Cash strapped and looking for players on a budget? After a few days browsing and scouting I bring you our best FM20 free players shortlist. Each player should do well for most top flight clubs and some will sign for second tier teams also.
Need an attacking FM20 tactic, try Knap’s BEOWULF 4-4-2, we won the top flight quadruple with York City, just click here.
FM 2020 free players over the age of 25 are rated by current ability, players 25 and under by their potential so all bases are covered.
You can sort the list by clicking any header column or by searching for position, ie ‘MC’ for midfielders. I have also included minimum wage requirements for all Football Manager 2020 free players this should help filter out unrealistic transfer targets. A star is the FMS mark of approval.
FMS Favourites: 
Scroll to the bottom and you can download all these Football Manager 2020 free players in a shortlist. You can then see which players will join your club and start building your team. The only way to see each one of the FM20 free players listed below is to load a large database with England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Argentina and Brazil loaded as playable (just the top divisions in each country needed).
If you are looking for the best FM20 Wonderkids shortlist, you can find it by clicking here.
Best FM 2020 Free Players
| Name | Age | Nation | Position | Min. wage p/w | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biro Biro | 24 |  | AM (RLC) | £13,250 | 8.7 |
| Emiliano Viviano | 33 |  | GK | £21,000 | 8.0 |
| Fabio Coentrao | 31 |  | D (L), WB (L), M (L), AM (RC) | £14,000 | 8.0 |
| Ivan Strinic | 31 |  | D (L), WB (L), M (L) | £45,000 | 7.9 |
| Keisuke Honda | 33 |  | AM (RC) | £14,000 | 7.9 |
| Juan Forlin | 31 |  | DC (C), DM | £12,000 | 7.9 |
| Lucas Silva | 26 | | DM, M (C) | £24,000 | 7.8 |
| Nicolai Muller | 31 |  | M (RL), AM (RL) | £29,000 | 7.8 |
| Fran Rico | 31 |  | DM, M (C) | £13,000 | 7.7 |
| Leonel Alvarez | 24 | | DM, M (LC) | £3,000 | 7.7 |
| Eloy Roige | 20 | | DM, M (C) | £900 | 7.7 |
| Jaja | 24 | | M/AM (C) | £3,500 | 7.7 |
| Malick Mbaye | 23 |  | DM, M (C) | £2,100 | 7.7 |
| Eugene Khacheridi | 31 |  | D (C) | £31,000 | 7.6 |
| Rolando | 33 | | D (C) | £27,000 | 7.6 |
| Hatem Ben Arfa | 32 |  | AM (RC), ST (C) | £39,000 | 7.6 |
| Diego Raposo | 22 | | M/AM (RC) | £3,000 | 7.6 |
| Alisson Borges | 21 | | D/WB/AM (L) | £1,000 | 7.6 |
| Thomas Oulembo | 20 | | ST (C) | £1,900 | 7.6 |
| Sebastien Cibois | 21 | | GK | £900 | 7.6 |
| Daniel Liberal | 19 | | AM (RL), D (L) | £400 | 7.5 |
| Ferando Tissone | 32 | | DM, M (C) | £8,000 | 7.5 |
| Nemanja Pejcinovic | 31 |  | D (C) | £49,000 | 7.5 |
| Ricardo Ferreira | 26 | | D (C) | £10,000 | 7.5 |
| Samu | 28 | | M (RL), AM (RLC) | £14,500 | 7.5 |
| Adil Hermach | 32 |  | DM, M (C) | £5,000 | 7.5 |
| Jeremie Bela | 26 | | M (RL), AM (RL), ST (C) | £12,000 | 7.5 |
| Younes Kaboul | 33 | | D (C) | £24,000 | 7.4 |
| Yoann Gourcuff | 32 | | M (C), AM (C) | £7,900 | 7.4 |
| Jefferson | 30 | | D (L), WB (L) | £10,000 | 7.4 |
| Slobodan Rajkovic | 30 | | D (C) | £7,500 | 7.4 |
| Pavel Mamaev | 30 |  | M (C), AM (RLC) | - | 7.4 |
| Fabiano | 31 | | GK | £9,500 | 7.4 |
| Borja Equiza | 31 | | D (C) | £8,000 | 7.4 |
| Jorge Cuellar | 22 | | AM (RL), ST (C) | £900 | 7.4 |
| Douglas Matheus | 23 | | ST (C) | £1,400 | 7.4 |
| Didier Digard | 32 | | DM, M (C) | £3,500 | 7.3 |
| Jonathas | 30 | | ST (C) | £11,000 | 7.3 |
| Christian Trasch | 31 | | D (R), WB (R), DM, M (C) | £8,000 | 7.3 |
| Jonathan Biabiany | 31 | | M (R), AM (R) | £16,000 | 7.3 |
| Cheikh Ndoye | 33 | | DM, M (C) | £6,000 | 7.3 |
| Gabriel Paletta | 33 | | D (C) | £6,000 | 7.3 |
| Wilfried Bony | 30 |  | ST (C) | £9,000 | 7.3 |
| Gregory van der Wiel | 31 |  | D (RC), WB (R) | £5,500 | 7.3 |
| Mandi | 30 | | D (C), DM, M (C) | £7,000 | 7.3 |
| Tabanou | 30 | | D/WB/M/AM (L) | £5,000 | 7.2 |
| Marvin Matip | 33 |  | D (C) | £2,500 | 7.2 |
| Giulio Donati | 29 | | D/WB (R) | £13,500 | 7.2 |
