The release of Football Manager 2023 means another opportunity to sign the world’s best wonderkids before they become world-famous in real life.
Working out who might enjoy a career like Neymar and who might follow the path of former FM wonderkid icon Freddy Adu is what separates good managers from great ones.
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The Athletic has run the rule over the next generation of superstars to help you pick, including what their attributes will look like after five seasons in FM23. We’ve also included at least two players for every position.
Our main criteria were players under the age of 21 who, for the most part, are also relatively cheap — though there are a few who will command big transfer fees because they are worth the expenditure.
In no particular order, here are 20 best wonderkids to sign in FM23.
Endrick
Position: Striker
Age: 15
Club: Palmeiras
In real life, Endrick is already on the radar of multiple clubs. Because of his age, he won’t be able to join a European side until he’s 18, which will be in July 2024.
It’s worth getting a deal done as soon as you possibly can, even if he won’t join for a few years. He only costs around £20million, is willing to join most Premier League sides, and has cheat code-like stats that will only improve with time. An absolute must-buy in FM23.
Andreas Schjelderup
Position: Left-winger
Age: 18
Club: Nordsjaelland
The Norwegian winger plays for a club in Denmark and is open to joining most European sides for a fee of around £7million in FM23.
Schjelderup has all the tools needed to become a regular starter for a major European team for at least a decade. It’s worth including the Danish league as a playable league in your save to ensure that he appears in your search results.
Jude Bellingham
Position: Centre midfield
Age: 18
Club: Borussia Dortmund
Our primary aim here is to profile affordable wonderkids in FM23, but Bellingham is simply too good to not include — even his price tag could exceed £100million.
Already a regular in the Champions League, the former Birmingham City prospect develops into a complete midfielder with excellent attributes. If you can afford to sign him, then do so, and do it soon, because there aren’t many better midfielders than him in this year’s iteration of Football Manager.
Diego Coppola
Position: Centre-back
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Age: 18
Club: Verona
Coppola is something of a late bloomer in that he will need a few seasons to reach his peak powers. But in the meantime, even at the start of a new game save, he is a dependable option for smaller sides and a player who most clubs can purchase without spending too much.
Considering his price and growth potential, he’s another player who you might want to sign in most, if not all, of your game saves in FM23. If you have more money to spend, consider making an offer for Atalanta’s Giorgio Scalvini, another Italian centre-back who is more first-team ready but also considerably more expensive to sign.
Michael Olise
Position: Right-winger
Age: 20
Club: Crystal Palace
High-growth players who are eligible to play for England that play in the Premier League are usually expensive. When it comes to Olise, it’s worth opening up the chequebook.
Not only is he technically proficient with physical attributes to match, he also offers the added bonus of being able to double up as the go-to player for your team’s free kicks.
Vanderson
Position: Right-back
Age: 21
Club: AS Monaco
FM23 isn’t the best year to discover new right-backs who weren’t already on your radar. Tino Livramento is again one of the game’s better young right-backs, as he was on FM22, but his price tag is steep. Instead, look to sign Vanderson.
The Brazilian defender currently plays for Monaco and develops a set of attributes that would allow you to deploy him as an attacking wing-back, as evidenced by the following: stamina (17), acceleration (15), crossing (14), dribbling (14), tackling (13), passing (13).
Miguel Gutierrez
Position: Left-back
Age: 20
Club: Girona
Gutierrez is a Spanish under-21 international who was a part of Real Madrid’s Champions League-winning squad in 2021-22. He recently moved to Girona in search of more first-team football, which means you’ll have to wait a transfer window or two if you wanted to sign him.
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He fits the mould of an attacking full-back who also has the relevant attributes needed to be defensively solid. Because he plays for Girona, when you are able to sign him, he can often be signed for a reasonable fee.
Arda Guler
Position: Attacking central midfielder
Age: 17
Club: Fenerbahce
Guler’s Achilles’ heel is that his work rate isn’t the strongest and his defensive stats are below par. But what he lacks in those departments he more than makes up for with his attacking ability.
After a few seasons, Guler develops into one of the best No 10’s in FM23 with the following attributes: vision (18), technique (17), composure (17), flair (17), dribbling (16), first touch (16), free kick taking (16) and passing (16). If you use a formation that frees him up from having to defend often, you’ll have one of the most technically gifted players in FM23.
