Defensive midfielders with the Best Potential in Serie A 2026
The highest-potential defensive midfielders in Serie A in 2026, ranked on Field Insider.
At a glance
T. Pérez of Atletico-MG is the standout for raw talent across defensive midfielders in Serie A, with a Field Insider Rating of 65.5, and Vitinho has been the form player this season, grading 42.5, and Gabriel Menino leads the scoring with 1 goal.
The numbers a scout watches are the year-on-year jumps: Vitinho has improved his Season rating most, up +27.1 on last season, while T. Pérez's scouting Rating has risen fastest, +16.1 over the same span. Those are the players whose trajectory is bending upward fastest.
By our market-value index, Vitinho of Botafogo is the most valuable name in this group at 31.8.
15 players · ranked by best potentialCustomise →
| Player | Team | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | T. PérezDefensive midfielder |  Atletico-MG | 21 | 12618.8% | 6652% |
| 2 | Gustavo Henrique PereiraDefensive midfielder |  Santos | 21 | 19 | 62 |
| 3 | VitinhoDefensive midfielder |  Botafogo | 27 | 4321.6% | 591.3% |
| 4 | Zé VitorDefensive midfielder |  Vitoria | 26 | 276650% | 5616.9% |
| 5 | PierreDefensive midfielder |  Fortaleza EC | 24 | 83900% | 560.5% |
| 6 | Matheus FernandesDefensive midfielder |  RB Bragantino | 28 | 2387.5% | 469.5% |
| 7 | A. PreciadoDefensive midfielder | Atletico-MG | 28 | 2357.9% | 4551% |
| 8 | PepêDefensive midfielder | Vitoria | 28 | 1429.3% | 4418.2% |
| 9 | CaíqueDefensive midfielder | Vitoria | 30 | 248.7% | 4011.8% |
| 10 | PaulinhoDefensive midfielder |  Internacional | 29 | 17534.6% | 3819.3% |
| 11 | C. OlivaDefensive midfielder | Santos | 30 | 28389.7% | 368.7% |
| 12 | F. CarballoDefensive midfielder |  Gremio | 29 | 1742.5% | 2612.7% |
| 13 | Lucas SashaDefensive midfielder | Fortaleza EC | 36 | 41147% | 2345.6% |
| 14 | João SchmidtDefensive midfielder | Santos | 33 | 1558.2% | 1917.1% |
| 15 | Willian ArãoDefensive midfielder | Santos | 34 | 29334.3% | 1836.6% |