FIFA 14 | So You Want An… Attacking midfielder UPDATE

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Attacking midfielders can be vital to a successful attack, beating defenders or setting up strikers. Let’s have a look at who I’ve chosen for this position in FIFA 14:

• Maximilian Meyer
• Vitinho
• Jordan Mutch

For a 17 year old, Maximilian Meyer has some very impressive stats: 82 dribbling, 81 ball control, 90 balance, 90 agility and 82 acceleration. He’s more than just a dribbler, though, and with 74 vision and 75 short passing he can be the pivot to your attacks. With his high starting OVR and young age, I’d expect him to grow much higher than his 85 potential; that’s basically just one point of growth a year, which he should easily be able to exceed. Schalke ask for a lot for him, but a bid of around £5.5m should do it.

Vitinho is up next, and this recommendation is for all those players who love doing tricks and skill moves. He’s got five star skill moves and 82 dribbling, so he’s going to be a dream to play with in attack. He’s pacey as well, and has 78 long shots and shot power, so you can use his skills to take him past defenders or use his power to shoot from distance. He’s only just joined CSKA Moskva but is well worth the wait.

My next choice is Jordan Mutch because he’s a brilliant all-rounder. His pace, dribbling and shooting make him a goalscoring threat when surging forward, and you can expect him to grab a fair few goals. But unlike the typical small, frail CAM, this guy is strong and can hold off the challenges. His decent passing and tackling should also make him useful if you decide to drop him a little deeper. Cardiff want £7m for him but I was able to get him with a bid of £4.5m, and you may be able to get him for even less.

It’s also worth quickly mentioning another two players: Diego Rojas and Farès Bahlouli. Rojas starts off with brilliant vision and passing for his OVR – 75 vision and 70 short passing will make him feel better than he is, and I expect it will only be a few years until he gets the playmaker speciality. Bahlouli, on the other hand, has that rare combination of pace and strength, with 76 acceleration, 81 sprint speed and 78 strength. He’s also blessed with 78 dribbling, and how he’s only rate 63 is beyond me. Anyway, these stats will make him a proper handful on the pitch.

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The articles in this series should give you some ideas if you’re looking for a new signing in a key area. There is one article for each position on the pitch to make it easy for you to quickly find players to bolster your squad.

All of the players given here have a minimum potential of 80, so you know you’re getting quality. The maximum OVR for each player is 73, both to keep transfer prices down and to avoid presenting you with too many options and thus making it too difficult to choose the player you need.

The ‘Avai?’ column is short for ‘available?’ and refers both to whether or not you can buy the specified player at the start of the first season and how long their current contract is. Let’s take Y/2 as an example – Y means that yes, you can buy him at the start of a new career, and the number means he has two years left on his contract. Similarly, N/3 would mean that no, you can’t buy the player straight away, and he has three years left on his contract. These ‘no’ players are often available for transfer if you wait until the January transfer window, however. For some players this column is blank – this means that they are out on loan at the start and are therefore unavailable for purchase until the second season.

Initial player costs may seem very low this year. The figure in the player cost column refers to the price you are given if you scout the player. But I’ve also added a new column this time round – ‘They want’. This refers to the price the other team want for the player if you enquire about him. Often there is a large difference between the player cost obtained through scouting and that obtained through an enquiry. This leaves a lot of room for negotiation, so don’t be put off if a price in the ‘They want’ column is high, as you can usually get the player for much less. Try bidding lower than what you think will be accepted – you may be surprised at their response. If the ‘They want’ column is blank it’s because the team refused to give a price, either because the player has just joined them or because they are loaning him in.

And as a final note, in FIFA 14 EA update player OVRs and potentials every week. Mose of the time these are very minor changes, and most players won’t be affected at all unless they have had a very noteworthy week. Furthermore, some players occasionally disappear if they have been put in the reserve squad that week. So just bear in mind that these figures should be read as a guide only and not a definitive account of player costs, potentials, etc, for the entire season.[/expand]

Check out the complete list below: