Want to know who the best Defenders in Football Manager 26 are? We've got a shortlist of all the best Defenders with the highest ratings in FM26.
All FM26 Defenders Guides:
These are the best Defenders in Football Manager 26 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 | 34 | D C | £350k | £300m | 30-06-2027 | |||
|
William Saliba | 24 | D C | £220k | £111m | £288m | 30-06-2030 | ||
|
Achraf Hakimi | 26 | D/WB/M R | £242k | £204m | £300m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Reece James | 25 | D RC, DM | £250k | £97m | £248m | 30-06-2032 | ||
|
Gabriel | 27 | D C | £190k | £97m | £222m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Nuno Mendes | 23 | D/WB L | £128k | £160m | £300m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Rúben Dias | 28 | D C | £200k | £89m | £204m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Marquinhos | 31 | D C, DM | £279k | £300m | 30-06-2028 | |||
|
Marc Guéhi | 25 | D C | £300k | £89m | £200m | 30-06-2031 | ||
|
Dayot Upamecano | 26 | D C | £331k | £56m | £126m | 30-06-2030 | ||
|
Willian Pacho | 23 | D LC | £75k | £140m | £300m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
John Stones | 31 | D RC, DM | £200k | £53m | £54m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Alejandro Grimaldo | 29 | D/WB/AM L | £99k | £95m | £228m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Bremer | 28 | D C | £154k | £52m | £114m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Federico Dimarco | 27 | D/WB L | £123k | £87m | £192m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Alessandro Bastoni | 26 | D C | £169k | £87m | £192m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Wesley Fofana | 24 | D C | £200k | £90m | £231m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Nico Schlotterbeck | 25 | D LC | £75k | £95m | £207m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Jules Koundé | 26 | D RC | £225k | £55m | £55m | 30-06-2030 | ||
|
Trent Alexander-Arnold | 26 | D/WB R, DM | £249k | £50m | £50m | 30-06-2031 | ||
|
Joško Gvardiol | 23 | D LC | £200k | £82m | £82m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Éder Militão | 27 | D C | £154k | £48m | £48m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Jurriën Timber | 24 | D RLC | £110k | £77m | £165m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Alphonso Davies | 24 | D/WB/AM L | £249k | £69m | £148m | 30-06-2030 | ||
|
Jonathan Tah | 29 | D C | £249k | £62m | £133m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Denzel Dumfries | 29 | D/WB/M R | £85k | £22m | £46m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Ibrahima Konaté | 26 | D C | £140k | £44m | £95m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Antonio Rüdiger | 32 | D C | £240k | £23m | £23m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Matheus Nunes | 26 | D/WB R, AM RC | £130k | £57m | £57m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Jan Paul van Hecke | 25 | D C | £55k | £58m | £75m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Cristian Romero | 27 | D C | £200k | £58m | £135m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Sven Botman | 25 | D C | £125k | £58m | £135m | 30-06-2030 | ||
|
Micky van de Ven | 24 | D LC | £85k | £66m | £152m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Jeremie Frimpong | 24 | D/WB/AM R | £200k | £60m | £81m | 30-06-2030 | ||
|
Eric García | 24 | D RC, DM | £133k | £42m | £57m | 30-06-2031 | ||
|
Levi Colwill | 22 | D LC | £75k | £94m | £300m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Riccardo Calafiori | 23 | D LC | £65k | £72m | £206m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Milan Škriniar | 30 | D C | £166k | £50m | £63m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Amir Rrahmani | 31 | D C | £53k | £300m | 30-06-2027 | |||
|
Marcos Llorente | 30 | D/WB R, DM, AM RC | £133k | £48m | £47m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Manuel Akanji | 29 | D RC | £130k | £47m | £46m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Benjamin White | 27 | D RC | £110k | £52m | £109m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Matthijs de Ligt | 25 | D C | £220k | £77m | £162m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Giovanni Di Lorenzo | 31 | D RC | £92k | £300m | 30-06-2028 | |||
|
Evan N'Dicka | 25 | D C | £85k | £44m | £93m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Alessandro Buongiorno | 26 | D C | £77k | £56m | £117m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Willi Orbán | 32 | D C | £99k | £229m | 30-06-2027 | |||
|
