FM Citizens

The understudy of Abbondanzieri as far as the Argentinian national squad goes, this Athletico Madrid star has four caps for his country.
Franco started his career at Independiente before moving to Spanish Mérida UD. In 1998 he transferred to Real Mallorca, where he would later become a regular starter for the club, and win the 2003 Copa del Rey. He was signed by Atlético Madrid in 2004.
But trust me, on FM09 he is an absolute beast of a keeper, and at £5m you can't do much better!

This screenshot is one year in to the game, so he's actually 30 years old at the start of the game As you can see from the screenshot he's been generously scattered with 17s in all the important GK stats such as: Handling, One on One, Kicking and Throwing. He's also got 18 in Reflexes and Determination. Most other stats are nice 16-14s.
If you sign this keeper and make him your first choice, in my experience on several different saves, he absolutely won't let you down! Yes he's old, but that means he has experience untill one of the high PA GKs in FM09 can get a bit older and more developed...

Goalkeepers

	Renan	Botafogo
	Eros Corradini	Grosseto
	Joe Hart	Man City
	Francisco Ochoa	America (MEX)
	Scott Carson	West Brom
	Diego Benaglio	Wolfsburg
	Emiliano Viviano	Brescia

Defenders (left)

	Andrea Mazzarani	Udinese
	Mattia Cassani	Palermo
	Glen Johnson	Portsmouth
	Andujar Coke	Rayo
	Damiano Zugno	Mantova
	Jorge Fucile	Porto
	Jerome Boateng	HSV
	Davide Santon	Inter

Defenders (right)

	Vincent Muratori	AS Monaco
	Marcell Jansen	HSV
	Leonardo	Olympiakos
	Taye Taiwo	Marseille
	Uwa Echiejile	Stade Rennais
	Matteo Rubin	Torino

Defenders (centre)

	Mathias Jorgensen	FC Kobenhavn
	Gary Cahill	Bolton
	Garry Bocaly	Marseille
	Domenico Criscito	Juventus
	Ayila Yussuf	Dinamo Kiev
	Nevan Subotic	Dortmund
	Mamadou Sakho	Paris Saint-Germain

Defensive Midfielders

	Luiz Gustavo	Hoffenheim
	Yohan Cabaye	LOSC
	Walter Gargano	Napoli
	Charles Kabore	Marseille
	Stephane Mbia	Stade Rennais
	Blaise Matuidi	Saint-Etienne

Midfielders

	Edgar Barreto	Reggina
	Fernandinho	Shakhtar
	Denilson	Arsenal
	Javi Martinez	Athletic
	Marouana Fellaini	Everton
	Per Ciljan Skjelbred	Rosenborg

Attacking Midfielders (right)

	Gai Assulin	Barcelona
	Gabriel Obertan	Bordeaux
	James Milner	Aston Villa
	Diego Valeri	Lanus
	Davide Lanzafame	Palermo
	Augusto Fernandez	River

Attacking Midfielders (left)

	Ashley Young	Aston Villa
	Andres Guardado	Deportivo
	Stevan Jovetic	Fiorentina
	Marko Marin	Gladbach
	Diego Capel	Sevilla
	Zoran Tosic	Partizan

Attacking Midfielders (centre)

	Yoann Gourcuff	A.C. Milan
	Carlos Eduardo	Hoffenheim
	Ederson	Lyon
	Ivan Rakitic	Schalke
	Simon Vukcevic	Sporting CP
	Renato Augusto	Leverkusen
	Sofiane Feghouli	Grenoble

Strikers (target men)

	Bafetimbi Gomis	Saint-Etienne
	Nicklas Bendtner	Arsenal
	Artem Milevskyi	Dinamo Kiev
	Demba Ba	Hoffenheim
	Marcelo Moreno	Shakhtar
	Mario Gomez	Stuttgart

Strikers (fast)

	Rafael Sobis	Al-Jazeera (UAE)
	Lukas Podolski	FC Bayern
	Falcao	River
	Mauro Zarate	Al-Sadd
	Giuseppe Rossi	Villarreal
	Roberto Soldado	Getafe

English players

	Jack Wilshere	Arsenal
	Nathan Delfouneso	Aston Villa
	Scott Sinclair	Chelsea
	Jose Baxter	Everton
	Fabian Delph	Leeds
	Joe Mattock	Leicester
	Danny Welbeck	Man Utd
	Mark Beevers	Sheff Wed
	Adam Lallana	Southampton
	Jake Thomson	Southampton
	John Bostock	Tottenham
	Danny Rose	Tottenham
	Jordan Spence	West Ham
	Theo Walcott	Arsenal
	Micah Richards	Man City
	Daniel Sturridge	Man City
	James Vaughan	Everton
	Michael Johnson	Man City
	Michael Mancienne	Chelsea
	Fraizer Campbell	Man Utd
	Adam Johnson	Middlesbrough

