Posted by Football Manager Guru in 
In my spare time, I have finally completed one season of Football Manager 2010. For every release, the first game I usually play will be one which I edit with a Data Editor to give me a large transfer budget. Then I would buy players that I reckon would be good in the new release of the game and test them out with a mid-table Premier League team. Hence, some of the players you see in the pictures might be over-valued. After which, I would start a new game and play properly without the aid of any data editors. And usually in my new game, I would purchase players that have served me well in the past. Below are the top 10 buys, that I think given sufficient transfer fund, most clubs should make. My edited game is based on the Premier League side, Sunderland.
Note: Click on images for larger view
1. Guillermo Ochoa (Goalkeeper)
Ochoa started off in the game as a fairly average player. Nothing too spectacular about him and he is probably on par with most of your normal Premier League keepers. I remember when I just purchased him, the fans of Sunderland was pretty unhappy as they felt he was not worth 11 million price tag. However, half way into the season he proved everyone wrong as he improved at such a tremendous pace he quickly became one of the best keeper in the game. Just make sure you have a good goalkeeping coach in order to maximize his true potential. Ochoa average rating for me in the whole of the first season was 7.3 for all games. Put him behind a strong back four and you will probably be getting plenty of cleansheets. He always seems to be able to be in the right place at the right time to make those spectacular saves. I remember there was this game I beat Arsenal 4-2 with Arsenal having twice as much shots on target as me. Needless to say, he kept made tons of spectacular saves for me. A must buy if you are having goalkeeping issues. He will be a reliable solution for many years given his young age.
2. Darijo Srna (Right Back)
Srna is a natural born leader, starting the game out at 20 Influence and the Croatia national team captain. He is a beast at the Right Back position. One of his strongest traits is his crossing which you can see, develops into almost a full 20 after 1 season. I have seen my right winger lay the ball off for him to make a killer cross into the penalty box countless times throughout the whole season. He is also my current Sunderland captain and is a real hardworking team player. He’s relatively pacy and his work rate is immense. His only weak point is his poor marking attribute which at times allow good wingers to dribble past him, but with two good central defenders you should be fine.
3. Gareth Bale (Left Back)
If you look at his attributes, there is nothing too fancy about this young left back, but strangely he is one of the most consistent performers in my Sunderland squad for the first season. Bale has never made a single mistake that has led to a goal, and he always seem to be up field to support the left flank when my team is attacking, yet strangely, I can always count on him to be back in my own half when the other team launches a counter. My guess is, at the tender age of 21, he will develop into a really good left back give a few seasons.
4. Miguel Veloso (Defensive Midfielder)
Veloso is a fairly young DM who always can be relied on to be an effective DM. He is the first player I pick when I am playing a big team with a very creative midfield. Watch him break up play with his tackles and also he is pretty good in the air compared to most midfielders. His other trademark is to rifle powerful shots from outside the penalty box, and he has done that for me on quite a few occasions. Veloso is all about effectiveness, he does not run with the ball much, the moment he receives the ball, he will quickly make a pass. Pretty much what you would expect of your normal DM. Great player. Real Madrid made a 44 million bid for him after the first season.
5. Luka Modric (Winger, AMC)
Perhaps my best buy of all, Modric never fails to entertain the crowd. This guy is an absolute assist machine down the left flank, and the best part is that he is good with both feet, meaning he can also play down the right flank, but I found him to be ruthlessly effective down the left as compared to the right. Having a good right foot also means that Modric can cut in from the left flank and lay a killer through-pass with his right foot into the penalty area. In addition, I have seen on many occasions where Modric will happen to be on the far post to tap in a cross coming from the right flank. If you badly need a winger get Luka Modric. You will not be disappointed.
