Football Manager 23 Best Left-backs
Profiles on some of the best left-backs 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 leftt-backs 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. Keep scrolling for profiles, click below for more pages.
What roles can left-backs play in Football Manager 23?
Left-back is one of the most interesting positions in Football Manager 23. You can really change your team’s play style dramatically just by how you deploy them. The different roles are as following:
• Full-Back
• Wing-Back
• No-Nonsense Full-Back
• Complete Wing-Back
• Inverted Wing-Back
Each role serves a very different function. Inverted Wing-Back has become a fan favourite despite the unusual nature of the role, which sees the right-back tuck inside when your team has possession to help facilitate the build-up play, or to attack space as a dribbler, while maintaining their width out of possession.
The other four roles can be put on a spectrum from No-Nonsense Full-Back to Full-Back to Wing-Back and then to Complete Wing-Back in order of their attacking nature. The No-Nonsense role will typically suit lower-level right-backs with poor technical ability, allowing them to focus purely on their defensive role.
Full-Backs will still look to defend, but also offer width when needed as an overlapping runner. Wing-Backs will look to be more aggressive in all aspects of the play, while Complete Wing-Backs are attack first options that generally need to be supported by a midfielder that will stay deep and support them defensively.
What attributes are important for left-backs in Football Manager 23?
Obviously this is role dependent, but generally a core facet of a left-backs game will be their physical attributes. No-Nonsense Full-Backs will require strength predominantly, while the other roles all require good speed and stamina in order to cover the flank for a full 90 minute match.
In terms of mental attributes, positioning, concentration, decision-making, anticipation and off the ball are all crucial. In a match, left-backs need to make so many choices about their positioning and how much they can commit to an attack without allowing themselves to be exposed defensively, while some of those other attributes are critical for final third movement execution.
As (mostly) defence-first players, the technical focus will rely mainly on marking and tackling. Crossing will also be crucial, especially in a lower level team that plays a more direct style. Then as you move up the divisions some of the more attacking attributes will come into play: technique, passing, dribbling and first touch. Long throws are also definitely worth training if your left-back shows potential in that regard.
Who are the best left-backs 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 |
Fabiano Parisi
- Position: LB
- Club: Empoli (ITA)
- Country: Italy
Fabiano Parisi’s position as left-back at Empoli has come under threat in the last 18 months, but he continues to pass each test with flying colours. So much so, he has been linked with moves to some of Italy’s bigger clubs, while he continues to keep the equally talented Liberato Cacace out of the Empoli side.
The Italian U-21 international is an extremely solid all-rounder. He combines speed and stamina with imposing abilities as a tackler and dribbler, while solid mental attributes supplement those technical and physical skills. In many ways, Parisi is a bit of a clean slate to chisel into whatever you want – he can be a lockdown defender, overlapping wing-back, or a hybrid of both.
Despite playing for low-level Serie A club Empoli, Parisi won’t come cheap. His price range has a high floor to start the save, meaning it will likely take at least €35 million to sign him in the first summer. Assess your options wisely before pulling the trigger on such a deal.
Juan Miranda
- Positions: LB, LWB
- Club: Real Betis (ESP)
- Country: Spain
Juan Miranda has forged a solid career for himself at Real Betis. He has fallen behind Álex Moreno in the pecking order for much of 2022, but the promise of the former La Masia and Spanish youth international star remains.
Miranda is a great technical left-back. His dribbling, passing and first touch are good, but the other parts of his game are quite solid too – especially his size and strength for a left-back: he is 1.85 metres and has good strength and jumping reach.
The fact that he plays for a Spanish club is a blessing. Every player must have a buy-out clause in their contract as stipulated by Spanish law, and Miranda’s is a very attainable €16.75 million. Regardless, you can probably get him for a maximum of €10 million anyway. That’s a great price.
Milos Kerkez
- Positions: LB
- Club: AZ Alkmaar (NED)
- Country: Hungary
Milos Kerkez had a big breakout 2022, leaving AC Milan’s Primavera team to join AZ Alkmaar in January, and then moving from being Owen Wijndal’s deputy to his replacement after his summer departure. The 2003-born left-back has now also been capped by Hungary in the Nations League against Germany and Italy.
His FM23 profile is a bit of a project – and it will probably get a good bump come the winter update. His aggressive style is reflected pretty well, as is his tenacious mobility, but there’s definite room to improve significantly in pretty much every aspect. He’s the type of left-back you buy to develop; don’t expect him to be a standout starter from the off in FM23.
In terms of his attainability, you’re probably looking at a €20 million fee to sign him in the first summer. Keep in mind that he only joined AZ just six months ago too.
OUR LISTS OF THE BEST YOUNG TALENTS
Matteo Ruggeri
- Positions: LB, LWB
- Club: Atalanta BC (ITA)
- Country: Italy
What should’ve been a great 2021/22 season for Matteo Ruggeri was largely curtailed by consistent injury problems during his loan at Salernitana. He has since returned to Atalanta, where he is biding his time and waiting for opportunities.
In FM23, Ruggeri is an attacking left-back with great stamina and natural fitness that allows him to aggressively patrol his flank for 90 minutes. The technical side of his game is a little less refined, though he is an excellent crosser of the ball.
Like his team-mate Scalvini, Ruggeri looks like one of the best-value buys to make at the start of your saves. Despite having the potential to grow into a really high-level wing-back, you only need €7 million to get him. That’s a bargain.
Tom Rothe
- Positions: LB, LWB, CB
- Club: Borussia Dortmund (GER)
- Country: Germany
2004-born Tom Rothe is an incredibly interesting left-back prospect, who moved from Borussia Dortmund’s youth set-up to the fringes of the senior team in 2022, just one year after Dortmund signed him from St. Pauli.
Rothe is very much a development player at the start of FM23. The basis is there for a top-level wing-back, but you have to help him get there. He’s an imposing tackler and header of the ball, plus he has the two-way athleticism to be impactful. The big margin for improvement is in his mental attributes.
Still a youth player at BVB in the game, it won’t take much to sign Rothe. The clever option would be to sign him on loan initially before trying to work in an option to buy to spread the cost a little more.
Victor Kristiansen
- Positions: LB, LWB
- Club: FC København (DEN)
- Country: Denmark
Victor Kristiansen proved how well his development at FC Copenhagen is going with a strong outing in the Champions League against Manchester City early this season. The 2002-born left-back is now solidly experienced and just about ready for the next step up in his career.
Kristiansen is an impressive full-back for his age. Not one of his 22 mental and athletic attributes are rated 10 or lower, which provides a very solid base for his skillset. He has plenty of room to grow in terms of his technical ability, but that enables you to mould him a couple of different ways – a crosser, passer, dribbler, defender, or a mix-and-match of all.
Valued at a top rate of €8.6 million, Kristiansen is an attainable left-back talent for clubs across a wide spectrum. If you’re managing in Belgium or the Netherlands, for example, he’d be well worth getting in, developing further, then selling on for a profit. If you’re a bit higher up, cut out that middle club and get him in to play a back-up role as you nurture him.
Andy Robertson and Theo Hernández are two of the best left-backs in FM23.
Alphonso Davies is one of the best young left-backs in FM23.