Article written by 'SAFC1' from Sports Interactive Community

Full name: Ismaïl Aissati
Date of birth: August 16, 1988 (1988-08-16) (age 20)
Place of birth: Utrecht, Netherlands
Height: 1.74 m (5 ft 8+1?2 in)
Playing position: Attacking Midfielder
Club: Ajax

He plays as an attacking midfielder who possesses flair and vision. Being born to Moroccan parents in the Netherlands, he is still allowed to play for either national team, should they want him, until he is 22 years old. He also played on loan for FC Twente during the second half of the 2006/07 season.
On October 19, 2005 he made his first UEFA Champions League appearance for PSV Eindhoven. In doing so, he became the youngest Dutch player ever to play in the UEFA Champions League, taking over from Ryan Babel, who debuted also at age 17, but eight months older. In the match against A.C. Milan he came off the bench in the 63rd minute. However, on November 1, 2005 PSV Eindhoven played the return match against A.C. Milan where he played the whole match, with Andrea Pirlo as opponent, playing with confidence.
Aissati is seen as a great talent and he is one of the most promising Dutch players for the future. At the 2006 UEFA Under-21 Football Championship, Aissati reached the tournament all star squad, mostly playing against 3 or 4 year older opponents, Aissati himself being 17. Aissati was linked to European giants A.C. Milan, Inter Milan, Valencia CF, Sevilla FC as well as Arsenal. In September 2006 A.C. Milan made a bid of around 11 million, but PSV rejected the offer and said he won't leave for less than 15 Million.

Full name: Ibrahim Afellay
Date of birth: April 2, 1986 (1986-04-02) (age 22)
Place of birth: Utrecht, Netherlands
Height: 1.81 m (5 ft 11+1?2 in)
Playing position: Attacking Midfielder, Winger
Club: PSV

Afellay began his football career at the amateur club USV Elinkwijk in Utrecht. Afellay's official debut for PSV was on 4 February, 2004 during a cup match against NAC Breda at the age of 17. His debut in the competition was on 14 February, against Twente. In the season of 2003-2004 he played 3 official games. In the season of 2004-2005 he played 7 times. On 15 May 2005, PSV played a game against Feyenoord. Afellay was a part of the starting 11, and made a great impression with 2 goals.
In the 2005/2006 season, following the departure of important players including midfielders Johann Vogel and Mark van Bommel, Afellay grew to be a first-team regular, and was even pre-selected for the Dutch national team. He played a total of 23 league matches during the season, scoring 2 goals. This number could have been higher were it not for the minor injuries he suffered throughout the season.

Full name: Nordin Amrabat
Date of birth: March 31, 1987 (1987-03-31) (age 21)
Place of birth: Naarden, Netherlands
Height: 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position: Winger, Forward
Club: PSV

Amrabat began his career at amateur club HSV De Zuidvogels. At a younger age he was scouted by AFC Ajax. But after 3 seasons playing by AFC Ajax he was getting problems with his growing and injuries. He was then transferred to SV Huizen. There he was a part of the A-selection. After a good season at SV Huizen he was scouted by FC Omniworld.
Because of his creative game at FC Omniworld he was scouted by VVV Venlo. Amrabat also had made his debut at the national youth team.
After a few good games at VVV Venlo, he was wanted by Feyenoord, AFC Ajax, PSV, FC Utrecht, SC Heerenveen and Standaard Luik. On 1 March 2008 it was announced that Amrabat will be joining PSV Eindhoven. On 3rd of March Amrabat signed for a contract of 4 years at PSV. He took over the number 11 jersey, previously worn by Kenneth Perez.

Full name: Georginio Wijnaldum
Date of birth: November 11, 1990 (1990-11-11) (age 18)
Place of birth: Rotterdam, Netherlands
Height: 1.73 m
Playing position: Midfielder
Club: Feyenoord

Wijnaldum is one of the most promising talents to come out of the Feyenoord youth system in modern times. He made his debut in a Eredivisie game against FC Groningen on April 8, 2007. Despite Feyenoord losing 0-4 he played well, and he was crowned Feyenoord's man of the match in that game.
Georginio's meteoric rise to first-team football started in January 2007 when he was invited to a soccer camp with Feyenoord's first-team squad. The camp was held in Turkey and Feyenoord were participating in the EFES Pilsen Cup. Erwin Koeman, the former manager of Feyenoord, knew of Wijnaldum's talents and presumably acted to include him in the camp.
Wijnaldum played his first competitive match against FC Groningen because Royston Drenthe and Danny Buijs were suspended for the game and Sebastián Pardo, Theo Lucius and Nicky Hofs were injured. Georginio was 16 years and 148 days old when he made his debut, making him the youngest player ever for Feyenoord. After this game he stayed in the first-team squad for the rest of the season. In the 2007-08 season, Wijnaldum scored his first goal for Feyenoord on December 2, 2007, against Heracles Almelo in a 6-0 home win. He scored his first European goal for Feyenoord in a UEFA Cup match against Kalmar FF on September 2, 2008, which resulted in a 2-1 win, a result that would see Feyenoord move on to the group stage.