6. Jack Rodwell (Central Midfielder)
Jack Rodwell starts of the game as a nobody. But for a teenager of 18 years old when the game started, his stats are surprisingly good. My guess was that he was going to be a wonderkid in the game, and right from the start I played him for twenty games in a row in the heart of midfield. And sure enough, after half a season, he was already being one of the more consistent performers in the team. His passing was great and his passes were simple but effective. After one season his stats are the above, far from being a really good midfielder, but my point being that, if you are going to invest in a young player for the future, look no further than Jack Rodwell. In my game he is touted as the next Steven Gerrard.
7. Marek Hamsik (AMC)
Initially, when I bought Hamsik, I thought he was going to be a flop because he produced nothing spectacular for me for the first few games. This was because of his inability to speak English. But I gave him time to settle in, and when he eventually did, he was an endless creative source of energy in the heart of the midfield. His trademark is his runs from the midfield into the penalty box, that many a times, even the commentators will make a remark that his runs are a constant threat to the opposition. He will often make those runs that go unnoticed by defenders, until it is already too late when he is through on goal or having so much space to take a long shot on goal. This can be attributed to the fact that his Off The Ball attribute is pretty high. Hamsik still has many years ahead of him, but at the moment he is already proving to be quite a player.
8. Xabi Prieto (Right Winger)
Prieto is what completes my midfield. He is a constant menace down the right flank as he is a good dribbler of the ball. His crosses into the penalty box are usually of high quality, and he has won many Man-of-the-Match awards throughout the whole season for me. The Sunderland fans absolutely adore him. Besides he has never missed a single penalty for me. A great penalty taker. In addition for some reason, Prieto is pretty good at heading in goals from cross or set-pieces. His Jumping attribute is pretty high for a tricky right winger, something that reminded me of Christiano Ronaldo.
9. Mirel Rãdoi (DC)
Rãdoi is great Centre Defender. His high anticipation allows him to make many key interceptions and also he is largely dominant in the air. Might not be one of the best Centre-backs in the game, but for a price around 10 million+ , it is unlikely you can find someone better than him. A consistent performer.
10. Edin Dzeko (Striker)
Dzeko is one of those players who can create something out of nothing. He is one of the key people in my squad that enable the team to unlock really tight defenses that we have trouble breaking down. He is also very good in the air, making him a potential target man if you play the ball to his head. Will probably go on to be one of the best strikers in the game. Dzeko is pretty good with both his feet, meaning he can shoot from almost any angle. His tall frame of 193cm allows him to score regularly from corner kicks as well.
Leave me a comment! Tell me about your best players and finds!
another good player to buy is juan manuel vargas.. think of a faster david beckham with a left foot.. and he can play left back too.. he is a left midfielder.. gives you all the assists you need…
the best left winger is without doubt ashley young
he just kills the opposition’s defenders, scores goals , crosses and what else…..
Thank you all for your suggestion of great players. I am sure many others out there will find your suggestions useful. Keep going!
yoann gourcuff!
unfortunately I did not have the time out Gourcuff yet, but I remember back in 09 he was a beast lol. Cheer Syahrir, thanks for suggesting!
Bonuanette – Winger LR
Hulk – Winger L/St
I’m manager of Lazio (not in my blog). Manage to buy this player and they is brilliant player
@zam: I have never personally bought Hulk before, but I suppose be is a good target man? will try him for my current Wolves game if I have the chance. Thanks for your suggestion (:
Thanks for adding me to your website, btw i reckon Stefan Jovetic & Mario Balotelli are wonderkids for the FM 2010.
@g.ban: hey no problem (: yeap they sure are. Jovetic is probably one of the best future wingers in the game. thanks for the suggestions, many people will find this helpful.
Yes Hulk good playing as targetman.. but 1 drawback is he prone injury. So need to risk if you want to buy him
Oh hmm, thanks for this piece of advice. Just curious, how injury prone is he exactly? is he the kind of player who cannot play a few games in a row without getting injured?
According to my scout.. he is injury prone.. but in may game, not really bad… still i’m happy to have him.. always score with power shot…
I see, thanks zam that was helpful. Unlikely I would buy him though, Wolves is a small club and we have limited funds, can’t afford to pay an injured player to be not playing all the time.
