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HullWonderkids and best young players in Football Manager 2008: Defensive Midfielders (DMC)
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If you are seeking Football Manager 2010 wonderkids then I advise you to take a look at the best list of FM 2010 young talents in the web.
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It's always important to have a midfielder in the centre of pitch who will do destruction work interrupting opponent's attacks. And, of course, you will have more prospects in case if your DMC is wonderkid. Therefore I'm going to enumerate and describe such kind of youngsters - new Pirlos and Makeleles 
Wonderkids
Ever Banega 
The most known DMC wonderkid probably. Starts the game at Valencia and costs huge amount of money already - $23.5. That were cons. His attributes and skills are pros. And especially his age - 18 years. What's interesting - Banega is more of Andrea Pirlo type. He has rather low Tackling (10) in the very beginning and high Technique, First Touch, Creativity, Decision, Passing. Average physical attributes will be increased during trainings, so don't worry about that.
Didier Digard 
Only $3.3M - the price of this young French midfielder from PSG!!! 
Digard is brave, spirited fighter with good passing. His Work Rate equals 16 what promises his good development in future. Digard has 2 preferred moves: Run With Ball Through Center, Tries Long Range Passes. Ye, he like to run through centre being very, very versatile:
You see he can play on any position in the center!
Lucas 
Fantastic wonderkid from Liverpool. The man who can dictate tempo in the centre of midfield and get crowd going. Lucas is very quick, agile, technical and mental guy. I do not see his weaknesses at all. The only thing is that it's impossible to buy him in the very beginning of a game.
Miguel Veloso 
Top transfer target DMC in the real life now. Arsenal and many other grand clubs want to buy him from Sporting. In Football Manager 2008 his price is not so high as in the real life - $9M. The guy possesses the following preferred moves: Shoots With Power, Dictates Tempo, Tries To Play Way Out Of Trouble. Veloso is also versatile midfielder who can close the position of DC if needed. And sure his values of attributes are great at start. I don't see weaknesses here also!
Gelson Fernandes
Swiss defensive midfielder from Manchester City. He is tenacious classic DMC with perfect mental and physical abilities. Try to buy him and you will not regret, I promise!
Young prospective players
| Name | Club | Age | Price | Strengths | Weaknesses |
| Omar Esparza | Chivas (MEX) | 19 | $2.3M | Very good physics, Long Shots | Average Tackling, Passing at start |
| Isaiah Osbourne | Aston Villa | 19 | $3.4M | Good physics | Average mental abilities |
| Fabrice Muamba | Birmingham | 19 | $6.5M | Next Patric Viera. All skills needed for classic DMC are fine. | Agility = 10. But it's not so important for DMC actually. |
| Marek Hamsik | Napoli (ITA) | 19 | $9M | Possesses both legs! High values of passing, tackling, determination, team work | Pace=11 Acceleration=11 |
| Distel Zola | Monaco (FRA) | 18 | $325K | Price is very low!! Age, Determination | Low Concentration (8), average Natural Fitness (11) |
| Francesco Bolzoni | Inter (ITA) | 18 | $3M | Age. Tight marking DM, with good Work Rate. | Weak in winning aerial duels because of low Jumping - 7 |
| Pichu Atienza | Atletico (SPA) | 17 | $2.8M | Very young! Fairly determined, good Tackling. | Low team work - 9. Very low passing - 6 |
| Ignacio Camacho | Atletico (SPA) | 17 | $1.5M | Tight marking DM of very young age. Good Natural Fitness, Work Rate | Average physics but he has a lot of time for training. |
| Stelvio | Braga (POR) | 18 | $16K | Lowest ever price for good DMC in Football Manager 2008! | Average speed |
| Younousse Sankhare | PSG (FRA) | 17 | Free | Young resilient halfback. Good speed, passing, determination. | Only grand clubs can sign him for free at start. Low tackling. |
| Rudolph Austin | Portmore Utd (JAM) | 21 | $350K | Cheap price. Brilliant Natural Fitness (18), Determination (17), Work Rate (16), | Not creative DMC. Very low Balance - 6. |
| Arturo Vidal | Leverkusen (GER) | 20 | $6.75M | Very versatile with superb values of attributes for DMC. Must be bought for any team! | Average team work |
| Clement Chantome | PSG (FRA) | 19 | $5.5M | The third prospective DMC from PSG! Classic one. Good passing, team work, tackling | Average aerial abilities |
| Matthieu Coutadeur | Le Mans (FRA) | 21 | $4.8M | Classic DMC with high values of all necessary attributes. | Low aerial abilites |
| Mark Ellis | Bolton | 18 | $1.7M | Young age, cheap price | Average determination and decisions |
| Ramirez | Vitoria (BRA) | 19 | $2M | Posseses potential to become new Gilberto Silva. | Average, not Brazilian level of technique  |
| Simon Walton | Hull | 19 | $375K | Price is great for a player of such calibre. Physically strong DMC. | Low balance - 7. Team work is only 10. |
| Matthew Spiranovic | Nurnberg (GER) | 19 | $1.2M | Good price. Great aerial abilities. Superb determination - 20. | Not high tackling and passing. Average decisions. |
If you know any other wonderkid player for DMC position then just write about him in the comments!
