Goal takes a look at the young footballers with the best potential to become world class in the game
When it comes to building for the future in Football Manager, the job lies in identifying the best young players who have the potential to become world class.
Unearthing the next Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo requires you to build an efficient scouting network and sometimes you have to cast the net wide in order to discover the next big thing.
There are plenty of wonderkids who possess the potential to reach the top, but they also need to have their talents nurtured through appropriate coaching and, crucially, first-team football.
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To help you get started, we’ve compiled a list of the best wonderkid strikers, midfielders, defenders and goalkeepers on Football Manager 2021.
Goal 50 Revealed: The best 50 players in the world
This list features only players who are aged under 20 in the game, meaning it excludes the likes of Erling Haaland, Joao Felix and Jadon Sancho – who are moving out of the wonderkid category.
While there are a lot of established stars in the list, we have also included an array of players who are available to buy for a relatively cheap price and players are listed by price.
POS: Position(s)
NAT: Nationality
VAL: Value
*Teams shown are correspond to those in the game, while ages shown are those at the start of the 2020-21 season and players may have more than one nationality.
Contents
- Football Manager 2021 wonderkid strikers
- Football Manager 2021 wonderkid midfielders
- Football Manager 2021 wonderkid defenders
- Football Manager 2021 wonderkid goalkeepers
Football Manager 2021 wonderkid strikers
| Player | Age | PO. | NAT. | Club | VA. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mason Greenwood | 18 | AMR, ST | England | Man Utd | £30m |
| Ansu Fati | 17 | AMRL, ST | Spain | Barcelona | £21.2m |
| Gabriel Martinelli | 19 | AMRLC, FC | Brazil | Arsenal | £19.3m |
| Myron Boadu | 19 | AMRL, ST | Netherlands | AZ | £7.75m |
| Joao Pedro | 19 | AMRL, ST | Brazil | Watford | £6.25m |
| Rodrygo | 19 | AMRL, ST | Brazil | Real Madrid | £6m |
| Troy Parrott | 18 | ST | Rep. Ireland | Tottenham (Millwall on loan) | £5m |
| Facundo Pellistri | 18 | AMR, ST | Uruguay | Man Utd | £5m |
| Ali Akman | 18 | ST | Turkey | Bursaspor | £2.4m |
| Youssouph Badji | 18 | ST | Senegal | Club Brugge | £2.6m |
| Fabio Silva | 18 | ST | Portugal | Wolves | £2.2m |
| Kaio Jorge | 18 | ST | Brazil | SAN | £1.3m |
| Joshua Zirkzee | 18 | ST | Netherlands | Bayern Munich | £1.1m |
| Matias Arezo | 17 | ST | Uruguay | River Plate de Montevideo | £1m |
| Karim Adeyemi | 18 | AMR, ST | Germany | Red Bull Salzburg | £1m |
| Lautaro Ovando | 17 | ST | Argentina | Argentinos Jrs | £0.8m |
| Vincenzo Millico | 19 | AMLC, FC | Italy | Torino | £0.8m |
| Pietro Pellegri | 19 | ST | Italy | Monaco | £0.7m |
| Lassina Traore | 19 | ST | Burkina Faso | Ajax | £0.6m |
| Sebastiano Esposito | 18 | ST | Italy | Inter (SPAL on loan) | £0.6m |
| Joe Gelhardt | 18 | AM, FC | England | Leeds Utd | £0.4m |
| Goncalo Ramos | 19 | AM, FC | Portugal | Benfica | £0.4m |
| Liam Delap | 17 | ST | England | Man City | £0.3m |
| Amad Diallo | 18 | AMRL, ST | Ivory Coast | Atalanta | £0.2m |
| Marcos Leonardo | 17 | AML, ST | Brazil | SAN | £0.2m |
| Cristian Olivera | 18 | AMR, ST | Uruguay | Almeria | £0.2m |
| Brian Oddei | 17 | AMR, ST | Ghana | Sassuolo | £0.1m |
| Jordi Escobar | 18 | AML, ST | Spain | Almeria | £0.1m |
| Raul Moro | 17 | AMRC, ST | Spain | Lazio | £0.1m |
| Yeremi Pino | 17 | AMRLC, FC | Spain | Villarreal | £0.1m |
| Ilias Akhomach | 16 | AMRLC, ST | Spain | Barcelona | £0.06m |
| Andres Garcia | 17 | ST | Spain | Valencia | £0.04m |
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Football Manager 2021 wonderkid midfielders
| Player | Age | PO. | NAT. | Club | VA. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Callum Hudson-Odoi | 19 | AMRLC | England | Chelsea | £25.9m |
| Bukayo Saka | 18 | WBL, AMRL | England | Arsenal | £25.9m |
| Curtis Jones | 19 | AMRLC | England | Liverpool | £7.3m |
| Eduardo Camavinga | 17 | DM | France | Rennes | £6.5m |
| Dominik Szoboszlai | 19 | AMRLC, FC | Hungary | Red Bull Salzburg | £5.7m |
| Jayden Braaf | 17 | AMRL | Netherlands | Man City | £5m |
| Harvey Elliott | 17 | AMRL, ST | England | Liverpool | £5m |
| Ander Barrenetxea | 18 | AMRL | Spain | Real San Sebastian | £3.9m |
