FIFA 23 Arsenal Career Mode Guide: Starting Lineup, Who to Sign & more

Despite being one of the biggest clubs in European football, Arsenal has struggled to compete for major trophies over the past several seasons.

The last time the North Londoners successfully qualified for the UEFA Champions League was back in the 2015-16 campaign.

Although the Gunners narrowly missed out on the Premier League top four last year, clear improvements have been made - largely driven by a group of exceptional youngsters.

So, can you be the man to take Arsenal to the next level and compete for major honours once again? We're providing all the tools for you to succeed as the Arsenal manager in FIFA 23 Career Mode.

Starting Lineup and Formation

The 4-2-3-1 formation is most suitable for Arsenal to get the most out of their attackers whilst remaining defensively stable at the back.

The wide or narrow variation can be used depending on your own personal preference, but the 4-2-3-1 narrow may be considered the more 'meta'.

Starting with the summer signing and number nine, Gabriel Jesus. The striker boasts brilliant stats as well as four-star skill moves in FIFA 23.

The three creative players operating in the space behind Jesus are Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli, who should provide both goals and assists for the team.

Giving the team defensively stability in midfield are Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey.

In the full-back positions, we've gone for Kieren Tierney and Takehiro Tomiyasu, whilst Gabriel Magalhaes partners William Saliba in central defence.

Aaron Ramsdale is the man between the sticks having been bumped up by a whopping eight overall ratings this year.

Tactics and Instructions

With new boy Gabriel Jesus being the main target up front, we want to maximise his goal threat.

So, instruct the striker to Stay Forward, Get In Behind and Stay Central to give him the best possible chance of a sight at goal.

You may also want to set the speedy Gabriel Martinelli on Get In Behind, whilst instructing Bukayo Saka to Cut Inside.

Left-back Kieren Tierney is the more attacking of the two full-backs, so instruct the Scotland international to Overlap, whilst keeping Takehiro Tomiyasu on Stay Back While Attacking.

Make sure you instruct your two defensive midfielders to Cover Centre and Stay Back While Attacking, or you may leave yourself vulnerable to the counterattack.

Training

When it comes to developing youngsters, it's difficult to know where to start with this Arsenal squad which is packed full of high-potential players.

Bukayo Saka (POT 89), Martin Odegaard (POT 89) and Gabriel Martinelli (POT 88) can be transformed into a world-class attacking midfield trio with just a few years of training.

The Gunners have one of the most promising centre-back partnerships in world football in the form of William Saliba (POT 87) and Gabriel Magalhaes (POT 87).

Both Ben White (POT 86) and Takehiro Tomiyasu (POT 85) can play in the full-back or centre-half positions too.

Arsenal's two number 10s, Emile Smith Rowe (POT 87) and Fabio Vieira (POT 87) should also be developed in training.

Transfer Market

Starting budget: £88.7 million

Who should go?

Mikel Arteta and Arsenal have done a good job of clearing out the dead wood over the course of the past few seasons, but there are still more players to be sold.

With sufficient cover at right-back, Cedric Soares (OVR 76) is now surplus to requirements and can be sold for around £5 million.

The same goes for 29-year-old Mohamed Elneny (OVR 76), whose sale should free up around £6 million for your transfer budget.

Former club captain Granit Xhaka can also be sold. Despite his recent form for the Gunners, the Swiss international midfielder does not fit the FIFA 23 meta.

With the addition of French sensation William Saliba, centre-back Rob Holding is no longer in the fray. The sales of Xhaka and Holding combined will generate roughly £25 million.

The following youngsters can also be sold as their potential rating is not high enough in FIFA 23 to challenge for a first-team spot:

Matthew Smith, George Lewis, Joel Ideho, Catalin Cirjan, Amario Cozier-Duberry

Loans

The Gunners have ample depth, meaning there are a number of youngsters who can be sent out on loan.

You should look to offer Brazilian winger Marquinhos (POT 86) regular minutes elsewhere in order to develop properly.

Charlie Patino (POT 85), who is currently on loan at Blackpool, can be loaned out yet again upon his return in order to see how quickly he can reach senior first-team level.

Who to Sign

New transfer budget: £127 million

Top Class Centre-Mid

One clear weakness in the Arsenal starting XI in FIFA 23 lies in midfield and with Granit Xhaka. Once the 30-year-old is sold, you'll need a replacement as soon as possible.

Thomas Partey and Martin Odegaard could strike a nice balance with a dynamic box-to-box CM, so that's exactly what we're after.

Borussia Dortmund centre-mid Jude Bellingham should be your number one target, with an already brilliant card and the potential to grow into a 91 OVR player in FIFA 23.

The Englishman won't come cheap, however, with £90 million perhaps required to sign him, but his wages of £41,000 a week are respectable.

Alternative options

Promising Striker

Gabriel Jesus is, of course, the main man up front for Arsenal. However, the North Londoners lack a promising striker to play as backup to the Brazilian after Eddie Nketiah was handed a low 80 OVR potential.

German starlet Karim Adeyemi should be your number one target. The pacey striker can be picked up for around £20 million in Career Mode.

The 20-year-old has brilliant acceleration, sprint speed, agility and jumping as well as four-star skill moves and can grow to a potential of 87.

Alternative options

Board Expectations

You will have to keep an eye on all your board expectations as manager of Arsenal in FIFA 23 as they are a pretty demanding bunch.

Brand Exposure is the most important one for your popularity with the board as they see it as critical to the success of the club.

The board also have assigned high priority to Domestic Success and Continental Success, so it's important you are performing at the highest level.

The Financial and Youth Development targets are a medium priority, so you don't need to stress too much about these.