It can be tough to create a competitive team on a small budget. However, by making some shrewd investments in the best cheap players with high potential ratings, you can quickly see your team’s outlook, and eventually, your bank balance improve.
Each time you play one of these cheap, high potential players, you’re effectively enhancing your investment to get a better player on the pitch and a more valuable asset in the transfer market.
On this page, we’re going through all of the best cheap left backs with high potential ratings to sign in Career Mode on FIFA 21.
Choosing FIFA 21 Career Mode’s Best Cheap Left Backs (LB & LWB)
To make it onto this list of the best cheap left backs with high potential, players have to be available to sign from the start of FIFA 21’s Career Mode for £1 million or less.
As such, players out on-loan have been excluded from the list, as have free agents. The best cheap left backs here also have LB or LWB set as their preferred position in Career Mode and have a potential rating of at least 75 POT.
For a full list of ALL our best cheap high potential left backs (LBs), please look at the table towards the end of the page.
Bryan Hein (59 OVR – 79 POT)

Team: Hamburger SV
Age: 18
Best Position: LWB, LB, RB, RWB
Overall/Potential: 59 OVR / 79 POT
Value (Release Clause): £525,000 (£702,000)
Wage: £550 per week
Best Attributes: 72 Acceleration, 71 Sprint Speed, 64 Stamina
Bryan Hein has been in the Hamburger SV youth system since being identified as a young German talent, with the left back stepping up to play in each age group.
This year, however, Hein is going a step further by joining Hamburger SV II in the fourth-tier of German football. Still only 19-years-old, he started in all of the team’s opening six games this season, getting two assists across the early Regionalliga Nord fixtures.
Thanks to Hein’s 79 POT and cheap release clause of £702,000, he comes in as the best cheap left back with high potential to sign in Career Mode on FIFA 21.
Upon signing the Hamburger prospect, you’ll find his 72 acceleration, 71 sprint speed, 61 dribbling, and 64 stamina to be quite useful at LB or LWB.
Thomás Ortega (61 OVR – 78 POT)

Team: Atlético Independiente
Age: 19
Best Position: LWB, LB, RB, RWB
Overall/Potential: 61 OVR / 78 POT
Value (Release Clause): £725,000 (£956,000)
Wage: £1,400 per week
Best Attributes: 77 Stamina, 70 Jumping, 69 Balance
Having made his way through the youth set-up and reserves team of Club Atlético Independiente, Thomás Ortega is now in consideration for first-team football.
The Argentine left back didn’t end up making his first-team debut last season, remaining on the bench in the Superliga and Copa Sudamericana, but the 19-year-old may be given that chance when this season begins.
As far as most of these best cheap players with high potential go, Ortega weighs-in with a respectable 61 OVR, with his 78 POT making him one of the best cheap LBs to sign.
In Career Mode, Ortega’s strengths are in his athleticism, with his best ratings being 77 stamina, 68 acceleration, 68 sprint speed, 64 agility, 70 jumping, and 69 balance.
Julián Aude (59 OVR – 77 POT)

Team: Club Atlético Lanús
Age: 17
Best Position: LW, LM, LWB, LB, RB, RWB, RM, RW
Overall/Potential: 59 OVR / 77 POT
Value (Release Clause): £475,000 (£526,000)
Wage: £450 per week
Best Attributes: 76 Balance, 75 Agility, 74 Acceleration
Julián Aude is yet to crack the first-team of Club Atlético Lanús, but he’s already been recognised for his talent by the Argentina youth national sides.
Having impressed in three games for the under-16s last year, Aude was welcomed into the under-17s team, playing as a regular starter en route to winning the U17 South American Championship last year.
Despite being the youngest player to feature here as one of the best cheap left backs with high potential in FIFA 21, Aude has some of the most useful starting attribute ratings.
To accompany his four-star weak foot, managers on Career Mode should find Aude’s 73 dribbling, 74 acceleration, 70 sprint speed, 75 agility, 76 balance, 72 composure, and 66 ball control to be quite useful down the left-hand side.
Ethan Erhahon (60 OVR – 77 POT)

