Best Football Manager 2024 Wonderkids And Young Players

If you want to take your chosen club to the greatest heights of the beautiful game, whether you're starting in the top division of your chosen country or you're looking to build a team up to glory through multiple promotions, you'll want to pick up some Football Manager 2024 wonderkids. Here are the best young players in Football Manager 2024.

Football Manager 2024 wonderkids explained

What is a wonderkid in FM24? Put simply, these are the best players under the age of 21 (as of the start of pre-season in England in the 2023/24 season). Football Manager uses a hidden rating system to determine potential ability--200 is the absolute maximum rating any player can be, while anybody with a potential of 150 or higher is classed as a wonderkid.

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It's worth bearing in mind that these are the top 10 players under 21 in each of these positions in the world, so you won't find any true bargains here. This list is for managers who have a little cash to spend, ranging from $5m all the way up to $100m and more. Also, if you can't find any of the players on this list, make sure you have the region they currently play in loaded in your career.

So without further ado, here are all of the best FM24 wonderkids and young players, organized by position and sorted from best to worst.

Best young goalkeepers

Starting in net, we have the best goalkeepers aged 20 and under. There are a few players to highlight here, and Rome-Jayden Owusu-Oduro is the best of the lot. Plying his trade for AZ Alkmaar, this 19-year-old has a fantastic 16 aerial reach plus 14 one-on-ones and throwing. Valued at 6.6m-$10m but currently on a wage of just $650 per week, he'd be fit as a backup keeper for a top division side or a starting keeper for the second tier of most major nations.

If you're thinking years into the future, pick up either Jack Thompson or Spike Brits. Thompson is a little more feasible to acquire as he plays for Derby County while Brits is at Man City--and is only valued at approximately $300k compared to Brits at $3m or so--but both 16-year-olds have the potential to be the best goalkeepers in the world in 5-10 years.

Name	Age	Position	Club	League	Nationality
Rome-Jayden Owusu-Oduro	19	GK	AZ Alkmaar	Eredivisie	Netherlands
Dennis Seimen	17	GK	VfB Stuttgart	Bundesliga	Germany
Bart Verbruggen	20	GK	Brighton & Hove Albion	English Premier Division	Netherlands
Guillaume Restes	18	GK	Toulouse FC	Ligue 1 Uber Eats	France
Alejandro Iturbe	19	GK	Atletico Madrid B	Spanish First Division B	Spain
Jack Thompson	16	GK	Derby County	Sky Bet League One	England
Bartosz Zelazowski	18	GK	OGC Nice	Ligue 1 Uber Eats	Poland
Faaris Yusufu	18	GK	Schalke 04	Bundesliga 2	Germany
Spike Brits	16	GK	Manchester City	English Premier Division	England
Charlie Setford	19	GK	Ajax	Eredivisie	England

Best young right backs

The best young right-backs consist of a couple of familiar faces, namely Rico Lewis and Tino Livramento, both of whom ply their trade in the Premier League and cost an arm and a leg.

You must look as far down the list as Elias Jelert before you find anyone reasonably priced, as he comes in at around $9m, likely thanks to playing in the top Danish league. He's a reliable all-rounder who already has 40+ appearances for FC Kobenhavn, so he'll be a starter for most teams if you're going for him.

Despite being near the bottom of the list, Martim Fernandes is perhaps the most exciting here simply thanks to his price tag. Valued at only $1m by FC Porto on a wage of just $1.9k per week, it'll take a while until this 17-year-old is first-team worthy, but he's the best bet for long-term managers.

Name	Age	Position	Club	League	Nationality
Ivan Fresneda	18	D/WB (R)	Sporting CP	Portuguese Premier League	Spain
Rico Lewis	18	D/WB (R), DM, M (C)	Manchester City	English Premier Division	England
Tino Livramento	20	D/WB (R)	Newcastle United	English Premier Division	England
Michael Kayode	18	D/WB (R)	Fiorentina	Italian Serie A	Italy
Arnau Martinez	18	D/WB (R)	Girona	Spanish First Division	Spain
Hector Fort	16	D (RC), WB (R)	Barcelona	Spanish First Division	Spain
Elias Jelert	20	D/WB (RL)	FC Kobenhavn	3F Superliga	Denmark
Antoine Mendy	19	D/WB (R)	OGC Nice	Ligue 1 Uber Eats	France
Martim Fernandes	17	D/WB (R)	FC Porto B	Portuguese Second League	Portuguese
Calvin Ramsay	19	D/WB (R)	Preston North End	Sky Bet Championship	Scotland

Best young center backs

In the center of defense, as you'd expect, Levi Colwill is almost untouchable at around $150m. Scalvini is about half that price, but still obscenely expensive, while Silva and Riad are both around $55m.

