With the start of a brand-new game cycle comes a brand-new cohort of wonderkids ready to take charge of world football. One of the most rewarding parts of FIFA Career Mode is uncovering hidden gems and nurturing their potential until you have a team full of superstars to dominate domestically and internationally. And while there’s a certain skill to blooding overpowered youth players, it adds a different level of realism to win trophies with real footballers. Despite improvements in sports science, football is still a young person’s game. Ex-pros often describe the moment they started to find the next generation’s talent ‘frightening’ as the moment they knew they had to retire, and the key to long-term success in FIFA 22 is knowing when to swap out your most-reliable performers to train their successor. As the kings Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo enter the twilight of their career, we’re in an interesting position where some of the hottest prospects looking to take on their crown are still very young. But you don’t need us to tell you that this Kylian Mbappe kid is pretty good, or to look out for a plucky youngster called Erling Braut Haaland. This list will go over not only the high-potential wonderkids who already have an overall worthy of a top European side, but the lesser-known young players on the brink of a breakout season. Also, a few of the youngest players with high potential are making their debut in professional football, meaning you can’t lure them away to your team in the first season. After the main table, we’ll go over some of the best FIFA 22 Wonderkids you can sign straight away. But to kick things off, here are some of the most talented wonderkids we’ve found since FIFA 22 released.
Best FIFA 22 Wonderkids we’ve found since release
Noni Madueke - RM/ST - PSV - £23m Value - 19 - Thanks to already elite pace and dribbling at just 19 years old, Noni Madueke is tailor made for any Premier League or other top club looking for speed and trickery anywhere across their forward line. With 88 starting potential to further improve his key attributes and round out his more mediocre technicals and stamina, Madueke can become very overpowered extremely easily. PSV have a lot of great players like this to be honest - also check out Cody Gakpo and Yorbe Vertessen.
Jacob Ramsey - CAM/CM - Aston Villa - £5m Value - 20 - Looking like the next in a very long line of English midfielders set to send the hype train into overdrive, Jacob Ramsey is a great pickup for a wide variety of teams in FIFA 22 Career mode. His starting potential was recently bumped up to 88, and when the fee is this reasonable, you can’t really go far wrong. Update: As Ramsey’s value and overall has increased, he doesn’t represent the same kind of value. For a cheaper option, take a look at his Villa teammate Carney Chukwuemeka.
Tino Anjorin - CAM/CM - Huddersfield Town - £1.5m Value - 19 - For smaller clubs looking at progressive midfield options, Huddersfield’s Tino Anjorin has starting potential of 80 alongside a cheap fee.
Jesus Ferreira - CAM/CF/ST - FC Dallas - £6.5m Value - 20 - For Championship level road to glory teams, Jesus Ferreira is a fantastic deal with really nice movement stats and stamina with 83 starting potential. His dribbling and passing are pretty average to begin with, but work on improving his 2 star skill moves and they should grow quickly as well.
Florian Wirtz - CAM/CM - Bayer Leverkusen - £64m Value - 18 - Florian Wirtz’s potential just keeps going higher and higher, along with his price tag. Despite his incredible talent, he still seems to have a slightly lower profile than the likes of Pedri or Jude Bellingham, so if you’re playing as one of the world’s richest clubs, be sure to check him out.
Gavi - CM/LW/RW - Barcelona - £17m Value - 16 - Like I said above, we’ve all heard of Pedri, but for a similar player that’s more accessible - albeit with lower potential and starting overall - check out his Barcelona teammate, Gavi for literally a quarter of the price. Good pace, stamina, technicals and defending make him suited for anywhere across the midfield, while he also has both wings on his listed positions and 89 starting potential.
Marcus Pedersen - RB - Feyenoord - £6.5m Value - 21 - With nearly 90 pace and stamina at just 21 years old, this 6ft tall fullback is a great signing for pretty much any team. While his 70ish stats in defending, dribbling and passing are decent enough, his +11 starting potential growth means he’ll shoot up very quickly and easily.
Josko Gvardiol - CB/LB - RB Leipzig - £28m Value - 19 - I originally didn’t put Josko Gvardiol on this list since you can’t get him in the first window, but his incredible stats simply can’t be ignored. His combination of pace, strength, technical ability and solid defending right from the start of a FIFA 22 save make him easily the best defender to sign in a Career Mode lasting multiple seasons.
Noah Mbamba - CB - Club Brugge - £2m Value - 16 - For a much cheaper option who still has 88 potential, check out Noah Mbamba in Belgium. You can’t grab him in the first window either, but his sky-high potential coupled with a very reasonable fee make him a tantilising prospect for road-to-glory saves.
Julian Alvarez - ST/RW/LW - River Plate - £32m Value - 21 - The legend Sergio Aguero might be gone, but Julian Alvarez is the next small, quick and deadly Argentine ready to fill his diminutive boots. While he’ll carry a hefty price tag, Alvarez already boasts mid-80s Movement, 81 finishing, and loads of other technicals around the mid-70s to 80s. With a recently buffed starting potential of 87, he’ll lead the line of one of Europe’s top clubs for years to come. Update: Alvarez was sold to Man City in the winter transfer window and loaned back to River for the rest of the season - so you now have to wait to pick him up.
Youssoufa Moukoko - ST - Dortmund - £3.8m Value - 16 - The Bundesliga’s youngest ever player, and scorer, has finally been added to FIFA. He already has really good Movement, dribbling and finishing, so really the only question you have to ask yourself is how quickly do you buy him?
Cade Cowell - ST - San Jose Earthquakes - £2.1m Value - 17 - A raw talent from MLS, Cade Cowell combines the Adama Traore-esque qualities of pace, strength, and dribbling into a much cheaper package. With 85 Sprint Speed, 86 Strength, and 69 Dribbling on a 66 overall player, he’s an awesome option for lower league teams.
