The best attacking midfielders to sign in Football Manager 2024

With Football Manager 2025 cancelled, 2024 is still the newest iteration of the game we all know and love. Here are the attacking midfield wonderkids to sign on your ageing save.

At SCOUTED, we discover the future of football - turns out, that's a pretty useful skill for FM titles. So we’ve compiled a list of attacking midfielders that can be defined as “wonderkids” in the latest game. A few of them will be familiar faces but others will, hopefully, be players you’ve never heard of.

They’re not necessarily the best players on the game; they’re players that we like in real-life that look good in FM24. If you just want the list, here you go - here are the attacking midfielders we’re recommending you to scout and sign on your saves this year.

Who are the best Attacking Midfielders (AMs) to sign in Football Manager 2024?

Baturina to Wirtz, here's a list of the best young number 10s to sign on your FM24 saves:

• Martin Baturina
• Bilal El Khannouss
• Xavi Simons
• Florian Wirtz

Of course, SCOUTED is all about detail. So, the team has put together some short profiles for those of you thirsting for more insight into the attacking midfielders pulling the strings on your Football Manager save.

Martin Baturina

Positions: MC, AMC
Club: Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)
Nation: Croatia
Transfer Value: €10-25 million

Croatia has pedigree for producing great creative talent, and Martin Baturina is the next in an esteemed line of midfield playmakers to emerge from the Dinamo Zagreb academy.

If you want someone to unlock a defence, Baturina is as good as any. He has the vision to do it with clever passes and the ball control to do it with jinky dribbling. If you get him around the box in FM24, good things will happen – we guarantee it. €25 million is the top-end price to sign him at the start of your saves.

Bilal El Khannous

Positions: MC, ML, AMC
Club: KRC Genk (BEL)
Nation: Morocco
Transfer Value: €20-31 million

Bilal El Khannous achieved a after breaking into the first team at KRC Genk in 2022/23. He nailed down a starting role for one, and he even went to the World Cup with Morocco having switched allegiances from his native Belgium.

The teenager is a high-end facilitator. He knits the game together with simple but intelligent actions. His rating for passing, vision, decisions, composure and off-ball movement replicate that in FM24.

He won’t come cheap though, despite playing in a mid-tier league: you’ll need at least €20 million to sign him. On Football Manager 2025, you will have to pay even more to sign him from Leicester City.

Xavi Simons

Positions: MC, AMC
Club: Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
Nation: Netherlands
Transfer Value: €38-48 million

Xavi Simons has had immense pressure on him since an early age. He signed boot deals at 12 years old, starred in Nike adverts at 16, and had viral videos being shared across the internet for longer than that. But he’s pushed through to become one of Europe’s brightest attacking talents.

You can see that in his FM24 profile. Simons has the skillset of a game-changing attacker: he can dribble, combine, create and finish, and has the ability to play in every attacking position.

In-game, your time to get him should come when he returns to Paris Saint-Germain from his season-long loan at RB Leipzig. But be quick. In real life, he joined the Bundesliga side on a permanent deal.

Florian Wirtz

Positions: MC, AMR, AML, AMC
Club: Bayer 04 Leverkusen (GER)
Nation: Germany
Transfer Value: €73-113 million

Fully recovered from an ACL injury, Florian Wirtz is back to doing what he does best: being the creative spark in an exciting Bayer Leverkusen team. Xabi Alonso’s side is even better for having him in it.

Wirtz’s qualities in FM24 are obvious to see and utilise. Get him behind your striker and let him get on the ball between lines to dribble at the defence and slip passes through to your forwards.

He has the quality to score himself too, adding another layer of danger. He’s one of the best in FM24 – he won’t be cheap, but he will be worth it.

What roles can Attacking Midfielders play in Football Manager 2024?

Outside of Goalkeeper, Attacking Midfielders have the most limited number of roles in FM24. You only have the following five roles to pick from:

• Attacking Midfielder
• Advanced Playmaker
• Trequartista
• Enganche
• Shadow Striker

The Advanced Playmaker will act as your team’s creative fulcrum. They will look to receive in pockets of space between the lines, using technical and passing quality to break down the defence. On attack duty, they’ll dribble at defenders more often to disrupt their shape.

The Attacking Midfielder role, on the other hand, will see your player occupy the hole behind the striker in a more aggressive way than an Advanced Playmaker. They will look to do a bit of everything behind the centre-forward, and having them set on Attack duty really encourages them to get involved.

The Trequartista role is fairly similar to the Advanced Playmaker, although they commit heavily to the offensive side of the game and will leave a lot of the defensive duty to others out of possession. They’re the old-fashioned number 10.

The Enganche is a creative role that will see your player stay quite stationary in the hole behind the striker for the attack to build around. They won’t attack the channels or the box, they are almost like a rebound wall that is excellent for building with one-two passes, for example.

And finally, the Shadow Striker role is the most aggressive role that looks to attack the penalty area with regularity, trying to work with another striker in their vicinity. Shadow Strikers are direct off the ball too, looking to create high turnovers to regain possession in dangerous parts of the pitch.

What attributes are important for Attacking Midfielders in Football Manager 2024?

The Enganche and Advanced Playmaker will require the same essential attributes: vision, dribbling, passing, technique, teamwork, off the ball movement, flair, decision-making, composure, anticipation, and agility. Another creative role, the Trequartista, will require the same attributes, but also some acceleration and finishing for those late runs into the penalty area.

The Attacking Midfielder skillset isn’t too different either. That will require finishing and long shots for creating from themselves from outside the box and also for looking to attack the penalty area and find chances there.

A Shadow Striker relies on pace, acceleration, stamina and work rate to fuel their off the ball work, as well as finishing and composure to aid them in the penalty area.

Who is the best Attacking Midfielder in Football Manager 2024?

Kevin De Bruyne and Lionel Messi are the best attacking midfielders in Football Manager 2024.

Who is the best young Attacking Midfielder in Football Manager 2024?

Jamal Musiala is the best attacking midfielder wonderkid based on Potential Ability, just ahead of Florian Wirtz. Depending on your save, Gavi, Mikey Moore and Estêvão could have a higher Potential Ability.

Which young Attacking Midfielder should I buy on Football Manager 2024?

Martin Baturina is a great budget option for those looking to sign a difference-making attacking midfielder in Football Manager 2024.