Football Manager 2022 wonderkids: Best young goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders and forwards
Martin Macdonald
- Updated: 24 Dec 2021 14:15 GMT
- 8 min read
The full version of Football Manager 2022 has been released since November, with the Beta version already having been available to users for a while.
One of the best aspects of FM 2022 is trying to identify and sign the ‘next big thing’ superstar – a wonderkid who can be moulded into the player to take your team to trophies.
READ MORE: Football Manager 2022 transfer budgets: Man Utd, Madrid, PSG & Europe's big clubs
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It can be a minefield at times, but FootballTransfers has you covered.
What is a wonderkid on Football Manager?
A player earns a ‘Wonderkid’ tag within Football Manager due to their potential ability being high.
Wonderkids have been ranked using the FMScout rating system as a guide, while we have kept our list to players who are 20 or younger as of 1 January 2021.
The potential ratings below are based on recommendation levels from 1 to 100 given by scouts on FM 2022.
Football Manager 2022 wonderkid goalkeepers
Goalkeepers
| Player | Value | Potential Rating |
| Maarten Vandevoordt, 19, Genk | £11m | 82 |
| Ivan Martinez, 19, Atletico Pamplona | £400k | 82 |
| Gavin Bazunu, 19 Man City | £10.5m | 81 |
| Andre Gomes, 16 Benfica | £425k | 80 |
| Rome-Jayden Owusu-Oduro, 17, AZ | £400k | 80 |
| Juan Castillo, 18, Fortaleza | £160k | 79 |
| Giorgi Mamardashvili, 20, Dinamo Tb | £240k | 79 |
| James Trafford, 18, Man City | £230k | 79 |
| Murray Johnson, 16, Hibs | £110k | 78 |
| Alejandro Iturbe, 17, Atletico | £3.9m | 78 |
| Francisco Meixedo, 20, Porto | £180k | 78 |
| Lucao, 20, Vasco | £2.1m | 78 |
| Joaquin Blazquez, 20, Talleres | £325k | 78 |
| Samuel Brolin, 20, AIK | £1m | 78 |
| Ruslan Nescheret, 19, Dynamo Kyiv | £600k | 78 |
Though he will not come cheap, young Genk stopper Maarten Vandevoordt will represent value for money as he could easily by the goalkeeper for your chosen team for over a decade. He has a potential rating of 82, though there is the possibility for this to drop higher or lower depending on his development.
Football Manager 2022 wonderkid defenders
Centre-backs/Right-backs/Left-backs
| Player | Value | Potential Rating |
| Tanguy Nianzou (CB), 19, Bayern | £22m | 86 |
| Wesley Fofana (CB), 20, Leicester | £73m | 86 |
| Renan (CB), 19, Palmeiras | £10m | 84 |
| Benoit Badiashile (CB), 20, Monaco | £5.8m | 83 |
| Ethan Ampadu (CB), 20, Chelsea | £17.5m | 83 |
| Wisdom Amey (CB), 15, Bologna | £6.8m | 82 |
| Kaiky (CB), 17,Santos | £350k | 82 |
| Illya Zabarnyi (CB), 18, Dynamo Kyiv | £31m | 82 |
| Tino Livramento (RB), 18, Southampton | £40m | 86 |
| Calegari (RB), 19, Fluminense | £11m | 84 |
| Goncalo Esteves (RB), 17, Sporting | £250k | 83 |
| Rodrigo Pinheiro (RB), 18, Porto | £130k | 83 |
| Vanderson (RB), 18, Gremio | £5.4m | 83 |
| Sergino Dest (RB), 20, Barcelona | £26m | 83 |
| Alejandro Frances (RB), 18, Zaragoza | £7m | 83 |
| Jurrien Timber (RB), 20, Ajax | £21m | 82 |
| Josko Gvardiol (LB), RB Leipzig | £40m | 88 |
| David De la Vibora (LB), 18, Real Madrid | £850k | 87 |
| Miguel Gutierrez (LB), 19, Real Madrid | £30m | 87 |
| Rayan Ait-Nouri (LB), 20, Wolves | £30m | 86 |
| Alphonso Davies (LB), 20, Bayern | £45m | 86 |
| Luke Thomas (LB), 20, Leicester | £39m | 86 |
| Luca Netz (LB), 18, Gladbach | £20m | 84 |
The highest rated young centre-back in Football Manager 2021 is Bayern Munich's Tanguy Nianzou. He may be valued at around £22m at the start of the game in July of 2021, but don't expect Bayern to accept anywhere near that amount for one of their star youngsters.
