In the first part of the section on strikers, here is the article on goalscorers. The emphasis here is on finishing ability, both in the box and at range, as well as good positioning. The second part, on target men, will follow.
As usual, in an attempt to make this relevant to as many players as possible, I have not included any goalscorers whose OVR is above 73 – this way you can keep your costs down and have some cash left over for other purchases (be they real players or new scouts). Furthermore, I have listed the players by cost, with the cheapest at the top of each sub-group (players are grouped by potential). However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the lowest-OVR players are at the top – notice how Willian José is half a million pounds cheaper than Roman Buess, despite being 7 points better and having a potential 3 points higher.
So, here are my recommendations:
- Mattia Destro
- Cenk Tosun
- Sergio Araujo
Mattia Destro is one of the most exciting young strikers in the game, and with a potential of 87 he becomes one of the best strikers around. Even at 20 years old his finishing and positioning are both at 78. He is very quick as well, and is even decent with his head. His long shots are poor, but even these will improve as he gets better and better. You’ll have to move fast, however, because there’s only one year left on his contract; after that, his value and wages will rise, so get him while he’s (relatively) cheap.
Talking of cheap, you can get Cenk Tosun for free seeing as he plays for Gaziantepspor, a team not in the game. He is in the Turkish national team, however, so to get him just go to the Turkish national squad selections and replace him with a random player. When you start a new career, he’ll be in the free agents. He’s speedy and agile, has strong positioning and finishing and great long shots. I’ve got him on one of my saved games, and he develops into an extremely well-rounded forward. With a potential of 84 and no price tag you’d be foolish not to go for him.
Finally, Sergio Araujo is, in my opinion, very undervalued. His strength lies in his flexibility – not only can he score goals, but he can create them as well. His dribbling is excellent, and this combined with his 4 star skills moves means that he’ll go past defenders with ease. Deploy him just behind a main striker and he can be used to either supply his partner or beat defenders and score goals himself. His low price further sweetens the deal, making his great talent and potential very accessible.
Although Lucas Piazon is back in the game, I probably wouldn’t go for him. He’s cheap, but seeing as his OVR has dropped from 65 to 59 he’ll now need to grow 26 points over 10 seasons, which is a big ask. Willian José (his former teammate at São Paulo) is 2 years older but 12 points better and relatively cheap, and would therefore be a better option in my opinion.
Please bear in mind that these figures may not be exactly the same on your game. These stats are taken from my own personal experiences, but are likely to be very similar to those on your own game. The best thing to do is to make sure you keep checking these players, as their prices may drop radically after a while.
Finally, if you’ve had any experiences of good players’ prices changing wildly (especially if their price drops), please post it in the comments!
So, without further ado, here are the players:
| Pos | Name | OVR | Pot. | Age | Cost (£) | Wages (£) | Club | Foot | Weak foot * | Skills * | Specialities/traits | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ST | Mattia Destro | 72 | 87 | 20 | 6,000,000 | 15,000 | Siena | Right | 3 | 3 | ||
| CF | Christian Pasquato | 73 | 86 | 21 | 6,000,000 | 20,000 | F. Torino | Right | 4 | 3 | Flair | On loan from Juventus |
| CF | Lucas Piazon | 59 | 85 | 17 | 1,200,000 | 2,250 | Chelsea | Left | 4 | 4 | Finesse shot | |
| ST | Willian José | 71 | 85 | 19 | 3,800,000 | 15,000 | São Paulo | Right | 4 | 3 | ||
| ST | Sercan Yildirim | 71 | 85 | 21 | 3,900,000 | 15,000 | Galatasaray SK | Right | 3 | 3 | ||
