Transfers

The Best Advanced Forwards In FM23

The advanced forward position is critical if you are relying on your main striker to lead the goal-scoring charts for your team and act as the focal point in most of your attacks.

However, getting strikers who are well-suited for this role is never easy, and with that in mind, I have come up with this list to make it easier for you to snag a few of the best advanced forwards in FM23 at the start of the save.

Role of Advanced Forwards in FM23

However, with great ability comes a great transfer fee, unless you strike lucky with some hidden gems. Check out my guide on how I set up my scouting assignments to scour the best regions in football manager.

I have tried to restrict this list to players aged 28 and below so that you can get more than five years of top service from them.

Without further ado, here are the best advanced forwards in FM23;

Benjamin Šeško

Born in 2003, Sesko is only 19 years old at the start of FM23. He is very much an out-and-out striker, capable of only playing in the striker position.

However, what he lacks in versatility, he more than makes it up for it in his attributes.

At 194 CM, and with decent physical attributes for a teenager, Sesko has the potential to develop into a world-class advanced forward in no time.

Should you wish to, Sesko can also be moulded to play as a deep lying forward or a target man, however, you will be sacrificing his explosive pace in doing so.

Despite playing in Austria for RB Salzburg (He will join RB Leipzig at the end of the first season), Sesko will easily cost upwards of 70 million pounds.

Check out his FM23 profile here.

Endrick

At 16 years old, Endrick is even younger than the aforementioned Sesko. However, his potential has already made Real Madrid pay the big bucks for him.

Despite this, you should not lose hope of acquiring the Brazilian wonderkid.

Once he moves to the Spanish club in 2024, a loan move is a good route to getting his services, however, if you are eying him up for a more permanent move, waiting for Real Madrid to sign a few more striker wonderkids then going after him when he ultimately lacks the game time that befits a player of his quality is always a viable route in football manager.

Check out his FM23 profile here.

Erling Haaland

He just can not miss out on a list discussing any type of striker in football manager.

Haaland is the complete package; finishing, anticipation, strength and even pace, the man has it all.

The only hold-up will be convincing Manchester City to let him go and the wages you will have to pay the man.

If you manage to do it, you will have the best advanced forward FM23 has to offer, unless the game throws up an insane regen striker in a few years.

Advanced forward, complete forward or even as a poacher, Haaland will do it all for your frontline. The only disservice you can do to him is assign him to a role like a false 9 or deep lying forward that makes little use of his explosive pace.

Check out his FM23 profile here.

Kylian Mbappé

Mbappé can comfortably challenge Haaland for who is the better advanced forward.

Just like the Norwegian, the Frenchman will cost your club an obscene amount in transfer fees and wages, but he will more than reward you with enough goals to win all the titles that you compete for.

What Mbappé has over Haaland is versatility. Should you get a change of heart and want to try a different system, Mbappé will comfortably operate in both the right and left flanks as an inside forward, inverted winger or a raumdeuter.

With his ridiculous wage demands, singing the 24-year-old is only realistic for a handful of clubs unless you wait for a few years when he starts slowing down in his 30s.

Check out his FM23 profile here.

Youssoufa Moukoko

Borussia Dortmund are experts in identifying young talent and turning them into worldwide superstars. Moukoko is firmly on that path.

Capable of playing as an advanced forward and a shadow striker, the 18-year-old wonderkid will give you some flexibility in trying out different systems or accommodating another striker when you inevitably sign one.

With a contract that expires in 2026 and playing in the Bundesliga for one of the biggest clubs in German football, Moukoko will not come cheap.

However, if you are patient and the bigger clubs in English football don’t splash the money on him, you can get him on a bargain towards the end of his contract.

Check out his FM23 profile here.

Lautaro Martinez

Despite not putting in the performances that were expected of him at the World Cup in Qatar, the 25-year-old Argentinian returned to the San Siro a world champion.

Capable of playing as a lone striker in the advanced forward role, or slightly behind as a shadow striker, Martinez guarantees goals for your club if you have the money to pry him away from Inter Milan.

As he is just entering the prime years for a striker in football manager, paying the big bucks for him guarantees a world class calibre advanced forward for your team for almost ten years, depending on how he ages and whether he stays relatively injury free.

Check out his FM23 profile here.

Gonçalo Ramos

Ramos was thrown in the limelight at the World Cup after the Portuguese manager made the brave decision of benching Portugal’s greatest player, Cristiano Ronaldo.

The 21-year-old did not let the manager down, scoring his first international hat trick on the world’s biggest stage.

Playing for Benfica, the advanced forward will not cost as much as the other names on this list, however, if you wait for too long, he will certainly be picked up by sides playing in the top five leagues.

Ramos’ well-balanced attributes allow him to flourish in multiple roles up top, including as a poacher and a complete forward.

Check out his FM23 profile here.

Finally, FM23 has a wide array of advanced forwards you can unearth, making it impossible to cover all of them here.

Be sure to scout the best regions while also developing your youth in the right way, as watching your club compete for the biggest titles with a team that is largely from your youth system is always more satisfying.