In fact, the majority of these players are all north of $40m, so like Elias Jelert above, you have to go for a player at a lesser known league to find someone more affordable, which is the case here with Martin Vitik at Sparta Prague. He will quickly garner interest from huge clubs though, so you'll need to fork out the $10m quickly for 194cm of pure defensive muscle, as he has 16 strength, 15 jumping reach, and 14 heading.

Despite being in the Premier League, Murillo at Nottingham Forest is only valued at around $20m, or you can look to Luka Vuskovic for Hajduk Split at around $15m. Much like Vitik however, big clubs come sniffing around for him pretty quickly.

Name	Age	Position	Club	League	Nationality
Giorgio Scalvini	19	D (C)	Atalanta	Italian Serie A	Italy
Levi Colwill	20	D (LC)	Chelsea	English Premier Division	England
Antonio Silva	19	D (C)	Benfica	Portuguese Premier League	Portugal
Chadi Riad	20	D (C)	Real Hispalis	Spanish First Division	Morocco
Jorrel Hato	17	D (LC)/WB (L)	Ajax	Eredivisie	Netherlands
Ousmane Diomande	19	D (C)	Sporting CP	Portuguese Premier League	Ivory Coast
Illia Zabarnyi	20	D (C)	Bournemouth	English Premier Division	Ukraine
Martin Vitik	20	D (C)/DM	Sparta Prague	Czech First Division	Czechia
Murillo	20	D (LC)/DM	Nottingham Forest	English Premier Division	Brazil
Luka Vuskovic	16	D (C)	HNK Hajduk Split	Croatian First League	Croatian

Best young left backs

Alejandro Balde is arguably one of the best left backs you can buy in the entire game from the get-go, let alone the best young left back, but you're not going to sign him. Barcelona have him locked down as firmly not for sale, and to ensure this, they've slapped a $536 million release clause on him.

Instead, if you have cash to splash, Destiny Udogie will set you back a hefty $70m, but he is a starting left-back for a top six Premier League side, so what do you expect? He's very well-rounded though, operating best as a complete wing-back with impressive pace, crossing, dribbling, passing, tackling, and technique stats.

At the younger end of the scale, Lucas Jetten is the chap to go for, but he'll still set you back around $10m as Ajax are famous for their youth development. On the cheaper side of things, Omar Campos will cost around $5m, while Patryck Lanza will be around double that from the Brazilian league.

Name	Age	Position	Club	League	Nationality
Patrick Dorgu	18	D/WB/M (L)	Salento	Italian Serie A	Denmark
Alejandro Balde	19	D/WB/M/AM (L)	Barcelona	Spanish First Division	Spain
Amar Dedic	20	D (RL)	RB Salzburg	Austrian Premier Division	Bosnia & Herzegovina
Victor Kristiansen	20	D/WB (L)	Bologna	Italian Serie A	Denmark
Milos Kerkez	19	D/WB/M (L)	Bournemouth	English Premier Division	England
Matteo Ruggeri	20	D/WB (L)	Atalanta	Italian Serie A	Italy
Destiny Udogie	20	D/WB (L)	Tottenham Hotspur	English Premier Division	Italy
Omar Campos	20	D/WB/M (L)	Santos Laguna	Mexican First Division	Mexico
Patryck Lanza	20	D/WB (L)	SPO	Brazilian National First Division	Brazil
Lucas Jetten	16	D (LC)/WB (L)	Ajax	Eredivisie	Netherlands

Best young defensive midfielders

If you're an avid fan, there are five players here you've likely heard of; Camavinga through Lavia, plus Faticanti. Most of these will set you back a fair whack--like $50m or more--aside from Faticanti, who is only valued at around $2m for some reason, making him an excellent choice for a wonderkid defensive mid.

Moscardo is the one to go for if you love a South American wonderkid, while Sattlberger and Gourna-Douath are both excellent choices from the Austrian Premier Division, and neither will command too high of a wage. Gourna-Douath certainly the stronger of the two though, and the one ready to play regularly for a top-flight team.

