This is the shortlist with the best young centre-backs in Football Manager 2023.
Just like the full-backs, central defenders have changed over the years. From big and mostly strong defenders, a modern centre-back has the ability to play a decent pass, needs to be quick and needs to have the physique to stand his ground against quick and deadly strikers.
In this article we have collected the best centre-backs in Football Manager 2023 by using our own Player Database.
Important - The list we present is based on the positions a player could play in. It is therefore possible a player will pop-up on more than one list. There are several examples of central defenders who can play as a defensive midfielder or as a full-back.
FM23 World-Class Wonderkid Centre-Backs
We kick off the list with the potentially World Class centre-backs in Football Manager 2023. All the in this area have the potential to become a leading central defender in one of the highest leagues. A lot of these players are already playing for a large club, but as always Football Manager has some great hidden gems for us! Notable players to name here are Daouda Guindo, Jaime Vazquez, Joao Fonseca.
- name
- age
- sell value
- POT
-
Daouda GuindoDL, DCDL
- 19
- € 12,507,260
-
Gastón ÁvilaDCDC
- 20
- € 47,609,260
-
Zeno DebastDCDC
- 18
- € 43,443,570
-
Joško GvardiolDL, DCDL, DC
- 20
- € -2
-
Marc GuéhiDCDC
- 21
- € 74,332,630
- 84
-
Eric GarcíaDCDC
- 21
- € 77,092,730
- 83
-
Jurriën TimberDR, DC, DM, WBRDR, DC, DM
- 21
- € -2
- 88
-
Devyne RenschDR, DL, DC, DM, WBRDR, DC, DM
- 19
- € 68,112,170
-
Caleb OkoliDCDC
- 20
- € 60,275,450
- 82
-
Mattia VitiDCDC
- 20
- € 41,440,630
-
Diego CoppolaDCDC
- 18
- € 92,688,030
-
Giorgio ScalviniDC, DMDC
- 18
- € 106,345,520
-
Wesley FofanaDCDC
- 21
- € -2
- 90
-
William SalibaDCDC
- 21
- € -2
- 88
-
Tanguy NianzouDC, DM, MCDC
- 20
- € 80,721,960
-
Castello LukebaDCDC
- 19
- € 45,011,460
-
Maxime EstèveDCDC
- 20
- € 26,218,190
-
Illia ZabarnyiDCDC
- 19
- € 32,339,690
-
António SilvaDCDC
- 18
- € 64,449,200
-
Piero HincapiéDL, DCDC
- 20
- € 56,157,870
-
Malick ThiawDC, DMDC
- 20
- € 38,629,780
- 80
-
Amadou OnanaDC, DM, MCDM, MC
- 20
- € 99,116,770
-
Armel Bella-KotchapDCDC
- 20
- € 82,206,520
-
Odilon KossounouDR, DC, DM, WBRDR, DC
- 21
- € 19,457,540
-
KaikyDCDC
- 18
- € 38,137,150
-
Christian MosqueraDR, DCDC
- 18
- € 24,478,490
-
Silvano VosDC, DM, MCDM, MC
- 17
- € 32,583,940
-
Ibrahima BambaDC, DMDC, DM
- 20
- € 34,866,940
-
José Ángel CarmonaDR, DCDR, DC
- 20
- € 17,615,400
-
Wisdom AmeyDR, DCDR, DC
- 16
- € 13,569,750
-
El Chadaille Bitsh..DCDC
- 17
- € 23,848,950
-
Jorrel HatoDL, DCDC
- 16
- € 20,697,800
-
Robert RenanDCDC
- 18
- € 17,560,450
-
João FonsecaDCDC
- 15
- € 6,304,120
-
Jaime VazquezDCDC
- 16
- € 723,300
FM23 Good Wonderkid Centre-backs
The 'Good' centre-backs are also very interesting to have a look at, especially when you compare them to older players. A potential beteen 75 and 79 looks like it could be mediocre, but in fact there are some amazing players at these kind of levels in FM23. What to think of Matthijs de Ligt (79 ability), Manuel Akanji (78 ability). That shows that players with these kind of potentials could easily become a very good central defender!