Let me know if you find anything else (:
I believe you forgot Gojko Kacar, and Frank Ribery, when they can be free agents in the 2nd and 3rd seasons.
Marcus Berg is fantastic also.
during the first season, i always purchase donovan on a free(comes in January)
And sakho, balotelli, Akinfeev, Joao Moutinho, and cassano are fantastic
Hey Jon,
thank you for your suggestion. as a matter of fact, I am looking into buying Gojko Kacar for my Wolves team after he was scouted by my scouts. I am sure my readers would find your suggestions useful (: Thank you for the support!
linderoth. he is 30 but will last a good few seasons, fantastic attributes and only 400k
Hey Jarvo, always good to see new people commenting on this site (: Thanks for your suggestion I am sure people who are cash strapped can look him up. Cheers (:
Jack Rodwell – a monster later in the game. I’ve got him for my Arsenal in the third season and he starts almost every match, average rating of 7.34 with 12 goals and 10 assists in the LEAGUE!
Ignacio Camacho – Similar player to Rodwell, plays both DM and CM. Smaller physically but better technically. Young wonderkid and will develop into a world beater.
Federico Fazio – Monster CB who is a natural DM as well. Relatively young and develops well.
Yoann Gourcuff – Very, very good playmaking CAM. Sprays short passes everywhere to create scoring opportunities.
Moussa Sissoko – Extremely strong and tireless DM from Toulouse FC. Develops into a fantastic holding midfielder who makes intelligent passes from deep.
Mathias Jorgensen – Big, young Danish CB from FC Kobenhavn, similar to Brede Hangeland. He develops great physical attributes, particularly speed. Mental attributes are average, suffering in the concentration and decision making departments. But he rarely makes a big mistake.
Jack Wilshere – Wonderkid winger. Becomes a world beater in several years time with the right training.
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@subterrific, thank you for your immense contribution. I personally have tried Jorgensen, and I actually tried to sign him for my current Wolves’ squad, pity he did not want to join us.
Gourcuff is a really elegant footballer. His crossfield passes really takes your breath away some times. One of my favourite players in FM09.
I’ve only had Hamsik & Dzeko on FM2010 but must agree that they do a top class job
hi im liverpool and i seem the struggle sometime when it come to playing team eg. birmingham, burnley and sunderland any ideas and Joe Cole is a good player !
@Qzinho: Yeap, Dezeko is absolutely class as a targetman. Really strong in the air as well.
@Joe: Hi there! I think your problem is likely to do with your tactics. Liverpool comes out of the box a relatively strong side, and with good tactics they should be handling teams like birmingham, burnley and sunderland. Try out different tactics, and read about tactics on the official Sports Interactive forums. Those might help! Cheers! All the best in your FM career.
I want to thank the blogger very much not only for this post but also for his all previous efforts. I found footballmanagerguru.com to be extremely interesting. I will be coming back to footballmanagerguru.com for more information.
I want to thank this footballmanagerguru for the amount of time and passion he has made.. not Only for all his helpful hints and all these graphic packs he shares…but the amount of detail he goes into about everything.. what a excellent job you are doing.. Keep it up.. I am definitly bookmarking this page.. Class
@Simon: Hey Simon! Thank you for your kind compliments and like always, it’s a pleasure to meet new readers. Such comments always inspires me to write better content for my readers. And your bookmark means the world to me. Hope to see you around soon!
(:
Im having trouble with the logo packs you have available..i have managed to download the kit packs and the face packs no problem..but i come to download the logo packs..and there are 4 parts.. and there is nothing i can use to Extract the files.. please can you help me
Thank you
I think i just have a problem on how to extract fmf files
Doesnt matter..I did it
And what a difference it makes.. Your graphic packs are one of a kind.. Keep it up.. You are truly the Fm Guru 
@Simon: Hey simon sorry for the late reply, was up all night watching the Manchester United vs AC Milan Champs League tie, so glad to know you figured it out. And thanks for the compliments (: It means a lot to me. Enjoy your new graphics!