Alan Velasco - CAM - Independiente - £10m Value - 18 - Another FIFA, another high-potential Argentine talent ready to grow into a ridiculous monster. Alan Velasco has great speed and dribbling from the start, along with usable stamina, so he’s well worth checking out. Update: Velasco swapped Argentina for MLS in the winter window, so you’ll either have to wait or use an older save to snag him. Alternatively, take a look at Yusuf Demir or Xavi Simons.
Khephren Thuram - CDM - Nice - £10.5m Value - 20 - Son of France’s most capped player, Lillian Thuram, Khephren is a good all-round midfielder already, but has enough potential to push all of his key stats past 80 pretty quickly.
Goncalo Inacio - CB - Sporting CP - £21m - 19 - With Pace, Strength, Stamina and Defending all around 80, Goncalo Inacio will cost a lot, but could be an integral part of your defence for literally a decade.
Hugo Siquet - RB - Liege - £3.5m Value - 18 - With usable Movement, Power, and Defending stats across the board, Siquet’s real stand out is his 80 Crossing, which essentially marks him out as the cheap Trent Alexander-Arnold. Give his physicals time to grow into his 84 potenial and you’ve got a great wing back. He joined Freiburg in the winter transfer window, so snap him up if you’re working with an older save, or add him to the targets list for later if you’re starting fresh.
Highest Potential Wonderkids in FIFA 22
While they might not be ready to take on the world quiet yet, these are the brightest young talents in FIFA 22. Give them game time, and they’ll turn into the best players on the planet. We’re counting young players as 22 and under.
Low Overall, High Potential FIFA 22 Wonderkids
Not everyone likes playing as teams with huge budgets. To afford top talent, you need to pay top dollar, but for clubs with less cash in the kitty, here are some lower overall players with huge potential growth. You should be able to afford these guys whoever you’re playing with. We’ve tried to pick players who at least have a real picture in-game, and are available in the first season.
Best FIFA 22 Wonderkids to sign in the first season
There are so many awesome wonderkids in FIFA 22, it’s tough to know which who pick. Below are just a few who’re available to sign straight away.
Ansu Fati - Barcelona - £17.5m Value - With Barcelona’s dire financial situation, it’s no longer realistic to suggest that any player is completely off limits. Despite inheriting Messi’s number 10 shirt following his return from injury, Ansu Fati can be lured away from the Nou Camp for less than you might expect and is one of the highest rated talents you can add to your squad.
Jamal Musiala - Bayern - £17.5m Value - An even less realistic signing than Fati, but no less hyped, Jamal Musiala is an awesome young CAM with awesome dribbling and movement stats at just 18 years old. Not only that but he starts with 76 finishing and 5 star skill moves too, making him a useful member of any attack from the start of Career Mode. Focus on training his stamina quickly, and he’ll suit any advanced midfield position. Update: With a series of strong performances, Musiala’s value and overall have soared to pretty much unobtainable heights. Since he’s not as good value nowadays, check out Yusuf Demir, Adam Hlozek, or Xavi Simons instead.
Gabriel Martinelli - Arsenal - £18m Value - Arsenal might not be in as much of a crisis now as during their winless start to the Premier League season, but the fact remains: Martinelli has Saka and Pepe above him in the pecking order on the wing, Smith Rowe and Odegaard able to play wherever they’re needed, and Aubameyang and Lacazette to dislodge through the middle. With solid stats already across the board and a starting potential of 88, he’ll grow into a great attacking player with regular minutes.
Rayan Cherki - Lyon - £7m Value - For a slightly cheaper option at just 17 years old, Rayan Cherki is one of the few players in FIFA to boast a natural pairing of 5 star skills and 5 star weak foot. With 84 dribbling and a starting potential of 88, Cherki can grow into a flair player worthy of being the talisman for any team.
Ryan Gravenberch - Ajax - £33m Value - He’s expensive, but at just 19 years old Ryan Gravenberch has all the tools to be a Pogba-esque all-round midfielder with a bit of training. Standing at 6ft 3”, you could train his defending to make him an impassable wall, or lean into his already good dribbling and passing to mould him into an unstoppably powerful attacking midfielder.
Jurrien Timber - Ajax - £11.5m Value - Gravenberch’s Ajax teammate Jurrien Timber is an interesting player. He’s listed as a CB, with great stats for the position. However, at 179cm - about 5ft 9” - you might find him losing too many headers in dangerous areas, despite a good jumping stat of 82. This makes him a prime target for retaining as a RB or CDM, where you can make use of his decent passing and dribbling without exposing his weaknesses.
Leonidas Stergiou - FC St. Gallen - £2.5m Value - Despite a low starting overall of 67, Stergiou is another shorter centre-back who makes up for it with a massive jumping stat of 86. He’s a really cheap option, making his accessible to a wide range of teams, and with a starting potential of 86, will grow into a top player fast with good performances.
Daniel Braganca - Sporting - £12.5m Value - A nippy, technically gifted all-rounder, Braganca, isn’t the most powerful option in FIFA 22, but makes up for his lack of strength with pace, a good touch, and passing acumen. Capable of playing at CM, CAM, or even deeper at CDM, you can use Braganca’s 84/85 potential to focus either on growing his incisive passing or rounding out his solid defence.
Maarten Vandevoordt - Genk - £4.3m Value - If you’re looking for a cheap goalkeeper with high potential either for your bench or Road to Glory save, it’s hard to look past Maarten Vandevoordt. With 87 starting potential and an affordable fee, he ticks pretty much all of the boxes.
