FIFA 22 best young players list reveals the top 50 career mode wonderkids

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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