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Want to know who the best Defenders in Football Manager 2023 are? We've got a shortlist of all the best Defenders with the highest ratings in FM23.
All FM23 Defenders Guides:
These are the best Defenders in Football Manager 2023 as rated by their current ability. Each Defender has a perfect defence rating meaning they are naturals at playing as a Defender. However not all of them will improve, if you want players that have the potential to improve still check out the list of wonderkid Defenders below.
| Name | Age | Position | Wage | Value | Cost | Expires | Rating | Potential | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Virgil van Dijk | 31 | D C | £240k | £237m | £300m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Rúben Dias | 25 | D C | £175k | £300m | 30-06-2027 | |||
|
Aymeric Laporte | 28 | D C | £130k | £300m | 30-06-2025 | |||
|
Thiago Silva | 37 | D C | £99k | £300m | 30-06-2024 | |||
|
Antonio Rüdiger | 29 | D C | £211k | £106m | £240m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
João Cancelo | 28 | D/WB RL | £220k | £90m | £200m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Reece James | 22 | D RC, DM | £250k | £191m | £300m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Kyle Walker | 32 | D/WB R | £175k | £300m | 30-06-2024 | |||
|
Marquinhos | 28 | D C, DM | £238k | £210m | £300m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
Ronald Araujo | 23 | D C | £124k | £136m | £300m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Raphaël Varane | 29 | D C | £350k | £169m | £300m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Jules Koundé | 23 | D RC | £158k | £106m | £231m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
John Stones | 28 | D C | £200k | £111m | £113m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
David Alaba | 30 | D LC, M C | £362k | £61m | £62m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Oleksandr Zinchenko | 25 | D/WB L, DM | £120k | £219m | £300m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Achraf Hakimi | 23 | D/WB/M R | £172k | £181m | £300m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Milan Škriniar | 27 | D C | £92k | £43m | £93m | 30-06-2023 | ||
|
Éder Militão | 24 | D C | £154k | £111m | £112m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
José Giménez | 27 | D C | £83k | £103m | £224m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Theo Hernández | 24 | D/WB/M L | £85k | £149m | £300m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
José Gayà | 27 | D/WB/AM L | £58k | £44m | £103m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Presnel Kimpembe | 26 | D C | £165k | £64m | £137m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
Matthijs de Ligt | 22 | D C | £265k | £108m | £108m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Ben Chilwell | 25 | D/WB L | £190k | £118m | £253m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Alphonso Davies | 21 | D/WB/AM L | £132k | £76m | £76m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Nicolás Otamendi | 34 | D C | £33k | £5m | £10m | 30-06-2023 | ||
|
Sergio Ramos | 36 | D C | £225k | £18m | £38m | 30-06-2023 | ||
|
Pepe | 39 | D C | £50k | £3m | £6m | 30-06-2023 | ||
|
Kalidou Koulibaly | 31 | D C | £300k | £300m | 30-06-2026 | |||
|
Pau Torres | 25 | D C | £49k | £52m | £120m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
Andrew Robertson | 28 | D/WB L | £160k | £173m | £300m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Trent Alexander-Arnold | 23 | D/WB R, M C | £160k | £129m | £128m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Kieran Trippier | 31 | D/WB R | £100k | £300m | 30-06-2025 | |||
|
Ferland Mendy | 27 | D/WB L | £154k | £78m | £77m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Luke Shaw | 27 | D/WB L | £170k | £134m | £284m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
Joël Matip | 30 | D C | £140k | £99m | £97m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
Sebastián Coates | 31 | D C | £31k | £300m | 30-06-2024 | |||
|
Lucas Hernández | 26 | D LC | £215k | £46m | £45m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
Andreas Christensen | 26 | D C, DM | £199k | £36m | £36m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Dayot Upamecano | 23 | D C | £182k | £65m | £112m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Gerard Piqué | 35 | D C | £0 | £294m | ||||
|
Manuel Akanji | 26 | D C | £90k | £39m | £38m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Kurt Zouma | 27 | D RC | £100k | £54m | £69m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Jordi Alba | 33 | D/WB L | £186k | £26m | £25m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
