Football Manager 23 Best Free Agents
Profiles on some of the best free agents to sign on your FM23 saves
We cover youth football and we love Football Manager. We’ve combined both to compile a list of some of the best free agents on Football Manager 2023. These aren’t necessarily the best but they’re interesting prospects for clubs across the spectrum of football.
We’ve tried to keep to our under-23 threshold where possible, and we’ve also incorporated some players that will be available on pre-contract deals early in your saves. You may have to load up bigger databases to access all of these names too.
For more insight into young players, check out our extensive talent lists and in-depth player profiles.
Jerome Sinclair
- Position: ST, LW, RW
- Last club: CSKA-Sofia (BUL)
- Country: England
You may know the name of Jerome Sinclair. He was a highly-rated prospect at Liverpool some seven years ago. He made a few first-team appearances in the 2014/15 season which further fuelled the excitement around him before a €4.9 million move to Watford.
He failed to break into the team there and subsequently bounced around a lot of clubs. Loans to League One teams, a season in the Eredivisie at VVV-Venlo, and most recently a year at CSKA-Sofia in Bulgaria. He’s been out of football since 2021.
Sinclair would be a worthwhile signing for those managing clubs in the lower tiers of English football, anywhere between League One and the National League. His FM23 profile is quite a generous one; he has skill as dribbler and an off-ball mover, plus has decent physical attributes. If you can get him in the fourth or fifth tier, Sinclair can be a difference-maker.
Sava Čestić
- Position: CB
- Last club: HNK Rijeka (CRO)
- Country: Serbia
Sava Čestić hs the basics of a solid centre-back at a solid level. Having broken into senior football at 1. FC Köln, he was released at the end of his contract before being picked up by top-flight Croatian club HNK Rijeka in 2022. Just eight appearances there preceded another contract termination.
He’s still available as a free agent at the start of your FM23 saves, and Čestić would be a low-risk addition for clubs competing in mid-level leagues. If you’re a little restricted in terms of budgets, this is as good an opportunity as any to get a young defender – with two senior international caps for Serbia – that’s capable of being a solid starter from the off and a valuable asset in future.
Alhassan Adamu
- Positions: DM, CM
- Last club: Ankara Keciörengücü (TUR)
- Country: Nigeria
We’d never heard of Alhassan Adamu before firing up Football Manager 23, but he definitely has the potential to become a bit of a favourite on this year’s game as a free agent at the start of your save.
Having moved to Turkey’s second division fom Nigerian football in 2020, he’s now without a club but his profile is a very solid one. Adamu is a compact, aggressive ball-winner in midfield. High ratings for Aggression and Bravery are a part of it, but he also works hard and has a very mobile athletic skillset.
If you’re managing at a lower level, you should definitely have a look at Adamu. We’d expect him to be a solid operator in Scandinavia, for instance, or second divisions across Europe. At 21 years old, he also has the potential to develop further.
OUR LISTS OF THE BEST YOUNG TALENTS
Branimir Kalaica
- Positions: CB
- Club: SL Benfica (POR)
- Country: Croatia
Branimir Kalaica has been educated at two of the best academies in world football: GNK Dinamo Zagreb and SL Benfica. He was signed by the Portuguese club from Croatia in 2016 and quickly established himself as a starter for their B team in the second division.
After over 100 appearances for the side, he’s been released this past summer. While he doesn’t make the grade at Benfica, Kalaica can definitely be a solid asset for other Portuguese clubs and across Europe. He lacks a bit of intelligence as a centre-back, but his technical and physical attributes will hold their own at the right level.
If you’re a lower-level team that wants to play out from the back, the Croatian centre-back is well worth a look. Get him in on trial, if you can, and see how he stacks up against your current options.
Ola Solbakken
- Positions: RW, LW
- Club: FK Bodø/Glimt (NOR)
- Country: Norway
You can sign Ola Solbakken – a key player for a strong Bodø/Glimt team and Norwegian international – on a pre-contract agreement as soon as you reach July 1st on your saves.
Big and physical, Solbakken is a left-footed right winger that offers a consistent goal threat with his movements and dribbling from wide areas. His FM23 profile enables him to be an impactful player in a top-five league straight away, we think. His finishing ability combined with his work rate, size and speed is a potent mix.
You won’t be able to actually sign him until January, but that’s well worth the wait to get a Norwegian international that’s been great for Glimt over the past couple of seasons. He may cost a fair chunk in wage commitments, but he’s worth it.
José Cifuentes
- Positions: CM
- Club: LAFC (USA)
- Country: Ecuador
LAFC’s José Cifuentes is another young player that you can secure on a pre-contract deal on or after July 1st on your saves with his MLS contract expiring in December.
Cifuentes has been on our radar since the U-20 World Cup in 2019, where he was central to an exciting Ecuador side. LAFC picked him up soon after and Cifuentes has played almost 100 games for the Los Angeles club over the past few years.
He’s a well-rounded midfielder that can be a powerful presence between both boxes. Cifuentes is a capable dribbler under pressure, a solid passer and ball-winner, as well as a powerful runner – combine all those together and you get a midfielder who can contribute to multiple phase of play. Don’t waste time, because he could easily re-sign at LAFC or be poached by a rival.
Jerome Sinclair is a good option if you’re managing a lower-league club in England. Glimt’s Ola Solbakken is a great player to sign on a pre-contract agreement as well.
A clever tip is to search for players, set your parameters, and filter/sort them by international appearances. That way you can find players that have player to a high level for their nations.