Here is what Moussa Sissoko becomes after four seasons:
http://i41.tinypic.com/10ye1p1.jpg
http://i40.tinypic.com/nvcilc.jpg
£10M initial investment, becomes a world-class midfielder by age 24.
You can’t see them in the above pictures, but his Technique is 16 and Work Rate 18.
THE OBVIOUS ONES: Balotelli(Inter), Ramsey(Arsenal), Dzeko(Wolfsburg), Gourcuff(Bordeaux), Juan Manuel Mata(Valencia), Toni Kroos(Bayern Munchen), Diego Buonanotte(River), Serio Aguero(Atletico), Romelu Lukaku(Anderlecht), Artem Milevskyi(Kiev).
ALSO QUALITY: Alex Teixeira(Vasco), Mesut Ozil(Bremen), Kristian Adorjan(MTK II), Dedryck Boyata(Man City), Vergard Forren(Molde), Tinga(Ponta Preta), Abdi Ibrahim(Man City), Sergio Canales(Racing), Iker Muniain(Racing), Alexis Sanchez(Udinese), Jucilei(Corinthians), Axel Witsel(Standard), Steven Defour(Standard), Breno(Bayern Munchen).
BARGAINS (FREE OR V.CHEAP) Kerrea Gilbert(Arsenal) Stephen Appiah(Free), Gabriel Milito(Barca), Kerlon(Inter).
@To$h: Thank you for your contribution, those are some really quality players.
@subterrific: thanks for the suggestion, I think people who are building a squad for the future will be interested in him (: Cheers!
leigh griffith from dundee is awesome and only 19 a think, bought him and scores at least 20-25 goals a season, scores against teams with a big reputation aswell, can pick him up for round about 1 million
also you can get otamendi on the cheap, very good defender only 21, turns out to be a quality player, another player who turned out to be class for me was vaclav kadlec, only 17ish, pick him up on the cheap, very good striker!
Tore Reginuissen can be sighned at start of season on approachabe contract for free. will be sighned in january. He Turns into grat CB and will sighn for most prem sides and top championship sides. Also Jo from man city is quality buy at 1.8 mill 2 season. Top scorer 3 years running for west ham and helped me win the league 3,4,5 season
Hi there, 1st season at West Brom and looking for a quality left back and right back with a transfer budget of around 4 million, any suggestions?
i will tell you who is a really good player it is yannis tafer but really amazing when he gets older on my game his finishong attribute is 20 or 16 year old iker muniain for athletic bilbao might not look that good but he scores from time to time but he always gets man of the match on my game bags lots of assists
i cant believe it i have missed a player it is sakho from psg he is a rock solid defender and he turns world-class in the 2011-2012 and then on
great suggestions, never really tried out yannis tafer, will definitely try my him out in my next game (:
you can get Shevchuk for LB he done an amazing job for me at Wolves and I got him for less than 1 million.
i got a three great young player….
great striker guiseppe rossi…
winger angel di maria…
and midlefder steven defour…
great players!!!
amazingly i signed rene adler for 5.25 million you usually wont get him that cheap but requested to be transfered liisted great job for me.
akinfeev also great goalie
wonderkid keepers:
Carles(Xerez)
Ibrahima Bolou
great youngster cost me 9-60k now worth 4mill and still 17yrs old
iker munian going to be as good as torres i think
david villa is a great signing for clubs with a large transfer budget like 40mill as valencia need money
he scored me 120 goals in 2 seasons no joke he really can score
another good MC and can play as AMC is Bernardo. he is 19 years old and is better than Juninho Pernambucano in his times
. i play with Steaua Bucharest and he is the player of the season and surprisingly i reached the EURO Cup semi finals 
. anyway i need some good Left Back and Right Back for my squad. money isn’t really a problem. Gigi Becali is a nice and kind boss ^_^
hey rambo alex thanks for your contribution to this growing list of amazing players !