| Filip Stevanovic | 17 | AMRLC | Serbia | Man City | £2.2m |
| Ryan Gravenberch | 18 | DM, AMLC | Netherlands | Ajax | £1.6m |
| Eddie Salcedo | 18 | AMLC, FC | Italy | Inter (Verona on loan) | £1.3m |
| Yunus Musah | 17 | AMRC | USA | Valencia | £1.2m |
| Charles De Ketelaere | 19 | AMLC | Belgium | Brugge | £1.1m |
| Jude Bellingham | 17 | AMRLC | England | B. Dortmund | £1.1m |
| Gonzalo Plata | 19 | AMRLC | Colombia | Sporting | £1m |
| Sergio Gomez | 19 | AMLRC | Spain | B. Dortmund (Huesca on loan) | £0.8m |
| Emmanuel Vignato | 19 | AMRC | Italy | Bologna | £0.7m |
| Karamoko Dembele | 17 | AMR | England | Celtic | £0.7m |
| Georgiy Tsitaishvili | 19 | AMRLC | Ukraine | Dynamo Kiev | £0.4m |
| Tiago Dantas | 19 | MC | Portugal | Benfica | £0.2m |
| Ajdin Hasic | 17 | AMRC | Bosnia | Besiktas | £0.2m |
| Hannibal | 17 | AMC | France | Man Utd | £0.2m |
| Ilaix Moriba | 17 | DM, AMC | Spain | Barcelona | £0.1m |
| Pierre Dwomoh | 16 | AMRC, FC | Belgium | Genk | £0.1m |
| Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty | 16 | AMRL | Canada | Toronto | £0.1m |
| Bruno Tavares | 18 | AMRL | Portugal | Sporting | £0.07m |
| Hugo Gonzalez | 17 | AMRL | Spain | Valencia | £0.06m |
| Lisandru Tramoni | 17 | AMRL | France | Cagliari | £0.05m |
| Gavi | 15 | AMC | Spain | Barcelona | £0.04m |
| Wilfried Gnonto | 16 | AM, FC | Italy | Zurich | £0.03m |
| Pipi | 16 | AMC | Japan | Real Madrid | £0.03m |
| Malamine Efekele | 16 | AMRL | France | Monaco | £0.03m |
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Football Manager 2021 wonderkid defenders
| Player | Age | PO. | Nationality | Club | VA. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eric Garcia | 19 | DC | Spain | Man City | £22.6m |
| Brandon Williams | 19 | D, WBRL | England | Man Utd | £19.7m |
| Tariq Lamptey | 19 | D, WBRL | England | Brighton | £15.9m |
| William Saliba | 19 | DC | France | Arsenal | £11.6m |
| Wesley Fofana | 19 | DC | France | Leicester City | £11.6m |
| Sergino Dest | 19 | D, WBRL | USA | Barcelona | £10m |
| Ethan Ampadu | 19 | DC, DM, MC | Wales | Chelsea (Sheff Utd on loan) | £8.1m |
| Teden Mengi | 18 | DC | England | Man Utd | £7.1m |
| Alphonso Davies | 19 | D, WB, AMRL | Canada | Bayern Munich | £6m |
| Nuno Mendes | 18 | D, WBL | Portugal | Sporting | £4.5m |
| Jeremie Frimpong | 19 | D, WBRL | Netherlands | Celtic | £4.3m |
| Ethan Laird | 18 | D, WBRL | England | Man Utd | £4.3m |
| Benoit Badiashile | 19 | DC | France | Monaco | £2.4m |
| Rayan Ait-Nouri | 19 | DL | France | Angers | £2.2m |
| Andrea Papetti | 18 | DC | Italy | Brescia | £1.6m |
| Noah Katterbach | 19 | D, WBL | Germany | Koln | £1m |
| Josko Gvardiol | 18 | DLC | Croatia | RB Leipzig | £0.9m |
| Strahinja Pavlovic | 19 | DC | Serbia | Monaco | £0.9m |
| Aaron Hickey | 17 | DRL | Scotland | Bologna | £0.8m |
| George Bello | 18 | D, WBL | USA | Atlanta Utd | £0.8m |
| Tomas Esteves | 18 | D, WBR | Portugal | FCP | £0.3m |
| Thimothee Pembele | 17 | DC | France | PSG | £0.2m |
| Deyne Rensche | 17 | DRLC, DM | Netherlands | Ajax | £0.2m |
| Yan Couto | 18 | D, WBR | Brazil | Man City | £0.2m |
| Tanguy Nianzu | 18 | DC, DM | France | Bayern Munich | £0.1m |
| Alvaro Carrillo | 18 | DC | Spain | Real Madrid | £0.04m |
| Max Normann Williamsen | 17 | DC | Norway | Kristiansund | £0.02m |
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Football Manager 2021 wonderkid goalkeepers
| Player | Age | PO. | NAT. | Club | VA. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Francisco Gomez | 16 | GK | Argentina | Racing Club | £0.5m |
| Maarten Vandevoort | 18 | GK | Belgium | Genk | £0.1m |
| Alessandro Russo | 19 | GK | Italy | Sassuolo | £0.1m |
| Gavin Bazunu | 18 | GK | Rep. Ireland | Man City | £0.1m |
| Stefan Bajic | 18 | GK | France | Saint-Etienne | £0.1m |
| Marcus Dewhurst | 19 | GK | England | Sheff Utd | £0.1m |
| Stefano Turati | 18 | GK | Italy | Sassuolo | £0.08m |
| Manuel Gasparini | 18 | GK | Italy | Udinese | £0.07m |
| Ivan Martinez | 18 | GK | Spain | Atletico Pamplona | £0.03m |
| Charlie Setford | 16 | GK | England | Ajax | £0.03m |
| Rome-Jayden Owusu-Oduro | 16 | GK | Netherlands | AZ | £0.02m |
| Mikki van Sas | 16 | GK | Netherlands | Man City | £0.01m |
| Matheus Donelli | 18 | GK | Brazil | COR | £0.01m |
| Alejandro Iturbe | 16 | GK | Spain | Atletico Madrid | £0.008m |
| Cristian | 18 | GK | Brazil | ATM | £0.001m |
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