FM23 Lower League Signings: Best Transfers For Small Teams

FM23 Lower League Signings: Best Transfers For Small Teams
Images via Sports Interactive

Written by 

Harry Boulton

Published 

28th Oct 2022 11:23

While a list of wonderkids and budget players can be useful if you've got the money and appeal to actually sign them, understanding what the best FM23 lower league signings are can be the real key to climbing the footballing pyramid. Much like real life, not every 'budget gem' in Football Manager wants to actually join your team, so it can be quite difficult to sift through the gems to actually find any viable signings, especially on a tighter budget. So, if you're wanting to find out who the best FM23 lower league signings are, make sure to check out the full list below.

  • If you're wanting all of the real FM23 badges in your save, make sure to check out our guide for how to install a logo pack.

Best FM23 Lower League Signings

Best FM23 Lower League Signings
Click to enlarge

Lower league signings are different from your standard budget Football Manager affairs, as not only do you need to constrain to tighter budget parameters, you also need to find players that will actually want to join your club. There are few feelings more disheartening than thinking you've found a diamond in the rough, negotiating a transfer fee within your tight budget, only to get to the contract stage and they don't even want to talk to you.

So, to counter this, we've tested with all of these players that they actually would join a lower league team, to hopefully save you the hassle. Every player on the list found below was willing to join Ipswich Town, who are currently in EFL League One, but your success obviously might vary if you choose a team with a higher or lower reputation.

Most of the signings on the list are free transfers, freeing your finances up slightly, although you will of course have to factor in wage expenditure, which can get rather high if you're wanting to pick up some of the better players. 

The great thing about some of these players is that their current ability rating is sat somewhere between 110 and 130, which - on the upper end - starts to get towards Premier League quality players, which should really help you out if you're wanting to quickly climb the divisions.

One final thing that you need to be careful of is work permits, which can be quite a pain for players from South American countries especially. There are a few players on this list that you might not be able to actually sign due to work permit issues, but it all depends on where your club is situated.

 

So, here's our list of the best FM23 lower league signings for you to use and enjoy:

Name Club Age Position CA PA Value
Fabricio None 34 GK 125 145 Free
Marcos Diaz None 36 GK 120 125 Free
Keiren Westwood None 37 GK 115 135 Free
Javier Belman None 23 GK 115 144 Free
Edgar Ie None 28 D (RC) 130 135 Free
Amed Elmohamady None 34 D (R) WB (R) M (R) 126 130 Free
Digao None 34 D (C) 125 140 Free
Marvin Zeegelaar None 31 D (L) WB (L) 124 132 Free
Maracas None 28 D (C) 124 126 Free
Victor Alvarez  None 29 D (L) 120 127 Free
Edu Campabadal None 29 D (R) WB (R) 120 131 Free
Danilo None 38 D (C) 120 143 Free
Manuel da Costa None 26 D (C) 120 135 Free
Andre Wisdom None 29 D (RC) WB (R) 112 140 Free
Bruno Ecuele Manga None 33 D (RC) 111 130 Free
Ziggy Gordon None 29 D (RCL) WB (R) 107 115 Free
Malachi Fagan-Walcott Tottenham Hotspur 20 D (C) 95 111 £130,000
Filip Bradaric None 30 DM M (C) 128 133 Free
Ramon Azeez None 29 DM M (C) AM (C) 125 134 Free
Joao Pedro None 29 DM M (C) 124 128 Free
Lukas Rupp None 29 DM M (C) 123 139 Free
Jean None 36 DM M (C) D (R) 120 148 Free
Eber Bessa Bali United 30 DM M (C) 120 125 £190,000
Dale Stephens None 32 DM M (C) 120 135 Free
William Vainqueur None 33 DM M (C) 120 130 Free
Fabian Rinaudo None 35 DM M (C) 120 135 Free
Danny Drinkwater None 32 DM M (C) 108 148 Free
Amadou Diambo None 21 DM M (C) 101 140 Free
Nicolas De Preville None 31 AM (LR) ST 129 135 Free
Fernandinho None 36 AM (LR) 129 135 Free
Alex Mula None 25 AM (L) M (L) 123 137 Free
Valdivia None 27 AM (LC) M (L) 120 134 Free
Giovani dos Santos None 33 AM (RLC) ST 119 150 Free
Hal Robson-Kanu None 33 AM (RLC) ST 118 130 Free
Martin Graiciar None 23 AM (R) 105 140 Free
Thomas Agyepong None 25 AM (RLC) ST 103 120 Free
Fernando Llorente None 37 ST 128 165 Free
Simone Zaza None 31 ST 120 148 Free
Fanendo Adi None 31 ST 115 122 Free
Bjorn Johnsen CF Montreal 30 ST 111 127 £200,000
Jerome Sinclair None 25 ST AM (RL) 107 140 Free

So, that wraps up this list of the best FM23 lower league signings, giving you plenty of options to fill your team out at the start of a new save and beyond. While the list above is generally more focussed on current ability, there are a couple of young players that you can pick up for free in the list that have higher potential abilities. This could either help you climb the divisions and establish a team for the future, or even make you some well-earned money from a hefty transfer fee when they're developed.

If you're looking for some FM23 bargains or FM23 wonderkids on a bit of a higher budget though, make sure to check out the two guides above for some comprehensive lists. 

Harry is a Guides Writer at GGRecon, having completed a Masters of Research degree in Film Studies. Previously a freelance writer for PCGamesN, The Loadout, and Red Bull Gaming, he loves playing a wide variety of games from the Souls series to JRPGs, Counter-Strike, and EA FC. When not playing or writing about games and hardware, you're likely to find him watching football or listening to Madonna and Kate Bush.

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