EA Sports is objectively unfair when it comes to the worldwide release of their games. Their newest football video game, EA Sports FC 24, was also no different in this aspect.
For starters, it had two release dates depending on the edition – Standard Edition was launched on 29th September 2023 whereas those who bought Ultimate Edition got a sweet 7 days head start as the Ultimate Edition was launched on 22nd September 2023. Even the launch time was different for each editions – the PC edition had a synchronized launch time whereas the console edition was launched at midnight of respective time zones.
If we take into consideration the fact that Early Access buyers possess significantly stronger teams in FC Ultimate Team, it becomes tougher for new players to compete at this point in the game cycle. Luckily, we are here to help by providing the best budget starter squad under 10k coins.
With the recent market crash in FC 24 Ultimate Team, this is an ideal moment to build some high-rated squads for pennies.
However, please note that since the market is volatile and the prices of players are different on PC and consoles, there might be a minor difference in the prices of these players.
FC 24 Starter Squad Under 10K Coins
Before listing the 11 players chosen for this squad, we need to highlight that the formation used for this team is the 4-4-2 one.
LS: Timo Werner (RB Leipzig) – 1,200 Coins
Timo Werner is the most expensive player in this squad for a reason. He excels in this stage of the game, primarily due to his incredible pace of 91. We highly recommend utilizing your Founders Evolution on the German. He only requires 6 wins to fully evolve, resulting in an extremely overpowered card at this stage of the game cycle.
Once evolved, his shooting and dribbling will receive significant boosts, but more importantly, his weak foot will be upgraded to 5*. Additionally, Werner possesses Rapid and Quickstep PlayStyles, making him even more valuable at this stage of the game.
Recommended Chemistry Style: Finisher
RS: Rafa (SL Benfica) – 900 coins
Rafa may appear to be an average 83-rated player at first glance. However, he possesses 6 highly useful playstyles that elevate his value significantly.
With his exceptional dribbling stats, Rafa is exceptionally smooth on the ball. It’s hard to find a better player for under 1000 coins in FC 24.
Recommended Chemistry Style: Deadeye
LM: Bruma (SC Braga) – 700 coins
Sometimes all you need from a wide player is to run fast, pass the ball accurately, and come back on defense. Bruma precisely fits that profile, and all of his playstyles complement this style of play.
Keep in mind that Bruma has a low stamina of 70, so having a substitute ready is advisable.
Recommended Chemistry Style: Maestro
LCM: Matheus Nunes (Manchester City) – 750 coins
Manchester City’s latest midfield addition was once worth around 5,000 coins in the UT Transfer Market for a reason. Nunes possesses well-rounded stats in every department, making him an ideal midfielder to have in your team at this stage of the game.
Recommended Chemistry Style: Hunter/Shadow (depending on how you use him)
RCM: Yui Hasegawa (Manchester City W) – 700 coins
FC 24 saw the addition of Women’s Football to the Ultimate Team, and we are going to take full advantage of this. Being a common gold card, Hasegawa flies under the radar of most players. However, she is an outstanding card to have in your starter squad.
Decent pace, outstanding passing, dribbling and defending stats are some of the standout qualities of this Japanese footballer. She also has 4 playstyles that are crucial in the midfield. The only downside of this card is the 32 strength, which may not be a huge issue at this point in the game, especially since she is complemented by Matheus Nunes in the midfield.
Recommended Chemistry Style: Shadow
RM: Chloe Kelly (Manchester City W) – 1,600 coins
It is honestly very hard to comprehend that Chloe Kelly is worth only 5000 coins in FC 24 Ultimate Team. She is the ideal player you can have in wings.
Excellent pace, passing and dribbling, High/High workrated, 4* Skill Moves, 4* Weak Foot and moreover, she has the Whipped Pass playstyle+ and 5 other playstyles (including Technical and Quickstep). With Controlled Sprint, she dribbles like Messi in his prime and no, it is not an exaggeration.
Recommended Chemistry Style: Hunter
LB: Demi Stokes (Manchester City W) – 700 coins
The full backs are the most underrated players in the game of football, real or virtual. The most important stats for a full back in this game are pace, passing and to an extent, defending. Stokes has a good balance of all these stats and is our ideal player at LB for this squad for squad building reasons.
Recommended Chemistry Style: Engine
LCB: Lukas Klostermann (RB Leipzig) – 700 coins
Klostermann has been a consistent presence in starter squads across the last few editions of FIFA. As a center back, having 80+ pace, 80+ defending, 80+ reactions, and standing at 6’2″ are excellent qualities, all of which Klostermann possesses. His only downside is the lack of any defensive traits.
Recommended Chemistry Style: Shadow
RCB: Niklas Sule (Dortmund) – 1,200 coins
Before FIFA 23, tall players with low Acceleration were practically unusable. Smaller players with high pace would simply breeze past them towards the isolated Goalkeeper. However, in FIFA 23, EA has introduced AcceleRATE archetype which buffed these players – who are now referred to as Lengthy.
Niklas Sule is one such player who is blessed with that buff. Sule has only 60 Acceleration – but with Lengthy AcceleRATE, this low acceleration barely matters at all since he would gain incredible speed in longer distances. Additionally, he has very high defending, outstanding strength, huge in-game sprite (he is 6’5″), Slide Tackle playstyle+ and some excellent defensive playstyles. In our opinion, these are all outstanding traits for a centre back.
Recommended Chemistry Style: Shadow
RB: Joao Mario (FC Porto) – 450 coins
He is in the squad mostly for chemistry purposes. While he is decent in his position, we will suggest you to replace him with players like Juan Cuadrado (700 coins) or Manuel Lazzari (700 coins) – at least in the second half.
Recommended Chemistry Style: Catalyst
GK: Alexander Meyer (Dortmund) – 800 coins
Similar to Joao Mario, Alexander Meyer is also in the squad for providing valuable chemistry link to his teammates. However, if substituting Joao Mario was merely a suggestion, substituting Meyer is highly recommended.
Goalkeepers have limited improvements with chemistry, and the most important stats for them are height and reaction (not to be confused with reflex stats). In our opinion, one of the best budget goalkeepers in FC 24 is Brentford’s Mark Flekken, who is 6’5″, has 82 reactions and costs only costs 750 coins!
Recommended Chemistry Style: GK Basic
Manager: Any Portuguese Manager (200 coins)
- Squad Rating: 81
- Total Chemistry: 33
- Total Cost: 9,700 Coins (may fluctuate a bit depending on the market)
EA SPORTS FC 24 features more than 19,000 licensed players, 700 teams, 100 stadiums, and 30 leagues and is available now on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch.