Kim Min-Jae | 28 | D C | £199k | £41m | £40m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Lucas Hernández | 29 | D LC | £316k | £35m | £34m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Nathan Aké | 30 | D LC, DM | £165k | £41m | £39m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Pau Cubarsí | 18 | D C | £86k | £87m | £300m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Piero Hincapié | 23 | D LC | £83k | £52m | £146m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Luke Shaw | 30 | D LC | £200k | £66m | £136m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Andrew Robertson | 31 | D/WB L | £175k | £28m | £27m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Robin Le Normand | 28 | D C | £0 | £53m | £51m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Andreas Christensen | 29 | D C, DM | £149k | £35m | £33m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
David Raum | 27 | D/WB/M L | £99k | £35m | £26m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Lisandro Martínez | 27 | D LC | £120k | £66m | £136m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Pierre Kalulu | 25 | D RC | £51k | £49m | £101m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Loïc Badé | 25 | D C | £99k | £57m | £118m | 30-06-2030 | ||
|
Miloš Kerkez | 21 | D/WB/M L | £140k | £73m | £179m | 30-06-2030 | ||
|
Alejandro Balde | 21 | D/WB L | £73k | £87m | £212m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Dani Carvajal | 33 | D/WB R | £172k | £11m | £10m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Tino Livramento | 22 | D/WB RL | £75k | £71m | £226m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Gianluca Mancini | 29 | D C | £108k | £36m | £75m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Jakub Kiwior | 25 | D LC, DM | £58k | £28m | £27m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Trevoh Chalobah | 26 | D RC | £100k | £54m | £110m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Davinson Sánchez | 29 | D C | £104k | £28m | £58m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Maximilian Mittelstädt | 28 | D/WB L | £50k | £28m | £35m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Raphaël Guerreiro | 31 | D/WB L, DM, AM C | £108k | £9m | £9m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
João Cancelo | 31 | D/WB RL | £249k | £48m | £59m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Waldemar Anton | 28 | D RC, DM | £116k | £46m | £94m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Omar Alderete | 28 | D C | £75k | £54m | £67m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Dani Vivian | 26 | D C, DM | £0 | £79m | £162m | 30-06-2032 | ||
|
Antonee Robinson | 27 | D/WB L | £65k | £50m | £61m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Ezri Konsa | 27 | D C | £105k | £50m | £61m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Roger Ibañez | 26 | D C | £166k | £56m | £69m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Théo Hernández | 27 | D/WB L | £331k | £60m | £75m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Marc Cucurella | 26 | D LC, M L | £110k | £62m | £127m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Ronald Araujo | 26 | D C | £207k | £32m | £30m | 30-06-2031 | ||
|
Abdukodir Khusanov | 21 | D RC | £80k | £67m | £161m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Kalidou Koulibaly | 34 | D C | £497k | £11m | £14m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Íñigo Martínez | 34 | D C | £232k | £8m | £10m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Murillo | 23 | D C, DM | £90k | £49m | £60m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Jarrad Branthwaite | 23 | D RLC | £135k | £54m | £66m | 30-06-2030 | ||
|
Pau Torres | 28 | D C | £130k | £48m | £59m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Benjamin Pavard | 29 | D RC | £126k | £29m | £27m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Joe Gomez | 28 | D RLC | £120k | £39m | £37m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Alexis Saelemaekers | 26 | WB R, AM RL | £76k | £30m | £62m | 30-06-2031 | ||
|
Noussair Mazraoui | 27 | D RLC | £120k | £60m | £122m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Dávid Hancko | 27 | D LC | £0 | £35m | £33m | 30-06-2030 | ||
|
Nico O'Reilly | 20 | D L, AM C | £60k | £58m | £161m | 30-06-2030 | ||
|
Francesco Acerbi | 37 | D C | £46k | £3m | £3m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Illia Zabarnyi | 22 | D C | £104k | £88m | £178m | 30-06-2030 | ||
|
