The final installment in the central midfielders mini-series is that of the attacking midfielders. These players usually have great dribbling skills (often with 4 or 5 skill move stars), although there are two main types of attacking midfielders. One type has great vision and passing abilities; these players usually control the game and pop up with a goal or two, and will provide constant quality service to your strikers. The second type is usually very quick, with exceptional dribbling skills and decent finishing. These players can be played on the wing as an alternative to sitting behind the forward(s).
As usual, in an attempt to make this relevant to as many players as possible, I have not included any CAMs 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 Kelvin is younger than Damian Djokovic and seven OVR points better, yet costs less.
My recommendations from this group of players is:
- Marcel Büchel
- Adryan
- Lucas Patinho
Marcel Büchel definitely belongs in the second group of CAMs: he can easily play as a winger, as he is quick and has excellent dribbling skills. He is a snip at £2.7m, although he is on loan at Gubbio for the first season. However, something very strange often happens with him – after the first season finishes, sometimes he doesn’t return to Siena as he should, but finds his way into the free agents. This means that you can pick up a player with potential 84 absolutely free! So make sure you keep your eyes peeled at the beginning of the second season. (This oddity may happen at a different time for you, so always be on the lookout for him).
Adryan looks quite expensive at first. However, the poor guy gets a bit neglected by Flamengo, so after a season or two his price drops to around £2-3m. Because he starts so young, this means he’s still got plenty of time to grow at this stage, so you don’t lose anything by waiting. Like Büchel, he can play on the wing – he is very quick, but also has a 4 star weak foot and 4 star skill moves, meaning you can dazzle defenders before cutting inside to shoot – and because of his excellent weak foot he can do this on either wing.
Unlike the previous two, Lucas Patinho belongs in the first CAM group. He has excellent vision and can pick a pass, and isn’t bad at shoting either. Furthermore, he has great stamina so can play again and again, enabling him to develop more quickly – and at £1.8m you’ll get an amazing return for what little cash you spend on him. If you’re looking for a CAM who will provide fantastic service for your strikers, look no further than this guy.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAM | Stephen El Shaarawy | 73 | 87 | 18 | 6,000,000 | 20,000 | Milan | Right | 5 | 5 | Flair | |
| CAM | Alessandro De Vitis | 62 | 86 | 19 | 2,700,000 | 10,000 | Modena | Right | 3 | 2 | - | |
| CAM | Manuel Lanzini | 71 | 86 | 18 | 4,000,000 | 15,000 | Fluminense | Right | 4 | 4 | - | On loan from River Plate |
| CAM | Zhano Ananidze` | 73 | 86 | 18 | 6,000,000 | 20,000 | Spartak Moskva | Right | 4 | 4 | - | |
| CAM | Alexander Merkel | 73 | 86 | 19 | 6,000,000 | 20,000 | Genoa | Right | 3 | 3 | Finesse shot | |
| CAM | Giannis Fetfatzidis | 72 | 85 | 20 | 6,000,000 | 15,000 | Olympiakos CFP | Left | 4 | 5 | Flair | |
| CAM | Adryan | 67 | 85 | 16 | 6,000,000 | 9,000 | Flamengo | Right | 4 | 4 | Flair | |
