Football Manager 2021 release clauses: The best players to target

Martin Macdonald

• Updated: 23 May 2023 08:39 CDT
• 10 min read

The 2020/21 football season may be heading for its climax in most European leagues, but it needn’t be for players of Football Manager 2021, who can still fire up the game at any point to create their own dynasty.

One of the best aspects of any Football Manager or Championship Manager game is building your dream team to try and win everything possible – a selection of superstars that might be too good even for the real world!

READ MORE: Football Manager 2021 best players: All the top forwards, midfielders, defenders and goalkeepers

One particularly hard aspect of FM21, meanwhile, is attempting to land stars who have a parent club desperate to retain their services.

However, one easy way to sign the player of your dreams is to trigger a release clause. Although these may not be common throughout most leagues, they still present the gamer opportunities to pick up some outstanding talents.

READ MORE: Football Manager 2021 wonderkids: All the best young goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders and forwards

Players have been ranked using the FMScout rating system as a guide, and to make things simple they have formulated a rating based on metrics like value, attributes, position suitability and age.

Here are the best bargains available via a release clause on Football Manager 2021.

Football Manager 2021 goalkeeper release clauses 

During his time at Real Sociedad, Geronimo Rulli was one of the most consistently good goalkeepers in Football Manager, and although his stock may have fallen slightly in the real world, he remains a good acquisition.

Andriy Lunin will not get into the Real Madrid starting XI anytime soon at the start of the game due to the presence of Thibaut Courtois, so he presents a very interesting option for just £18.75 million.

At the cheaper end of the scale, Axel Werner can be purchased for a steal at £1.6m.

Football Manager 2021 centre-back release clauses 

Both Nehuen Perez of Granada and Unai Nunez of Athletic Bilbao both develop into excellent centre-backs within FM21, so it is certainly a good thing that they can be acquired for a definite fee with no negotiations required.

A couple of the players on the list of defenders like Ramiro Funes Mori and Sergi Gomez can probably be purchased for less than the release clauses listed above.

Football Manager 2021 full-back release clauses 

Aihen Munoz represents a bargain at just £18.75m if you are looking for a good left-back. Depending on the game, he may become average or even better, but for that price is definitely useful.

Veteran defender Martin Montoya can play at both left-back and right-back, but has only just arrived at Betis so you might not get him even if the release clause is triggered, at least right away.

Football Manager 2021 midfielder release clauses 

If you want a central midfielder within your first save in Football Manager then look no further than Lorenzo Pellegrini of Roma, who can be signed for just £27.5m. At just 24 years old, too, he will only improve, so you can have real hopes of selling him on for a much larger fee if you want to.

If it is a wonderkid you’re looking for, then Barcelona youngster Nico is available for £5.5m.

Romario Baro develops into one of the best central midfielders in the game, and although his release clause is hefty, it is not a large fee when you consider what prices become like as the years go on within the game.

Football Manager 2021 winger release clauses 

Fabio Vieira represents an excellent buy for just £27.5m, but it is probably a purchase to be made if you’re a big club, as he is not the finished article in the first year. If you’re willing to splurge that amount of money on a wonderkid, then there isn’t many better at the start of play.

The same can be said for Diego Lainez.

At the cheaper end of things, Cristian Olivera is great value at £3.6m.

Football Manager 2021 forward release clauses 

Unfortunately, the strikers with affordable release clauses don’t tend to be world-beaters within the game.

Any striker worth his salt as a superstar within the game already has an exorbitant release clause.

But there is still value to be found, with Dani Gomez of Levante representing the best deal when you combine things like price, age, and his future development.