The best right-backs to sign in Football Manager 24
From Iván Fresneda to Michael Kayode, here's a curated list of the best young right-backs to buy in Football Manager 2024
With Football Manager 2025 cancelled completely, 2024 is still the newest iteration of the game we all know and love. Here are some of the best young right-backs to sign in your saves.
At SCOUTED, we discover the future of football - turns out, that's a pretty useful skill for Football Manager. So we’ve compiled a list of players 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; 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 Right-Backs (RBs) to sign in FM24?
Everyone needs a good right-back. While the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold are probably out of reach, here's a selection of up-and-comers that will be long-term starters in your saves:
- Iván Fresneda (Sporting CP & Spain)
- Agustín Giay (San Lorenzo & Argentina)
- Elias Jelert (FC København & Denmark)
- Michael Kayode (ACF Fiorentina & Italy)
- Saël Kumbedi (Olympique Lyonnais & France)
- Marc Pubill (UD Almería & Spain)
As always, the devil is in the detail – and that's what we pride ourselves on at SCOUTED. Below are deeper dives into each player, their profile and potential.
Iván Fresneda
Positions: RB
Club: Sporting CP (ESP)
Nation: Spain
Transfer Value: €27–33 million
One of our favourites in real life, Iván Fresneda was one of the biggest winners in the winter update of FM23. He went from promising talent to bonafide wonderkid overnight, reflecting his breakout season at Real Valladolid in LaLiga.
He’s since moved to Sporting CP in Portugal where he’s set to star on a bigger stage. While he has room to develop as an attacking force - particularly as a dribbler and crosser - Fresneda is as solid as they come as a defender and an athlete, particularly for his age. You can get him for about €30 million at the start of your saves, which would be money well spent.
Agustín Giay
Positions: RB
Club: San Lorenzo (ARG)
Nation: Argentina
Transfer Value: €6–9 million
Like Boca Juniors left-back Valentín Barco, Agustín Giay looks like a must-buy for managers on FM24. He broke into the San Lorenzo side in 2022 and has stuck there since, as well as impressing at youth level for Argentina.
Similar to Barco, Giay is a high-tech full-back. His high rankings for technique, passing, vision and composure will make him a valuable on-ball presence in any side. Furthermore, his 15 agility and 14 acceleration means he’s a nippy athlete that can burst out of tight spaces. Giay is an excellent buy for about €10 million.
Elias Jelert
Positions: RB, LB
Club: FC København (DEN)
Nation: Denmark
Transfer Value: €7–8 million
FC København have one of the more prolific youth academies in European football right now. Season on season, they push through another crop of home-grown prospects. Elias Jelert, a two-way, both-sides full-back, is one of their latest.
There are similarities to Joakim Mæhle in style and skillset. Jelert’s athletic and direct as a ball-carrier and dribbler, and has solid defensive fundamentals. As alluded to above, one of his bonuses is the ability to play on both sides as a full-back and wing-back. You can get him at the start of your save for about €7 million. That’s good value.
Michael Kayode
Positions: RB, LB
Club: ACF Fiorentina (ITA)
Nation: Italy
Transfer Value: €35–56 million
Michael Kayode was playing first-team football in fourth-tier football at 17 years old. His season in Serie D caught the attention of Fiorentina, who picked him up and have been nurturing his talents into one of Italy’s most interesting up-and-coming prospects.
The 2004-born full-back is quite a traditional one in profile. He gets up and down his wing with ease, making overlapping runs in attack and shutting down wingers in defence. He’s fast, flexible, tenacious and hard-working - a skillset which is reflected well in FM24, making him one of the game’s best emerging right-backs.
Saël Kumbedi
Positions: RB
Club: Olympique Lyonnais (FRA)
Nation: France
Transfer Value: €17–22 million
Olympique Lyonnais were quite happy to cash in on Malo Gusto, a former Football Manager favourite, because they had Saël Kumbedi coming through behind him. He should be popular in FM24 too.
He’s already a top-level athlete at just 18 years old, equipped with quickness, agility and stamina to get up and down the wing. His technical and mental attributes have the basis of a great two-way right-back as well, one that can defend and attack. OL’s financial troubles could mean he’ll be available less than his €17 million value, and that’s a bargain.
Marc Pubill
Positions: RB
Club: UD Almería (ESP)
Nation: Spain
Transfer Value: €7–12 million
Almería signed Marc Pubill this past summer off the back of a season in Spain’s Segunda División with Levante, investing €5 million to get him. It already looks like a shrewd bit of business. His FM24 profile is interesting too.
At 1.90 metres tall, Pubill is a relatively lanky right-back yet his 15 rating for pace makes him one of the quicker ones. He has a solid core of attributes that will enable him to start in LaLiga straight away; if developed right, he can probably reach a European level quite quickly. You can probably get him for half his €21.5 million release clause.
What roles can Right-Backs (RBs) play in Football Manager 2024?
Right-back is one of the most interesting positions in Football Manager 2024. You can dramatically dictate your team’s play style by how you deploy them. The different roles are as following:
- Full-Back
- Wing-Back
- No-Nonsense Full-Back
- Complete Wing-Back
- Inverted Wing-Back
- Inverted Full-Back
Each role serves a very different function. Inverted Wing-Back has become a fan favourite because of its popularity at the elite-level of the real-life game. Similarly, the brand-new Inverted Full-Back will also be a popular choice in FM24.
The other four roles can be put on a spectrum from No-Nonsense Full-Back to Full-Back to Wing-Back and then to Complete Wing-Back in order of attacking intent. The No-Nonsense role will suit lower-level right-backs with poor technical ability, allowing them to focus purely on their defensive role.
Full-Backs will still look to defend, but also offer width when needed as an overlapping runner. Wing-Backs will look to be more aggressive in all aspects of the play, while Complete Wing-Backs are attack first options that generally need to be supported by a midfielder that will stay deep and support them defensively.
What attributes are important for Right-Backs (RBs) in Football Manager 2024?
This is role dependent, of course, but generally the core aspect of a right-backs skillset will be their physical attributes. No-Nonsense Full-Backs will require strength, while the other roles all require good speed and stamina in order to cover the flank for a full game.
As for mental attributes? Positioning, concentration, decision-making, anticipation and off the ball are all crucial. Right-backs need to make so many choices about their positioning and how much they can commit to an attack without allowing themselves to be exposed defensively, while some of those other attributes are critical for final third movement execution.