Name	Age	Position	Club	League	Nationality
Eduardo Camavinga	20	D (L)/DM/M (C)	Real Madrid	Spanish First Division	France
Warren Zaire-Emery	17	DM/M (C)	Paris SG	Ligue 1 Uber Eats	France
Stefan Bajcetic	18	D (C)/DM/M (C)	Liverpool	English Premier Division	Spain
Romeo Lavia	19	DM/M (C)	Chelsea	English Premier Division	Belgium
Adam Wharton	19	DM/M (C)	Blackburn Rovers	Sky Bet Championship	England
Giacomo Faticanti	18	DM/M (C)	Salento	Italian Serie A	Italy
Arthur Vermeeren	18	DM/M (C)	Antwerp	Jupiler Pro League	Belgium
Gabriel Moscardo	17	DM/M (C)	COR	Brazilian National First Division	Brazil
Nikolas Sattlberger	19	DM/M (C)	SK Rapid	Austrian Premier Division	Austria
Lucas Gourna-Douath	19	DM/M (C)	FC RB Salzburg	Austrian Premier Division	France

Best young center mids

In the middle of the park, you are spoiled for choice when it comes to wonderkids. At the very top of the list would be Jude Bellingham, but we've left him out because trust us: you aren't going to sign him. He's valued at $150m on $425k wages and will eventually be the best player in the world. You likely won't be able to snag Pedri, Gavi, or Harvey Elliott either unless you're managing a financial titan.

Instead, look a little further down the list: Archie Gray is valued at $17m, Sverre Halseth Nypan at $7m, and Ouedraogo at $11m. There are a lot of players that could've made the cut here that didn't too, so honorable mentions go to Cesare Casadei, Charlie Patino, Mateus Fernandes, Tygo Land, Victor Eletu, Aaron Ciammaglichella, and many more.

Name	Age	Position	Club	League	Nationality
Pedri	20	M (C)/AM (RLC)	Barcelona	Spanish First Division	Spain
Joao Neves	18	DM/M/AM (C)	Benfica	Portuguese Premier League	Portugal
Gavi	18	M (C)/AM (LC)	Barcelona	Spanish First Division	Spain
Harvey Elliott	20	M (C)/AM (R)	Liverpool	English Premier Division	England
Alex Scott	19	DM/M (C)/AM (RC)	Bournemouth	English Premier Division	England
Archie Gray	17	M (C)	Leeds United	Sky Bet Championship	England
Assan Ouedraogo	17	M (C)/AM (LC)	Schalke 04	Bundesliga 2	Germany
Sverre Halseth Nypan	16	M (C)/AM (RLC)	Rosenborg	Norwegian Premier Division	Norway
Ayman Kari	18	M (C)	FC Lorient	Ligue 1 Uber Eats	France
Kobbie Mainoo	18	DM/M/AM (C)	Man UFC	English Premier Division	England

Best young attacking mids

Much like Bellingham, Jamal Musiala should top this list, but he's so expensive and everyone already knows about him, so we've opted to leave him out in favor of some lesser known wonderkids. Some of these players--Noah Darvich, Arda Guler, Florian Wirtz--are around $100m too, but are slightly lesser known, so they've made the cut.

Our top recommendations here are Estevao, who can be picked up for around $8m; Rodrigo Mora at $2.2m; and Claudio Echeverri at $10.5m. Alternatively, for someone a little more developed, you can go for Claudio Echeverri at around $30m or so.

Name	Age	Position	Club	League	Nationality
Noah Darvich	16	M (C)/AM (RLC)	Barcelona	Spanish First Division	Germany
Arda Guler	18	AM (RC)	R. Madrid	Spanish First Division	Turkey
Estevao	16	AM (RC)/ST	SEP	Brazilian National First Division	Brazil
Rodrigo Mora	16	AM (LC)	FC Porto B	Portuguese Second League	Portugal
Tommaso Baldanzi	20	M/AM (C)	Empoli	Italian Serie A	Italy
Florian Wirtz	20	MC/AM (RLC)	Bayer 04 Leverkusen	Bundesliga	Germany
Claudio Echeverri	17	AM (RLC)/ST	Club Atletico River Plate	Argentine Premier Division	Argentina
Eliesse Ben Seghir	18	M/AM (C)	AS Monaco	Ligue 1 Uber Eats	France
Julen Jon Guerrero	19	M/AM (C)	AS Roma	Italian Serie A	Spain
Jano Monserrate	17	M/AM (C)	Zaragoza	Spanish Second Division	Spain

Best young right wingers

Lamine Yamal is a player that has taken the headlines recently, because the young chap is only 15 and playing week in, week out for Barcelona. He has a $61m release clause so if you've got the cash to spare, he is attainable. Shea Lacey is another similarly aged hot prospect, and he doesn't have a release clause, but he will set you back around $20m at just 16-years-old. He does have 18 flair though, so will develop into quite the trickster.

Yeremy Pino is another highly recommended player but comes with a colossal price tag, as does Nico Williams, but both of them are 20 and so can slot straight into your team no matter which club you're managing. Your best bet for players that are a little unknown here are Roony Bardghji and Gianluca Prestianni, who will both set you back around $10m.

