Football Manager 23 Best Attacking Midfielders
Profiles on some of the best attacking midfielders you can sign on your FM23 saves
We cover youth football and we love Football Manager. We’ve combined both to compile a list of the young attacking midfielders that you should start scouting on your FM23 saves. These aren’t necessarily “best” but they’re interesting prospects for clubs across the spectrum of football.
They’re players that we like in real-life that look good in FM23. For more, check out our extensive talent lists and in-depth player profiles.
What roles can attacking midfielders play in Football Manager 23?
Outside of Goalkeeper, Attacking Midfielders have the most limited number of roles in FM23 with only five options; Advanced Playmaker, Trequartista, Enganche, Shadow Striker and Attacking Midfielder. The two most popular of these roles are Advanced Playmaker and Attacking Midfielder.
The Advanced Playmaker will act as your team’s primary creative fulcrum in the final third. Normally, they will be the only midfielder in your team with a designated ‘playmaker’ role. They look to receive in pockets of space between the lines, using technical and passing quality to break down the defence. On attack duty, they will dribble at defenders more often to mess with their shape.
By contrast, the Attacking Midfielder role will see your player occupy the hole behind the striker in a more advanced area than an Advanced Playmaker, and look to quickly facilitate play, either by creating shots for himself or others. With the attack duty, your player will properly attack the box as well to support your striker with numbers.
OUR LISTS OF THE BEST YOUNG TALENTS
The Trequartista role is fairly similar to the Advanced Playmaker, although they commit themselves very heavily to the offensive side of the game, and will leave a lot of the defensive duty to others out of possession. So while he doesn’t get much defensive work done, they are player that your attacking unit revolves around.
The Enganche is a creative role that will see your player stay quite stationary in the hole behind the striker for the attack to build around. They won’t attack the channels or the box, they are almost like a rebound wall that is excellent for building with one-two passes, for example.
The Shadow Striker role is a more aggressive attacking role that will see your player attack the penalty area with regularity, looking to work with another striker in their vicinity. Shadow Strikers are aggressive off the ball too, looking to create high turnovers to regain possession in dangerous parts of the pitch.
What attributes are important for attacking midfielders in FM23?
The Enganche and Advanced Playmaker will require the same essential attributes: vision, dribbling, passing, technique, teamwork, off the ball movement, flair, decision-making, composure, anticipation, and agility. Another creative role, the Trequartista, will require the same attributes, but also some acceleration and finishing for those late runs into the penalty area.
The Attacking Midfielder skillset isn’t too different either. That will require finishing and long shots for creating from themselves from outside the box and also for looking to attacking the penalty area and find chances there.
A Shadow Striker relies on pace, acceleration, stamina and work rate to fuel their off the ball work, as well as finishing and composure to aid them in the penalty area.
Who are the best attacking midfielders in Football Manager 23?
| NAME | AGE | CLUB | OVERALL | POTENTIAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trent Alexander-Arnold | 23 | Liverpool | 87 | 90 |
| Kyle Walker | 32 | Manchester City | 85 | 85 |
| Reece James | 22 | Chelsea FC | 84 | 88 |
| Achraf Hakimi | 23 | Paris Saint-Germain | 84 | 87 |
| Kieran Tripper | 31 | Newcastle United | 84 | 84 |
| Dani Carvajal | 30 | Real Madrid | 84 | 84 |
| Juan Cuadrado | 34 | Juventus | 83 | 83 |
| Jesús Navas | 36 | Sevilla | 83 | 83 |
| Ricardo Pereira | 28 | Leicester City | 83 | 83 |
| Noussair Mazraoui | 24 | Ajax | 82 | 86 |
Arda Güler
- Position: AM, RW
- Club: Fenerbahçe (TUR)
- Country: Turkey
At just 17, Arda Güler is already making waves in Turkish football, having made his first forays into Fenerbahçe’s senior team and making a real impact as well – he has scored five goals in his first 300 league minutes with Fener.
With his first proper senior minutes coming after FM22’s winter update, Güler’s potential has been given a massive boost in FM23, reflecting the high quality attacking midfield technician that Fenerbahçe have at their disposal. He is a small player, but what he lacks in physical talent he makes up for in dribbling, finishing and passing – skills that are far more critical for playmaking attacking midfielders.
