FIFA 17 | Good teams for career mode – Levante UD

Introduction: How do these articles work?

Each Sunday I examine a different team in detail and look at why they’re a good team for FIFA 17’s career mode. The teams are broken down into the following categories:

  • Tier 1: Teams in tough divisions that can push on to challenge for silverware
  • Tier 2: Teams that will have to fight for survival in a challenging division
  • Tier 3: Teams that start in a lower division but can hope to get promoted and work their way up higher leagues
  • Tier 4: Teams that start right at the bottom of the pile, with few funds or high potential players

FIFA 17 good teams for career mode: Levante UD

Levante UD (Tier 3)

Tier 3 sides start in a low division but have a great chance of working their way up the leagues – perfect for ‘journey’ career modes or returning a team to former glory.

Contents

  1. Why choose Levante UD?
  2. Lineups
    1. Strongest starting lineup
    2. Highest potential lineup
  3. Recommended purchases
  4. Suggested sales
  5. Future considerations
    1. Get a new right back

Starting transfer budget: £5,530,398
Starting wage budget: £28,744
Default formation: 4-4-1-1
Board expectations:
• Domestic success: Critical
• Continental success: Very low
• Brand exposure: Low
• Financial success: Medium
• Youth development: Low
Key player: José Morales
Best young prospect: Jefferson Lerma

Why choose Levante UD?

If you want to work your way up from a lower league but want to start with a good budget and some high potential players, Levante UD are a great choice. In fact, they have both the best budget and the most high potential players in the Spanish second division, giving you a great head start. The board expectations are lenient, too – only domestic success is important, and your budget and starting players will help there.

Of course, that doesn’t make this an easy career mode. Competition is quite high in the Spanish second division, so winning the title is not guaranteed. And of course if you do get promoted, you’ll have to deal with some of the best teams in the world and the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Levante UD’s key player is José Morales. The highest rated player on the team, he’s a left midfielder with 90 acceleration, 88 sprint speed and 85 dribbling. That’ll make beating defenders a breeze, but he can score goals too due to his 75 finishing. As long as he stays fit, he’ll be the main player to power you up the league table.

The team’s most promising young player is Jefferson Lerma. A CDM with 83 potential, he really has everything you need in a defensive midfielder. He’s fast and has 90 stamina, so will cover every blade of grass. But as well as that he’s got 75 strength, 75 stand tackle and 80 slide tackle, so will be very difficult to beat. His passing, dribbling and shooting are all good too, making him a hugely well-rounded player.

Strongest starting lineup

Changing the formation slightly to 4-2-3-1, here is Levante UD’s strongest starting lineup, with OVRs in brackets:

FIFA 17 good teams for career mode: Levante UD

Highest potential lineup

Keeping the formation at 4-2-3-1, here is Levante UD’s highest potential lineup, with potentials in brackets:

FIFA 17 good teams for career mode: Levante UD

Recommended purchases

Key signings required: CB, LB, ST.

Before buying anyone, change the budget ratio to 69:31. This will give you £4,917,565 in transfer funds and £40,529 in wages. Now let’s buy some players.

FIFA 17 good teams for career mode: Levante UD

Jordan Silva will develop into a rock at the back

FIFA 17 good teams for career mode: Levante UD

Jordan Silva
Club: Toluca
Position: CB
OVR: 70
Potential: 79
Age: 21
Cost: £1,100,000
Wages: £10,000

While the two centre backs in the potential lineup above have decent potentials, Rober Pier is actually only in on loan. When he goes, the next highest potential centre back has potential 77, so you might want to think about bringing in a higher potential player to make sure you’re ready for promotion.

With that in mind, I suggest you buy Jordan Silva of Toluca in Mexico. He’s 21 but already has 82 strength, so will be able to deal with most strikers straight away. He’s 6’3″ and good in the air, and his tackling stats are decent too. His potential is 79 but that’s only 9 points of growth – with some training, he could easily get into the early or even mid 80s.

That makes his price even more remarkable. Toluca want just £1.6m for him, which you can get down to just £1.1m. His wages are £10,000.