| Aaron Niguez | 30 | | M (RL), AM (RLC) | £6,000 | 7.2 |
| Kian Yari | 18 |  | M/AM (C), ST (C) | £200 | 7.2 |
| Ezequiel Rodriquez | 23 | | ST (C) | £1,200 | 7.2 |
| Joao Luiz | 20 | | AMR (RL), ST (C) | £1,900 | 7.2 |
| Johan Djourou | 32 |  | D (C) | £9,500 | 7.1 |
| Diego Capel | 31 | | AM (L) | £7,000 | 7.1 |
| Ignazio Abate | 32 | | D/WB (R) | £8,000 | 7.1 |
| Dmitry Tarasov | 32 | | DM, M (C) | £18,000 | 7.1 |
| Youssouf Mulumbu | 32 |  | DM, M (C) | £10,000 | 7.1 |
| Romain Bregerie | 32 | | D (C) | £4,000 | 7.1 |
| Nicolas Aguirre | 28 | | M (LC), AM (L) | £8,500 | 7.1 |
| Ivan Etevenaux | 29 | | M/AM (R) | £5,500 | 7.1 |
| Dellatorre | 27 | | ST (C) | £9,000 | 7.1 |
| Jordan Mutch | 27 | | M/AM (C) | £10,000 | 7.1 |
| Mehdi Zeffane | 27 |  | D/WB/AM (R) | £6,750 | 7.1 |
| Alberto Martin | 30 | | D (C), DM, M (C) | £6,500 | 7.1 |
| Ricardo Laborde | 31 |  | M (R), AM (RL) | £6,500 | 7.1 |
| Delvin Ndinga | 31 |  | DM, M (C) | £6,000 | 7.1 |
| Philipp Wollscheid | 30 | | D (C) | £6,500 | 7.1 |
| Guillermo Burdiso | 30 | | D (C) | £7,000 | 7.0 |
| Aboubakar Oumarou | 32 |  | AM (RL), ST (C) | £7,000 | 7.0 |
| Tommie Hoban | 25 |  | D (RLC) | £10,000 | 7.0 |
| Emmanuel Imorou | 30 |  | D/WB (L) | £6,000 | 7.0 |
| Mouez Hassen | 24 |  | GK | £5,500 | 7.0 |
| Stefan Strandberg | 28 |  | D (C) | £23,000 | 7.0 |
| Birkir Bjarnason | 31 |  | M/AM (LC) | £18,000 | 7.0 |
| Keirrison | 30 | | ST (C) | £6,500 | 7.0 |
| Tiago Real | 30 | | DM, M (C), AM (RC) | £5,000 | 7.0 |
| Negueba | 27 | | M/AM (R) | £6,750 | 7.0 |
| Marcus Pedersen | 29 | | ST (C) | £9,500 | 6.9 |
| Alexander Buttner | 30 | | D/WB (L) | £8,500 | 6.9 |
| Gorka Elustondo | 32 | | D (C), DM | £6,500 | 6.9 |
| James Morrison | 33 |  | M (RC) | £17,500 | 6.9 |
| Martin Olsson | 31 |  | D/WB (L) | £18,000 | 6.9 |
| Gonzalo Diaz | 29 | | AM (L) | £6,000 | 6.9 |
| Stefan Stangl | 27 |  | D/WB (L), M (C) | £9,500 | 6.9 |
| Fernando Bob | 31 | | DM, M (C) | £4,000 | 6.9 |
| Ben Marshall | 28 | | M (R), AM (RLC) | £9,500 | 6.9 |
| Adam Bogdan | 31 |  | GK | £18,000 | 6.9 |
| Borja Viguera | 32 | | AM (L), ST (C) | £4,500 | 6.9 |
| Ezequiel Videla | 31 | | DM, M (C) | £4,500 | 6.9 |
| Thanos Petsos | 28 |  | DM, M (C) | £7,000 | 6.9 |
| Modibo Maiga | 31 |  | AM (L), ST (C) | £5,000 | 6.9 |
| Nicolas Sanchez | 27 | | M (L), AM (LC) | £3,600 | 6.9 |
| Carlos Luque | 26 | | M/AM (L) | £6,000 | 6.9 |
| Moustapha Diallo | 33 | | DM, M (C) | £3,600 | 6.9 |
| Erandes | 31 | | D/WB/M (L) | £4,800 | 6.9 |
| Bruno Silva | 31 | | D (C), DM | £4,500 | 6.9 |
| Johann Carrasso | 31 | | GK | £6,000 | 6.9 |
| Loic Puyo | 30 | | DM, M/AM (L) | £5,000 | 6.9 |
| Sandro Sirigu | 30 | | D/WB/M (R) | £6,250 | 6.9 |
Best FM20 Free Players Shortlist Download
To download all the players above simple use the download button below and follow the instructions further down:
Please note: If you want to share this download on your website you will have to link back to this page, hosting the file elsewhere or posting the direct download link is not allowed!
How to install the shortlist
1. For Windows put the downloaded file in this folder: Documents/Sports Interactive/Football Manager 2020/shortlists. If the «shortlists» folder doesn’t exist you will have to create it. Windows users skip to step 2, Mac users read below.
Mac users put file in this folder: Users/YOUR Mac USERNAME/Documents/Sports Interactive/Football Manager 2020/shortlists. If «shortlists» folder doesn’t exist create it. To access your files on Mac open ‘Finder’, click ‘Go’ from the menubar, press and hold the ‘alt’ key to show ‘library’ in your menu, while still holding ‘alt’ click it, then go to ‘Application Support’ > ‘Sports Interactive’ > ‘Football Manager 2020’
2. Start your game and go to shortlists.
3. In game click ‘scouting’ on the sidebar, then ‘shortlist’ within the top tabs. Click the settings icon next to ‘shortlist’ at the top right of your screen.
4. Select “load shortlist” from the menu and then select the respective file
Please do share the list if its of use on social media.