Full name: Dirk Marcellis
Date of birth: April 13, 1988 (1988-04-13) (age 20)
Place of birth: Horst, Netherlands
Height: 1.81 m
Playing position: Central Defender
Club: PSV

Dirk Marcellis is a Dutch footballer, currently playing for PSV Eindhoven. His preferred position is centre back, but if needed, he can play on every defensive position.
On April 11, 2007, he was sent-off on his UEFA Champions League debut in a match against Liverpool, for a tackle on winger Boudewijn Zenden. He received an ovation from the Liverpool audience upon leaving the pitch.
Despite of his mediate height, Marcellis worked his way up the ladder at PSV Eindhoven, and eventually played his way in the starting line-up, forming a confident pair with Mexican defender Carlos Salcido. It was then that Marcellis was first really noticed by the bigger audience. He managed himself quite comfortably in the PSV defence, and almost effortlessly replaced the highly-rated Brazilian central defender Alex, who went back to Chelsea after being loaned by PSV for several seasons.

Article written by 'bjoggi33' from Sports Interactive Community

Personal Profile:

"Ciljan" is by a very large margin said to be the most exciting Norwegian football talent since Carew. Regrettably, in 2005 whilst playing against Olympiacos, Ieroklis Stoltidis brutally tackled him resulting in a double fracture (Tibia and Fibula bones) of his leg. During this crucial period of his development, he was unable to progress until he made a comeback one and a half year later at the end of 2006. An interesting fact, after his recovery he played with custom made shin guards made of titanium and carbon composite for quite some time!
He's since struggled to find his form, but now finally he is beginning to shine again.
This month Norway won against Germany in an international friendly 1 - 0, and Ciljan was by far the stand out performer, sparking hopes from fans that this season he will finally be back as the player we all fell in love with.
Ciljan has always been an open Newcastle fan, but a move from Norway has so far failed to happen. Fans of Rosenborg will always be torn against their will to retain him and the fact that he deserves his big break abroad.
There seems to be a general consensus that the board will let him move at the next transfer window if an acceptable offer comes in.

Ciljan in FM09:

He’s got excellent First Touch, Passing. Good Dribbling, Technique, Concentration, Creativity, Decisions. This makes for a nimble and agile midfielder.
He's also got brilliant Stamina, Work Rate and Team Work. He's also not slow... So yep, good team player and quite quick on his feet.
Weakness: Heading, Finishing, Crossing, Influence, Jumping and Strength.
Just means he’s not an all-out winger or DMC doesn’t it?

Clearly, he's not as god-like Kaka, but he'll be delighted to come to city and he'll always perform out of his skin for you. Just a player to sign if you get tired of all the mega primadonna stars

He's been a very solid performer for me, even in competitive leagues such as EPL/Ligue 1/Serie A/Bundesliga and similar. In my experience he'll average above a rating of 7 most seasons. You can usually sign him for about £2-3m in the first transfer window. (The screen shot is year 2010 so he’s value’s increased a bit)
An excellent passer, and most likely to be the player that covers the most miles for you.

Mr. Opare is a (not so) secret star buy on FM09, as in real life right back can often be a difficult position to fill. Although at Man City you've got a very good right back by the name of Micha Richards, but if you prefer him as a central defender then you should strengthen the right back position.

Daniel Opare is only 18 years old, but already established on Real Madrid U18's and Ghana U21's which speaks volumes of his potential. Even first season his stats are good enough to be a backup player.
Here's a screenshot of the way he starts out on the 9.02 database:

And here's one of him as a 19 year old:

As you can see, he ticks all the right boxes. He's quick, fit, a good tackler and a hard-worker with good determination. But most importantly he's one of those strange players who regardless of their attributes for some reason they always seem to excell.
At The 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup Opare got widespread praise for his performances, ultimately helping Ghana to a repectable fourth place finish. Many believe this talented Ghana team could have won the tournament all together, but they were rather unlucky to lose 2-1 after extra time against Spain in the Semi-Finals and then lose to Germany in the Bronze Final.
His excellent performances in FIFA U-17 World Cup and African U-17 Championship prompted Real Madrid to sign him from Ashanti Gold, but in FM09 (9.02 patch) he has a £200,000 minimum release clause, and he'll be willing to sign for Manchester City no problem.
Daniel Opare is definitively a player for the future, available on the cheap and he'll happily join you at the mighty Citizens!