FIFA 14 Tips Even More Future Stars!

Football journalist and FIFA fan Darren Cross reveals ten more potential-packed players to buy in Career Mode…

If you stopped by the Backpage last time when we looked at some great wonderkids to sign in Career Mode, then you’ll know I promised I’d be back with another ten this week.

Here they are.

Like the future stars we focused on then, these young players are all available on current and next-gen consoles using the latest squad download, and will improve quickly and significantly if you can give them plenty of football. The vast majority can be signed in the very first window at real bargain prices and will go on to be worth many millions of pounds more than you’ll need to pay – not that you’ll want to sell them in a hurry.

Let’s take a look…

ADAM CAMPBELL
ST * Newcastle * 18
STARTING OVR: 61
POTENTIAL OVR: 80+
Magpies wonderkid Campbell is the type of striker that every FIFA player should have at least one of in their squad; explosive over short distances, pacey in longer sprints and a good finisher inside the box. He’s cheap right at the start, too. You can bring him in for a little over £300k and for that you’ll get a player that has the potential to grow his Overall rating by as much as 20 over time, with significant improvement to the key attributes I just mentioned. I recently sold him in his mid twenties for £24 million.

LAZAR MARKOVIC
CF * Benfica * 19
STARTING OVR: 74
POTENTIAL OVR: 85+
My scouts alerted me to Markovic eight years into a save game when the Benfica forward was 27, which was coincidentally how many millions I had to give his club in order to sign him. Even at that price he seemed like a bargain as he felt so good on the ball, thanks to a jaw-dropping Dribbling stat that was in the mid 90s. Markovic also had tons of pace, was a great finisher and could create chances with his excellent vision and range of passing.

At the start of a new save Lazar is temporarily unavailable as he only recently joined Benfica, so shortlist him at first then look to pick him up as soon as his club are willing to sell. By then you should expect to pay upwards of £4 million.

JESE RODRIGUE
LM * Real Madrid * 20
STARTING OVR: 76
POTENTIAL OVR: 85+
Rodriguez starts with the highest Overall rating of all the players we’re looking at here, so buy him as quickly as possible before his price skyrockets along with his abilities.

At the beginning of the game you should be able to sign Jese for less than £10 million then stick him straight into your team in any of the wide or attacking positions, as he kicks off with loads of pace, good Dribbling and can do four-star skill moves. All of which is great, but the real headline for me is how lethal his finishing can become if you get him playing well and often. I bought the striker for my PSV team in a brilliant save game I had with them, and by the time he peaked at around 28 years old his Finishing was just a few points short of being perfect.

JORDAN OBITA
LM * Reading * 19
STARTING OVR: 65
POTENTIAL OVR: 76+
If you’re not managing the sort of club with a £10 million transfer budget and need to go shopping for a quality winger at a bargain price, take a look at Reading’s Jordan Obita.

You can sign him for less than £350k in the first window, which will get you a pacey left-footed winger with tons of potential. He became an England international in my game – when I was The Three Lions manager – because his Acceleration, Sprint Speed, Dribbling and Crossing made him ideal for getting past defenders and supplying the strikers. His Overall rating may not climb quite as high as some of the players here, but don’t let that put you off as he is a very good player to use.

WELLINGTON SILVA
LM * Real Murcia * 20
STARTING OVR: 67
POTENTIAL OVR: 84+
Silva is one of those players that I’m sure I’ll sign at some point in every new Career Mode game I start from here on in, because he’s just too good to miss out on.

The Arsenal winger, who is on-loan at Liga Adelante side Real Murcia and unavailable for transfer at the start of season one, begins with very high numbers for Acceleration, Sprint Speed, Agility and Balance. His Dribbling isn’t far behind and he can do five-star skill moves. By the time he got to 28 in one of my saves all of those attributes had jumped up very nicely and he was also a big threat from anywhere outside the box with his excellent long-range shooting. In short, he was phenomenal.

JORDAN GRAHAM
RM * Ipswich * 18
STARTING OVR: 58
POTENTIAL OVR: 78+
Ipswich star Graham is another brilliant young winger you can buy straight away at a bargain price who will get rapidly better if you give him plenty of first-team action.

In the first transfer window he’ll only cost you around £200k and will bring speed, good Dribbling and four-star skills to your team. In one of my games he’s 27 years old, a fantastic crosser and one of the best dribblers around.

ADNAN JANUZAJ
RM * Man. United * 18
STARTING OVR: 61
POTENTIAL OVR: 86+
Like Ross Barkley from last week’s Backpage, Januzaj is a player that I very nearly left off this list because he’s so well known in real-life that I imagine many FIFA players have bought or shortlisted him in-game by now, but in the end I decided to talk about him here just in case some of you are yet to do so, because he’s far too good to miss out on.

For starters you can buy him in your first season for close to £2 million, which is an incredible bargain considering his Overall has the potential to hit the mid to high 80s. At the time of writing he’s 26 in my current save and one of the best players in the world, with amazing numbers for key stats like Ball Control, Dribbling, Crossing, Long Pass, Short Pass and Long Shots. He’s not the fastest of wingers but he’s not slow either and, with such great technical abilities to go with that lethal left foot, explosive pace is not required.

NABIL BENTALEB
CM * Tottenham * 18
STARTING OVR: 61
POTENTIAL OVR: 85+
Every so often I get it wrong in the transfer market and sell a player I shouldn’t have, which is exactly what I did with Nabil Bentaleb.

I had the midfielder in one of my squads and sold him for just a couple of million, as I wasn’t playing him very often and the extra cash came in handy for a couple of other moves. About four seasons later I paid £30 million to bring Bentaleb back and hoped no-one would mind. By then he’d become the perfect deep-lying playmaker I was looking for, with world-class Vision, Long Pass, Short Pass, Dribbling and Ball Control. Needless to say I now buy him much sooner – he’s available for about £400k in season one – and keep him in my team!

ARLIND AJETI
CB * FC Basel * 19
STARTING OVR: 66
POTENTIAL OVR: 76+
Centre-back Ajeti is a really solid defender who won’t break the bank at the start of the game. He costs just £550k initially and has good Acceleration, Sprint Speed, Jumping and Strength, all of which improve hugely over a number of seasons.

In one of my saves the 27-year-old is a dominant powerhouse who wins loads of headers and hardly ever gets out-muscled or out-paced when I play to this strengths.

BEN NUGENT
CB * Brentford * 19
STARTING OVR: 61
POTENTIAL OVR: 80+
Nugent is a 6ft 2in physically strong centre-back who’s great in the air, a good ball winner and has huge potential. I had him in the same save game as Ajeti above, and at the same age Nugent’s Overall rating was up by almost 20 in total and looked like it would continue to climb for another season or two.

Unfortunately he’s not available at the start of a new game because he’s on loan at Brentford from Cardiff, so Nugent’s another one for the shortlist.

So that’s 60 future stars covered in detail here on the Backpage since FIFA 14’s release back at the end of September, but there are still plenty more out there so please continue to share your player tips with fellow FIFA fans by commenting below or tweeting me @darren_cross

Thanks for reading and I hope to see you back here next time, when we’ll be looking at how to counter high-pressure players.