Malick Thiaw | 23 | D C | £78k | £50m | £137m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Castello Lukeba | 22 | D LC | £99k | £69m | £147m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Oleksandr Zinchenko | 28 | D/WB L, DM | £35k | £21m | £22m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Alessio Romagnoli | 30 | D C | £92k | £300m | 30-06-2027 | |||
|
Harry Maguire | 32 | D C | £200k | £20m | £41m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Angeliño | 28 | D LC, M L | £61k | £30m | £61m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Arthur Theate | 25 | D LC | £41k | £32m | £39m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Edmond Tapsoba | 26 | D C | £83k | £40m | £82m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Josip Stanišić | 25 | D RLC | £99k | £23m | £22m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Óscar Mingueza | 26 | D/WB RL | £19k | £26m | £32m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Matty Cash | 27 | D/WB R | £80k | £47m | £57m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Andrea Cambiaso | 25 | D/WB/M RL | £74k | £38m | £35m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Maximiliano Araújo | 25 | D/WB/M L | £25k | £56m | £113m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Ousmane Diomande | 21 | D C | £31k | £69m | £241m | 30-06-2030 | ||
|
Conor Bradley | 22 | D/WB R | £120k | £51m | £104m | 30-06-2030 | ||
|
Yuri | 35 | D/WB L | £71k | £12m | £24m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
David Alaba | 33 | D LC | £373k | £9m | £4m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Ian Maatsen | 23 | D/WB L | £85k | £61m | £75m | 30-06-2030 | ||
|
Mario Gila | 24 | D C | £21k | £300m | 30-06-2027 | |||
|
Yann Aurel Bisseck | 24 | D C | £32k | £26m | £33m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Benoît Badiashile | 24 | D C | £105k | £49m | £63m | 30-06-2030 | ||
|
Leonardo Spinazzola | 32 | D/WB/M L | £55k | £11m | £23m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Daniel Muñoz | 29 | D/WB/M R | £70k | £39m | £47m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Matthias Ginter | 31 | D C | £50k | £300m | 30-06-2027 | |||
|
José Giménez | 30 | D C | £83k | £29m | £27m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Lucas Digne | 31 | D/WB L | £135k | £300m | 30-06-2028 | |||
|
Fikayo Tomori | 27 | D C | £75k | £21m | £42m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Andrei Raţiu | 27 | D/WB R | £8k | £22m | £26m | 30-06-2030 | ||
|
Jhon Lucumí | 27 | D C | £16k | £18m | £22m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Federico Gatti | 27 | D C | £95k | £28m | £27m | 30-06-2030 | ||
|
Matteo Gabbia | 25 | D C | £55k | £21m | £42m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Carlos Augusto | 26 | D LC, M L | £47k | £26m | £24m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Kieran Trippier | 34 | D/WB R | £115k | £4m | £8m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Fabian Schär | 33 | D C | £90k | £12m | £23m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Lewis Dunk | 33 | D C | £87k | £300m | 30-06-2027 | |||
|
Destiny Udogie | 22 | D/WB L | £66k | £58m | £178m | 30-06-2030 | ||
|
Gonçalo Inácio | 23 | D C | £31k | £52m | £141m | 30-06-2030 | ||
|
Álvaro Carreras | 22 | D/WB L | £149k | £96m | £193m | 30-06-2030 | ||
|
Reinildo | 31 | D LC | £65k | £300m | 30-06-2027 | |||
|
Sead Kolašinac | 32 | D LC | £43k | £10m | £21m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Berat Djimsiti | 32 | D C | £25k | £300m | 30-06-2028 | |||
|
Emre Can | 31 | D C, DM | £133k | £9m | £18m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Ramy Bensebaini | 30 | D LC | £99k | £31m | £63m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Jan Bednarek | 29 | D C | £41k | £39m | £77m | 30-09-2029 | ||
|
Joachim Andersen | 29 | D C | £140k | £44m | £53m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Julian Ryerson | 27 | D/WB RL | £83k | £35m | £70m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Mathías Olivera | 27 | D LC, M L | £43k | £24m | £49m | 30-06-2030 | ||
|
Nikola Milenković | 27 | D C | £70k | £39m | £47m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Maxence Lacroix | 25 | D C | £80k | £44m | £53m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Hiroki Ito | 26 | D LC | £108k | £18m | £16m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Axel Disasi | 27 | D RC | £75k | £13m | £12m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Sergi Cardona | 26 | D/WB/M L | £0 | £57m | £114m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Calvin Bassey | 25 | D LC | £60k | £44m | £53m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Wesley | 21 | D/WB RL, M R | £61k | £71m | £244m | 30-06-2030 | ||