William Saliba | 21 | D C | £40k | £139m | £300m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
Benjamin White | 24 | D RC | £90k | £131m | £300m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Gabriel | 24 | D C | £100k | £139m | £300m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Niklas Süle | 26 | D RC | £166k | £37m | £76m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Kim Min-Jae | 25 | D C | £64k | £36m | £75m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Nacho | 32 | D RLC | £133k | £17m | £16m | 30-06-2023 | ||
|
Ibrahima Konaté | 23 | D C | £70k | £72m | £123m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Giovanni Di Lorenzo | 28 | D/WB/M R | £71k | £34m | £71m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Sven Botman | 22 | D LC | £90k | £108m | £135m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Nathan Aké | 27 | D LC, DM | £110k | £37m | £36m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Fikayo Tomori | 24 | D C | £74k | £81m | £200m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Cristian Romero | 24 | D C | £175k | £138m | £300m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Benjamin Pavard | 26 | D RC | £116k | £27m | £26m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
Kieran Tierney | 25 | D LC | £110k | £53m | £111m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Denzel Dumfries | 26 | D/WB/M R | £53k | £54m | £113m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Chris Smalling | 32 | D C | £81k | £32m | £67m | 30-06-2023 | ||
|
Bremer | 25 | D C | £154k | £58m | £55m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Raúl Albiol | 36 | D C | £41k | £3m | £7m | 30-06-2023 | ||
|
Stefan Savić | 31 | D C | £74k | £300m | 30-06-2024 | |||
|
Wesley Fofana | 21 | D C | £230k | £96m | £234m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Mats Hummels | 33 | D C | £165k | £17m | £35m | 30-06-2023 | ||
|
Ivan Perišić | 33 | WB/AM L | £180k | £300m | 30-06-2024 | |||
|
Nuno Mendes | 20 | D/WB L | £35k | £105m | £293m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Juan Cuadrado | 34 | D/WB/AM R | £154k | £4m | £4m | 30-06-2023 | ||
|
Pedro Porro | 22 | D/WB/M R | £27k | £37m | £45m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Álex Grimaldo | 26 | D/WB/M L | £27k | £20m | £41m | 30-06-2023 | ||
|
Álex Moreno | 29 | D/WB/AM L | £65k | £41m | £50m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Alessandro Bastoni | 23 | D C | £86k | £43m | £121m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
Diego Carlos | 29 | D C | £100k | £31m | £38m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Gabriel Paulista | 31 | D C | £78k | £300m | 30-06-2024 | |||
|
Danilo | 30 | D RLC | £85k | £35m | £33m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
Lisandro Martínez | 24 | D LC, DM | £120k | £109m | £263m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Amir Rrahmani | 28 | D C | £38k | £25m | £50m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
Marc Cucurella | 23 | D LC, M L | £110k | £58m | £98m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Dani Carvajal | 30 | D/WB R | £154k | £15m | £14m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Mário Rui | 31 | D/WB/M L | £64k | £300m | 30-06-2025 | |||
|
Robin Le Normand | 25 | D C | £35k | £35m | £71m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
Takehiro Tomiyasu | 23 | D RLC | £65k | £56m | £154m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Federico Dimarco | 24 | D LC, M L | £49k | £30m | £71m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Jurriën Timber | 21 | D RC, DM | £65k | £87m | £300m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Kostas Tsimikas | 26 | D/WB L | £65k | £48m | £46m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Joe Gomez | 25 | D RLC | £95k | £32m | £31m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Marcos Acuña | 30 | D/WB/AM L | £31k | £40m | £81m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
Eric Dier | 28 | D C | £100k | £81m | £164m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
Pierre Kalulu | 22 | D RC | £58k | £49m | £154m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Noussair Mazraoui | 24 | D/WB RL, DM, M RC | £132k | £19m | £25m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Stefan de Vrij | 30 | D C | £117k | £11m | £11m | 30-06-2023 | ||
|
Joško Gvardiol | 20 | D LC | £59k | £79m | £226m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Roger Ibañez | 23 | D C | £32k | £42m | £116m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Jonny Evans | 34 | D C | £100k | £4m | £5m | 30-06-2023 | ||
|
Leonardo Bonucci | 35 | D C | £200k | £282m | 30-06-2024 | |||
|
Giorgio Chiellini | 37 | D C | £18k | £300m | 31-12-2023 | |||
|
