The Players with the Best Hidden Attributes in FM26 – The Invisible Cheat Codes

Did you know… that what you see on a player’s screen on their Football Manager profile isn’t the whole picture. There are all the attributes you can see, but there are also ‘hidden attributes’. These are attributes that help determine how a player will perform, that you have no idea about. The main hidden attributes that will have a serious impact on a players performance are ‘consistency’, ‘important matches’, ‘injury proneness’ and ‘versatility’. I’ve been able to find a tool that filters players on these hidden attributes and so have been able to find the players that will consistently get the best average ratings in FM saves. Even if other players are technically better on paper. Here are the players with the best hidden attributes – some will be obvious – and some are players you will never expect. 

 

 

Florian Wirtz 

Florian might not yet have made a huge impact at Liverpool, but he’ll definitely make a serious impact in your Football Manager save. On top of all his incredible mental and physical attributes, he also has ‘17’ for consistency and ‘17’ for important matches. For a player about to go into his prime, you won’t get any better than that. If you can get him, build your team around him! 

 

Jude Bellingham 

A name you’re probably not surprised to see on here. Jude has ‘16’ for consistency ‘17’ for important matches. There’s a reason why Real Madrid signed him. Not only is he at the top of his game, he also fits the clutch gene that is crucial in tournament football. The perfect player if you’re looking for a goal from nowhere in the last 10 minutes. Destined to be at the top for the foreseeable future. 

 

James Garner 

Now here’s a name that gave me a shock. For people that watch him week in and week out, this might not be a surprise. But it certainly was to me. Nonetheless, James has got some of the best hidden attributes in the game. James has ‘16’ for consistency, ‘17’ for important matches and ‘17’ for versatility. There’s an argument to be made that he’s one of the best squad players you can have in the game. He’s like that one three star player everyone has in their save who somehow has a 7.86 average rating. 

 

Thibaut Courtois 

Turn on the Champions League on any given night and you’re very likely to see Thibaut Courtois flying around like a cat saving every single ridiculous shot he faces. The amount of ties he’s kept Real Madrid in, it’s truly incredible. He will go down as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time. It won’t shock you to find out that he has ‘19’ for important matches – maybe even an understatement of his ability. He also has ‘16’ for consistency and ‘16’ for versatility. On top of his actual goalkeeping attributes? Good luck to anyone trying to score against him. 

 

Bernardo Silva

A vital cog in Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City teams that have been dominant in England up until this season. He’s probably past his peak, but he’s still an incredible team. And he’ll always have the highest average ratings on Football Manager because of his hidden attributes. He has ‘16’ for consistency and ‘16’ for important matches. But most impressively, he has ‘20’ for versatility. Put him literally anywhere in your starting XI apart from centre back and goalkeeper and he’ll probably do a good job. 

 

Joshua Kimmich

Every time I do a Football Manager simulation, Joshua Kimmich always has the highest average ratings. In the Bundesliga and usually in the Champions League as well. He is the ultimate player you want in the squad and is elite in multiple positions. ‘19’ for consistency, ‘16’ for important matches and ‘19’ for versatility with ‘4’ for injury proneness. It’s not an exaggeration to say that he is every manager’s wet dream. 

 

Marvin Wanitzek 

Now we get to one of the more surprising inclusions on the list. And the one with the lowest current ability after I filtered. Marvin plays for Karlsruher SC in the second tier of German football. He has ‘18’ for consistency, ‘16’ for important matches, ‘16’ for versatility and ‘2’ for injury proneness. Basically, he’s never missing a game. The reason why he has such high hidden attributes? He is Karlsruher SC’s captain and is a major on and off-the-pitch leader. He’s also got serious output. In the 2024/25 season he got 13 goals and 11 assists for Karlsruher. He’s Mr. dependable for the German outfit. 

 

Alisson 

Alisson is the second goalkeeper in the players with the best hidden attributes. He has been one of the most consistent goalkeepers over the last few years for Liverpool. Whenever they’ve had major issues, it’s never been with Alisson. He has ‘17’ for consistency and ‘16’ for important matches. For a team that want to be fighting for European trophies and for league titles, he’s pretty much the perfect goalkeeper (I’d probably have Courtois just above him) 

 

Matthias Ginter

Matthias is another brilliant squad player, even if he’s not quite the same level of ability as some of the other players in this list. He has ‘17’ consistency, ‘16’ for important matches and ‘16’ for versatility. He has had a very long, high-level career with unusual reliability. By March 2022 he had missed only 13 of a possible 163 Bundesliga matches for Gladbach and in March 2026 he reached 400 Bundesliga appearances. Basically, he’s the James Milner of German football right now. 

 

Conclusion 

In Football Manager, not everything is as it seems. Sometimes, you have to look beyond the stats on the surface. These are all players who might be great, but will perform even better than you expect. Are there any names you don’t think should be on this list? Any players you’re surprised to see her? Let me know in the comments! 

 

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