Hey there V_For_ViXx, for LB and RB, I recommend Gareth Bale aka mr consistent since money isn’t an issue for you, as for RB you cannot go wrong with Rafinha. If you are late into the game, Rafael develops into a really good RB as well (: Cheers and good luck!
MR. GURU,
For every release, the first game I usually play will be one which I edit with a Data Editor to give me a large transfer budget.
remember when you said that at the top of this page…
how do you do that??
mr guru
any suggestions for an attacking midfielder
As For your AMC, you can consider Marek Hamsik, Toni Kroos and of course every FM 2010 veteran’s favourite, Marco Verratti. Cheers! All the best in your hunt (:
@Rambo alex: you can download FMRTE to edit your game files. just do a search on google (:
DMC – Annan cheap and dam good
Zaurate- monster striker, every year 3-4 seasons in wins all the awards
Lee Catermole/ Sandro/Fellani/Palacios all good central midfielders
Canella as left back
badstuber after a couple of years training turns good
sorry forget mamadou sakho
DMC-Sandro… Internacional
DMC-Franco Zuculini… Hoff
DC-Leandro Cabreira… Atl.Madrid
DC-Ottamendi…?
DL-Jose Angel…Sporting Hihon
And ….
Cristian Ansaldi – DRL\WBRL – Will become a 30mil player after 2-3 season – cost= 4.8mil
Nicolas Otamendi – DC – Worldclass after 2-3 seasons – cost= 3.8mil
Matias Defederico!!!!!!!!
Hi im in my first season with Celtic and I bought Chevaton who plays for Sevilla and he is really good. You should try him out. But im looking for a central midfielder, any suggestions?
few players playing well for me, halfway into 3rd season with chelsea,
lukulu – bought as my long term replacement for drogba, but currently keeping drogba and dzeko out my 1st team, also 10 goals in 16 starts for belgium.
salvio – paid £30 million in 2nd season, now starting to perform as a rm
rodwell – imense in cm role also get the assists when i used him on the rm role.
lewis holtby (sp) – scouts found him in germany bought for £10mil can play any position in mf – scored some vital goals already
now waiting for borini to finish his loan spell 10 goals in 16 games in the championship with preston, labelled the next christian veiri
i have a 23million budget and i need to buy a new striker!!!!! Any suggestions???
hy,i have a big problem,i manage newcastle,and i start evry seazon very, very bad(20 place in 15 games),and my best striker(jovetik)only scores 7-8 goals per seazon,in my last seazon i finised 6th(the best seazon)but with the same problem,i beat man u,arsenal and liverpool but i can beat up not forest,birm, burnsley and general te smaler teams in the league,please healp my,
my email is fm_genius@yahoo.com.
by the way,i think you shoud buy bogdan stancu from steaua,i use him as a sub for jovetik end he scord for me agains man,chelsea,and the winnig gol against arsenal and liverpool,i sold him because of my owner (he acceptet 15 mil for him)i bouth him for 5
Hi, Players to look at:
Lucas Digne- LB
Jordan Spence- RB
Kyriakos Papadopoulo- DC
Zezinho- AM L
Mats Rits- MC
Alexandre Coeff- MC
Livaja-SC
Amine-SC- think may be a hidden player, paid 500k, instantly worth 6m and scores every game.
All these players are very young and can pick them up on the cheap, and also go on to being world class, let me know what you think
Liam
verratti pescara 16yr old CLASS
gignac striker CLASS
witsel
defour
adler
sakho
danny wilson class
i found a young player in Argentina Called Patricio Rodriguez and he looks like he will develop into a good player but i cant sign due to a work permit does anyone who has played a couple of seasons know if he will get one ?
i Need a good GK cause my keeper is not good enough for Championship level. any reasonably cheap Keepers ???
Hi there,
i will mention some really good players i am at the end of my 5th season with spurs and 4 premier division + 2 champions cup wins so far..
