Football Manager 2024 wonderkids: The best young goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders and forwards

Cameron Smith

Updated: 4 Dec 2023 10:34 CST
6 min read

Jude Bellingham, Real Madrid, 2023/24 — © ProShots

Football Manager 2024 is here, with an all-new rating database for fans of the popular game to get their hands on.

As ever, Football Manager is the go-to place for football fans to build a club in their image, signing young talents and watching them develop into world-beaters.

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Starting with clubs such as Real Madrid or Manchester City will give you a huge budget in FM24, but most fans of the game prefer starting with a smaller club and helping them rise up the divisions to glory.

As a result, signing young stars with high potential is an extremely important facet of Football Manager.

This year, there are a host of young players to keep your eye on, and FootballTransfers has you covered with the biggest prospects in FM24, as rated by renowned Football Manager website FMScout.

The following ratings have been created by FMScout and are not official Football Manager ratings, as ability stats aren’t shown on the game.

What is a wonderkid on Football Manager?

A player earns a ‘Wonderkid’ tag within Football Manager due to their potential ability being extremely high and the fact they are a young player.

We have kept our list to players under the age of 21 in July 2023 and the potential ratings below have been handed out by FMScout.

Football Manager 2024: Best Young Goalkeepers

AZ’s Rome-Jayden Owusu-Oduro has the highest potential of any goalkeeper on Football Manager 2024, according to FMScout.

The Dutchman is still in his teenage years and his potential ability has been rated 85 by FMScout. For reference, anything above 81 is considered to be an ‘all-time elite player’ on Football Manager.

Bart Verbruggen, Guillaume Restes, Dennis Seimen and Diego Callai round out the top five wonderkid goalkeepers.

Player	Club	Potential Rating
1. Rome-Jayden Owusu-Oduro	AZ	85
2. Bart Verbruggen	Brighton	84
= Guillaume Restes	Toulouse	84
4. Dennis Seimen	Stuttgart	83
5. Diego Callai	Sporting CP	82

Football Manager 2024: Best Young Right-Backs

Sporting CP’s Ivan Fresneda is the best young right-back on Football Manager 2024, as per FMScout, following his summer transfer from Real Valladolid.

Michael Kayode, Rico Lewis, Tino Livramento and Filippo Missori are also excellent wonderkid options at right-back.

Player	Club	Potential Rating
1. Ivan Fresneda	Sporting CP	89
2. Michael Kayode	Fiorentina	87
= Rico Lewis	Man City	87
4. Tino Livramento	Newcastle	86
5. Filippo Missori	Sassuolo	84

Football Manager 2024: Best Young Centre-Backs

Giorgio Scalvini just edges out Levi Colwill on FMScout’s potential rating, with the Italian being handed a potential of 86. Colwill, on the other hand, has 85 potential.

Furthermore, Castello Lukeba, Illia Zabarnyi and Antonio Silva also have 85 potential on FMScout’s rating system. All five players have the ability to become top defenders in this year’s Football Manager.

Player	Club	Potential Rating
1. Giorgio Scalvini	Atalanta	86
2. Levi Colwill	Chelsea	85
= Castello Lukeba	RB Leipzig	85
= Illia Zabarnyi	Bournemouth	85
= Antonio Silva	Benfica	85

Football Manager 2024: Best Young Left-Backs

Boca Juniors’ Valentin Barco is the go-to left-back on Football Manager 2024 and FMScout rate his potential above Barcelona star Alejandro Balde.

Barco has been given an 87 potential rating, while Balde is at 85. That is marginally more than RB Salzburg’s Amar Dedic, Bologna’s Victor Kristiansen and Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez (all 84).

Player	Club	Potential Rating
1. Valentin Barco	Boca Juniors	87
2. Alejandro Balde	Barcelona	85
3. Amar Dedic	RB Salzburg	84
= Victor Kristiansen	Bologna	84
= Milos Kerkez	Bournemouth	84

Football Manager 2024: Best Young Defensive Midfielders

Real Madrid starlet Eduardo Camavinga is the best future defensive midfielder on Football Manager 2024. The Frenchman has been given a potential rating of 91 by FMScout.

Warren Zaire-Emery (88), Stefan Bajcetic (87), Romeo Lavia (86) and Adam Wharton (85) also have very high potential, as per FMScout’s rating system.

Player	Club	Potential Rating
1. Eduardo Camavinga	Real Madrid	91
2. Warren Zaire-Emery	PSG	88
3. Stefan Bajcetic	Liverpool	87
4. Romeo Lavia	Chelsea	86
5. Adam Wharton	Blackburn	85

Football Manager 2024: Best Young Central Midfielders

Jude Bellingham is rated as the best young central midfielder on Football Manager 2024 by FMScout. He has a potential rating of 94, which is two higher than Barcelona’s Pedri (92).

Pedri’s Barcelona and Spain team-mate Gavi has 89 potential, as per FMScout, which is slightly higher than Harvey Elliott and Alex Scott (both 88).

Player	Club	Potential Rating
1. Jude Bellingham	Real Madrid	94
2. Pedri	Barcelona	92
3. Gavi	Barcelona	89
4. Harvey Elliott	Liverpool	88
= Alex Scott	Bournemouth	88

Football Manager 2024: Best Young Attacking Midfielders

FMScout believes that Jamal Musiala is the most talented young attacking midfielder in the world. The Bayern Munich star has 94 potential rating, although he will cost a fortune on the game.

Arda Guler has 91 potential, ahead of Junior Kroupi (90), Estevao (90) and Noah Darvich (89).

Player	Club	Potential Rating
1. Jamal Musiala	Bayern	94
2. Arda Guler	Real Madrid	91
3. Junior Kroupi	Lorient	90
= Estevao	Palmeiras	90
5. Noah Darvich	Barcelona	89

Football Manager 2024: Best Young Right Wingers

Lamine Yamal has been backed to challenge for the Ballon d’Or in the future by Lionel Messi and his FMScout rating matches that potential. The young Spaniard has been rated to have 95 potential, which is by far the highest of any right-winger in the game.

Nico Williams (90), Yeremy Pino (90), Shea Lacey (90) and Badredine Bouanani (89) complete the top five.

Player	Club	Potential Rating
1. Lamine Yamal	Barcelona	95
2. Nico Williams	Athletic Club	90
= Yeremy Pino	Villarreal	90
= Shea Lacey	Man Utd	90
5. Badredine Bouanani	Nice	89

Football Manager 2024: Best Young Left Wingers

Tottenham Hotspur youngster Mikey Moore is the latest Football Manager wonderkid. He will be unknown to most football fans, but Moore has 94 Football Manager potential, according to FMScout.

That is more than Ansu Fati (90), Andreas Schjelderup (90), Joao Rego (89) and Kendry Paez (86).

Player	Club	Potential Rating
1. Mikey Moore	Tottenham	94
2. Ansu Fati	Brighton	90
= Andreas Schjelderup	Nordsjaelland	90
4. Joao Rego	Benfica	89
5. Kendry Paez	Independiente	86

Football Manager 2024: Best Young Strikers

Future Real Madrid star Endrick is the best wonderkid striker on Football Manager 2024. The Brazilian will leave Palmeiras for the Santiago Bernabeu in 2024 and his talent has been given a 94 potential by FMScout.

Youssoufa Moukoko and Evan Ferguson are also in the top five, along with Endrick’s fellow Brazilians Vitor Roque and Marcos Leonardo.