At full-back, Chelsea might have made a mistake in letting Tino Livramento go as, according to FM Scout, he will develop into one of the best right-backs in the game.
Josko Gvardiol was one of the best young players in FM22 and his development has continued to the point where he will undoubtedly become one of the best players in the game overall, and he can also play at both centre-back and left-back.
Football Manager 2022 wonderkid midfielders
Defensive Mids/Centre Mids
| Player | Value | Potential |
| Oliver Skipp, 20, Tottenham | £28m | 86 |
| Nicolo Rovella, 19, Juventus | £13.5m | 85 |
| Dario Essugo, 16, Sporting | £350k | 83 |
| Rafael Luis, 16, Benfica | £170k | 83 |
| Maxim Mukhin, 19, CSKA Moscow | £4.6m | 83 |
| Nicolas Seiwald, 20, Salburg | £5.8m | 83 |
| Nico, 19, Barcelona | £16m | 83 |
| Manuel Ugarte, 20, Sporting | £20m | 82 |
| Angelo Stiller, 20, Hoffenheim | £7m | 82 |
| Unai Vencedor, 20, Athletic | £16m | 82 |
| Ilaix Moriba, 18, RB Leipzig | £83m | 90 |
| Eduardo Camavinga, 18, Real Madrid | £66m | 90 |
| Jude Bellingham, 18, Dortmund | ££88m | 88 |
| Dominik Szoboszlai, 20, RB Leipzig | £78m | 88 |
| Gavi, 16, Barcelona | £43m | 87 |
| Ivan Ilic, 20, Verona | £13.5m | 86 |
| Alfie Devine, 16, Tottenham | £33m | 85 |
| Emre Demir, 17, Kayserispor | £330k | 85 |
| Takuhiro Nakai, 17, Real Madrid | £11m | 85 |
| Aster Vranckx, 18, Wolfsburg | £5.4m | 85 |
| Samuele Ricci, 19, Empoli | £12m | 85 |
The above list is split into defensive midfielders and then central midfielders.
Tottenham could have a future superstar on their hands if the rating for Oliver Skipp is anything to go by here. The young English midfielder starred on loan at Norwich in 2020/21 and is now a full member of the first team in North London.
As he is English, he will cost a pretty penny in FM 22.
Juventus were desperate for a new central midfielder in the summer and ended up bringing in Manuel Locatelli on loan from Sassuolo with the option to buy. They might have been better served giving opportunities to young Nicolo Rovella, though. Rovella is currently on loan at Genoa.
Manuel Ugarte was a star wonderkid in FM 21 and retains that status in FM 22.
Attacking midfielders
| Player | Value | Potential |
| Pedri, 18, Barcelona | £69m | 93 |
| Florian Wirtz, 18, Leverkusen | £54m | 90 |
| Giovanni Reyna, 18, Dortmund | £42m | 88 |
| Antoni Milambo, 16, Feyenoord | £6.8m | 88 |
| Yusuf Demir, 18, Barcelona | £10.5m | 87 |
| Bruno, 18, Real Madrid | £16m | 86 |
| Luka Romero, 16, Lazio | £19m | 86 |
| Matias Palacios, 19, San Lorenzo | £350k | 86 |
| Angel Gomes, 20, Lille | £8.6m | 85 |
| Lazar Samardzic, 19, Udinese | £7m | 85 |
| Arsen Zakharyan, 18, Dinamo Moscow | £7.4m | 85 |
| Gianluca Busio, 19, Venezia | £12.5m | 85 |
| Nathanael Mbuku, 19, Reims | £7m | 85 |
| Cristian Medina, 19, Boca | £3.4m | 85 |
| Facundo Farias, 18, Colon | £700k | 85 |
No prizes for guessing the top two on the list for this one as Pedri and Florian Wirtz are already two of the most exciting players in the world.