| CAM | Marcel Büchel | 63 | 84 | 20 | 2,700,000 | 10,000 | Gubbio | Left | 3 | 2 | - | On loan from Siena. Look in Free Agents at end of 2nd season - he may be there! |
| CAM | Nadir Minotti | 64 | 84 | 19 | 4,300,000 | 9,000 | Atalanta | Right | 3 | 3 | - | |
| CAM | Julian Draxler | 73 | 84 | 17 | 6,000,000 | 15,000 | FC Schalke 04 | Right | 3 | 3 | Flair | |
| CAM | Lucas Patinho | 67 | 83 | 19 | 1,800,000 | 10,000 | Fluminense | Right | 3 | 3 | - | |
| CAM | Kelvin | 69 | 83 | 18 | 2,300,000 | 7,000 | Rio Ave FC | Left | 3 | 5 | Flair, acrobat | On loan from FC Porto |
| CAM | Filip Ozobić | 63 | 83 | 20 | 2,700,000 | 6,000 | Spartak Moskva | Right | 4 | 2 | - | |
| CAM | Damian Djokovic | 62 | 83 | 21 | 2,700,000 | 10,000 | Cesena | Right | 3 | 3 | - | |
| CAM | Victor Ibarbo | 71 | 83 | 21 | 3,700,000 | 15,000 | Cagliari | Right | 3 | 2 | - | |
| CAM | Mithyuê | 65 | 83 | 21 | 4,200,000 | 9,000 | Grêmio | Right | 3 | 4 | - | |
| CAM | Albin Ekdal | 73 | 83 | 21 | 5,000,000 | 20,000 | Cagliari | Right | 3 | 3 | - | On loan from Juventus |
| CAM | Borys Taschi | 62 | 82 | 17 | 2,700,000 | 5,000 | Dinamo Moskva | Right | 4 | 2 | - | |
| CAM | Ravel Morrison | 57 | 81 | 18 | 1,200,000 | 9,000 | Manchester United | Left | 3 | 3 | - | |
| CAM | Chrisoph Knasmüller | 65 | 81 | 19 | 1,300,000 | 7,000 | FC Ingolstadt | Right | 4 | 3 | - | |
| CAM | Tommaso Ceccarelli | 67 | 81 | 19 | 1,600,000 | 10,000 | Lazio | Right | 3 | 4 | - | |
| CAM | Bruninho | 67 | 81 | 21 | 1,600,000 | 9,000 | Cruzeiro | Left | 3 | 2 | - | |
| CAM | Mattia Valoti | 67 | 81 | 17 | 1,700,000 | 9,000 | Milan | Right | 4 | 3 | - | |
| CAM | Luis Carlos Fariña | 61 | 81 | 20 | 1,800,000 | 6,000 | Racing Club | Right | 3 | 3 | - | |
| CAM | Jonathan Williams | 62 | 81 | 17 | 2,700,000 | 5,000 | Crystal Palace | Right | 3 | 2 | - | |
| CAM | Negueba | 70 | 81 | 19 | 3,700,000 | 15,000 | Flamengo | Right | 2 | 3 | - | |
| CAM | Pavel Golyshev | 72 | 81 | 23 | 4,500,000 | 15,000 | Tom Tomsk | Right | 3 | 3 | Long shot taker | |
| CAM | Gökhan Töre | 72 | 81 | 19 | 5,500,000 | 15,000 | Hamburger SV | Left | 4 | 4 | - | |
| CAM | Mustafa Amini | 64 | 80 | 18 | 1,200,000 | 3,000 | Central Coast | Right | 4 | 3 | Long shot taker | On loan from Borussia Dortmund |
| CAM | Caleb | 66 | 80 | 18 | 1,600,000 | 5,000 | A. Minas G. | Left | 3 | 2 | - | |
| CAM | Eber | 66 | 80 | 18 | 1,700,000 | 5,000 | Cruzeiro | Right | 3 | 2 | - | |
| CAM | Samir Carruthers | 60 | 80 | 18 | 1,800,000 | 4,000 | Aston Villa | Left | 4 | 2 | - | |
| CAM | Valon Berisha | 69 | 80 | 18 | 2,000,000 | 6,000 | Viking FK | Right | 4 | 3 | Flair, long shot taker | |
| CAM | Clément Grenier | 69 | 80 | 20 | 2,100,000 | 10,000 | Olympique Lyon | Right | 3 | 3 | - | |
| CAM | Ross Barkley | 69 | 80 | 17 | 2,200,000 | 7,000 | Everton | Right | 4 | 3 | Power header | |
| CAM | Filip Đuričić | 69 | 80 | 19 | 2,200,000 | 8,000 | SC Heerenveen | Right | 4 | 4 | Flair | |
| CAM | Fernando Canesín | 69 | 80 | 19 | 2,200,000 | 8,000 | RSC Anderlecht | Right | 4 | 4 | - | |
| CAM | Konstantinos Fortounis | 68 | 80 | 18 | 2,200,000 | 7,000 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | Right | 4 | 3 | - | |
| CAM | Leandro Bacuna | 71 | 80 | 19 | 3,300,000 | 15,000 | FC Groningen | Right | 4 | 3 | - |