These are the best defensive midfielders to sign in EA Sports FC 24’s career mode.
EA Sports FC 24 career mode has a very straightforward concept. If you want to win games, score more goals than you concede. However, the defensive duties are more rigid. You have a solid goalkeeper as the last line of defense and the defenders who prevent the goalkeeper from being called into action too often.
These players are crucial to preventing opposition goals, but there’s one more individual involved in this. The defensive midfielder acts as a bridge between defense and attack, stopping opposition runs from getting too far up the pitch to cause problems. Depending on your tactical setup, these players could be some of the most important members of your team. Here are the most impressive DMs to have on your career mode team.
Fabinho
Fabinho is a Brazilian midfielder who plays for Al Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League. At the start of career mode, Fabinho is a 29-year-old central defensive midfielder with an 84 overall rating and no room to grow due to his age.
Fabinho has decent stats across the board that make him an excellent CDM, including his fantastic passing and defensive stats. Fabinho is most impressive when defending, and his bruiser playstyle, 6’2 frame, and well-rounded defensive stats make him the ideal anchorman to have just in front of your backline. Fabinho could also just as easily be deployed as part of the backline, as his defensive stats rival some of the best defenders in the game.
Ruben Neves
Ruben Neves is a 26-year-old Portuguese midfielder who plays club football for Al Hilal in the Saudi Pro League. At the start of career mode, he has an overall rating of 84 and a potential of 86 overall.
Neves has a lot of great stats, but his best stats are easily his passing stats. He has stats like 88 short passing, 88 long passing, and 87 vision, which put him in contention for best passer in the game alongside some impressive attacking midfielders. Neves’ passing stats make him a perfect deep-lying playmaker who distributes accurate passes to the forward players from deep.
N‘golo Kante Best Defensive
N’golo Kante is a fan-favorite French footballer who plays for Al Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League. At the start of career mode, Kante is 32 and has no more room to grow. Still, his overall rating of 86 makes him one of the best players in the game.
Kante is not the most technically gifted player, and he lacks heavily in areas like shooting and passing. However, he excels significantly in the physical aspect of his game, boasting stats like 89-rated reactions, 92-rated balance, 84-rated stamina, and 88-rated interceptions. If you combine those stats with his defending stats and his relentless and intercept-plus playstyles, you will quickly realize that Kante is the perfect ball-winning midfielder.
Thomas Partey
Thomas Partey is a Ghanaian superstar who plays club football for Arsenal Football Club in the Premier League. At the start of career mode, Partey is 30 with an overall and potential rating of 85.
He is a well-rounded defensive midfielder who can fulfill any number of roles in his position due to his balanced stats. With stats like 86 short and long passing, he could easily be your deep-lying playmaker. His 84 aggression, 82-rated interceptions, and 82-rated reaction make him a solid ball-winning midfielder. His defensive stats make him a valid choice to play as an anchor, and with his 86-rated shot power and 78-rated long shots, he can turn up with a goal or two when you need him to. His shooting stats are even comparable to some of the best strikers.
Aurelien Tchouameni
Aurelien Tchouameni is a young and exciting footballer who plays club football for the dominant Real Madrid in the Spanish La Liga division. At the start of career mode, Tchouameni is only 23 with an overall rating of 84 and an 89 potential rating, which would put him up there as one of the highest-rated midfielders in career mode.
Tchouameni is young and has a lot of room to grow, and as such, his stats are not quite the finished product when you first load up your career mode save. However, he still has decent and well-balanced stats, and with time, you could mold him into whatever CDM role you think is best and see his rating climb to the top.
Declan Rice
Declan Rice is an English CDM/CM who plays club football for Arsenal in the Premier League. He is only 24 at the start of career mode, with an overall rating of 85 and a potential rating of 87 that could go up with the right training plans and dynamic potential.
Rice is an incredibly physical player with starts like 84 aggression, 86 interceptions, and 83 composure that make him a nightmare to deal with when he’s on the ball or trying to win it back. He also has good passing stats that aid in your team’s build-up play and chance creation. His most impressive stat is his 91-rated stamina, which makes him a tireless runner who can do his job for you at full throttle from the first to the 90th minute.
Sandro Tonali
Sandro Tonali is a young Italian footballer who plays club football for Newcastle United in the English Premier League. Sandro Tonali starts in career mode as a 23-year-old 86-rated central defensive midfielder with a potential rating of 89 overall.
Tonali is a brilliant, well-rounded footballer with stats allowing him to do almost anything from his position as a CDM. He’s got impressive passing stats, so he can be a solid playmaker from deep. His acceleration, sprint speed, agility, reactions, and balance make him a good option as a ball-winning midfielder. With 83-rated defensive awareness, 84-rated standing tackle, and 81-rated slide tackle, he could also do a job as an anchor. Tonali also has stats like 82-rated shot power and 83-rated long shots that rival some of the best strikers.
Casemiro Best Defensive
Casemiro is a Brazilian midfielder hailed as one of the greatest midfielders of his generation. He plays club football for Manchester United in the Premier League. At the start of career mode, Casemiro is 31 with a potential and overall rating of 89, one of the highest rated Premier League players in the game.
Casemiro is a specialist footballer with a particular role that he is very good at. His defensive stats are 90-rated defensive awareness, 89-rated standing tackles, 88-rated sliding tackles, 91-rated aggression, 89-rated interceptions, 88-rated strength, and 88-rated stamina. You would be hard-pressed to find a better anchor in EA Sports FC 24 career mode.
Joshua Kimmich
Joshua Kimmich is a versatile German footballer who plays club football for the dominant Bayern Munich in the German Bundesliga. He is 28 at the start of career mode with an overall rating of 88 and a potential of 89 overall.
Kimmich is an incredible passer of the ball with 91-rated crossing, 88-rated short passing, 91-rated long passing, 85-rated vision, and 86-rated composure. He is easily the best deep-lying playmaker you can have EA Sports FC 24 in career mode.
Rodri Best Defensive
Rodri is an exceptional Spanish footballer who plays club football for Manchester City in the Premier League. At the start of career mode, he is a 27-year-old CDM/CM with an overall rating of 89 and a potential rating of 90 overall.
Rodri is a defensive-minded player with great stats to back that up. He has 88-rated defensive awareness, 87-rated standing tackles, 78-rated sliding tackles, 83-rated aggression, 84-rated interceptions, 83-rated strength, 89-rated stamina, and 89-rated reactions, making him one of the best options as an anchor DM. However, the most exciting thing about Rodri is that at 27 with a potential of 90, you could grow his stats further and turn him into an even more outstanding player.