Javi Galán | 27 | D/WB L | £25k | £11m | £14m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Nikola Milenković | 24 | D C | £92k | £17m | £20m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Alessio Romagnoli | 27 | D C | £92k | £21m | £42m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Francesco Acerbi | 34 | D C | £55k | £3m | £6m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Daley Blind | 32 | D LC, DM | £41k | £7m | £7m | 30-06-2023 | ||
|
Lewis Dunk | 30 | D C | £80k | £36m | £44m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Reinildo | 28 | D LC, AM L | £30k | £31m | £29m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Thomas Vermaelen | 36 | D C | £0 | |||||
|
Raphaël Guerreiro | 28 | D/WB L, M C | £83k | £33m | £65m | 30-06-2023 | ||
|
Marcos Alonso | 31 | D/WB/M L | £100k | £10m | £9m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
Davide Calabria | 25 | D/WB R | £61k | £41m | £83m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Luiz Felipe | 25 | D C | £28k | £19m | £23m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Rafael Toloi | 31 | D RC | £31k | £300m | 30-06-2024 | |||
|
Nacho Monreal | 36 | D LC, WB L | £0 | |||||
|
Merih Demiral | 24 | D C | £61k | £36m | £50m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Diogo Dalot | 23 | D/WB RL | £35k | £52m | £85m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
Aritz Elustondo | 28 | D RC | £28k | £28m | £55m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
Íñigo Martínez | 31 | D C | £83k | £36m | £36m | 30-06-2023 | ||
|
César Azpilicueta | 32 | D RLC | £150k | £13m | £12m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
Adam Marušić | 29 | D/WB RL, M R | £28k | £17m | £34m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Manuel Lazzari | 28 | D/WB/M R | £46k | £17m | £34m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Gianluca Mancini | 26 | D C | £61k | £15m | £29m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Kyle Walker-Peters | 25 | D/WB RL | £50k | £37m | £45m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Marc Guéhi | 21 | D C | £45k | £56m | £67m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Harry Maguire | 29 | D C | £200k | £47m | £44m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Juan Foyth | 24 | D RC, DM | £29k | £20m | £48m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
José Luis Palomino | 32 | D C | £25k | £6m | £6m | 30-06-2023 | ||
|
Clément Lenglet | 27 | D C | £95k | £14m | £13m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Lucas Digne | 28 | D/WB L | £120k | £32m | £38m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Alfonso Pedraza | 26 | D/WB/AM L | £27k | £19m | £38m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Nélson Semedo | 28 | D/WB R | £85k | £32m | £39m | 30-06-2023 | ||
|
Leonardo Spinazzola | 29 | D/WB/M L | £92k | £22m | £43m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
Eric García | 21 | D C | £50k | £28m | £66m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Trevoh Chalobah | 23 | D C, DM | £80k | £32m | £52m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Angeliño | 25 | D/WB/M L | £50k | £13m | £13m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Ben Davies | 29 | D LC | £100k | £72m | £143m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Joachim Andersen | 26 | D C | £75k | £27m | £32m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Lucas Veríssimo | 27 | D C | £30k | £13m | £12m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Douglas Santos | 28 | D LC, DM | £45k | £21m | £41m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Nicolás Tagliafico | 29 | D/WB/M L | £41k | £23m | £46m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Simon Kjær | 33 | D C | £32k | £275m | 30-06-2024 | |||
|
David Raum | 24 | D/WB/M L | £62k | £45m | £61m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Matthias Ginter | 28 | D RC | £39k | £18m | £21m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Jonathan Clauss | 29 | D/WB/M R | £40k | £19m | £38m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Gustavo Gómez | 29 | D C | £19k | £12m | £24m | 31-12-2024 | ||
|
Iván Marcano | 35 | D LC | £33k | £1m | £1m | 30-06-2023 | ||
|
Nordi Mukiele | 24 | D RC | £50k | £13m | £16m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Jeremie Frimpong | 21 | D/WB RL, M R | £25k | £60m | £203m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Timothy Castagne | 26 | D/WB/M RL | £70k | £34m | £34m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Chancel Mbemba | 27 | D RC | £46k | £21m | £40m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Germán Pezzella | 31 | D C | £37k | £300m | 30-06-2025 | |||
|
Daniel Alves | 39 | D/WB R, M RC | £933k | £1m | ||||
|