FIFA 17 good teams for career mode: Levante UD

Antonio Barreca is a speedy, high stamina left back

FIFA 17 good teams for career mode: Levante UD

Antonio Barreca
Club: Torino
Position: LB
OVR: 70
Potential: 79
Age: 21
Cost: £1,600,000
Wages: £20,000

The lowest potential spot in the starting lineup is at left back, where Toño has 76 potential. The only other left back in the team is loaned in for the season, so once he goes this position will really need some attention.

Get it sorted early by buying Antonio Barreca of Torino. He starts at 70 OVR and has 79 potential, so can begin as Toño’s understudy and gradually take over. His 90 sprint speed and 86 stamina are perfect for a full back, meaning he can blaze up and down the flank all game long. He can attack and defend equally well, so will be a very useful player wherever he is on the pitch.

Torino want £2.1m for him but you can buy him for £1.6m. His wages are £20,000.


FIFA 17 good teams for career mode: Levante UD

Anthony Lozano is a powerful striker with high potential

FIFA 17 good teams for career mode: Levante UD

Anthony Lozano
Club: CD Tenerife
Position: ST
OVR: 71
Potential: 79
Age: 23
Cost: £2,200,000
Wages: £8,000

While Levante UD do have five strikers, only two of them are any good really. Juan Delgado and Matías only have 68 and 70 potential respectively, and Víctor Casadesús is 31 so will decline from his 72 OVR pretty soon. That leaves just Roger and Rafael Martins, and Martins only has 74 potential so isn’t really one for the future anyway. You’ll need another striker to fill the void while Deyverson is still loaned out.

My choice is Anthony Lozano of CD Tenerife. He’s got a great balance of speed and strength, which will help him perform well against higher rated defenders. His 74 finishing is good and his heading isn’t far behind, and with a bit of training he’ll be excellent in the air thanks to his height and 73 jumping. That all makes him a great all rounder with high potential.

CD Tenerife want £3.3m but that can be brought right down to just £2.2m. His wages are £8,000, and he wants the ‘squad rotation player’ squad role. It’s also worth noting that you can sign him for free in January, as long as you don’t mind him joining you in the second season rather than the first. You could also save even more money by recalling Deyverson (81 potential) from loan and getting Lozano on a free transfer.


Those transfers will leave you with £17,565 in transfer funds and £2,529 in wages. Obviously that’s not enough to buy anyone else or any scouts, so let’s see who we can sell in order to raise some money.

Suggested sales

FIFA 17 good teams for career mode: Levante UD

Víctor Casadesús can be sold for around £1.5m

First off, sell goalkeeper Koke for £400,000 and centre back Kaiser for £200,000.

As for midfielders, sell Natxo Insa and Álvaro Traver for £1.5m and £400,000 respectively.

Finally, Juan Delgado, Matías and Víctor Casadesús can be sold for £250,000, £250,000 and £1.5m each.

That will leave you with around £4.5m, which is almost as much as you start the career with and should be plenty if you want to buy some more players or a couple of scouts.

Future considerations: get a new right back

FIFA 17 good teams for career mode: Levante UD

Aitor Buñuel has fantastic potential and a low price

Iván López is a solid right back with 79 potential, but his backup Pedro López is 32 and has hit his 72 potential. We’ll need a replacement to take over fairly soon.

I recommend you buy Aitor Buñuel of CA Osasuna. He’s pacey, has good stamina and can cross and tackle equally well, making him a good option at right back or further up the pitch. More importantly, he’s got 85 potential, so will develop into a fantastic player. And with 70 OVR, he’ll already be challenging for a starting spot, despite only being 18 years old.

Even better, CA Osasuna want £3.1m for him, which can be brought down to around £2.3m. His wages are £8,000. That’s a brilliant price for such a promising young player.


That’s it for this week’s article on good teams for career mode. Getting promotion should be fairly straightforward for Levante UD, but you’ll need to plan for the future and bring in some promising players if you’re going to do well in the top flight. But with a good budget and high potential players, it’ll be great fun getting there.

I’d like to hear if you have any thoughts about the format of the article itself. Did you find it useful? Conversely, do you think it was missing something that you’d have liked me to include?

Don’t forget to connect with me on social media. I’m running the FIFA Scouting Tips YouTube channel, and you can follow me on Facebook or Twitter for all the latest updates.