FIFA 16 | Best bargain centre backs 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 centre backs under £1m.

NOTE: Just before we get started, if you want a free centre back, look out for Derrick Williams at Bristol City (details in the table below) His contract is expiring, so you can approach him from 17th January onwards (as that’s when he turns 23).

Nordi Mukiele: potential 81

FIFA 16 Lower League Gems: centre backs

Nordi Mukiele is super cheap considering his potential

As I mentioned in my ‘good teams for career mode’ guide on Stade Lavallois, Nordi Mukiele is a player to watch out for. While he’s still a little bit raw right now, he’s only 17 and has plenty of time to grow. More importantly, he’s got potential 81 so his OVR will shoot up. He’s got a great future ahead of him, but right now has decent strength and jumping stats, plus he’s not at all slow for a centre back. Just make sure you don’t over train him, or his physical stats will get stunted.

Normally you’d expect to pay a pretty penny for anyone with potential in the 80s, but Mukiele’s price doesn’t even come close to £1m. Stade Lavallois want you to pay £625,000 for him, but you shouldn’t need to pay more than about £500,000 for him; his wages are also very cheap at just £1,250. That’s a fantastic bargain for a player with such high potential.


Duje Ćaleta-Car: potential 78

FIFA 16 Lower League Gems: centre backs

Duje Ćaleta-Car is a brilliantly well-rounded player

If you’d rather have a more developed centre back, there’s no better option than Duje Ćaleta-Car, and he’s probably the most complete high potential centre back you can buy for less than £1m. He’s very strong, decent in the air, has very good defensive stats and has good pace for a centre back, too. That gives him the perfect foundation to build upon, and with his 78 potential he’s going to become a very talented defender in a few years’ time. For the balance of stats he’s got, he’s a player you should seriously consider.

RB Salzburg put his price at £975,000, but with a bit of negotiation you can get that down to around £750,000. His wages are £2,000.


Modou Diagne: potential 76

FIFA 16 Lower League Gems: centre backs

Modou Diagne is extremely fast for a centre back

The most obvious thing you notice about Modou Diagne is his pace, and it’s absolutely phenomenal – with his 85 sprint speed he is just not going to get caught out by pacey strikers. He’s the perfect centre back if you expect your opponent will play lots of balls over the top, as not only is he fast but he’s great in the air too. While he’s not exactly the strongest centre back in the world, that’s more than made up for by his speed, and he will provide a lifeline where slower centre backs wouldn’t be able to keep up.

As with Ćaleta-Car, AS Nancy want £975,000 for Diagne, but you can knock that down to around £750,000. His wages are £4,000.


Now here are the other cheap, high potential centre backs 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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