The best strikers 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 striker 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 strikers 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 strikers we’re recommending you to scout and sign on your saves this year.

Who are the best Strikers (STs) to sign in Football Manager 2024?

Strikers are the spreahead of your team. If you want to one things, you need one that can score. Here's a few for your FM24 shortlists:

• Evan Ferguson
• Wilfried Gnonto
• Marcos Leonardo
• Matheus Nascimento

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 strikers bagging goals on your Football Manager save.

Evan Ferguson

Positions: ST
Club: Brighton & Hove Albion (ENG)
Nation: Republic of Ireland
Transfer Value: €56-87 million

Before a string of chronic injuries, Evan Ferguson was quickly pushing himself into the upper echelons of the world’s best young strikers. Think back to that hat-trick against Newcastle.

He won’t come cheap in FM24, but to sign the best, you often have to pay up. What you get in return is an 18-year-old (at the start of your save) with 15 finishing, 14 heading, 14 longshots, 16 pace and 15 acceleration. That’s a little bit outrageous.

Wilfried Gnonto

Positions: AMR, AML, AMC, ST
Club: Leeds United (ENG)
Nation: Italy
Transfer Value: €15-22 million

Willy Gnonto has been amassing plenty of first-team minutes over a few seasons now and you would argue that he should be considered a winger. However, the central positions remain his most natural on FM24.

After a season in the Premier League and regular games for the Italian national team, the Football Manager boffins have given him plenty of love. Just look at his physical attributes: an outrageous blend of speed, strength and dexterity, and he has excellent dribbling, technique, first touch and finishing to match. If you need a young player to come in and play a role straight away, Gnonto is a superb option, and wrenching him out of Leeds United should be made easier by their Championship status.

Marcos Leonardo

Positions: AML, ST
Club: SL Benfica (POR)
Nation: Brazil
Transfer Value: €41-52 million

Marcos Leonardo might not have been be associated with the same hype as some of his compatriots plucked from Brazil, but he put together an excellent resume with Santos, accumulating over 100 appearances since his debut in 2020, including 13 goals in back-to-back Brasileirão campaigns in 2022 and 2023.

As a result, SL Benfica signed him. That is where you will find the Brazilian on Football Manager 2024. The Brazilian has 15 finishing, off the ball, composure and acceleration – a strong foundation for a goalscorer. He’ll be a pretty solid level striker for a top five league club with the potential to grow further, at a relatively affordable price.

On Football Manager 2025, you will find him in the Saudi Pro League with Al Hilal.

Matheus Nascimento

Positions: ST
Club: Botafogo (BRA)
Nation: Brazil
Transfer Value: €7-11 million

If you’re looking for a cheaper, less ready-made version of Marcos Leonardo, then take a look at Matheus Nascimento. The Botafogo striker is a bit-part player at this stage of his career in Brazil.

His fundamentals are pretty strong for your standard advanced forward though, with his main deficiencies being on the physical side and heading. But at that price, if you have some spare funds he presents as an intriguing development prospect.

What roles can Strikers play in Football Manager 2024?

There are so many roles for strikers in Football Manager form strikers, each one fulfilling different duties. The selection includes:

• Target Forward
• Advanced Forward
• Complete Forward
• Pressing Forward
• Poacher
• Deep-Lying Forward
• Trequartista
• False Nine

Let’s start with the Target Forward. This is your traditional number nine role, where your striker will look to use their physicality to be the focal point up front. They’ll look to stay high and open up spaces for team-mates to move into where they can receive flick-ons and knock-downs.

Next is the Advanced Forward. It’s the most popular on the game and can yield very high scoring volumes as they look to lead the line and stretch defences in behind to either score or get into good positions to assist others. They hit the channels too, on occasion, and need to be comfortable combining with others.

Then there’s the Complete Forward. Your striker needs to be a jack-of-all-trades that can combine physicality, technique and speed to involve themselves in every single aspect of your attack to play this one. Switching between Support and Attack duties will alter their aggressiveness in leading the line.

The role of the Pressing Forward is the epitome of defending from the front. Their aim is to close defenders down with their speed to restrict the amount of time they have to play out of their defence. It has three duties: on defend, they look to pass safely to their team-mates; on support, they look to take more risks as a creator; and on attack, they try to get into goalscoring positions more.

Next is the classic Poacher, which is a pretty self-explanatory role. They play on the last man and look to get onto passes in behind the defence, or look to get onto crosses with good positioning in the penalty area. They won’t look to hit channels or combine with team-mates, as they will focus purely on goal-scoring.

Then there are the more creative roles. First, there’s the Deep Lying Forward. This role will see your striker play more of a linking role, combining with the midfield or spreading it to your wide players. On support duty, they will focus mostly on their creative function, while on attack duty, they will look to create shots for themselves off the dribble.

Then there’s the Trequartista, which is a floating role in which your striker will look to find pockets of space to roam into and create in transition from between the opposition lines of midfield and defence. They are going to give almost no defensive output though, so you will need to have complimentary pieces around them.

And lastly, there’s the infamous False Nine. The premise of the role is about making centre-backs think: do I follow them into midfield, or do I let them go? The idea is that you can then either bolster your midfield with extra numbers if the defender lets your striker go, or disrupt the stability of the defensive line if they follow you, opening up spaces for other attackers and midfielders to exploit.

What attributes are important for Strikers in Football Manager 2024?

There are a few core tenets of every striker’s skillset in Football Manager: finishing, first touch, anticipation, composure, decisions, and off the ball movement. The rest of their skills will need to be moulded to their role.

For a False Nine, attributes such as dribbling, passing, technique, flair, vision, agility, balance, teamwork and acceleration are crucial as they look to bolster numbers in midfield and dribble/pass the ball to others.

As a role that is similar, but situated a little higher up the field, the Deep Lying Forward trades the False Nine’s dribbling, acceleration and agility for strength in order to play more effectively with their back to goal.

A Trequartista requires all the same attributes as the False Nine, but given their lack of work defensively, the teamwork attribute is not required as part of their skillset.

The Pressing Forward requires the most unique set of attributes, with work rate, teamwork, concentration, bravery, aggression, acceleration, agility, balance, pace, stamina, and strength the key facets of their make-up as they look to defend from the front.

The attributes required for a Poacher are the most basic. Outside of the base attributes required, they will need good heading, technique, and acceleration. That’s it. They only need to finish chances, after all.

On the other end of the spectrum is the Complete Forward, who needs to have a good rating for just about everything: dribbling, heading, long shots, passing, technique, teamwork, vision, work rate, acceleration, agility, balance, jumping reach, pace, stamina, and strength. The physical aspect is particularly important, given how all-action the role is.

The Target Forward is also reliant on their physique: especially their height, balance, heading, strength and jumping reach, given the aerial nature of the role. Aggression, bravery, balance and teamwork are also important.

And lastly, there’s the Advanced Forward, who are reliant on their speed as a crucial aspect of their skillset. Therefore, acceleration, pace, and stamina are very important, as are agility, balance, work rate and then solid dribbling, passing and technique are required when they are in possession.

Who is the best Striker in Football Manager 2024?

Manchester City’s Erling Haaland is the best goal-scoring striker in Football Manager 2024.

Who is the best young Striker in Football Manager 2024?

With a well-rounded skillset, Brighton’s Evan Ferguson is the best young striker in Football Manager 2024. Endrick and Vitor Roque also have the maximum Dynamic Potential Ability.

Which young Striker should I buy on Football Manager 2024?

If you’re looking for a cheap option, Colo Colo’s Damián Pizarro is an interesting target striker.