Similar posts:
Wonderkids and best young players in Football Manager 2008: Left Midfielders
Young talents and wonderkids in Football Manager 2008: Forwards (FC)
Young talents and wonderkids in Football Manager 2008: Left Defenders (DL)
AMC: Wonderkids and young stars in Football Manager 2008
Young talents and wonderkids in Football Manager 2008: Central Defenders (DC)
Young talents and wonderkids in Football Manager 2008: Goalkeepers
Lucas's main weaknessness are marking, concentration & decisions, I personally never use him alone in a DMC role as his marking tends to be a bit too lax giving the oppenents midfield a bit too much space and at times can give away crucial freekicks on the edge of the box.
First choice for this position will always be Mascherano & Palombo (don't think thats the correct spelling ^^ ), who are probably the best 2 Defensive midfield players in the game.
However Lucas does tend to play better for me anyway when I have Lucas playing in the centre of midfield.
What I find interesting is that a lot of the players your naming to be good are pretty high priced (if you compare to your other wonderkids and positions) so I am very interested how the cheap guys develop, will be looking in to that, thanks again for a great post!
It took me a couple of seasons to get Palombo & he did cost me somewhere between 12-18Million but was well worth it as even when he playing badly he still gets awarded MoM awards, plus he can also play at MC and play just as well... As well as playing as a defender if needed.
And then switching between him & Mascherano or in away matches against the likes of Chelsea, ManU or Arsenal having both of them play in DMC positions they are an extremely solid pair. And against those teams As they are so effective at breaking down & pressurising the opponents midfield .
Hi, i'm a fan of your blog and have recently been looking into facepacks,and i downloaded somefacepacks and also the winrar software. Can someone please help?
Sometimes it is enough to unpack facepacks to "Football Manager 2008\user data\graphics\" folder.
But there is official list of steps that I would advise you to perform:
1. Extract the zip/rar file into;
My Documents/Sports Interactive/Football Manager 2008/Graphics/Pictures/Players
2. You may need create the above folders, if they do not exist.
3. Load up FM, go to Options > Preferences > Display and Sound
4. Untick ''Use skin cache'' box
5. Tick ''Always reload on confirm''
6. Then click ''Confirm''
7. Then finally restart FM.
anonymous,
thanks for sharing your experience with Lucas. Concerning Palombo and Mascherano I will say that in the context of this post they are not interesting. Just because they are above 21 years old.
Vincent,
ye, if I start new game I would buy some of those cheap guys certainly. But for now I'm happy to continue Southampton story :)
Thank you so much. You are hero
You are totally right Mascherano & Palombo in the context of this post may not be relevant. However I bring them up simply because personally I have yet to come across a younger DMC who even comes close to them as most of the young players even after several seasons are still have missing crucial DMC stats. The only reason i mention this is that I have been searching probably for about 3 seasons (on 8th Season now) for younger players who are capable of replacing them and i have yet to find one who can cover all the crucial stats. :(
What is the facepack you use for Banega? Thanks :)
Hi!
I really like your blog. I found a lot of good advices.
I will start a new season with Rijeka, a pretty poor club from Croatia.
I am allowed to spend 41.000K.
Who do you think i should buy?
