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EA FC 24 best central midfielders

Profiles on some of the best centre-mids you can sign on EA FC 24 Career Mode

We cover youth football. For all you EA FC 24 players, we’ve picked out a few of our favourite young central midfielders that would be suitable signings on your EA FC 24 Career Mode saves. From Warren Zaïre-Emery to Fabio Miretti, these are some of the best young CMs in the game.

If you’re looking for older players, we have you sorted too, with a collection of the ten highest overall central midfielders at the start of your save. If you want more CMs to sign, look through our website.

How do I develop central midfielders in EA FC 24 Career mode?

There are a few key methods to develop central midfielders in EA FC 24. Firstly, they need to play senior minutes and get good match ratings in matches. Obviously, this needs to be balanced with your need to win games but getting them on the field as much as possible is vital.

If you can’t give them minutes, then consider sending them on loan. However, when loaning players, ensure that you are sending them to a club where they will play senior minutes, or you risk further stunting their growth.

Next, focus on doing well in training drills and earning good ratings. Generally, you should be able to play through each drill a few times, do them well, and then you should be able to subsequently simulate the sessions and earn a similar grade. However, if your grades start to fall, you should take control of your drills again to boost your ratings back up.

Lastly, and very importantly, is your player development plan. Development plans determine what kind of skillset you want your player to develop for their role in your team.

A screenshot of EA FC 24 career mode central midfielder development pathway, featuring Juventus' Fabio Miretti

Balanced – The all-round option that will see your central midfielders develop all their attributes with no real particular focus.

Playmaker – The playmaker development plan is all about curating the perfect passer. Almost all the emphasis is placed on passing statistics: vision, crossing, free kick accuracy, long passing, short passing, and curve. Outside of that, long shots, weak foot, composure and stamina are also worked on.

Box to Box – Creating the perfect box-to-box midfielder is all about developing a hard-working, penalty box attacking player with a big engine. And so, this development plan will see focus being placed on stamina, attacking work rate, short passing, long passing, agility, ball control, sprint speed, acceleration, and of course, finishing and attacking positioning.

Ball Winning Midfielder – A ball-winning midfielder’s role is to break up play in an aggressive manner in midfield. In EA FC 24 career mode, the development plan for ball-winning midfielders will help to develop many of their defensive attributes: interceptions, standing tackling, slide tackling, strength, stamina, defensive work rate and aggression, as well as reactions, ball control and short passing.

Central Midfield – A central midfielder will play the role of primary ball-carrier through midfield, connecting defensive to attack with their dribbling skill. As such, this development plan will focus on sprint speed, ball control, dribbling, balance, stamina and strength, plus vision, skill moves and short passing for a bit of extra versatility in midfield.

Who are the best central midfielders in EA FC 24 Career mode?

NAMEAGECLUBOVERALLPOTENTIAL
Kevin De Bruyne32Manchester City9191
Federico Valverde25Real Madrid8892
Bernardo Silva29Manchester City8888
Frenkie de Jong26Barcelona8790
Luka Modrić37Real Madrid8787
Pedri20FC Barcelona8692
Jude Bellingham20Real Madrid8691
Nicolò Barella26Inter Milan8688
Ilkay Gundogan30FC Barcelona8686
Sergej Milinković-Savić28Al-Hilal8686
A cutout photo of PSG's Warren Zaïre-Emery, one of the best central midfielders in EA FC 24

Warren Zaïre-Emery

Warren Zaïre-Emery is already a key player in Paris Saint-Germain’s senior squad before he has even turned 18 yet. That tells you all you need to know about his current ability and future potential… he is a freak.

Valued at €13 million, if you have the spare funds, then Zaïre-Emery is a no-brainer acquisition. His stats are wonderfully rounded with huge scope to grow from his 75 overall rating into a whopping 88 overall. He is simply one of the best young central midfielders in world football.

A cutout photo of Juventus' Fabio Miretti, one of the best central midfielders in EA FC 24

Fabio Miretti

If Warren Zaïre-Emery isn’t your cup of tea, then maybe we can interest you in Fabio Miretti? He is a slightly different profile to the Frenchman, with a more attacking and creative focus. With good dribbling and short passing as his key strengths, if you are looking for that style of midfielder then he is a brilliant choice.

Like Zaïre-Emery, Miretti has the potential to grow from a 75 overall player into an 88. Maybe if you are feeling adventurous, you can buy both Miretti and Zaire-Emery and assemble the most dominant midfield pairing of the future.

A cutout photo of Toulouse's Noah Lahmadi, one of the best central midfielders in EA FC 24

Noah Lahmadi

If you are looking to go down the value route, then consider Toulouse’s Noah Lahmadi. Given he starts as a 65 overall player, he is obviously going to start your save as a much more limited player, but his high/high work rates give some insight into the type of player he can become.

Lahmadi is an aggressive midfield shuttler that can grow into an impressive 86 overall player, with solid short passing and dribbling stats, and decent tackling, with huge scope to grow into a proper midfield bull.

A cutout photo of Dinamo Zagreb's Martin Baturina, one of the best central midfielders in EA FC 24

Martin Baturina

It seems fitting that just as Luka Modrić’s career starts, another hugely gifted Dinamo Zagreb midfield prospect emerges. With a market value of €10 million, Martin Baturina is a mid-range option that won’t quite reach lofty heights of Miretti or Zaïre-Emery, but will come very close.

Depending on what you’re looking for, he might even be a better option, considering his fantastic dribbling attributes (83 dribbling, 82 ball control), and his ability to score from range (74 shot power, 72 long shots). Baturina will eventually blossom from a 74 overall player into an 86.

A cutout photo of Motherwell's Lennon Miller, one of the best central midfielders in EA FC 24

Lennon Miller

Lennon Miller might be the ultimate project player in FC24 career mode. Starting at a lowly 59 overall, he won’t be a good starting option for you unless you are starting miles down the Football League, but if you are, then consider him.

He really has no outstanding attributes other than some OK speed and acceleration, but he has one of the biggest growth spreads in the game, with his potential capping out at 85. For €900k, you can’t really go wrong.

A cutout photo of SL Benfica's João Neves, one of the best central midfielders in EA FC 24

João Neves

At Scouted Football, we are massive João Neves fans. After making his way into the Benfica senior set-up in the back half of 2022/23, Neves has not taken a step back, establishing himself as a regular starter for the Portuguese champions.

In FC24, Neves starts as a 69 overall player that can be developed into an 85. He is a small, but dynamic midfielder with good ball control, agility, balance and short passing, and comes in with an affordable market value of €3.5 million — he is a player you can easily play, or send on loan depending on your save’s circumstances.

Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Federico Valverde, Luka Modrić, Frenkie de Jong, Jude Bellingham and Pedri and are the highest-rated central midfielders in EA FC 24 Career Mode.

Jude Bellingham has the highest potential of any young central midfielder in EA FC 24, followed by the lesser-known likes of Warren Zaïre-Emery, Fabio Miretti and João Neves.

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