N'Golo Kante makes it onto this list as a current player with FC 24 Coins a base card, which speaks volumes as to how great the Frenchman has been since Leicester City's famous title-winning season.With 97 Stamina and a High Defensive Work Rate, Kante is a perfect option for teams that need a hard-working CDM who can single-handily cover large areas of the pitch to snuff out opposition momentum and prevent counter-attacks. After all, there's a reason why fans and admirers of Kante have coined the phrase "70% of the Earth is covered by water, the rest by N'golo Kante."

Casemiro is another active player on this list, though it's the Rulebreakers version of his card that makes the cut. The experienced Brazilian midfielder began his professional career at São Paulo before moving to Real Madrid in 2022. where he has remained since - barring a loan move to Porto in 2022.

Casemiro's Rulebreakers card emphasizes his shooting ability, giving him an incredible 97 Shot Power and 94 Long Shot. This doesn't seem to have tempted many people, however, as Casemiro's card is very cheap compared to the other CDM's on this list, making him a great budget option.

Pep Guardiola is best known for his work as a manager rather than his illustrious playing career, which illustrates just how impressive his time in the technical area has been. As a player, Guardiola emphasized the ball-playing aspects of the defensive midfield position by playing in the so-called quarterback role where he would sit deep, and ping passes all over the pitch from central positions. This ability to spread passes with frightening accuracy is what makes Guardiola so effective in FC 24. as he can turn defense into attack in an instance.

Claude Makelele is one of, if not the most influential player of the 21st century. The French midfielder joined the Premier League at a time when almost every team played with two central midfielders, often in a 442 formation, and left five years later with almost every team using a three-man midfield instead. This change in midfield shape is largely due to how effective Makelele was at playing in a deep defensive midfield role, a position that is now known as "the Makelele role."

The Frenchman would sit just ahead of the center-back pairing, essentially acting as a protective shield for the backline, which opposition teams found incredibly hard to break down. Makelele's FC 24 stats do a great job of reflecting his influential position, making him a great pick for teams who want their CDM to focus on little more than defense.

Michael Essien played for Chelsea at the same time as Makelele, which, unsurprisingly, made them a brutally difficult team to come up against, as opposition teams had virtually no hope of winning any midfield battles - especially with cheap EA FC Coins Frank Lampard being the third midfielder.