| ST | John Guidetti | 73 | 85 | 19 | 5,500,000 | 20,000 | Feyenoord | Right | 3 | 3 | ||
| ST | Cenk Tosun | 73 | 84 | 20 | 0 | 20,000 | Right | 4 | 3 | In Turkish national team - put in free agents | ||
| ST | Sergio Araujo | 68 | 84 | 19 | 2,500,000 | 10,000 | Boca Juniors | Right | 4 | 4 | ||
| ST | Luis Muriel | 72 | 84 | 20 | 5,500,000 | 15,000 | Lecce | Right | 4 | 4 | ||
| ST | Alexandre Lacazette | 73 | 84 | 20 | 6,000,000 | 25,000 | Olympique Lyon | Right | 3 | 4 | ||
| ST | Henri Saivet | 68 | 83 | 20 | 2,400,000 | 10,000 | Bordeaux | Right | 3 | 3 | Injury prone | |
| CF | Guido Marilungo | 71 | 83 | 21 | 3,700,000 | 15,000 | Atalanta | Right | 3 | 3 | ||
| CF | Dani Pacheco | 70 | 83 | 20 | 3,900,000 | 15,000 | Rayo Vallecano | Right | 3 | 3 | Finesse shot | On loan from Liverpool |
| ST | Emiliano Alfaro | 73 | 83 | 23 | 4,500,000 | 20,000 | Lazio | Right | 4 | 3 | ||
| ST | Emmanuel Mayuka | 73 | 83 | 20 | 5,000,000 | 20,000 | BSC Young Boys | Right | 5 | 4 | Speedster, acrobat | |
| CF | Vitinho | 63 | 82 | 17 | 2,700,000 | 5,000 | Botafogo | Right | 3 | 3 | ||
| ST | Eugene Starikov | 70 | 82 | 22 | 3,200,000 | 15,000 | Zenit | Right | 3 | 3 | ||
| ST | Joshua King | 65 | 82 | 19 | 4,200,000 | 7,000 | Hull City | Right | 2 | 3 | Flair, injury prone | On loan from Manchester United |
| ST | Chris Gadi | 64 | 82 | 19 | 4,200,000 | 10,000 | Marseille | Right | 4 | 3 | ||
| ST | Daniel Martínez | 65 | 82 | 17 | 4,300,000 | 6,000 | Palermo | Right | 2 | 2 | ||
| ST | Roman Buess | 64 | 82 | 18 | 4,300,000 | 7,000 | FC Basel | Right | 5 | 2 | Long shot taker | |
| CF | Benjamin Moukandjo | 72 | 82 | 22 | 4,900,000 | 15,000 | AS Nancy | Right | 3 | 2 | Speedster | |
| ST | David Goodwillie | 72 | 82 | 22 | 4,900,000 | 15,000 | Blackburn Rovers | Right | 3 | 3 | ||
| ST | Thievy | 72 | 82 | 19 | 5,000,000 | 15,000 | RCD Espanyol | Right | 4 | 2 | ||
| CF | Leandro | 72 | 82 | 18 | 5,500,000 | 10,000 | Grêmio | Right | 3 | 3 | ||
| CF | Alexandr Kokorin | 72 | 82 | 20 | 5,500,000 | 15,000 | Dinamo Moskva | Right | 3 | 3 | ||
| ST | M'Baye Niang | 72 | 82 | 16 | 5,500,000 | 8,000 | SM Caen | Right | 3 | 3 | ||
| ST | Samed Yesil | 61 | 81 | 17 | 1,800,000 | 5,000 | Bay. Leverkusen | Right | 3 | 3 | ||
| ST | Dellatorre | 69 | 81 | 19 | 2,200,000 | 9,000 | I. Porto Alegre | Right | 4 | 3 | ||
| ST | Denis Alibec | 68 | 81 | 20 | 2,200,000 | 9,000 | KV Mechelen | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| ST | Paco Alcácer | 68 | 81 | 17 | 2,400,000 | 9,000 | Valencia CF | Right | 4 | 3 | ||
| CF | Haris Seferovic | 68 | 81 | 19 | 2,400,000 | 9,000 | Lecce | Right | 2 | 2 | On loan from Fiorentina | |
| ST | Sega Keita | 62 | 81 | 19 | 2,700,000 | 6,000 | ES Troyes | Right | 3 | 2 | Speedster | |
| ST | Fernando Uribe | 71 | 81 | 23 | 2,900,000 | 15,000 | Chievo Verona | Left | 4 | 2 | ||
| CF | Jamie Murphy | 71 | 81 | 21 | 3,100,000 | 15,000 | Motherwell | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| CF | Mauro Formica | 70 | 81 | 23 | 3,100,000 | 15,000 | Blackburn Rovers | Right | 3 | 3 | ||
| CF | Edigar | 71 | 81 | 20 | 3,400,000 | 15,000 | Atl. Paranaense | Right | 4 | 3 | ||
| ST | Jürgen Locadia | 64 | 80 | 17 | 1,300,000 | 6,000 | PSV | Right | 5 | 2 | ||
| ST | Alexandr Kozlov | 67 | 80 | 18 | 1,600,000 | 8,000 | Spartak Moskva | Right | 4 | 4 | ||
| CF | José Baxter | 67 | 80 | 19 | 1,600,000 | 10,000 | Everton | Right | 3 | 3 | Power free-kick | |
| ST | Michy Batshuayi | 66 | 80 | 17 | 1,700,000 | 5,000 | Standard Liège | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| ST | Mushaga Bakenga | 68 | 80 | 18 | 2,200,000 | 7,000 | Club Brugge | Right | 4 | 3 | ||
| CF | Yassine Benzia | 63 | 80 | 16 | 2,700,000 | 4,000 | Olympique Lyon | Right | 3 | 3 | ||
| CF | Andrea Catellani | 71 | 80 | 23 | 2,800,000 | 15,000 | Catania | Right | 4 | 4 | Finesse shot | |
| ST | Dominique Sosso Malonga | 70 | 80 | 22 | 2,900,000 | 15,000 | Cesena | Right | 3 | 3 | ||
| ST | Pavel Yakovlev | 71 | 80 | 21 | 3,400,000 | 15,000 | Krylya Sovetov | Right | 4 | 3 | Finesse shot, long shot taker | On loan from Spartak Moskva |