A shadow striker is a threat who’s behind the main striker. The Shadow Striker (SS) role can be a very important role in your tactic. He can represent the main striker when he’s not available in the box. And can be the main striker’s backbone. However, this article pulls the lists of the best shadow strikers in FM18.

The lists presented here are in four categories:

First Class

Second Class

Third Class

The Unnatural Shadow Strikers

Each category contains a list of players with similar quality and character in the shadow striker role, irrespective of their market values. Overall, they are of good quality. All can impact your team positively once you bring them in. Moreover, some of them do very well in other roles and can also be the main striker in your team.

First Class

This category contains a list of the best natural shadow strikers in football manager 2018. They are really expensive and can be very difficult for you to acquire. The market value of some of them may seem affordable but their respective clubs will demand a high amount of money because of their status. But if you can land any of them, you won’t regret it.

NAME NATIONALITY CLUB LOANED FROM AGE INITIAL VALUE ( £) Dele Ali English Tottenham 21 48M Ricardo Gouiart Brazilian Guangzhou Evergrande 26 34M Jese Lingard English Manchester United 24 37M Eran Zahavi Israeli Guangzhou R&F 29 35.5M Talisca Brazilian Benfica 23 11.5M Davy Klassen Dutch Everton 24 11.75M Victor Kovalenko Ukranian Shakhtar Donetsk 21 11.25M Raúl García Spanish Athletic Bilbao 31 15.7M

Second Class

The players here are a bit above average in terms of quality. But they are very efficient. However, they are also good in a couple of roles and positions. Just give any of them a try.

NAME NATIONALITY CLUB LOANED FROM AGE INITIAL VALUE ( £) Nadiem Amiri German Hoffenheim 20 20M Mohamed Diamé Senegalese Newcastle 30 17M Lucas Pratto Argentinian River Plate 29 7.75M Berdard Mensah Ghanaian Kasımpaşa Spor Kulübü Atlético de Madrid 22 4M Kevin-Prince Boateng Ghanaian Frankfurt 30 12.5M Alessandro Schöpf Austrian Schalke 04 23 7.5M Diego Valdés Chilean Monarcas Morelia 23 2.1M Pierre Lees-Melou French OGC Nice 24 5.25M Valentin Stocker Swiss Basel 28 3.1M Ramadan Sobhi Egyptian Stoke City 20 12.5M

Third Class

This group of players are average but they are really good. The players here are easier to sign than any other players in the other categories. Some of them can even perform better than the second class players; if managed well. They may seem cheap, but they have the ability to give performances above their price values, and that’s why they’re among the best in the shadow striker role.

NAME NATIONALITY CLUB LOANED FROM AGE INITIAL VALUE ( £) Vitally Buyalskyi Ukrainian Dynamo Kyiv 24 6.75M Siem de Jong Dutch Ajax 28 5.5M Darwin Quintero Colombian Club America 29 4.4M Răzvan Marin Romanian Standard Liege 21 2.2M Alexandr Yerokhin Russian Zenit 27 3.4M Iveln Popov Bulgarian Rubin Kazan Spartak Moscow 29 3.8M Steven Naismith Scottish Heart of Midlothian Norwich City 30 2.4M Pedro Antonio Spanish Granada 30 1.7M David Edwards Welsh Reading 31 2.3M Alexandru Băluţă Romanian CS Craiova 23 1.6M Andriy Totovytskyi Ukrainian Futbol Klub Astana Werder Bremen 24 1.2M Suk Hyun-Jun South Korean Troyes FC Porto 26 800K László Kleinheisler Hungarian Illichivets Mariupol Shakhtar Donetsk 23 3.1M Eric Bicfalvi Romanian Ural 29 1.9M

The Unnatural Shadow Strikers

In FM18, there’re players who aren’t natural in the shadow striker role but they can play sensationally in the role. They can even perform better than those in the first class. And they don’t need to adapt to the SS role. However, the only down side is that most of the players on this list are exceptional and almost impossible to sign. But if you can sign any of them, don’t hesitate.

The only player that seems cheap in this list is Donny van de Beek. The only reason I included him is because he amazed me in the game. I saw he had a high potential ability and I bought him at a price of 18M from Ajax. Although he’s a natural Advanced Playmaker, I played him as a Shadow Striker. At the end, the performances he showcased were very impressive. So, I had to put him on this list.

NAME NATIONALITY CLUB LOANED FROM AGE INITIAL VALUE (£) Paulo Dybala Argentinian Juventus 23 69M Kevin De Bruyne Belgian Manchester City 26 78M Roberto Firmino Brazilian Liverpool 25 52M Nabil Fekir French Olympique Lyonnais 24 29M Lionel Messi Argentinian Barcelona 30 85M Adam Lallana English Liverpool 29 50M Oscar Brazilian Shanggang 25 41M Roberto Pereyra Argentinian Watford 26 29M Gylfi Sigurðsson Icelandic Everton 27 28M Danny Van de Beele Dutch Ajax 20 4.8M Philippe Coutinho Brazilian Barcelona 25 69M Cristian Eriksen Danish Tottenham 25 58M

Feel free to add yours in the comment box. I will consider putting the player in the list.

Enjoy the Game…