 | Right | 3 | 3 | ||
| CB | Frederik Sørensen | 72 | 83 | 20 | 3,400,000 | 7,000 | Bologna | Y/3 | Right | 3 | 2 | Long throw-in | |
| CB | Jeffrey Bruma | 72 | 83 | 20 | 3,400,000 | 7,000 | Hamburger SV | - | Right | 3 | 2 | Long shot taker | On loan from Chelsea |
| CB | Bruno Uvini | 69 | 82 | 21 | 1,400,000 | 6,000 | Napoli | N/3 | Left | 2 | 2 | ||
| CB | Thomas Rogne | 72 | 82 | 22 | 3,100,000 | 7,000 | Celtic | Y/1 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Bruno Martins Indi | 72 | 82 | 20 | 3,100,000 | 7,000 | Feyenoord | Y/4 | Left | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Marcos Rojo | 73 | 82 | 22 | 3,100,000 | 10,000 | Sporting CP | N/4 | Left | 3 | 3 | Long shot taker | |
| CB | Stefano Denswil | 65 | 81 | 19 | 775,000 | 2,000 | Ajax | Y/3 | Left | 4 | 2 | ||
| CB | Karim Rekik | 64 | 81 | 17 | 975,000 | 2,250 | Manchester City | Y/3 | Left | 3 | 2 | Power header | |
| CB | Terence Kongolo | 66 | 81 | 18 | 1,000,000 | 1,750 | Feyenoord | Y/3 | Left | 3 | 2 | Long throw-in, power header | |
| CB | Milan Milanović | 69 | 81 | 21 | 1,300,000 | 4,000 | Palermo | Y/4 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Jeffrey Gouweleeuw | 70 | 81 | 20 | 2,200,000 | 6,000 | SC Heerenveen | Y/2 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Pulido | 70 | 81 | 21 | 2,200,000 | 9,000 | Atlético Madrid | Y/2 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Jan Kirchhoff | 72 | 81 | 21 | 3,100,000 | 7,000 | 1. FSV Mainz 05 | Y/1 | Right | 3 | 2 | Aerial threat, long passer | |
| CB | Marc Bartra | 72 | 81 | 21 | 3,100,000 | 9,000 | FC Barcelona | Y/2 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Sebastián Coates | 72 | 81 | 21 | 3,100,000 | 10,000 | Liverpool | Y/4 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Ignacio Fideleff | 72 | 81 | 22 | 3,100,000 | 7,000 | Parma | - | Left | 2 | 2 | On loan from Napoli | |
| CB | Dario Del Fabro | 54 | 80 | 17 | 190,000 | 2,250 | Cagliari | N/3 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Koray Günter | 60 | 80 | 17 | 425,000 | 2,000 | Bor. Dortmund | N/2 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Jamaal Lascelles | 62 | 80 | 18 | 600,000 | 1,500 | Nottingham Forest | Y/4 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Aleksandr Putsko | 62 | 80 | 19 | 625,000 | 2,000 | Spartak Moskva | Y/1 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Ilya Kutepov | 65 | 80 | 18 | 775,000 | 2,000 | Spartak Moskva | N/4 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Simone Benedetti | 64 | 80 | 20 | 800,000 | 1,000 | La Spezia | N/3 | Right | 2 | 2 | Power header | |
| CB | Ahmed Hegazy | 65 | 80 | 21 | 800,000 | 3,000 | Fiorentina | N/4 | Right | 2 | 2 | ||
| CB | Hörder Mangússon | 67 | 80 | 19 | 975,000 | 5,000 | Juventus | N/3 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Fabian Schär | 67 | 80 | 20 | 1,000,000 | 4,000 | FC Basel | Y/3 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Antonio Magli | 66 | 80 | 20 | 1,000,000 | 3,000 | Brescia | Y/2 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Diego Polenta | 66 | 80 | 20 | 1,000,000 | 3,000 | Bari | - | RIght | 3 | 2 | Strength | On loan from Genoa |
| CB | Matthias Ginter | 69 | 80 | 18 | 1,200,000 | 2,000 | SC Freiburg | Y/3 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Rafael Donato | 68 | 80 | 23 | 1,200,000 | 4,000 | Cruzeiro | N/4 | Right | 2 | 2 | Strength, power header | |
| CB | Alexis Rolin | 69 | 80 | 23 | 1,200,000 | 4,000 | Catania | N/5 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Marquinhos | 68 | 80 | 18 | 1,200,000 | 4,000 | Roma | - | Right | 3 | 2 | On loan from Corinthians | |
| CB | Willy Boly | 69 | 80 | 21 | 1,300,000 | 4,000 | AJ Auxerre | Y/2 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Eric Mathoho | 69 | 80 | 22 | 1,300,000 | 4,000 | Kaizer Chiefs | Y/4 | Right | 3 | 2 | Power header | |
| CB | Thiago Medeiros | 69 | 80 | 20 | 1,300,000 | 4,000 | Flamengo | N/0 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Roderick | 69 | 80 | 21 | 1,300,000 | 4,000 | RC Deportivo | - | Right | 2 | 2 | On loan from SL Benfica | |
| CB | Muniesa | 68 | 80 | 20 | 1,300,000 | 5,000 | FC Barcelona | Y/1 | Left | 3 | 2 | Injury prone | |
| CB | Nuno Reis | 68 | 80 | 21 | 1,300,000 | 4,000 | S.C. Olhanense | - | Right | 2 | 2 | On loan from Sporting CP | |
| CB | Jonathan Rossini | 71 | 80 | 23 | 1,800,000 | 6,000 | Sampdoria | Y/3 | Right | 2 | 2 | ||
| CB | Danny Wilson | 70 | 80 | 20 | 2,000,000 | 9,000 | Liverpool | Y/1 | Left | 2 | 2 | ||
| CB | Gavin Gunning | 70 | 80 | 21 | 2,000,000 | 6,000 | Dundee United | Y/2 | Left | 3 | 2 | Power free-kick, power header | |
| CB | Alexander Milošević | 70 | 80 | 20 | 2,000,000 | 6,000 | AIK Fotboll | Y/3 | Right | 2 | 2 | ||
| CB | Kostas Manolas | 71 | 80 | 21 | 2,000,000 | 6,000 | Olympiacos CFP | N/4 | Right | 2 | 3 | ||
| CB | Fontàs | 73 | 80 | 22 | 2,800,000 | 15,000 | FC Barcelona | Y/3 | Left | 3 | 2 | Long passer | |
| CB | Mathias Jørgensen | 73 | 80 | 22 | 2,800,000 | 10,000 | PSV | N/4 | Right | 2 | 2 | Long throw-in | |
| CB | Hiram Mier | 72 | 80 | 22 | 2,800,000 | 7,000 | Monterrey | Y/3 | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CB | Paul Papp | 72 | 80 | 22 | 2,800,000 | 7,000 | Chievo Verona | N/3 | Right | 3 | 2 | Power header |