FIFA 16 | Best bargain attacking midfielders under £1m – Lower League Gems

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If you’re a team on a tight budget in FIFA 16 career mode, getting talent doesn’t have to be costly – just get one of these super cheap high potential players. If you liked my series on the best cheap high potential players in FIFA 16 but felt they were too expensive, these are the articles for you – every player will cost you £1m or less!

If you’re not sure what these articles are all about, click the bold link below. Otherwise, let’s get straight in to the article.

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These articles aim to highlight young, high potential players that are priced at £1m or less. If a player is not available to buy straight away, their maximum price (in the ‘Cost’ column; see below) is £500,000. Most articles will showcase players with a minimum potential of 76 (although in some cases having a minimum potential of 77 brought back more than enough players).

This year I made a couple of exceptions to the price rules. I have included players whose clubs want £1.1m for them (as opposed to a maximum price of £1m) because you can negotiate this down to under £1m, and in some cases excluding these players meant to articles were lacking players you could actually buy straight away! For the same reason I have bumped the £500,000 rule up to just under £600,000 (e.g. £525,000, £575,000, etc).

The ‘Avai?’ column is short for ‘available?’ and refers both to whether or not you can buy the specified player at the start of the first season and how long their current contract is. Let’s take Y/2 as an example – Y means that yes, you can buy him at the start of a new career, and the number means he has two years left on his contract. Similarly, N/3 would mean that no, you can’t buy the player straight away, and he has three years left on his contract. These ‘no’ players are often available for transfer if you wait until the January transfer window, however. For some players this column is blank – this means that they are out on loan at the start and are therefore unavailable for purchase until the second season.

The figure in the player cost column refers to the price you are given if you scout the player. There’s also another column – ‘Enquiry’. This refers to the price the other team want for the player if you enquire about him. Often there is a large difference between the player cost obtained through scouting and that obtained through an enquiry. This leaves a lot of room for negotiation, so don’t be put off if a price in the ‘Enquiry’ column is high, as you can usually get the player for much less. Try bidding lower than what you think will be accepted – you may be surprised at their response. If the ‘Enquiry’ column is blank it’s because the team refused to give a price, either because the player has just joined them or because they are loaning him in.

And as a final note, in FIFA 16 EA update player OVRs and potentials every week. Mose of the time these are very minor changes, and most players won’t be affected at all unless they have had a very noteworthy week. Furthermore, some players occasionally disappear if they have been put in the reserve squad that week. So just bear in mind that these figures should be read as a guide only and not a definitive account of player costs, potentials, etc, for the entire season.

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Here’s who I picked out as the best cheap, bargain attacking midfielders under £1m.

Kenneth Paal: potential 81

FIFA 16 Lower League Gems: attacking midfielders

Kenneth Paal is cheap and hugely promising

Usually, if you want a player with 80 potential or higher, you’ve got to pay well over £1m for him. But that’s not the case with Kenneth Paal – he may have 81 potential, but PSV want just £650,000 for him, meaning you can buy him for around £450,000; his wages are £1,500. That’s a seriously good bargain for someone with such high potential.

His main strengths lie in his pace and dribbling, so he’s just as comfortable on the wing as he is at attacking midfield. His passing is also decent for his OVR, so he can create plenty of chances for his teammates. The only drawback is his stamina, but if you don’t mind that then you’ll get a great little player with excellent potential.


João Teixeira: potential 76

FIFA 16 Lower League Gems: attacking midfielders

João Teixeira is very cheap for his OVR and potential

João Teixeira is far better than the type of player you expect to get for his price tag. He’s got great acceleration and 74 dribbling, so he’ll excel at beating defenders. But he’s not just a great dribbler – his 73 vision is the best of any player in this article, and his passing is also decent. That means he can use his pace and ball control on the wing, or be used as an advanced playmaker down the centre. Wherever you play him, you know he’ll do well.

He’s super cheap, too. He’s not good enough yet to force his way into the Liverpool starting lineup, and that fact combined with his one year contract mean Liverpool only want £725,000 for him, an astonishingly low amount. You can buy him for around £500,000, but if you don’t need him in the first year, you can actually get him for free thanks to that expiring contract. Just approach him in the January transfer window any time on or after his birthday (18 January) and select ‘approach to sign on contract expiry’. He’ll then join your team at the start of the second season. His wages are £10,000.


Arnaud Lusamba: potential 77

FIFA 16 Lower League Gems: attacking midfielders

Arnaud Lusamba is a great all-rounder

If you’re looking for an all-rounder who can play right across the midfield, Arnaud Lusamba is the player for you. With decent pace and dribbling, he’s strong in your typical attacking midfield areas, but there’s much more to his game than that.

He can cross well and is able to provide accurate balls into the box for his teammates, making him a useful wide player. His 71 positioning means he’ll pop up in the box at the right time to convert chances, and he’s even got decent tackling, so can drop back to central midfield if you need him to cover for someone. That flexibility means you really do get a lot of bang for your buck with him.

And speaking of price, AS Nancy want £1.1m for him, but you can get him for around £800,000. His wages are £2,000.


Now here are the other cheap, high potential attacking midfielders under £1m in FIFA 16:

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Thanks for reading! If you have any player recommendations of your own or have some ideas for the website, make sure you let me know in the comments below.

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