Getting started with a team that has not yet reached the upper echelon of the sport is a great way to have a fun save in Football Manager 26, but if you’re going to do it then you better have some good, affordable targets in mind for the transfer window. While the players on this list are not beating down the doors of the Real Madrids and Arsenals of the world, they are all solid players with good potential at affordable transfer fees and expected wages at the start of the game.
To compile this list, we ran scouting on the top names from the position lists on FM Scout’s list of best bargains. Everyone who cut our list simultaneously has a bottom-end transfer fee estimate of under $1 million and was rated as having at least a ceiling of being a solid contributor for an Arsenal side currently favored to win the Premier League.
Although they may not ever be winning you titles single-handedly, they can be bargain-bin stars on a growing team while still contributing deep into your FM save with the right development.
GK – Slawomir Abramowicz (Jagiellonia, $325k to $3.2 million fee, $78.5k to $123k per year)
A good wall at the back is a must for a successful squad, particularly in early seasons when you have not had much time to transform your team into the unstoppable juggernaut it will eventually become. A reliable cheap option in goal for early in your save should simultaneously be bringing play capable of taking over a game at the lower level that corresponds to your budget while young and high enough in potential to grow. This allows you to capitalize on the years they are your best option then cash in and sell for a profit.
Available for a bargain, Slawomir Abramowicz can be that profitable starter for your club thanks to his low up-front cost and comically low wage demands, projected at an average ask of only about $2,000 per week. With such low expenses Abramowicz is a good bet to be worth more than he costs by the time you’re ready to upgrade to the next level of keeper.
DC – Jamie Lawrence (WSG Tirol, $500k to $5.2 million fee, $215k to $323k per year)
The heart of most successful clubs is a rock-solid defense that can be relied upon to shut the door on the opposition. When you know you can keep the ball out of your net, it becomes a lot easier to start racking up points and shooting up the standings as the burden on your attacking players becomes so much smaller. To that end, finding a young, talented central defender with the potential to grow into an excellent core for your spine is ideal.
If you’re shopping with a moderate budget then Jamie Lawrence could be that central defender. Already talented enough to be a regular starter outside of the very highest leagues, he also has potential enough to have caught the eyes as a good prospect even when managing an elite club. With reasonable costs, he can be a bargain for your club for many seasons to come.
DR – Kimito Nono (Kashima, $650k to $6.6 million fee, $233k to $355k per year)
European and South American sides may dominate the final stages of the international game, but no nation from outside of the two big confederations has more consistently fielded competitive teams of top players than Japan. While they have struggled in recent years in the AFC Asian Cup, they remain a top side who is always a threat when they show up to a World Cup ready to cause problems.
Kimito Nono is a part of the next generation of Japanese football you are likely to see making consistent runs to the knockouts of major tournaments. Available for an estimate as low as just $650k on $5,000 a week wages, he instantly brings competent full back play, and at just 23 has plenty of time to grow and be molded into the wing back you need going forward.
AMLC – Thiago Fernandez (Velez, $800k to $7.8 million fee, $71k to $108k per year)
Wing play is extremely important in most modern tactical layouts, with wings responsible for providing service to the central scorers just as much as for providing end production from feeds off those same players. Finding exciting prospects on the cheap is not easy in such a high-profile position, but they’re out there.
Although the high end of Fernandez’s asking price can be a problem for smaller sides, if you can negotiate a reasonable price, he’s an exciting young prospect for the wing. At just 21, he already has the building blocks of a tricky wing destroyer who you can nurture, develop, play, then sell for a hefty profit when the time comes.
AMLC, ST – Jose Juan Macias (Pumas, $18k to $180k fee, $120k to $177k per year)
The striker market is famously an expensive one. The sport is about scoring goals at the end of the day, and the players who can do that successfully are wildly popular as a result, with wildly high price tags to match. That means it can be a difficult position to find key players for on the cheap, especially once you are out of the lower leagues and spending on strikers of a top level.
While you’ll likely need to have hit big on development or successfully thrown out some cash on a young future stud to find your Champions League-level striker for under nine figures, players like Macias are here for you in your early seasons ready to bring competent goal production abilities at a cost that doesn’t immediately price out every smaller club in the game from being able to afford him.
Your early bargain players may not be the ones lifting the biggest trophies someday, but some will become club legends along the way. Get shopping and find your cut-rate heroes!