Some of my good transfers:
GK Andrea Consigli – Young and talented goalkeeper Atalanta offered him to me for £6M, so i jumped on him
DL Juan Manuel Vargas – £25M @ 2012, he is quality as everyone knows. I am switching him regularly with Gareth Bale
DC Neven Subotic – £11.5M @ 2011, he is a really defending tower and young talent. You might find it funny but he is the top goal scorer after my strikers every season because he scores a lot of goals from corner kicks
DC Nicolas Otamendi – £17M @ 2013, to be honest he is recommended by all scouts and descripted as World Class, but he never satisfies me with his game play
DC Mathias Jorgensen – £1.7M @ 2009, he is quick he is tall and plays well. totally bargain
DMC Anthony Annan – £3.3M @ 2009, this guy is a tackling beast and surprisingly he gives very good pinpoint passes and also good at assisting. another good bargain
DMC Angelo Palombo – £20M @ 2010, he is my captain and also symbol name. he has everything a DMC needs + good personality and creativity
DMC-MC – Jack Rodwell – £5M @ 2010, Everton stupidly offered him to me in this cheap price. I did another jump on him
AMRLC – Eden Hazard – £13.25M @ 2009, This guy is 17 at the start of the game and develops really good player in time. He was AMC but i trained him as winger and he adapted in to it with his great pace and acceleration.
AMLC – Mesut Özil – £20M @ 2011, another great guy with great speed which i am using on left wing. As a turkish man, i am really sorry that he is playing for the germany
AMRLC+FC – Mauro Zarate – £30 @ 2011, great dribbling skills and flamboyant winger+attacker. i am using him in everywhere, striker winger etc
AMRC – Yoann Gourcuff – Free @ 2013, start tempting him with media comments as soon as possible and get him for free when his contract ends. i am using him on right wing which he is doin very well
AMRC+FC – Sergio Agüero – £50M @ 2012, best player of FM2010 without any discussion. After i really got sick of Modric’s big club whinings i sold modric and got him. he never turned me down and he is a match winner alone.
FC – Edin Dzeko – £19M @ 2010, i think everyone knows him. no need to mention his abilities again
FC – Andre-Pierre Gignac – Free @ 2013, another free transfer of a good name. he is a really good sub for me
PS: Keep in mind, most of my offers have 50% percentage of next sale clause. I use it for buying players which i would never sell.
I have another big names but i wanted to give you the names i personally tried. I hope this list helps.
I’d suggest going for Sergiy Kryvstov and Sambou Yatabare, if you are looking for players that are not only young and talented..
kryvstov should appear on most wonderkid lists..
yatabare in the other hand is a useful AMC with great physical strength…
oh yeah, tomas necis is also another player worth checking out..
i played using west brom, so if anyone wants a good left back at a decent price give joe mattock of west brom a go…
daniel aquino is another player for the future who can play left flank and up front…
rune almenning jarstein is a good goalie if anyone is looking for a bargain buy…
@Iain: go for silviu lung jr. should be good enough for the championship…
@TJ thanks for the suggestion Silviu lung is a great buy only played 6 games with him but has 5 clean sheets and a rating of 7.73.
for gk test Dimitar Ivankov.in the second season he is free from one turkey team.very often arsenal take him.i tested him with villa
and he was very good.
i am searchin for right winger..
for bid 15 milions euro
any nice suggestions?
Good right winger, Lennon, after 2 seasons, worth 34M
Also Renato Augusto, he adapts to the wing really well, young Brazillian
Frenchy- Lloris is the best goalkeeper on the game, Played 52, conceded 12, worth 28M after 1 season- rating of 7.8 for season.
Hey Mr. Guru,
it may be a bit early but do you know the date of the football manager 2011 release??
im really eager to geet it!!
Juz for info…
David De Gea is a great keeper… I think i bought him like 2-5 mil and in one season he can be sold for 32 mil