Ian
Ian,
I think you should try to sign some of these players
warren,
excuse me but I don't remember. I have several facepacks installed all together!
I followed your advice and bought Digard (since I am managing Man City, price was no object).
BUYER BEWARE! He has been an utter failure, fan ratings are the lowest I have ever seen for a new hire.
This purchase might end up getting me fired!
Adam Vass is also a wonderkid. I forgotten which club he is from but he is ok too. he is not my fav player coz he used as sub.
thx, cheers from Malaysia
p/s: great post!
how about parma's daniele dessena and barcelona's marc crosas?
I think desenna is very good young player, a technical DMC with good defensive attributes I think, and about marc crosas I think he will develop into a good player.
PALGOLAK,
it's hard to believe you :) May be you could show me some screen shots of him, ratings of your team and team tactics?
A great DM that I bought for Newcastle is called Roberto, I got him from a Brazilian team, can't remember which.
He's 19 when the game starts, and right now my coaches view him as my best DM, ahead of the likes of Joey Barton and Nigel de Jong.
You missed out a few players:
Pablo Piatti:
One of my favourite FM08 players. He is the first player I go to buy whenever I start a new season and is affordable to most clubs.
He is valued at 100K at the start of the game, but as many teams bid for him it is best to offer 500k - 650k. Within two years on my first ever game managing Liverpool FC his value rose to 14M, being one of the most senior players in the side despite his young age. He starts the game aged 17/ 18, and can play LM, CM, CAM, LS. Until I bought Sergio Aguero and Fred I was playing Piatti in the CAM position where he would regularly score 2 or 3 goals a game, both long range and short. He has scored on more than one occasion for me from the half-way line. Personally I think he is the best bargain/ wonderkid/ investment on FM08!
Elmanio Insua:
Argentinian left back in Liverpool reserves at the start of the game who goes on to be a valuble first team asset. He grows into a player similar to John Arne Riise, but just a lot better!
There are also players I won't explain about but are worth buying (some might not be under 21)
Dean Bouzanis (Liverpool, GK)
Krizstian Nemeth (Liverpool, ST)
Jefferson Farfan (PSV, LM, RM, ST)
Carlos Vela (Arsenal, ST)
Goran Pandev (Lazio I think, ST)
Ezequiel Garay (?, SW, CB)
Thanks, Tyler.
When you start playing fm 08, you should set french league as view only, then you could see the youngsters from Lyon, who have the best youth academy.
I play with them and players like
Karim benzema
Hatem Ben Arfa
Alexandre Lacazette 18 years in 2010
Maxime Blanc 18 years in 2010
Lionel Jacquet 17 years in 2010
Christian Blanc 17 years in 2010
are my best players,
and all of them play in French national team, even though they are only 18 (Jacquet and C Blanc play for U21)
My brother plays with real madrid, and has french league set on view only. The players I have mentioned are also world class players in his game.
he is in 2014 and Lacazette has won two times in row the award player of the year in the world.
P.S. if you go to www.olweb.fr you can see the profile of this player, so you can chech that he really exists in real life
Digard is a good DM;the only problem with him is that he has a low adaptability so,if u can afford it,it is best to loan him in the first year(at a team in the same country were he can get first team football).The DM i always buy if i am at a high profile team is Veloso.For around 15-17 mil u get the most technical DM out there(Pirlo is just a deep playmaker who,with a tackling of 8,cant be called a DM).Veloso is 21,he adapts fast,has very good anticipation and positiong;with good coaches,he turns into 1 of the most threatening midfielders out there,with high skills in first touch,long shots,passing and creativity.The only bad things about him are his bravery and his determination,around 12-13 each.In the tactics screen i always leave him with often long shots and through ball,and he hardly dissapoints me.I strongly recommend this guy.
gr8 guide 2 cheap players cannot w8 2 get the game & try out some of these players:)
jerome bigard is epic in league 1 and championship get him for free u just have to have luxemberg in your data base before u start
i fancied a change of team since im always man utd so i picked forest green rovers (BSP)
its not exactly a team that attracts clones of ronaldo and kaka but i managed to get & find a few wonderkids
English players:
1) Liam Davidson - Plays for carlisle and is only 15. got him on load till end of season and he's already scored 9 goals in 6 matches. gets a average rating of 8.00 for most games which aint bad. Attributes aint that good if your a premiership team but for championship clubs downwards a must buy!