Name	Age	Position	Club	League	Nationality
Lamine Yamal	15	AM (RL)/ST	Barcelona	Spanish First Division	Spain
Nico Williams	20	M/AM (RL)	A. Bilbao	Spanish First Division	Spain
Yeremy Pino	20	AM (RLC)/ST	Villareal	Spanish First Division	Spain
Shea Lacey	16	AM (RC)	Man UFC	English Premier Division	England
Badredine Bouanani	18	AM (R)	OGC Nice	Ligue 1 Uber Eats	Algeria
Ben Doak	17	AM (R)	Liverpool	English Premier Division	Scotland
Roony Bardghji	17	M/AM (R)	FC Kobenhavn	3F Superliga	Sweden
Yaser Asprilla	19	AM (RLC)/ST	Watford	Sky Bet Championship	Colombia
Angelo	18	AM (R)/ST	Strasbourg	Ligue 1 Uber Eats	Brazil
Gianluca Prestianni	17	AM (RLC)	Velez	Argentine Premier Division	Argentina

Best young strikers

Endrick has been omitted from the very top of this list for two reasons: everybody knows about him already and at the start of the game, he is literally unsignable because he already has a transfer to Real Madrid arranged for July 2024. However, that isn't the end of the famous goalscorers on this list: Youssoufa Moukoko, Evan Ferguson, Rasmus Hojlund, Mathys Tel, and Benjamin Sesko should all be familiar to most players thanks to their real-life performances.

All of these players are known quantities and as a result, will set you back a fair whack, so our top recommendations are any of the three Brazilian players here. All three will set you back around $15-$20m apiece, so they're not cheap investments, but they're guaranteed to turn into ballers. Alternatively, at just 16-years-old, Enzo Sternal can be picked up from Marseille for under $5m, but he'll take a while to come good.

Name	Age	Position	Club	League	Nationality
Youssoufa Moukoko	18	ST	Borussia Dortmund	Bundesliga	Germany
Vitor Roque	18	AM (RL)/ST	ATP	Brazilian National First Division	Brazil
Marcos Leonardo	20	AM (L)/ST	SAN	Brazilian National First Division	Brazil
Evan Ferguson	18	ST	Brighton & Hove Albion	English Premier Division	Ireland
Shaqueel van Persie	16	AM (RL)/ST	Feyenoord	Eredivisie	Netherlands
Rasmus Hojlund	20	ST	Man UFC	English Premier Division	Denmark
Mathys Tel	18	AM (RL)/ST	Bayern Munich	Bundesliga	France
Benjamin Sesko	20	ST	RB Leipzig	Bundesliga	Slovenia
Talles Wander	19	ST	SPO	Brazilian National First Division	Brazil
Enzo Sternal	16	ST	Olympique de Marseille	Ligue 1 Uber Eats	France

Best young left wingers

Finally, we have the left wing. Since Mikey Moore is only 15, he's an excellent loan prospect for lower-tier clubs in a year or two, or you can drop around $50m to pick him up immediately. Ansu Fati, Andreas Schjelderup, and Alejandro Garnacho are all proven talents who will cost quite a lot,but you'll be getting instant superstars who can transform your team.

For true wonderkids, look towards Joao Rego, Kendry Paez, and Amourricho van Axel Dongen. They'll all set you back a much more reasonable amount--between $10m-$20m--and you won't have as much competition. Joao Rego especially is a tricky winger, with 16 flair and determination. Alan Velasco is also a bargain thanks to his $8.75m release clause.

Name	Age	Position	Club	League	Nationality
Mikey Moore	15	AM (RLC)/ST	Tottenham Hotspur	English Premier Division	England
Ansu Fati	20	AM (RL)/ST	Brighton & Hove Albion	English Premier Division	Spain
Andreas Schjelderup	19	AM (L)/ST	FC Nordsjaelland	3F Superliga	Norway
Joao Rego	18	AM (RLC)	Benfica	Portuguese Premier League	Portugal
Kendry Paez	16	M (C)/AM (LC)	Independiente del Valle	Ecuadorian Serie A	Ecuador
Samuel Iling	19	WB/M/AM (L)	Juventus	Italian Serie A	England
Rayan Cherki	19	AM (RLC)/ST	Olympique Lyonnais	Ligue 1 Uber Eats	France
Alan Velasco	20	AM (RLC)/ST	FC Dallas	MLS	Argentina
Alejandro Garnacho	19	AM (RL)/ST	Man UFC	English Premier Division	Argentina
Amourricho van Axel Dongen	18	M/AM (L)	Ajax	Eredivisie	Netherlands