FIFA 23 best central midfielders
Profiles on some of the best centre-mids you can sign on FIFA 23 Career Mode
We cover youth football. For all you FIFA players, we’ve picked out a few of our favourite young central midfielders that would be suitable signings on your FIFA 23 Career Mode saves. From Pedri to Charlie Patino, 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.
OUR LISTS OF THE BEST FIFA 23 TALENTS
How do I develop central midfielders in FIFA 23 Career mode?
There are a few key methods to develop central midfielders in FIFA 23. 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.
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 FIFA 23 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 FIFA 23 Career mode?
| NAME | AGE | CLUB | OVERALL | POTENTIAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kevin De Bruyne | 31 | Manchester City | 91 | 91 |
| Luka Modrić | 36 | Real Madrid | 88 | 88 |
| Toni Kroos | 32 | Real Madrid | 88 | 88 |
| Leon Goretzka | 27 | Bayern Munich | 87 | 88 |
| Frenkie de Jong | 25 | Barcelona | 87 | 92 |
| Marco Verratti | 29 | Paris Saint-Germain | 87 | 87 |
| Nicolò Barella | 25 | Inter Milan | 86 | 89 |
| Sergej Milinković-Savić | 27 | Lazio | 86 | 87 |
| Dani Parejo | 33 | Villarreal | 86 | 86 |
| Thiago | 31 | Liverpool | 86 | 86 |
OUR LISTS OF THE BEST YOUNG TALENTS
We’ve split this section into three central midfielders that can start for your teams straight away, and three central midfielders that are good options for the future:
Pedri
- Club: FC Barcelona (ESP)
- Country: Spain
At 19, Pedri is already one of the best central midfielders in the world and really needs no introduction. He is an elite passer and dribbler, as well as having a massive engine and pretty good mobility. His main weakness is that he is not really a goalscorer from midfield, but if you have other’s to fill the goalscoring void you shouldn’t have too many issues.
4 star skills and 4 star weak foot is an added bonus, as are his high/high work rates that make him not just a great player, but a great team-mate.
- Overall: 85
- Potential: 93
Jude Bellingham
- Club: Borussia Dortmund (GER)
- Country: England
Like Pedri, Jude Bellingham is already one of Europe’s prime movers in midfield at just 19, with the Englishman now a key player for both club and country, having already amassed 17 caps as a teenager before the start of the 2022 World Cup.
In FIFA 23, Bellingham has one of the most well-rounded skillsets for a midfielder you will see, excelling across the board from defending to passing to shooting, etc. With the potential to go to a 91 overall, you may try to add a bit of pace to perfect his game. His 4 star weak foot, skills and high/high work rates are also fantastic attributes.
- Overall: 84
- Potential: 91
Aurélien Tchouaméni
- Club: Real Madrid (ESP)
- Country: France
Aurélien Tchouaméni’s attributes in FIFA 23 point towards more of a physical midfield destroyer than Bellingham or Pedri, with his physicality and defending being his strongest attribute. If you are looking for a complimentary defensive-minded midfielder in a double-pivot, he is a really good option.
At 6’2”, and with good strength and tackling, the Real Madrid midfielder will be able to dominate duels in midfield. If you have the attacking talent to balance things out across the rest of the field, he is a great option.
- Overall: 82
- Potential: 89
OUR LISTS OF THE BEST YOUNG TALENTS
Carney Chukwuemeka
- Club: Chelsea (ENG)
- Country: England
There’s a reason why Chelsea spent big money to sign Carney Chukwuemeka in the summer. He is extremely talented, and was the dominant player in England’s Under-19 Euro-winning team in the summer of 2022.
In FIFA 23 he is a work in progress that you will need to send on loan to further develop closer to his 86 potential before integrating him into your team, but he profiles as a technical, attack-minded midfielder with 4 star weak foot and skills – and he’s 6’1”.
- Overall: 64
- Potential: 86
Martin Baturina
- Club: GNK Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)
- Country: Croatia
Dinamo Zagreb’s pedigree in terms of producing young players is so rich that any time a teenager is starting regularly for them, you need to be paying attention – as is the case with Martin Baturina.
In FIFA 23, the Croatian looks like a very skilled number 8 style of midfielder, with dribbling being his key attribute. He is extremely undersized at 5’8” though, and does lack defensive and physical attributes, although he should develop in those areas as he moves closer to his 86 potential.
- Overall: 70
- Potential: 86
Charlie Patino
- Club: Arsenal, on loan at Blackpool (ENG)
- Country: England
Charlie Patino is one of the emerging stars of Arsenal’s academy. This season he has been sent on loan to the Championship with Blackpool, where he has hit the ground running in his first forays into senior football.
Like Chukwuemeka, starting at a 64 overall means that Patino is going to need a bit of work before he becomes a regular for your team, but with the potential to grow into an 85 rated player, he should become a versatile, attacking minded midfielder in a similar mould to his compatriot.
- Overall: 64
- Potential: 85
Kevin De Bruyne, Luka Modrić, Toni Kroos, Leon Goretzka, Marco Verratti and Frenkie de Jong are the highest-rated central midfielders in FIFA 23 Career Mode.
In terms of overall and potential, it’s Pedri at Barcelona. After that, Jude Bellingham and Aurélien Tchouaméni are the best of the rest, along with Vitinha and a few more.
