The final guide is on target men. These guys are often very tall, strong, and excellent in the air. Not only will they score you plenty of goals in the air, but they can be great providers too – couple them with a speedy striker and use them to nod the ball down into their path.
As usual, in an attempt to make this relevant to as many players as possible, I have not included any target men 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 Ji Dong Won is better than Levan Mchedlidze and is younger than him, yet is close to £2m cheaper than him.
Here are my final recommendations:
- Manolo Gabbiadini
- Jerry Mbakogu
- Milan Djuric
Manolo Gabbiadini is a really excellent choice for a target man. He’s quick, strong, and has excellent jumping stats. His heading accuracy is great and his finishing is even better. Because of his pace he doesn’t have to be limited to the target man role, he can play alongside another one if you want!
Jerry Mbakogu is deceptively good for his pricetag and OVR. He is actually quicker than Gabbiadini and better at jumping, althoug his finishing and heading accuracy is not as good. However, with potential 83 he grows very fast, so this is not so much of a problem. Because he is so quick he is not limited to competing in the air – you can give him a great through ball and he’ll leave defences in his wake.
Finally, a fantastic bargain offer in the form of Milan Djuric. Like Mbakogu he is insane in the air (jumping 92) and is very strong as well. This guy will dominate defenses and will be a conduit through which you can channel your attacks by heading the ball into the path of an accompanying striker or winger. He also packs a powerful shot, and his technical stats will improve rapidly as his OVR rises.
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 | Conor Wickham | 70 | 85 | 18 | 4,100,000 | 15,000 | Sunderland | Right | 4 | 2 | ||
| ST | Ji Dong Won | 68 | 84 | 20 | 2,500,000 | 10,000 | Sunderland | Right | 3 | 3 | Finesse shot, power header | |
| ST | Levan Mchedlidze | 64 | 84 | 21 | 4,300,000 | 9,000 | Empoli | Right | 3 | 3 | Injury prone | |
| CF | Diego Maurício | 73 | 84 | 20 | 6,000,000 | 20,000 | Flamengo | Right | 3 | 3 | Finesse shot | |
| ST | Jerry Mbakogu | 63 | 83 | 18 | 2,600,000 | 5,000 | C. Stabia | Right | 3 | 3 | On loan from Padua | |
| ST | Manolo Gabbiadini | 71 | 83 | 19 | 3,700,000 | 15,000 | Atalanta | Left | 3 | 3 | ||
| ST | Milton Caraglio | 67 | 81 | 22 | 1,500,000 | 9,000 | New England | Left | 3 | 3 | Injury prone | |
| ST | Wellington | 69 | 81 | 23 | 1,600,000 | 9,000 | Santa Catarina | Right | 3 | 3 | Strength | On loan from 1899 Hoffenheim |
| ST | Erick Torres | 68 | 81 | 18 | 2,400,000 | 7,000 | Guadalajara | Right | 3 | 3 | Power header | |
| ST | Jonathas | 70 | 81 | 22 | 3,300,000 | 15,000 | Brescia | Right | 3 | 2 | Strength, power free-kick, power header | |
| ST | Pierre-Michel Lasogga | 70 | 81 | 19 | 3,700,000 | 15,000 | Hertha BSC | Right | 3 | 3 | ||
| ST | Santiago García | 73 | 81 | 20 | 4,900,000 | 15,000 | Atl. Paranaense | Right | 4 | 3 | ||
| ST | Kwang Ryong Pak | 64 | 80 | 18 | 1,300,000 | 6,000 | FC Basel | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| ST | Milan Djuric | 66 | 80 | 21 | 1,600,000 | 7,000 | Crotone | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| ST | Giacomo Beretta | 62 | 80 | 19 | 2,700,000 | 6,000 | Ascoli | Right | 3 | 3 | ||
| ST | Gilberto | 71 | 80 | 22 | 3,100,000 | 15,000 | I. Porto Alegre | Right | 4 | 2 | ||
| ST | Morata | 70 | 80 | 18 | 3,400,000 | 15,000 | Real Madrid | Right | 3 | 2 | ||
| ST | Victor Anichebe | 73 | 80 | 23 | 4,200,000 | 20,000 | Everton | Right | 3 | 3 | Injury prone | |
| ST | Rogelio Funes Mori | 72 | 80 | 20 | 5,000,000 | 10,000 | River Plate | Right | 3 | 3 |