In Football Manager 2023, a need for speed is essential. While pacy players are more commonly associated with the likes of FIFA, having quick players in your attack can unlock tricky defences and switch up the tempo in your game.
Leaders are needed in the depth of the squad, while a good finisher or set-piece specialist is integral whether you're fighting at the top or the bottom. But quick players are useful too – and whether you play with attribute masking or not, we've found every player in the game with a 17/20 or higher in their in-game attributes at the start of the game. Of course, some players improve in time – see our wonderkid list – but this is what you need from the start.
Speed is measured by two attributes in Football Manager: Acceleration and Pace. The former is how quickly a player can reach their top speed, while the latter is how fast they can actually go in full flight.
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Using a quicker player or two alongside with slower ones can help unlock doors. If you're finding that your frontman is getting too isolated, maybe you should consider surrounding him with players to help – likewise, if you're playing with a high line, putting a defender with decent recovery pace alongside a more cumbersome centre-back is a good idea.
It's worth noting with these stars, too, that a "Not for sale" sign might not mean that a player is unsignable. Some clubs still have a fee that would consider for a player that they have labelled as almost unsellable.
Looking who else to sign? We've got a full list of the best players in the game for whatever you're looking for.
Acceleration
The top 37 players for acceleration in Football Manager 2023
| Name | Club | Nationality | Age | Position | Value | Acceleration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyler Magloire | Northampton Town | England | 23 | D (RC) | £50k-£500k | 20 |
| Tariq Lamptey | Brighton & Hove Albion | Ghana | 21 | D/WB (RL), M (R) | £69m-£81mm | 20 |
| Kylian Mbappe | PSG | France | 23 | AM (RL), ST (C) | Not for sale | 20 |
| Adama Traore | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Spain | 26 | M/AM (RL) | £40m-£47m | 20 |
| Kingsley Coman | Bayern Munich | France | 26 | M/AM (RL) | £49m-£70m | 19 |
| Vinicius Junior | Real Madrid | Brazil | 21 | AM (RL) | £200m-£244m | 19 |
| Kyle Walker | Manchester City | England | 32 | D/WB (R) | Not for sale | 19 |
| Daniel James | Fulham | Wales | 24 | M/AM (RL) | £9.8m-£14m | 19 |
| Alphonso Davies | Bayern Munich | Canada | 21 | D/WB/M/AM (L) | £60m-£95m | 19 |
| Simon Stehle | Viktoria Koln | Germanyy | 20 | M (R), AM (RL) | £55k-£550k | 18 |
| Nanu | Dallas | Guinea-Bissau | 28 | D/WB/M (R), AM (RL) | £700k-£1.4m | 18 |
| Mamadou Sylla | Alaves | Spain | 28 | AM (R), ST (C) | £85k-£850k | 18 |
| Ousmane Dembele | Barcelona | France | 25 | M/AM (RL) | £45m-£65m | 18 |
| Alvaro Djalo | Braga | Spain | 22 | M (L), AM (RLC), ST (C) | £90-£900k | 18 |
| Moussa Diaby | Bayer Leverkusen | France | 22 | M/AM (RL) | £46m-£66m | 18 |
| Emannuel Dennis | Nottingham Forest | Nigeria | 24 | M (R), AM (RL) | £13m-£19m | 18 |
| Sebastian Villa | Boca Juniors | Colombia | 26 | M/AM (RL) | £900k-£6.4m | 18 |
| Kaden Rodney | Crystal Palace | England | 17 | D (R), DM, M (C) | £240k-£2.4m | 18 |
| Achraf Hakimi | PSG | Morocco | 23 | D/WB/M (R) | £126m-£181m | 18 |
| Alvaro Garcia | Vallecano | Spain | 29 | M (L), AM (RLC), ST (C) | £5.6m-£9.2m | 18 |
| Rafa | Benfica | Portugal | 29 | AM (RLC) | £26m-£30m | 18 |
| Ryan Fredericks | Bournemouth | England | 29 | D/WB/M/AM (R) | £8.8m-£12.5m | 18 |
| Crysencio Summerville | Leeds United | Netherlands | 21 | M (R), AM (RL) | £5.4m-£6.6m | 18 |
| Ricky-Jade Jones | Peterborough | England | 19 | AM (L), ST (C) | £600k-£5.5m | 18 |
| Raheem Sterling | Chelsea | England | 27 | M/AM (RL) | £267m-£291m | 18 |
| Karim Adeyemi | Borussia Dortmund | Germanyy | 20 | AM (R), ST (C) | £54m-£77m | 18 |
| Marcus Rashford | Manchester United | England | 24 | AM (L), ST (C) | £77m-£111m | 18 |
| Galeno | Porto | Brazil | 24 | M (L), AM (RL) | £8m-£11.5m | 18 |
| CJ Hamilton | Blackpool | Republic of Ireland | 27 | M (R), AM (RL) | £6k-£60k | 18 |