Since he is 17 and playing in Turkey, you won’t be able to sign Güler until he turns 18 just before your second season, but at €10 million, he is an excellent investment for any team looking to play a technical, possession-based style of football.
Désiré Doué
- Positions: AM, CM
- Club: Stade Rennais (FRA)
- Country: France
The Stade Rennais academy continues to churn out talent at an unbelievable rate, and Désiré Doué is the next player off the production line. What seemed like a likely slow introduction into the first team after some fine performances at 2022’s Under-17 Euros, now looks likely to pick up speed, with Doué having impressed in his senior cameos thus far in 2022/23.
Nominally a central midfielder in the game, don’t bother with that. Doué is made to play further up the pitch as a high quality dribbler and passer, with good acceleration and agility to play between the lines.
Doué has one of the highest potential ceilings for young attacking midfielders in the entire game, and with a price tag of around €15 million, signing the next gem out of Rennes’ academy should be a no-brainer.
Hamed Junior Traorè
- Positions: AM, RW
- Club: Sassuolo (ITA)
- Country: Côte d'Ivoire
After a strong finish to 2021/22, Hamed Junior Traorè’s early 2022/23 was stunted by a foot injury that kept him sidelined for the first two months of the season. But his talent is undeniable as an attacking threat from midfield with proper goal scoring ability from deep – with seven goals in 2021/22 evidence of that.
Traorè has an intriguing skillset in FM23, with strong dribbling, first touch, finishing, technique and passing – all the stats you really want from your attacking midfielder. Strong flair, off the ball, and agility are also key attributes.
He does not have an insanely high ceiling, but if you are looking for a good, ready-made contributor at a top-five league level, then Traorè is a good option, with a value around €30-35 million.
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Dijon Kameri
- Positions: AM
- Club: Red Bull Salzburg (AUT)
- Country: Austria
There are no doubts for us at Scouted Football: Dijon Kameri is the next big product coming through at Red Bull Salzburg. Having made the jump from Salzburg’s feeder club Liefering to the senior team at the start of 2022/23, he has not looked out of place in a Salzburg team that continues to develop high level talents.
In FM23, Kameri is a fast, technical attacking midfielder built to play in transition, with high work rate and off the ball movement complimenting his technical and physical attributes. His mental attributes need further developing, but he has the foundations of a very solid top-five league player.
With Salzburg looking for a fee in the region of €12 million for Kameri, he is a great player to give you some young attacking midfielder depth as a lower-mid table top-five league team.
Tom Bischof
- Positions: AM
- Club: TSG Hoffenheim (GER)
- Country: Germany
After making his Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal debuts in 2022 with Hoffenheim, it seems only a matter of time until the highly-rated Tom Bischof becomes a first-team regular. As a routinely strong performer at youth international level with Germany, the 2005-born midfielder certainly has good pedigree.
In FM23, Bischof lacks any real strong physical attributes, but makes up for it with a nice set of technical and mental attributes, headlined by his technique, first touch, decisions, determination, flair, dribbling and off the ball movement.
Hoffenheim don’t want to let him go cheaply, but you should be able to pick him up for around €7 million – a touch less than his €11.75 million release clause.
Mika Godts
- Positions: AM, LW
- Club: KRC Genk (BEL)
- Country: Belgium
Kevin de Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois, Leandro Trossard – KRC Genk have one of the strongest youth academies anywhere in Europe, and Mika Godts is the next big talent to come out of it.
A regular youth international for Belgium, Godts is a high-volume dribbler that plays with a lot of control, both of the ball and his own movement. His skilled dribbling and shifty athleticism is a potent mix as he receives the ball wide on the left and angles inside, eliminating players and creating chances.
His attributes in FM23 are still quite poor to start with, so he is one to maybe think about only if you are a bigger team prepared to park him on loan for a couple of seasons as he develops, or if you are playing in a second division and trying to get him on loan (potentially with an option to buy for around €1 million).
Kevin de Bruyne and Bernardo Silva are two of the best attacking midfielders in FM23.
Bayern München’s Jamal Musiala is one of the very best young attacking midfielders in FM23.
