Our Kylian Mbappe priced team is coming together nicely having spent £93.6 of my £150m budget (£14.1m per player left). If you haven't been following and would like to catch up on my selections, please read Part 1 and Part 2 to see how we reached this point.

We're now left with the unexciting task of finding a defensive midfielder, 2 full backs and a (preferably left footed) centre back - if we've got some money left over, I'll see if there's anywhere that we can upgrade.

Defensive Midfielder

For this position, I'm looking for somebody who'll sit back and break up play. It'll be nice if they're decent ball players too but we've got plenty of creativity in the side already so this isn't really necessary. I'm thinking of somebody like Real Madrid's Casemiro (£36m) whom whoscored.com think is Very Strong at Aerial Duels, Blocking the Ball and Interceptions and Strong at Passing and Tackling. If I can find anybody close to Casemiro for £20m less, he's in.

I'll start by shortlisting the players costing less than £20m who have made an average of 2 or more interceptions per 90 minutes in the top 5 European Leagues and see where that takes us. Once again, because I'm looking at a 3 year team, I'm keeping the age limit at 32 years old and I'll remove players that have a Weakness in an area that is important for a ball winner.

Josh Brownhill (Burnley - £6.3m) is an interesting candidate. Whoscored has him as Very Strong at Ball Interceptions and Strong at Aerial Duels, Holding on to the Ball, Blocking the Ball, Defensive Contribution and Concentration. Passing (Crossing and Finishing) is a Weakness but everything else is looking good here.

Alberto Grassi (Cagliari - £2.3m) is another interesting option. Again, he's Very Strong at Ball Interceptions and Strong at Aerial Duels, Blocking the Ball and Concentration. None of his Weaknesses are a concern (Crossing).

Nemanja Maksimović (Getafe - £12.6m) is a player I owned in Fantasy La Liga Marca this season and he deserves a mention but with fewer strengths than Josh Brownhill and the same weakness, he'll get no more than a mention.

Max Christiansen (Greuther Furth - £1.4m) has some appealing strengths - Very Strong for Ball Interceptions and Blocking the Ball and Strong at Aerial Duels feels like the perfect cover for the defence.

Anton Stach who was considered for the Central Midfield role alongside Christian Eriksen cropped up again but I'm dismissing him, Salih Özcan (Koln) and Dominik Kohr (Mainz) because discipline is a weakness and they commit fouls often. Whilst this could be considered a benefit further up the pitch, I can't afford for that kind of player to be anywhere near our defensive box.

Whilst looking at the options, Ligue 1 could be where my Ball Winner comes from. Having produced some of the best ball winning midfielders who have played in the Premier League (Claude Makelele, Patrick Vieira, Michael Essien, N'golo Kante), I could find myself a bargain here.

Aurélien Tchouaméni (Monaco - £54m) stands out. As does his price which is a shame.

Lucien Agoume (Brest - £6.3m) looks like an option with Very Strong Ball Interceptions and Strong Aerial Duels, Blocking the Ball and Tackling. Does Josh Brownhill offer more? I'll shortlist him anyway.

The final option is Azor Matusiwa (Reims - £6.3m) who has Very Strong Ball Interceptions and Blocking the Ball as well as Strong Concentration.

So I'm down to 5 and let's compare some per 90 stats:

Player	Price (£m)	Tackles	Interceptions	Blocks	Fouls
Josh Brownhill	6.3	2.3	2.1	1.3	1.3
Alberto Grassi	2.3	1.8	2.6	1.1	1.1
Max Christiansen	1.4	2.1	2.9	2.5	0.9
Lucien Agoume	6.3	2.4	2.6	1.4	1.5
Azor Matusiwa	6.3	2.1	3.0	1.9	1.1

It's getting close to decision time and I feel that it's between Max Christiansen and Azor Matusiwa and a bit of YouTube tells me that Azor Matusiwa (the Dutch N'golo Kante) is my man and I wouldn't be surprised if he makes his way to the Premier League in the not too distant future - perhaps even being reunited with the man who gave him his Ajax debut - Erik ten Hag.

Source

👉 Azor Matusiwa (£6.3m)

Central Defender

With Joachim Andersen as the main man at the back, I'd like to complement him with a left footed option. My initial thoughts are that I'd be happy with somebody who's no nonsense and will put his head in where it hurts.

I've only just started my search but whilst reviewing the Bundesliga and knowing that I've saved loads of money elsewhere, one name jumps out and it just so happens that he's left footed - Nico Schlotterbeck (~~Freiburg~~ Borussia Dortmund - £25.2m).

He's been voted into every single Bundesliga Team of the Year that I can find and I've just seen that he's been bought by Dortmund, otherwise he might have come in cheaper. He's also just made his debut for Germany so I feel like I might be a bit late to the party on this one.

He's expensive, there's no doubt about it but with him and Andersen paired up in front of De Gea, we're solid.

👉 Nico Schlotterbeck (£25.2m)

Another £31.5m spent leaves me with £24.9m to spend on my Full Backs.

Left Back

With the hard working Vincenzo Grifo on the wing, I can afford to have a slightly more attacking Left Back who can put in some crosses and can be effective on the overlap. It's likely that Grifo will be cutting inside so somebody who can keep the width and leave the defenders guessing would work well.

There are plenty of players that fit the bill - Andrew Robertson (£58.5m), Theo Hernández (£43.2m) and Alphonso Davies (£63m) are all great fits for this position but as you can see, price is an issue.

Most of the players I've found are far too expensive but here are a few gems that I've found:
Cristiano Biraghi (Fiorentina - £9.0m)
Simone Bastoni (Spezia - £4.5m)
Marvin Plattenhardt (Hertha Berlin - £1.8m)
Christian Günter (Freiburg - £10.8m)
Aarón Martín (Mainz - £4.5m)
Maximilian Mittelstädt (Hertha Berlin - £4.1m)

Another look at whoscored discounts Biraghi, Plattenhardt and Gunter who all have Tackling as a Weakness. However, if I look at Fifa 22's ratings, it's these 3 players who come out on top for defensive and overall ratings.

I'm leaning towards another player that I owned, this time in Fantasy Bundesliga - Christian Günter. He's also Freiburg's captain so he's another leader on the pitch but the thing that I like most, is his pace.

What I've also just noticed is that I've got Freiburg's entire left side - Günter, Schlotterbeck and Grifo so I also know that they know each other's games.

There's very little on YouTube to demonstrate his talents but this assist gives me a good idea of what I'm getting.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4alRRG1KaY4

👉 Christian Günter (£10.8m)

Right Back

£14.1m left for my final position. With Christian Wimmer as my right winger, I definitely need somebody more defensive and happier crossing from deep. If my Right Back strays too far forward, I'd be worried that the right hand side could be a significant weakness in the team.

This time, I'll look on whoscored for players with a high number of successful tackles who also like to cross - so strengths of both Tackling and Crossing...

Very few players fit the bill and those that are close have a Very Strong Weakness in either Holding on to the Ball or Concentration - 2 things that are crucial to the team. Only 1 player seems to satisfy my criteria - Frédéric Guilbert (On Loan at Strasbourg from Aston Villa - £6.3m). He's Very Strong on Crosses and Key Passes which bodes well for Kalajdzic up front and also with Grifo and Günter coming in from the opposite side. He's also Strong on Dribbling and Ball Interceptions so he reads the game well. The Right Hand side of the team feels like the perfect contrast for what's happening on the left, with plenty of different attacking dynamics.

You won't find much on Full Backs on YouTube so this isn't the most exciting video and he looks good in attack too:

Source