FIFA 22 best young players list reveals the top 50 career mode wonderkids
From Mbappe to the best bargains, here’s the FIFA 22 best young players list
The FIFA 22 best young players list is something you need to bookmark ahead of any new career mode save. (Go on. Do it now. You won't regret it.) Some FIFA 22 wonderkids are no-brainers if you can afford them, such as Paris pair Gigi Donnarumma and Kylian Mbappe. But we've included plenty of hidden gems too. The list is split into five categories: keepers, defenders, midfielders, wingers and strikers. Note that ages and stats in GR's FIFA 22 best young players guide are correct as of October 1, 2021.
FIFA 22 best young goalkeepers
No surprise to see Gianluigi Donnarumma top this list: he did the very same in FIFA 21, and that was before going on to claim the Euro 2020 player of the tournament award. Still, your career mode club is never going to afford PSG’s £198 million release clause, nor the Italian’s £96K per week wage. Thankfully there are bargains elsewhere on the list: Genk expect around £5 million for Vandevoordt, while Lanus demand a similar fee for Morales – and both are on the market for less than £10K off your weekly wage bill. Tempting.
Name | Club | Age | Rating | Potential |
Gianluigi Donnarumma | Milan | 22 | 89 | 93 |
Maarten Vandevoordt | Genk | 19 | 71 | 87 |
Dean Henderson | Man Utd | 24 | 80 | 87 |
Unai Simon | Athletic Bilbao | 24 | 82 | 86 |
Alex Meret | Napoli | 24 | 79 | 86 |
Lautaro Morales | Lanus | 21 | 72 | 85 |
Andriy Lunin | Real Madrid | 22 | 74 | 85 |
Illan Meslier | Leeds United | 21 | 77 | 85 |
Diogo Costa | FC Porto | 21 | 73 | 85 |
Justin Biljow | Feyenoord | 23 | 77 | 85 |
FIFA 22 best young defenders
An incredibly strong mix of full-backs and centre-halves here, from which Sporting CP left-back Nuno Mendes narrowly misses out. The 19-year-old’s overall rating can accelerate all the way from 78 to 88 – and you can purchase him immediately, despite being on loan to Paris St Germain in real life. For our money, the best value young defender is another who just falls short of the top ten: RB Leipzig centre-back Josko Gvardiol. Also 19, he costs just £12 million but can rise from 75 to 87 over future seasons.
Name | Club | Age | Rating | Potential |
Trent Alexander-Arnold | Liverpool | 22 | 87 | 92 |
Ruben Diaz | Manchester City | 24 | 87 | 91 |
Matthijs de Ligt | Piemonte Calcio | 21 | 85 | 90 |
Theo Hernandez | AC Milan | 23 | 84 | 90 |
Dayot Upamecano | FC Bayern | 22 | 82 | 90 |
Jules Kounde | Sevilla | 22 | 83 | 89 |
Pau Torres | Villarrael | 24 | 82 | 89 |
Eder Militao | Real Madrid | 23 | 82 | 89 |
Alessandro Bastoni | Inter Milan | 23 | 80 | 89 |
Alphonso Davies | FC Bayern | 20 | 82 | 89 |
FIFA 22 best young midfielders
No spot on this list for the ultra-talented likes of Federico Valverde (Real Madrid), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United) or Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan) – but it’s worth noting that they too have potential ratings of 89. FC Bayern 18-year-old Jamal Masiala is another prodigious talent to narrowly miss out: he starts the game on 76 but can shoot all the way up to 88 with training and game time. You need serious wonga to sign any of these guys, as Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz is the only one with an asking price under £30 million.
Name | Club | Age | Rating | Potential |
Phil Foden | Manchester City | 21 | 84 | 92 |
Kai Havertz | Chelsea | 22 | 84 | 92 |
Frenkie de Jong | Barcelona | 24 | 87 | 92 |
Pedri | Barcelona | 18 | 81 | 91 |
Jadon Sancho | Manchester United | 21 | 87 | 91 |
Ryan Gravenberch | Ajax | 19 | 78 | 90 |
Florian Wirtz | Bayer Leverkusen | 18 | 78 | 89 |
Jude Bellingham | Dortmund | 18 | 79 | 89 |
Eduardo Camavinga | Real Madrid | 18 | 78 | 89 |
Mason Greenwood | Manchester United | 19 | 78 | 89 |
FIFA 22 best young wingers
FIFA 22 features so many talented wingers that we’ve granted them their own separate category this year, and again some notable young names miss out: Rodrygo (Real Madrid), Pedro Goncalves (Sporting CP) and Takefusa Kubo (Mallorca, on loan from Real Madrid) all have potential OVRs of 88. From those who do make the top ten, Lyon wideman Cherki offers the most astonishing value: you can pinch him for a fee in the region of £7 million and weekly salary of around £10K. Get your bid in as soon as you launch career mode.
Name | Club | Age | Rating | Potential |
Federico Chiesa | Piemonte Calcio | 23 | 83 | 91 |
Ansu Fati | Barcelona | 18 | 76 | 90 |
Ferran Torres | Manchester City | 21 | 82 | 90 |
Vinicius Jr | Real Madrid | 20 | 80 | 90 |
Dejan Kulusevski | Piemonte Calcio | 21 | 81 | 89 |
Oyarzabal | Real Sociedad | 24 | 85 | 89 |
Antony | Ajax | 21 | 79 | 88 |
Rayan Cherki | OL | 17 | 73 | 88 |
Gabriel Martinelli | Arsenal | 20 | 76 | 88 |
Jeremy Doku | Rennes | 19 | 77 | 88 |
FIFA 22 best young strikers
Yep, being under 24 still just about qualifies Richarlison and Gabriel Jesus as FIFA 22 wonderkids – although there are more affordable, better-value names to spend your career mode monies on. The two names in the middle are the ones to hone in on. Offer Sassaulo £9.5 million and you should be able to sign Raspadori for a weekly wage of £25K, while Hlozek’s initial salary at Sparta Prague is just £13,000 per week – although the Czech club wants £15 million for his signature. It’s still a no-brainer, particularly as (unlike Raspadori) he can also play at LM or RM.
Name | Club | Age | Rating | Potential |
Kylian Mbappe | Paris SG | 22 | 91 | 95 |
Erling Haaland | Dortmund | 20 | 88 | 93 |
Joao Felix | Atletico Madrid | 21 | 83 | 91 |
Lautaro Martinez | Inter Milan | 23 | 85 | 89 |
Giacomo Raspadori | Sassuolo | 21 | 74 | 88 |
Adam Hlozek | Sparta Prague | 18 | 76 | 87 |
Moise Kean | Piemonte Calcio | 21 | 79 | 87 |
Victor Osimhen | Napoli | 22 | 80 | 87 |
Richarlison | Everton | 24 | 82 | 87 |
Gabriel Jesus | Manchester City | 24 | 83 | 87 |
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I'm GamesRadar's sports editor, and obsessed with NFL, WWE, MLB, AEW, and occasionally things that don't have a three-letter acronym – such as Chvrches, Bill Bryson, and Streets Of Rage 4. (All the Streets Of Rage games, actually.) Even after three decades I still have a soft spot for Euro Boss on the Amstrad CPC 464+.