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

The Abramovic era is over at Chelsea and Thomas Tuchel has been ousted too.

Although Graham Potter is now the manager, what could have been if you were the one to take over?

Put that idea to the test and get Chelsea dominating the Premier League and Europe in FIFA 23 Career Mode.

Team Rating

Chelsea has a five-star rating in FIFA 23.

The breakdown of the ratings is as follows: ATT 84, MID 86, DEF 84.

Starting Lineup and Formation

Chelsea starts with a 5-2-3 as the default formation, however, we're switching up to a 4-3-3 Holding to get more attacking players on instead of starting three CBs.

We've opted for Christian Pulisic, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Raheem Sterling as our first-choice forwards, although Kai Havertz could start ahead of Pulisic or Auba.

The midfield picks itself, with N'Golo Kante and Mason Mount as the two CMs and Jorginho sitting behind them to string things together as a CDM.

Kante and Jorginho could be swapped, but we prefer it this way round as Kante has the legs to get up and down the pitch.

Reece James, Thiago Silva, Kalidou Koulibaly and Ben Chilwell sit ahead of Edouard Mendy in goal, although Marc Cucurella is a like-for-like option instead of Chilwell and that could come down to personal preference.

This leaves you with a pretty strong bench that includes Cucurella, Wesley Fofana, Denis Zakaria, Matteo Kovacic, Havertz, Hakim Ziyech and Armando Broja.

Tactics and Instructions

The default tactics for Chelsea in FIFA 23 are pretty decent, putting you on the front foot with a very balanced style both offensively and defensively.

We've put Aubameyang on Stay Forward so he is an out ball if the team is pinned back a bit and can put us on a counterattack.

Both the wingers have been given Free Roam and Get Into The Box For Cross, so they will constantly be looking to get on the ball and also form a slightly narrower front-three, giving our full-backs room to get into (more on that later).

Mason Mount is told to Get Forward and Free Roam, again, giving another passing option and pulling the strings up top.

Kante is told to Stay On Edge Of Box For Cross so he doesn't push too far forward but can still break down play high up the pitch.

Jorginho is on Stay Back While Attacking, Cover Center and Deep Lying Playmaker, so he can create the tempo for the side whilst also protecting the CBs from counterattacks.

Both full-backs are told to Join The Attack and Overlap to make the most of their attacking abilities and crossing.

Development Plans

If you choose to use the 4-3-3 Holding formation then a few players will need their positions adjusted slightly to get the best out of them.

Mount and Kante should both be switched to CMs, with Jorginho changed to a CDM.

The wing-backs will also need to switch to full-backs so they don't get any negative ratings for playing a slightly different role.

Then you need to make a decision on the future of Havertz, is he is going to be your future ST or fit into the midfield?

We see him taking over as a ST and so would suggest switching his position accordingly.

Training

Havertz is a future world-beater in FIFA 23, with 91 POT, so make sure you get him training a lot and also involved in many matches.

The Chelsea squad has quite a few top young players to focus on, with Pulisic (POT 88), James (POT 88), Mount (POT 87), Carney Chukwuemeka (POT 86), Fofana (POT 86), Conor Gallagher (POT 86), Broja (OVR 85) Chilwell (OVR 85), Cucurella (OVR 85), Trevoh Chalobah (POT 82) and Omari Hutchinson (POT 81) all worth training up.

Transfer Market

Starting budget: £135 million

Who should go?

There are only a few players who will bring in decent money that we think should be sold, with deals for Ziyech, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Cesar Azpilicueta adding around £80 million to your budget.

Then there are plenty of players who can be cut as they won't gain a rating higher than 80 OVR, which includes Charlie Webster, Lewis Hall, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Josh Brooking, Dylan Williams, Marcus Bettinelli and Juan Castilo.

Loans

You can send a few of the current squad out on loan to help develop them further, with Chukwuemeka, Chalobah and Hutchinson all candidates.

As you would expect, Chelsea has many players out on loan, with a decision needed to be made on the future of Romelu Lukaku.

We would probably sell him after his loan spell and use that chunk of cash to improve throughout the squad next season.

Then there are six other players currently on loan that should be monitored, with Callum Hudson-Odoi (POT 84), Levi Colwill (POT 84), Harvey Vale (POT 83), Ian Maatsen (POT 82), Tino Anjorin (POT 82) and Gabriel Slonina (POT 81) all possibilities for your future plans.

All other players out on loan can be let go of, as they won't become better than 80 OVR in FIFA 23.

Who to sign?

Top of our targets to sign is a winger (or two), which will be vital to help with squad rotation in a hectic schedule.

Most of the budget will be used to acquire a top-quality talent, but remember, if you have sold Ziyech he will need replacing too.

Transfer Targets (Wingers)

Another RB would also help out in case of fatigue or injury to James, with Azpilicueta still able to do a job but not really the man you want playing there.

Don't worry about spending big on first-team quality, this just needs to be a suitable backup that can fill the position for a few seasons.

Transfer Targets (RB)

Then, if you have the budget left, getting another CB would be a great investment, as Thiago Silva is coming to the end of his career.

With Fofana, there is already one future starter in the squad, and bringing in a partner for him is something to keep in mind.

Transfer Targets (CB)

Board Expectations

At such a big club you are expected to win, and that is shown in the critical priority of Domestic Success, which requires you to win the Premier League and the FA Cup.

Also of critical priority is Brand Exposure, where - on our save - we were asked to get 10 games without defeat in home matches and also sign 1 player whose nationality matches the club.

Continental Success is of high priority, and although you don't have to win the Champions League final, you will need to reach the final.

Youth Development and Financial objectives both have low priority and should be fairly straightforward to complete, signing a couple of players younger than 20 with high potential and also increasing the club worth over three seasons.