- name
- age
- sell value
- POT
-
Emanuel AiwuDC, DMDC, DM
- 21
- € 606,070
- 78
-
MoratoDCDC
- 21
- € 42,129,170
- 79
-
Valentin AntovDC, DMDC, DM
- 21
- € 7,387,700
- 74
-
Hrvoje SmolcicDL, DCDC
- 21
- € 16,541,050
- 76
-
David ZimaDCDC
- 21
- € 21,242,420
- 78
-
Jacob GreavesDCDC
- 21
- € 989,380
- 74
-
Ethan AmpaduDC, DM, MCDC
- 21
- € 57,883,610
- 75
-
Owen OtasowieDC, DMDM
- 21
- € 9,902,400
- 74
-
Andrew OmobamideleDCDC
- 20
- € 22,615,070
- 75
-
Enzo BoyomoDR, DCDC
- 20
- € 268,870
- 78
-
Quinten TimberDC, DM, MCDM, MC
- 21
- € 38,263,410
- 77
-
Lutsharel GeertruidaDR, DC, DM, WBRDR, DC, DM
- 21
- € 42,646,450
- 78
-
Micky van de VenDL, DC, WBLDL, DC
- 21
- € 19,954,840
- 75
-
Andrea CarboniDL, DCDC
- 21
- € 10,731,240
- 78
-
Benoît BadiashileDCDC
- 21
- € 70,847,100
- 79
-
Bafodé DiakitéDR, DCDC
- 21
- € 19,369,700
- 78
-
Moussa SissakoDCDC
- 21
- € 12,842,550
- 74
-
Anthony RouaultDCDC
- 21
- € 16,908,010
- 78
-
Strahinja ErakovicDR, DCDC
- 21
- € 9,066,210
- 78
-
Strahinja PavlovicDCDC
- 21
- € 26,761,200
- 79
-
Rubén PulidoDCDC
- 21
- € 6,879,370
- 77
-
Mario GilaDCDC
- 21
- € 26,502,220
- 79
-
Pablo RamónDR, DCDC
- 21
- € 15,568,580
- 78
-
Carlos DomínguezDCDC
- 21
- € 14,594,730
- 76
-
Mika MármolDL, DCDL, DC
- 21
- € 149,370
- 75
-
Juan David CabalDCDC
- 21
- € 7,264,810
- 75
-
Gonçalo InácioDCDC
- 20
- € 96,726,490
- 78
-
Flavius DaniliucDR, DCDC
- 21
- € 10,031,590
- 79
-
Frederik JäkelDCDC
- 21
- € 11,176,870
- 75
FM23 Decent Wonderkid Centre-Backs
And to close our Centre-back list for FM23 we have the players with a 'decent' potential. But when we say decent we don't mean League Two or 3.Bundesliga level. These players are still very good players to have. To compare: Arsenal's Gabriel has 74 ability, just like Chelsea ace César Azpilicueta.
- name
- age
- sell value
- POT
-
Formose MendyDR, DCDC
- 21
- € 3,064,690
- 72
-
Aziz OuattaraDC, DM, MCDM
- 21
- € 13,254,280
- 73
-
Agustín ArcandoDCDC
- 20
- € 2,724,440
- 70
-
Leo GreimlDCDC
- 21
- € 5,177,250
- 74
-
David AffengruberDCDC
- 21
- € 9,953,020
- 71
-
Ewoud PletinckxDCDC
- 21
- € 401,600
- 71
-
Arthur ChavesDCDC
- 21
- € 391,400
- 70
-
Nikola SoldoDCDC
- 21
- € 5,602,460
- 71
-
Rhys WilliamsDCDC
- 21
- € 2,828,960
- 73
-
Mark McGuinnessDCDC
- 21
- € 9,700,010
- 71
-
Lewis GibsonDCDC
- 21
- € 16,555,150
- 70
-
James HillDL, DCDC
- 20
- € 33,232,730
- 70
-
Mattie PollockDCDC
- 20
- € 18,684,260
- 70
-
Jayden OosterwoldeDL, DCDL
- 21
- € 6,267,770
- 72
-
Finnur Tómas Pálma..DCDC
- 21
- € 9,190
- 73
-
Paolo GozziDCDC
- 21
- € 2,238,260
- 71
-
Nicolò ArminiDR, DC, WBRDC
- 21
- € 4,423,530
- 71
-
Alessandro ZanoliDR, DCDR
- 21
- € 9,943,090
- 73
-
Sinaly DiomandéDCDC
- 21
- € 9,010,940
- 72
-
Ramón JuárezDCDC
- 21
- € 5,750,390
- 71
-
Víctor GuzmánDCDC
- 20
- € 9,857,190
- 73
-
Danila ProkhinDCDC
- 21
- € 13,450,860
- 72
-
Kegan JohannesDR, DC, WBRDR, DC
- 21
- € 308,920
- 70
-
Alberto QuintanaDC, DM, MCDM, MC
- 20
- € 4,931,360
- 70
-
Daniel GonzálezDCDC
- 20
- € 3,586,590
- 70
-
Gonçalo CardosoDCDC
- 21
- € 1,794,450
- 70
-
Manu SilvaDC, DM, MCDM
- 21
- € 489,850
- 73
-
Yann-Aurel BisseckDC, DMDC
- 21
- € 244,790
- 73
-
Ben WattDR, DCDR, DC
- 18
- € 1,865,460
- 70
-
Rafa MarínDCDC
- 20
- € 10,236,580
- 74
-
Raúl TorrenteDL, DC, DMDC, DM
- 21
- € 12,365,170
- 73
-
Chadi RiadDCDC
- 19
- € 4,010,600
- 70
-
José CórdobaDL, DCDC
- 21
- € 2,903,660
- 72
-
Nduka JuniorDCDC
- 20
- € 28,710
- 74
-
Zach WillisDR, DCDR, DC
- 16
- € 1,129,500
- 70
-
DayvissonDC, DMDC
- 16
- € 1,370,940
- 70