Team: St Mirren
Age: 19
Best Position: LM, LWB, LB, RB, RWB, RM
Overall/Potential: 60 OVR / 77 POT
Value (Release Clause): £550,000 (£855,000)
Wage: £600 per week
Best Attributes: 81 Balance, 73 Acceleration, 73 Sprint Speed
Only 19-years-old right now, Ethan Erhahon’s experience of first-team football with St Mirren stretches back to the 2017/18 season, in which he started a Challenge Cup and Scottish Championship game as a centre midfielder.
In the following season, Erhahon became a regular starter in the Scottish Premiership, playing at left back, left midfield, and in the middle of the park. While the Glaswegian was purely a cup player last season, the start of this season saw Erahon become a regular starter at centre-mid and in defensive midfield.
FIFA 21 introduces the versatile Scot as a left-sided defender, with his 77 POT enabling him to rank as one of the best cheap LBs and LWBs with high potential in Career Mode.
Erhahon’s highlight attributes include his 81 balance, 73 sprint speed, 73 acceleration, 70 agility, 66 aggression, and 66 stamina.
Leon Klassen (60 OVR – 77 POT)

Team: TSV 1860 Munich
Age: 20
Best Position: LM, LWB, LB, RB, RWB, RM
Overall/Potential: 60 OVR / 77 POT
Value (Release Clause): £550,000 (£794,000)
Wage: £450 per week
Best Attributes: 81 Balance, 77 Sprint Speed, 76 Acceleration
Born in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler in Germany, capped for Russia’s youth national sides, Leon Klassen broke into TSV 1860 Munich’s ranks in 2018 as a 17-year-old.
In the third-tier of German football, Klassen featured regularly on the left wing and at left back for the club last season, putting up three goals and two assists through 23 games.
He’s one of the older players on this list, but with a £794,000 release clause and 77 potential rating, he stands as one of the best cheap LB players in FIFA 21’s Carer Mode.
Klassen’s high attacking work rate, 81 balance, 76 acceleration, 77 sprint speed, 73 agility, 73 stamina, and 65 ball control make him quite user-friendly considering he only has a 60 overall rating.
All the Best High Potential Cheap Left Backs (LB & LWB) in FIFA 21
Here are all of the best cheap LBs and LWBs with high potential for you to sign in Career Mode, sorted by their potential rating.
Name | Age | Overall | Potential | Release Clause | Position | Team | Best Attributes |
Bryan Hein | 18 | 59 | 79 | £702,000 | LB | Hamburger SV | 72 Acceleration, 71 Sprint Speed, 64 Stamina |
Thomás Ortega | 19 | 61 | 78 | £956,000 | LB | Atlético Independiente | 77 Stamina, 70 Jumping, 69 Balance |
Julián Aude | 17 | 59 | 77 | £526,000 | LB | Club Atlético Lanús | 76 Balance, 75 Agility, 74 Acceleration |
Ethan Erhahon | 19 | 60 | 77 | £855,000 | LB, LWB | St Mirren | 81 Balance, 73 Acceleration, 73 Sprint Speed |
Leon Klassen | 20 | 60 | 77 | £794,000 | LB, LM | TSV 1860 Munich | 81 Balance, 77 Sprint Speed, 76 Acceleration |
Thibault Tamas | 19 | 58 | 76 | £591,000 | LB | Montpellier HSC | 72 Sprint Speed, 70 Balance, 68 Acceleration |
Maximiliano Araújo | 20 | 60 | 76 | £889,000 | LB, LM | Puebla FC | 82 Acceleration, 79 Sprint Speed, 78 Agility |
Eric Kahl | 18 | 62 | 76 | £970,000 | LB, LM | AIK | 77 Acceleration, 75 Sprint Speed, 75 Balance |
Lee Buchanan | 19 | 59 | 76 | £682,000 | LB, CB | Derby County | 72 Jumping, 69 Acceleration, 69 Sprint Speed |
Joel King | 19 | 59 | 76 | £506,000 | LB | Sydney FC | 77 Stamina, 74 Acceleration, 70 Sprint Speed |
Luca Florică | 17 | 51 | 75 | £148,000 | LB | FC Hermannstadt | 69 Balance, 64 Sprint Speed, 62 Agility |
Jaouen Hadjam | 17 | 60 | 75 | £802,000 | LB, CB | Paris FC | 76 Sprint Speed, 73 Acceleration, 70 Strength |
John Tolkin | 17 | 60 | 75 | £717,000 | LB, CDM | New York Red Bulls | 82 Balance, 75 Acceleration, 74 Agility |
Imari Narain Samuels | 17 | 53 | 75 | £313,000 | LB | Reading FC | 68 Balance, 62 Acceleration, 60 Stamina |
Pablo Enrique Ruíz | 21 | 63 | 75 | £891,000 | LB, CDM | Real Salt Lake | 80 Agility, 75 Balance, 68 Sprint Speed |
Invest in one of the best cheap LB or LWB players with high potential to ensure that your Career Mode team increases in value with each passing season.
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