|
Renato Veiga | 21 | D LC, DM | £0 | £123m | £300m | 30-06-2032 | ||
|
Giorgio Scalvini | 21 | D C | £46k | £61m | £209m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Sergio Ramos | 39 | D C | £0 | £0 | ||||
|
Myles Lewis-Skelly | 18 | D L, DM | £70k | £133m | £300m | 29-06-2030 | ||
|
Adrien Truffert | 23 | D/WB/M L | £60k | £48m | £58m | 30-06-2030 | ||
|
Matteo Ruggeri | 23 | D/WB/M L | £0 | £61m | £99m | 30-06-2030 | ||
|
Carlos Romero | 23 | D/WB L | £0 | £39m | £105m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Rafa Marín | 23 | D C | £37k | £36m | £97m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Miguel Gutiérrez | 23 | D/WB L | £71k | £32m | £87m | 30-06-2030 | ||
|
José Ángel Carmona | 23 | D RC | £21k | £26m | £70m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Flavien-Enzo Boyomo | 23 | D RC | £0 | £22m | £26m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Raúl Asencio | 22 | D C | £30k | £59m | £117m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Marcos Senesi | 28 | D C | £60k | £33m | £40m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Adam Marušić | 32 | D/WB RL | £77k | £300m | 30-06-2028 | |||
|
Clément Lenglet | 30 | D C | £0 | £31m | £29m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Robin Koch | 28 | D C, DM | £83k | £28m | £28m | 30-06-2030 | ||
|
Benjamin Henrichs | 28 | D/WB RL | £91k | £17m | £18m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Aitor Paredes | 25 | D C | £0 | £70m | £140m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Tyrick Mitchell | 25 | D/WB L | £60k | £42m | £50m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Ferdi Kadıoğlu | 25 | D/WB RL | £48k | £45m | £54m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Isak Hien | 26 | D C | £28k | £20m | £40m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Fran García | 25 | D/WB/M L | £86k | £28m | £26m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Juan Foyth | 27 | D RC, DM | £0 | £36m | £72m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Dodo | 26 | D/WB/M R | £32k | £20m | £21m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Kevin Danso | 26 | D C | £75k | £38m | £76m | 30-06-2030 | ||
|
Jaka Bijol | 26 | D C | £45k | £42m | £50m | 30-06-2030 | ||
|
Sam Beukema | 26 | D C | £53k | £23m | £45m | 30-06-2030 | ||
|
Raoul Bellanova | 25 | D/WB/M R | £55k | £20m | £40m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Ridle Baku | 27 | D/WB/AM R | £66k | £26m | £26m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Cristhian Mosquera | 21 | D RC | £60k | £50m | £117m | 30-06-2030 | ||
|
Rico Lewis | 20 | D/WB R, DM | £90k | £55m | £149m | 30-06-2030 | ||
|
Lucas Vázquez | 34 | D/WB/AM R | £108k | £300m | 30-06-2027 | |||
|
Thiago Silva | 40 | D C | £39k | £3m | £6m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Danilo Pereira | 33 | D C, DM | £85k | £12m | £15m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Nacho | 35 | D C | £166k | £4m | £380k | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Florian Lejeune | 34 | D C | £25k | £300m | 30-06-2027 | |||
|
Juan Jesus | 34 | D C | £31k | £4m | £7m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Stefan de Vrij | 33 | D C | £117k | £4m | £4m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Strahinja Pavlović | 24 | D C | £52k | £17m | £22m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Odilon Kossounou | 24 | D RC | £31k | £19m | £44m | 30-06-2029 | ||
|
Javi Rodríguez | 22 | D RC | £0 | £45m | £33m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Kostas Tsimikas | 29 | D/WB/M L | £110k | £33m | £30m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Carl Starfelt | 30 | D C | £20k | £33m | £24m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Victor Lindelöf | 30 | D C | £85k | £30m | £36m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Aymeric Laporte | 31 | D C | £0 | £68m | £135m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Mario Hermoso | 30 | D LC | £108k | £23m | £46m | 30-06-2027 | ||
|
Douglas Santos | 31 | D LC, DM | £41k | £300m | 30-06-2027 | |||
|
Takehiro Tomiyasu | 26 | D RLC | £9k | £12m | £12m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Ryan Sessegnon | 25 | D/WB/AM L | £55k | £32m | £38m | 30-06-2026 | ||
|
Pedro Porro | 25 | D/WB/M R | £112k | £47m | £92m | 30-06-2028 | ||
|
Igoh Ogbu | 25 | D C | £9k | £10m | £13m | 31-12-2027 | ||
|
Lloyd Kelly | 26 | D LC | £74k | £21m | £19m | 30-06-2029 |
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