Are you building a low-budget squad but you are not sure about which defenders you should buy ? Take our suggestions of the best free defenders for FIFA 16 Career Mode.
Best Defenders for FIFA 16 Career Mode can be found here
Best Young Defenders for FIFA 16 Career Mode can be found here
How to choose Best Free Defenders for FIFA 16 Career Mode
In this article, we will suggest the best free defenders for FIFA 16 Career Mode that you should be able to use in your club. Keep in mind that the best players for us may not be for you. It depends of your club, your other players, formation, transfer budget, wages budget, play style, preferences, etc…
To select the best players, we have mainly into consideration their stats, potential and age.
In our website we suggest defenders of three categories:
- Best of the Best
Ideal for unlimited wallets or for who wants the best.
- Best Deals
Decent defenders that you can find at good prices or ending their contracts.
- Best Young
Young defenders with great growth. Potential future top players.
Quick Access
Centre Back
Right Back
Left Back
Best Free Centre Back for FIFA 16 Career Mode
Our Choice: NICOLAS NKOULOU
Nationality: Cameroon
Club (first season): Marseille
Rating: 81
Potential (1): 86
Age: 25
Most of the good centre backs in the last year of contract are old. But not all. Nkoulou is perfect for a pre-contract. He is fast and defends well.
Best Alternative: MARTIN CÁCERES
Nationality: Uruguay
Club (first season): Juventus
Rating: 81
Potential (1): 81
Age: 28
Cáceres is a top player and he can be yours. Great free signing in January.
Second Best Alternative: JAN VERTONGHEN
Nationality: Belgium
Club (first season): Tottenham Spurs
Rating: 82
Potential (1): 82
Age: 28
Vertoghen is strong and defends well. Do you think you can convince him to joins to your club ?
#4: JOEL MATIP
Nationality: Cameroon
Club (first season): FC Schalke 04
Rating: 80
Potential (1): 83
Age: 24
He is so young for someone with his talent. The problem is the price, right ? Wrong!
#5: NALDO
Nationality: Brazil
Club (first season): VfL Wolfsburg
Rating: 87
Potential (1): 85
Age: 33
Naldo for free? Yes, why not? He may be a decent cheap buy in any career mode lasting a few seasons.
BEST FREE CENTRE BACKS
1. Nicolas Nkoulou
2. Martin Cáceres
3. Jan Vertinghen
4. Joel Matip
5. Naldo
6. Andrea Barzagli
7. Solomon Kverkvelia
8. Bernardo
9. Nemanja Vidic
10. John Terry
Best Free Right Back for FIFA 16 Career Mode
Our Choice: GREGORY VAN DER WIEL
Nationality: Germany
Club (first season): Paris Saint Germain
Rating: 70
Potential (1): 80
Age: 27
This is a very balanced high-quality player. Since his contract with PSG is expiring, you have a good chance to improve your team with him. If you already have a good right back, why not signing him to use as backup ?
Best Alternative: MICHEL MACEDO
Nationality: Brazil
Club (first season): UD Almería
Rating: 76
Potential (1): 80
Age: 25
Do you like fast full backs who are able to run all game without getting tired? If you answered yes, then you can’t miss this player.
Second Best Alternative: LORENZO DE SILVESTRI
Nationality: Italy
Club (first season): Sampdoria
Rating: 77
Potential (1): 80
Age: 27
Van der Wiel and Michel Macedo are our first choices but you need backup plan. De Silvestri has everything you need in a full back (ok, passing could be better) and he will still grow up.
#4: DARIJO SRNA
Nationality: Croatia
Club (first season): FC Shakhtar
Rating: 81
Potential (1): 81
Age: 33
If your plan is to play only one or two seasons, then forget Van Der Wiel. The player you need is Srna and he is ending his contract with Shakhtar. Unfortunately he already has 33 years because he is an incredible player.
#5: BRANISLAV IVANOVIC
Nationality: Serbia
Club (first season): Chelsea
Rating: 80
Potential (1): 80
Age: 31
Ivanovic was one of the best defenders of previous years and this time he can be yours for free. His stats are more suitable for a CB than for a right back. However, there is no other RB who defends as he does. Besides that, he is younger than Arbeloa and Maicon, both also in the end of contract.
BEST FREE RIGHT BACKS
1. Gregory Van Der Wiel
2. Michel Macedo
3. Lorenzo de Silvestri
4. Darijo Srna
5. Branislav Ivanovic
6. Ivan Martic
7. Zaldúa
8. Dennis Diekmeier
9. Romain Métanire
10. Tito
Best Free Left Back for FIFA 16 Career Mode
Our Choice: CANER ERKIN
Nationality: Turkey
Club (first season): Fenerbahçe SK
Rating: 78
Potential (1): 80
Age: 26
This is a great player you can’t miss. He is young enough, has great stats and he still has room to improve his skills. Oh, almost forgot: he can sign for free in the end of the first season.
Best Alternative: STEFAN RADU
Nationality: Romania
Club (first season): Lazio
Rating: 79
Potential (1): 79
Age: 28
Radu will not grow up any more. But he doesn’t need it. He is already a very good left back that only misses in passing stat.
Second Best Alternative: PATRICE EVRA
Nationality: France
Club (first season): Juventus
Rating: 81
Potential (1): 81
Age: 34
If you are only looking for the best left back that you can get for free, then Evra is your best choice. You will need someone to replace him in a short time, but until there you will be playing with a top-quality player.
#4: CRISTIANO BIRAGHI
Nationality: Italy
Club (first season): Inter
Rating: 73
Potential (1): 79
Age: 23
This is probably the position with less quality in FIFA 16. The talented Italian left back is only 23 which means that he can be useful for many years.
#5: GRIMALDO
Nationality: Spain
Club (first season): FC Barcelona
Rating: 70
Potential (1): 80
Age: 23
Sometimes you need to sign young players before they grow up and become much more expensive. That’s what will happen with Grimaldo. In three seasons he will be one of the most wanted left backs in the game. If you want to invest in young players, add Afonso Figueiredo, Angelino, Falanagan and Varela to your watch list.
BEST FREE LEFT BACKS
1. Caner Erkin
2. Stefan Radu
3. Patrice Evra
4. Cristiano Biraghi
5. Grimaldo
6. Mário Rui
7. Afonso Figueiredo
8. Jon Flanagan
9. Aziz Behich
10. Angelino
If you want to check the best free players for other positions, just click over it:
If you want to check the best defenders of previous years, just click over it:
Notes:
(1) Potential is an average of estimated rating a player can reach. It doesn’t mean that you will reach that overall nor that you won’t overcome it.
Great Page! Only thing I noticed was for Naldo it says rating 87, potential 85 and age 85. But still very helpful!
Thank you very much.
We already checked his age and it is correct: he born in 1930. Just kidding.
Sorry about that. We already fixes it. Thank you very much for alerting us.
Good to know that you liked it. In that case, keep visiting us. We have many Career Mode guides to be published in the coming days.
I noticed that van der Weil has a rating of only 70. Anyways great website! Thank you
Gregory van der Wiel ? In the first season is 78.
You wrote he’s 70 rated 😉
Grimaldo and silvestri has same face
Please clean you cache and re-check it.