Berat Djimsiti | 29 | D C | £25k | £8m | £8m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Fabian Schär | 30 | D C | £45k | £40m | £40m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
Victor Lindelöf | 27 | D C | £170k | £30m | £27m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
Ridle Baku | 24 | D/WB R, AM RC | £33k | £13m | £18m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Willi Orbán | 29 | D C | £58k | £16m | £16m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Pervis Estupiñán | 24 | D/WB/M L | £60k | £33m | £39m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
João Mário | 22 | D/WB/AM R | £13k | £14m | £28m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Alejandro Balde | 18 | D/WB/AM L | £3k | £32m | £109m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
Juan Bernat | 29 | D/WB/AM L | £139k | £11m | £5m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Adam Webster | 27 | D C | £55k | £35m | £41m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Tyrone Mings | 29 | D LC | £70k | £32m | £37m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
Felipe | 33 | D C | £70k | £300m | 30-06-2024 | |||
|
Edmond Tapsoba | 23 | D C | £50k | £36m | £95m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Ramy Bensebaïni | 27 | D LC | £50k | £13m | £26m | 30-06-2023 | ||
|
Toby Alderweireld | 33 | D RC | £47k | £300m | 30-06-2025 | |||
|
Matteo Darmian | 32 | D RLC, M RL | £42k | £9m | £8m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
Jonas Hector | 32 | D/WB L, DM | £50k | £6m | £6m | 30-06-2023 | ||
|
Robin Knoche | 30 | D C | £20k | £9m | £10m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
Sergio Reguilón | 25 | D/WB L | £80k | £24m | £21m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Álvaro Odriozola | 26 | D/WB R | £106k | £9m | £8m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
Hugo Mallo | 31 | D RC | £43k | £9m | £11m | 30-06-2023 | ||
|
Dávid Hancko | 24 | D LC | £13k | £20m | £23m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Kristoffer Ajer | 24 | D C, DM | £45k | £34m | £40m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
César Montes | 25 | D C | £19k | £12m | £14m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Jean-Clair Todibo | 22 | D C | £21k | £38m | £78m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Alessandro Florenzi | 31 | D/WB/M R | £61k | £271m | 30-06-2025 | |||
|
Cristiano Biraghi | 29 | D/WB/M L | £37k | £10m | £10m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
Robin Gosens | 28 | D/WB/M L | £25k | £24m | £24m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
Joël Veltman | 30 | D RC | £50k | £25m | £29m | 30-06-2023 | ||
|
Tyrick Mitchell | 22 | D/WB L | £40k | £35m | £41m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Héctor Bellerín | 27 | D/WB R | £23k | £7m | £7m | 31-01-2023 | ||
|
Alexander Bah | 24 | D/WB/AM R | £17k | £16m | £20m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Emerson Royal | 23 | D/WB R | £75k | £29m | £46m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Matheus Reis | 27 | D LC | £13k | £15m | £15m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Alex Sandro | 31 | D/WB/M L | £200k | £9m | £8m | 30-06-2023 | ||
|
Wout Faes | 24 | D C | £60k | £34m | £45m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Nico Schlotterbeck | 22 | D LC | £47k | £43m | £84m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Jonathan Tah | 26 | D C | £58k | £12m | £24m | 30-06-2025 | ||
|
Philipp Max | 28 | D/WB/AM L | £20k | £2m | £2m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
António Silva | 18 | D C | £7k | £33m | £108m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Thierry Rendall Correia | 23 | D/WB RL | £10k | £18m | £47m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Mathías Olivera | 24 | D/WB/M L | £32k | £10m | £22m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Davinson Sánchez | 26 | D C | £75k | £24m | £22m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
Tim Ream | 34 | D LC | £35k | £300m | 30-06-2024 | |||
|
Mohammed Salisu | 23 | D C | £40k | £36m | £42m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
Mario Hermoso | 27 | D LC | £142k | £11m | £10m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
Yeray | 27 | D C | £19k | £35m | £35m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Alberto Moreno | 30 | D/WB/M L | £20k | £13m | £25m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
Mouctar Diakhaby | 25 | D C | £13k | £9m | £16m | 30-06-2023 | ||
|
Destiny Udogie | 19 | D/WB/M L | £50k | £50m | £148m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Lutsharel Geertruida | 21 | D RC, DM | £8k | £46m | £33m | 30-06-2024 | ||
|
Rick Karsdorp | 27 | D/WB R | £65k | £19m | £17m | 30-06-2025 |
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