What better way to try something new before FIFA 15 hits the shelves than delve into the free transfer market? There are tons of high quality players out there that you don’t even need to pay a fee for, provided you make a move for them at the right time. If you’ve never tried it before you’re in luck, because I’m here to guide you through the best free transfers in FIFA 14, position by position.
How do I get players for free in FIFA 14?
It’s actually really straightforward to purchase players for free in FIFA 14 – at least, once you know who you’re looking for. They just need to be aged 23 or over when the January transfer window rolls around, and must have less than a year left on their contract (i.e. it will expire at the end of the season).
If you’ve identified the player you want, find them using the ‘Search Players’ option in the Transfer tab, click on them then click ‘Approach to sign on contract expiry’. You then just need to offer them a contract and wait a few days to see if they accept. If they do, they will join your team at the end of the season.
That’s the easy bit – the hard part is finding players who match those criteria. You can send your scout to find players in a certain country who have a year left on their contract and are 23 or older, but if you don’t have a very good scout you may not find many matching players.
Luckily I’ve done the heavy lifting for you. Simply browse the list below or have a look at the other articles in this series and decide who you want to go for, then follow my steps above to get them to join your squad. All the players in these articles will have a minimum potential of 75, so you know you’ll be getting quality for a fantastic price.
The OVRs listed here are true for the start of a career. When the player joins you the next year it is highly likely these will be different, as they can grow (or decline) during their first season. This can be great if they grow a lot, but just be aware that any player over the age of about 30 may well be worse than you expect when they arrive.
Let’s have a look at my recommended attacking midfielders.
Recommendations
The elite option
While it is tempting – sorely tempting – to put Ronaldinho down here, I won’t because he will probably have seriously declined by the time he arrives at your club. The case is similar with Diego – he probably only has a year or so before he suffers the same fate.
Luckily we can call upon the immensely talented Alex Teixeira in their place. He’s got all the attributes you want in a CAM: sublime dribbling, clinical finishing and blistering pace. He can pick a pass and is even very good at tackling, so he’ll pretty much be good at whatever you throw at him. For what you get, £35,000 in wages seems very reasonable.
The mid-range option
It’s a little hard to believe that you can get a player as good as Sherman Cárdenas for just £8,000 in wages, but it’s true all right. Not only can he do all that Teixeira can, but he can do more: his free kicks and long shots should see him banging in the goals, while his 83 stamina means he should be doing that right up until the final whistle.
He’s got four star skills, and his small frame and incredible balance will all make him very difficult to stop. He’s my mid-range pick thanks to his wages, but he could easily fit in at a top level club thanks to the sheer quality he possesses.
The budget option
Micha? Mas?owski is my budget pick, and he seems like even better value for money when you see how flexible he is. His vision and passing will make him an excellent playmaker, but he can quite easily contribute his fair share of goals thanks to his excellent long shots and finishing.
Similarly, you could drop him further back into midfield and he would be quite at home, with his passing and dribbling helping him dictate the play. Thanks to his age and his high potential he should grow in leaps and bounds during his first year, and for £2,000 in wages you’ll be bagging and absolute bargain.
NOTE: Although I mentioned earlier that players have to be 23 to be eligible, there may be some entries in these articles whose age is 22. That’s because they start a career aged 22, but by the time January arrives they are 23 and can be signed for free.
Now here is the complete list:
| Pos | Name | OVR | Pot. | Age | Wages (£) | Club | Foot | Weak foot | Skills | Traits | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAM | Diego | 83 | 83 | 28 | 110,000 | Atlético Madrid | Right | 4 | 4 | Dribbler, playmaker, FK specialist, acrobat, complete midfielder, flair | |
| CAM | Ronaldinho | 81 | 81 | 33 | 50,000 | Atl. Mineiro | Right | 4 | 5 | Dribbler, playmaker, FK specialist, complete midfielder, finesse shot, flair | |
| CAM | Alex Teixeira | 78 | 81 | 23 | 35,000 | FC Shakhtar | Right | 4 | 3 | ||
| CAM | Alex | 80 | 80 | 35 | 40,000 | Coritiba | Left | 4 | 4 | Finesse shot, long shot taker | |
| CAM | Aaron Hunt | 78 | 80 | 26 | 40,000 | Werder Bremen | Left | 3 | 3 | Injury prone | |
| CAM | Sherman Cárdenas | 75 | 80 | 23 | 8,000 | Atl. Nacional | Left | 2 | 4 | Acrobat, flair | |
| CAM | Agim Ibraimi | 74 | 80 | 24 | 25,000 | Cagliari | Left | 3 | 3 | Finesse shot | |
| CAM | Stefano Mauri | 79 | 79 | 33 | 50,000 | Lazio | Left | 4 | 3 | Long passer | |
| CAM | Juan Román Riquelme | 79 | 79 | 35 | 45,000 | Boca Juniors | Right | 4 | 4 | ||
| CAM | Zé Roberto | 78 | 78 | 38 | 30,000 | Grêmio | Left | 2 | 4 | ||
| CAM | Nicolás Lodeiro | 75 | 78 | 24 | 30,000 | Botafogo | Left | 4 | 4 | Flair | |
| CAM | Michał Masłowski | 68 | 77 | 23 | 2,000 | Zaw. Bydgoszcz | Right | 4 | 2 | Flair | |
| CAM | Elano | 76 | 76 | 32 | 40,000 | Flamengo | Right | 4 | 4 | Injury prone, early crosser, long passer, long shot taker | |
| CAM | Andriy Voronin | 76 | 76 | 33 | 45,000 | Dinamo Moskva | Right | 3 | 3 | Long shot taker | |
| CAM | Souza | 76 | 76 | 34 | 750 | Portuguesa | Right | 3 | 4 | Long passer, long shot taker | |
| CAM | Carlos Alberto | 75 | 75 | 28 | 30,000 | Botafogo | Right | 4 | 5 | Injury prone, flair | |
| CAM | Kris Commons | 75 | 75 | 29 | 30,000 | Celtic | Left | 4 | 3 | Long shot taker | |
| CAM | Javier Morales | 75 | 75 | 33 | 20,000 | Real Salt Lake | Right | 3 | 4 | Flair | |
| CAM | Andrea Cossu | 75 | 75 | 33 | 25,000 | Cagliari | Right | 4 | 3 | Team player | |
| CAM | Ariel Ibagaza | 75 | 75 | 36 | 20,000 | Olympiakos CFP | Right | 5 | 3 | Playmaker, injury prone | |
| CAM | Paulo Baier | 75 | 75 | 38 | 750 | Criciúma | Right | 3 | 3 | ||
| CAM | Valerón | 75 | 75 | 38 | 20,000 | UD Las Palmas | Right | 4 | 4 | Playmaker, swerve pass, team player | |
| CAM | Fayçal Fajr | 72 | 75 | 24 | 15,000 | SM Caen | Right | 3 | 3 | ||
| CAM | Marquinhos Gabriel | 71 | 75 | 22 | 15,000 | Palmeiras | Left | 3 | 4 |
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