2) Robert Sinclair - Start of game he plays for Salisbury, Again i got him on load till end of season and is a good attacking midfielder, very versatile aswell. 18/19 years old and a good buy + potential investment.
3) Danzelle St. Louise-Hamilton - Good goalkeeper for lower league teams has alot of potential. Plays for stoke and is 18.
Foreign Players:
1) Gilles Hellinckx - Potentialy good young defender/sweeper on a freebie at start of game. (belgian)
2) Marlon Badibanga - Half Belgian+Nigerian. Very versatile and is a good assist to goals given his chance. use to play for anderletch, got on a free.
3) Maxim Skavysh - One of my most brilliant young foreign wonderkid. stats are almost perfect at start of game and they improve more after a season. out of 4 games he's scored 7 goals! + 2 assists. Real must have (even if your arsenal he ties in well with bendtner). From BATE, Age is 18, Belrusian and is capped at international level already.
Fernandinho is also a good buy for premiership teams.
let me know if you sign any of these players and tell me if there good with any other teams.
steven fletcher fae hibs Star striker i am hibs and chealsea tottenham arsenal and a few others are paying a heap loads of money like 3.5mill so get him quick while he is cheap! =)
Ramires and Hernanes are good, but expensive. Chantome, Matuidi, Cana and Michael Bradley are the same. Rafael Carioca is cheaper, and Celso Borges is great for a Championship/League 1 side since he's potentially Premier League quality. Mascio plays for Cisco - you'll need a large database and don't use the updated one - I signed him for Southend for £70k and he's Premiership stuff.
Cheaper players: Laurito ST; Ochirosii AML; Villaluz AMR; Kalinic ST; Jorgensen DC; Salvio AMR; Vantaggiato ST; Musacchio DC.
Hope that helped. :)
Sergio Asenjo (GK Valladolid) - One hell of a signing. I started a game with Man Utd and decided Kuszczak and Foster were not sufficient back up to Van Der Sar, so splashed £7.25m on this guy and within 6 months he had oustede Van Der Sar from my first team. Van Der Sar retired very soon after as he could not get back in. A player for any team. 5 star recommendation!!!!
Another wonder kid worth buying( federico laurico)from udinese, he is round 5million....
well this guy is amazing now and h get some much better his strengh not to good but fast
boca - diego buonanotte
afew more
hoffenheim - carlos eduardo
standard - steven defour
standard - axel witsel
gremio - leo <-- good when its a year in
Henri Saivet - PSG forward(wonderkid)
Sakho Central Defender(wonderkid) bought him to liverpool, and at the age of 20-21 he was twice as good as agger and caragher. Even better then Terry.
yeah great blog helped me find possible targets. Personally I think a young player named kacar is a much better buy for performance and value.
this guy is a real gem, david jones (ex Man Utd), buy him from wolves for like £550K, buy him in the first season and after yu improve his strength he becomes the nxt michael essien !.
Rafael Carioca!
He can be bought for £3mill from Gremio at the start of the game because of a min fee release clause.
In my 2nd season at West Ham, at just 20yo my coachers say "Rafael Carioca would be a leading star for most Prem sides" and "Rafael Carioca should be regarded as a key member of the first team squad".
I don't think anyone has mentioned Franco Zuculini from some Argentinian side. He is amazing!! Defenite wonderkid, hard worker, consistent, fast and also posesses all the great attributes for DMC! Buy him.
Also buy someone called Chyzhov from shakthar at start of game he is available for 240k which is nothing! He is loyal, hard working and fantastic at heading. Very good for championship sides, but can also compete at prem level!!
Bobo Balde is also very good DC available for 35k which is incredible cheap for him. A definite buy there for championship sides.
Another tip, buy ukranian players, they are usually all very hard working and good. I have three ukranian internationals playing for my Reading team and they all flawless players!!
^^^ Me again ^^^
Also buy Ross Wallace on free transfer end of first season. He plays anywhere down left side he is an amazing team player, a great crowd pleaser and has a hell of a left foot!!
sorry i was on about FM 09 ^^^
Jonathan Dos Santos great 19 years old player. His from Barcelona.