The best central 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 central 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 central 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 central midfielders 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 players we’re recommending you to scout and sign on your saves this year.

Who are the best Central Midfielders (CMs) to sign in Football Manager 2024?

Here's a little list of young central midfielders for you to sign on your FM24 saves:

• Jude Bellingham
• Javi Guerra
• Victor Hugo
• Assan Ouédraogo

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 your new favourite Football Manager midfielder.

Jude Bellingham

Positions: DM, MC, AMC
Club: Real Madrid (ESP)
Nation: England
Transfer Value: €156-189 million

Jude Bellingham is on another level to almost every player on the planet. His blockbuster move to Real Madrid elevated him to another tier entirely, impacting games with a bucket-load of clutch goals and his outstanding all-phase abilities.

His FM24 profile has everything – game-changing athleticism, astonishing mental attributes, plus a technical skillset that can pass, drive, dribble, create and score. Getting him out of Real Madrid will be extremely difficult and likely depend on him falling out of favour or feeling a bit homesick. If you get the chance, pull the trigger.

Javi Guerra

Positions: DM, MC, MR, AMC
Club: Valencia CF (ESP)
Nation: Spain
Transfer Value: €46-72 million

Another LaLiga midfielder that looks like a sure-thing for the future is Javi Guerra. The Valencia academy graduate claimed a starting role at his boyhood club at the end of the 2022/23 season. He has not let go since.

Similar to Bellingham, Guerra is a well-rounded presence in midfield. He’s quite big, pretty athletic, a multi-faceted player with a well-balanced mindset. He looks primed to be developed into a top-level box-to-box midfielder, and his traits (Tries killer balls often, Arrives late into penalty area) will make him a potent one too. He has a release clause of €100 million.

Victor Hugo

Positions: MC, AMC
Club: Flamengo (BRA)
Nation: Brazil
Transfer Value: €15-18 million

Brazil produces so much top-level talent that much of it flies under the radar. We’d put Victor Hugo in that bracket. Despite being a regular for Rio de Janeiro giants Flamengo in 2023, his presence hardly registered in wider football circles for whatever reason.

You shouldn’t sleep on him in FM24 either. Victor Hugo has a profile that should be on your shortlists if you’re managing a competitive top-five league club.

The only obvious weakness to his game is the over-reliance on his left foot; apart from that, Hugo has all the tools to be an all-action midfielder. You can’t go wrong for roughly €15 million.

Assan Ouédraogo

Positions: MC, AMC
Club: FC Schalke 04 (GER)
Nation: Germany
Transfer Value: €15-18 million

Stood at over 6’3” tall, Assan Ouédraogo is an eye-catching midfield talent. He’s a graduate of Schalke’s famous academy and one of Germany’s most interesting emerging prospects.

He has shades of Paul Pogba in style and skills. He likes to move with the ball despite his lanky size, slinking between bodies to escape tight areas and open up the game. His mental attributes need honing, but the basis is there for a big player in stature and impact.

The best bit? You can get him for a set €13 million at the start of your saves. In real life, he has moved to RB Leipzig. This is your last chance to sign him for a bargain fee.

What roles can Central Midfielders (CMs) play in Football Manager 2024?

Along with defensive midfielder and striker, the central midfield positions has the bigger variety, with a total of eight different roles to pick from, as follows:

• Central Midfielder
• Box-to-Box
• Ball-Winning Midfielder
• Carrilero
• Mezzala
• Advanced Playmaker
• Deep-Lying Playmaker
• Roaming Playmaker

The Central Midfielder role comes with four different mentalities: Attack, Support, Defend, and Automatic. The CM on Attack is one of the most popular and overpowered roles in the game, with midfielders capable of playing it in the right system being able to score a huge number of goals, rendering the role with the support duty a bit of a moot point.

Likewise, the Mezzala is also a popular role in FM24, with some even opting to play the ‘double-Mezzala’ in a three-man midfield. The Mezzala will look to move into the channels and out wide, look to be influential in the way the team plays in the final third, and suit a more up-tempo, high-pressing system that will allow them to commit to positions further up the pitch than other roles.

In terms of playmaking roles, the Deep Lying Playmaker is a popular pick for many coaches, with the role combining decent defensive solidity with playmaking from deep, while you can toggle how aggressive they are on both sides of the ball by toggling the Defend and Support duty.

A Roaming Playmaker is the ball carrying equivalent of the Deep Lying Playmaker. They’ll look to carry the ball up the field and when they get the opportunity, they’ll camp at the edge of the box looking to influence play in the final third with a shot or a killer ball.

The Advanced Playmaker is a more attacking option. They will look to sit between the opponent’s lines of defence and midfield looking to receive and then spark attacks with their creativity.

And then there are the defensive roles. First there is the Carrilero; a shuttling midfield that likes to operate across the breadth of the midfield looking to combine defence and attack in that way, rather than trying to be aggressive with their positioning.

The Ball Winning Midfielder is more aggressive, especially on the support duty, where they will look for opportunities to press and win the ball back higher up the field.

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

Unlike other positions like centre-back, there isn’t really a set of core attributes that every central midfield role requires. However, if your player has a strong foundation of passing, tackling, work rate, stamina, positioning and decision-making, then they should suit most roles.

For the more creative roles, good passing, vision, technique and off the ball movement are crucial. The Roaming Playmaker will also need dribbling and long shots, but will also be aided by pace and acceleration that will help them carry the ball through midfield with speed. The Deep Lying Playmaker is probably the most simple: give them the ball, and make sure they can control it with a good first touch, and ensure they have the decision-making skills to best propel your team forward.

Advanced Playmakers will need good dribbling and agility to negotiate traffic in the final third, as well as some flair to pull off the best creative moves to break down defences.

In terms of the more defensive roles, Ball-Winning Midfielders will require marking, strength, and pace. Carrileros need to be a bit more expansive, so they will need good vision, off the ball movement and technique alongside that tackling.

For the attacking roles, you will be looking for good finishing, work rate (to track back after surging into the box), as well as speed, off the ball movement, composure and decision making. The Mezzala will stay a little deeper in attack, but will defend a little bit higher than a Central Midfielder on attack duty, so long shots and flair become important for your Mezzala, while tackling and teamwork are still important for Central Midfielders.

Who is the best Central Midfielder in Football Manager 2024?

Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Jude Bellingham, Declan Rice and Joshua Kimmich are the highest-rated central midfielders on Football Manager 2024 based on Current Ability.

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

Without a shadow of a doubt, Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham is the best young central midfielder on Football Manager 2024. He’s obscene. Based on Potential Ability, Gavi and Warren Zaïre-Emery could reach a similar level depending on your save.

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

We recommend signing João Neves from Benfica if you want an elite-level young central midfielder in Football Manager 2024. He won’t be cheap, but this is your last chance to sign him before he becomes a PSG player in Football Manager 2025. Enjoy him while you still can.