| Timo Werner | RB Leipzig | Germanyy | 26 | M/AM (L), ST (C) | £39m-£47m | 18 |
| Frank Acheampong | Shenzhen | Ghana | 28 | D/WB/M/AM (L), ST (C) | £9.6m-£11.5m | 18 |
| Rabbi Matondo | Rangers | Wales | 21 | M/AM (RL) | £6.5m-£8.8m | 18 |
| Largie Ramazani | Almeria | Belgium | 21 | AM (RL), ST (C) | £9.8m-£14m | 18 |
| Anthony Elanga | Manchester United | Sweden | 20 | M/AM (RL) | £13m-£18.5m | 18 |
| Jeremie Frimpong | Bayer Leverkusen | Netherlands | 21 | D/WB (RL), M (R) | £47m-£69m | 18 |
| Mohamed Salah | Liverpool | Egypt | 30 | AM (RL), ST (C) | Not for sale | 18 |
| Awer Mabil | Cadiz | Australia | 26 | M/AM (RL) | £180k-£4.6m | 18 |
Pace
The top 42 players for pace in Football Manager 2023
| Name | Club | Nationality | Age | Position | Value | Pace |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyler Magloire | Northampton Town | England | 23 | D (RC) | £50k-£500k | 20 |
| Miguel Ngwa | Rushden & Diamonds | England | 18 | M/AM (RL) | £3k-£28k | 20 |
| Kylian Mbappe | PSG | France | 23 | AM (RL), ST (C) | Not for sale | 20 |
| Adama Traore | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Spain | 26 | M/AM (RL) | £40m-£47m | 20 |
| Achraf Hakimi | PSG | Morocco | 23 | D/WB/M (R) | £126m-£181m | 20 |
| Erling Haaland | Manchester City | Norway | 21 | ST (C) | Not for sale | 19 |
| Victor Osimhen | Parthenope | Nigeria | 23 | ST (C) | £83m-£96m | 19 |
| Daniel James | Fulham | Wales | 24 | M/AM (RL) | £9.8m-£14m | 19 |
| Alphonso Davies | Bayern Munich | Canada | 21 | D/WB/M/AM (L) | £60m-£95m | 19 |
| Felix Afena-Gyan | Cremonese | Ghana | 19 | AM (L), ST (C) | £4.2m-£6.2m | 18 |
| Anthony Elanga | Manchester United | Sweden | 20 | M/AM (RL) | £13m-£18.5m | 18 |
| Emannuel Dennis | Nottingham Forest | Nigeria | 24 | M (R), AM (RL) | £13m-£19m | 18 |
| Theo Hernandez | AC Milan | France | 24 | D/WB/M (L) | £123m-£149m | 18 |
| Frank Acheampong | Shenzhen | Ghana | 28 | D/WB/M/AM (L), ST (C) | £9.6m-£11.5m | 18 |
| Garang Kuol | Central Coast Mariners | Australia | 17 | AM (R), ST (C) | £190k-£1.5m | 18 |
| Ousmane Dembele | Barcelona | France | 25 | M/AM (RL) | £45m-£65m | 18 |
| Galeno | Porto | Brazil | 24 | M (L), AM (RL) | £8m-£11.5m | 18 |
| Ricky-Jade Jones | Peterborough | England | 19 | AM (L), ST (C) | £600k-£5.5m | 18 |
| Denzel Dumfries | Inter Milan | Netherlands | 26 | D/WB/M (R) | £49m-£59m | 18 |
| Moussa Diaby | Bayer Leverkusen | France | 22 | M/AM (RL) | £46m-£66m | 18 |
| Fashion Sakala | Rangers | Zambia | 25 | AM (RL), ST (C) | £500k-£6.6m | 18 |
| Leroy Sane | Bayern Munich | Germanyy | 26 | M (RL), AM (RLC) | £56m-£83m | 18 |
| Inaki Williams | Athletic Bilbao | Spain | 28 | M (RL), AM (RLC), ST (C) | £116m-£137m | 18 |
| Mislav Orsic | Dinamo Zagreb | M/AM (L), ST (C) | 29 | M/AM (RL), ST (C) | £12.5m-£15m | 18 |
| Jeremie Frimpong | Bayer Leverkusen | Netherlands | 21 | D/WB (RL), M (R) | £47m-£69m | 18 |
| Ismail Jakobs | Monaco | Senegal | 22 | D/WB/M/AM (L) | £4.2m-£7.4m | 18 |
| Przemyslaw Placheta | Birmingham City | Poland | 24 | M/AM (L) | £16k-£2.7m | 18 |
| Mohamed Salah | Liverpool | Egypt | 30 | AM (RL), ST (C) | Not for sale | 18 |
| Lukas Klostermann | RB Leipzig | Germanyy | 26 | D (RLC), WB (R) | £9m-£13m | 18 |
| Mike Feigenspain | SV Meppen | Germanyy | 26 | M/AM (RL), ST (C) | £85k-£240k | 18 |
| Bakery Jatta | Hamburg | Gambia | 24 | M/AM (RL) | £55k-£2.9m | 18 |
| Karim Adeyemi | Borussia Dortmund | Germanyy | 20 | AM (R), ST (C) | £54m-£77m | 18 |
| Kingsley Ehizibue | Udinese | Nigeria | 27 | D/WB/M (R) | £1.8m-£3.5m | 18 |
| DeJuan Jones | New England | United States | 25 | D/M (RL) | £275k-£4.4m | 18 |
| Ismaila Sarr | Watford | Senegal | 24 | AM (RL), ST (C) | £28m | 18 |
| Kyle Walker | Manchester City | England | 32 | D/WB (R) | Not for sale | 18 |
| Cristian Gamboa | Bochum | Costa Rica | 32 | D/WB (R) | £110k-£1.1m | 18 |
| Festy Ebosele | Udinese | Republic of Ireland | 19 | D/WB/M/AM (R) | £200k-£2.2m | 18 |
| Ryan Alebiosu | Kilmarnock | England | 20 | D/WB/M/AM (R) | £65k-£650k | 18 |
| Patrick Pfeiffer | Darmstadt | Ghana | 22 | D (C) | £240k-£2.4m | 18 |
| Rick Karsdorop | Roma | Netherlands | 27 | D/WB (R) | £25m-£40m | 18 |
| Rabbi Matondo | Rangers | Wales | 21 | M/AM (RL) | £6.5m-£8.8m | 18 |