Pedri in particular is already proving his maturity by becoming a key starter for Barcelona, and at 18, he will only get better.
The future is bright for Barca in attacking midfield as they also have the likes of Yusuf Demir and Gavi.
There are two 16-year-olds on the list in the form of Antoni Milambo and Luka Romero.
Romero was chased by a number of elite clubs in Europe before signing for Lazio.
Football Manager 2022 wonderkid forwards
Wingers
| Player | Value | Potential |
| Rayan Cherki, Lyon, 17 | £29m | 90 |
| Ansu Fati, 18, Barcelona | £43m | 90 |
| Nico Serrano, 18, Athletic | £9m | 88 |
| Shola Shoretire, 18, Man Utd | £16m | 88 |
| Gabriel Martinelli, 20, Arsenal | £55m | 86 |
| Roger Fernandes, 15, Braga | £150k | 86 |
| Sergey Pinyaev, 16, Krylya | £250k | 86 |
| Francisco Conceicao, 18, Porto | £7.8m | 86 |
| Christos Tzolis, 19, Norwich | £23m | 86 |
| Gabriel Veron, 18, Palmeiras | £5m | 86 |
| Rodrygo, 20, Real Madrid | £42m | 86 |
| Bukayo Saka, 19, Arsenal | £53m | 86 |
| Yeremi Pino, 19, Villarreal | £24m | 86 |
| Brian Oddei, 18, Sassuolo | £8.6m | 85 |
| Renyer, 17, Santos | £220k | 85 |
| Angelo Gabriel, 16, Santos | £7.6m | 85 |
| Nico Williams, 19, Athletic | £17.5m | 84 |
| Julio Enciso, 17, Club Libertad | £500k | 84 |
| Jota, 22, Benfica | £6.2m | 84 |
| Kaide Gordon, 18, Liverpool | £19.5m | 84 |
Rayan Cherki and Ansu Fati are already two very well known names.
The Spaniard recently signed a new contract with Barcelona with a 1 billion euro release clause, so good luck trying to sign him!
Yeremi Pino, too, has already made a name for himself after a breakthrough season at Villarreal.
Shola Shoretire represents an interesting option for the future from Man Utd, while Arsenal have Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli on that left wing.
Strikers
| Player | Value | Potential |
| Erling Haaland, 20, Dortmund | £96m | 94 |
| Youssoufa Moukoko, 16, Dortmund | £46m | 93 |
| Mason Greenwood, 19, Man Utd | £67m | 93 |
| Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer, 19, Dynamo Dresden | £3m | 89 |
| Fabio Silva, 18, Wolves | £57m | 88 |
| Joao Pedro, 19, Watford | £39m | 88 |
| Lorenzo Lucca, 20, Pisa | £3m | 87 |
| Dane Scarlett, 17, Tottenham | £36m | 86 |
| Goncalo Ramos, 20, Benfica | £14m | 86 |
| Benjamin Sesko, 18, Salzburg | £12m | 85 |
| Folarin Balogun, 20, Arsenal | £26m | 85 |
| Martin Satriano, 20, Inter | £11m | 85 |
| Sebastiano Esposito, 19, Basel | £8m | 85 |
| Karim Adeyemi, 19, Salzburg | £16m | 85 |
| Joe Gelhardt, 19, Leeds | £16m | 85 |
Erling Haaland could still be labelled as a wonderkid due to his age, but you know all about him.
If managed well, Youssoufa Moukoko will probably become the best striker in the game as the years progress, so if you can get him early, go for it. Dortmund will, as always, command a massive fee though.
Mason Greenwood may only be 19 by he is already one of the most potent forwards in the game as highlighted by his superb attributes.
Sebastiano Esposito has been an FM Wonderkid for a couple of seasons now and starts this one on loan at Basel, but he is sure to excel again with Inter.
Folarin Balogun and Dane Scarlett are other promising youngsters from Premier League sides.
To look at wonderkids from Football Manager 2021 who will likely still be relevant in the 2022 edition of the game, click here.