Gavin Bazunu
Position: Goalkeeper
Age: 20
Club: Southampton
Bazunu is already a known prospect given that he’s Southampton’s starting goalkeeper in real life. As such, he won’t want to join a team with a lower profile than his current one and won’t join a new team in the first transfer window.
But eventually, he’ll become available, and after a few years he develops the attributes needed to become an impressive shot-stopper in FM23.
Marcos Leonardo
Position: Striker
Age: 19
Club: Santos
Within a few seasons, Leonardo develops into a centre-forward with very few weaknesses. He’s a little more costly than some of the other best wonderkids in FM23, but that extra expenditure will be worth it in the long run.
For cheaper alternatives, consider signing Joe Gelhardt, Emre Tezgel or Karim Konate, players who can often be signed by a lot of Championship clubs and most Premier League teams.
Antonio Silva
Position: Centre-back
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Age: 18
Club: Benfica
A ball-playing centre-back with impressive defensive attributes and the passing ability of a high-level centre-midfielder? What’s the catch, I hear you ask. He will likely only join teams competing in Europe and isn’t cheap.
The following attributes are typically reserved for forward-thinking midfielders, not centre-backs: composure (17), passing (14), vision (15) and flair (13). Silva is an ideal wonderkid to sign in FM23, but if you’re after a cheaper alternative, consider signing Madi Monamay from Bayer Leverkusen.
Rodrigo Ribeiro
Position: Right-winger
Age: 17
Club: Sporting Lisbon
Ribeiro can be used as either a right-winger or centre-forward and is one of many players from Sporting’s academy that has huge potential. You’ll likely need to manage a Premier League side in order to sign him, but his statistics are hard to argue with.
Other options at right-wing include Yeremy Pino, who will cost a considerable amount to sign, as well as Samuele Vignato and Yaser Asprilla, two cheaper options who can be signed by a wider range of teams.
Moises Caicedo
Position: Centre-midfielder
Age: 20
Club: Brighton
Brighton are one of the most interesting teams to manage in FM23 because they have a large transfer budget and an exciting group of players to build around, with Caicedo the best young player on their books. He strikes the rare balance of being first-team ready but with room to improve.
The Ecuadorian is capable of operating in a deeper midfield role and has excellent passing stats after a few years, including vision (16), passing (15), flair (15), decisions (15) and technique (14). In a nutshell, he isn’t too expensive and develops into a midfielder capable of fulfilling multiple roles in central midfield.
Alberto Moleiro
Position: Left-winger
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Age: 18
Club: Las Palmas
In 2022, a lot of the world’s best young talent is on the books of high-profile clubs. Moleiro is something of a throwback wonderkid in that he plays for a second-division side, is cheap to sign, and has immense potential.
The Spanish winger only costs around £5-7million and develops into a player who can later be sold for at least five times the amount you paid for him.
Rayan Ait-Nouri
Position: Left-back
Age: 21
Club: Wolves
This isn’t Ait-Nouri’s first rodeo when it comes to being featured as a wonderkid on Football Manager, but he remains one of the game’s best prospects in FM23 — though you’ll need at least £20-30million spare to sign him.
Destiny Udogie is another excellent option at left-back, but he’s on the books of Tottenham, spends the first season on loan at Udinese, and is extremely expensive.
Goncalo Esteves
Position: Right-back
Age: 18
Club: Sporting Lisbon
The Esteves brothers, Goncalo and Tomas, are two promising Portuguese right-backs who play for Sporting and Porto respectively. In FM23, Goncalo often develops a more complete set of attributes after a few years and gets the nod over his brother Tomas for that reason.
With excellent physical attributes and good enough technical ones, he’s worth the investment. He begins the first season out on loan, so it’s still possible to strike a deal for him, but you’ll have to wait until the 2023-24 season begins to actually use him.
Elia Caprile
Position: Goalkeeper
Age: 20
Club: Bari
Caprile left Leeds to join Bari this summer having never made a senior appearance at Elland Road. For that reason, he won’t be interested in leaving straight away, but can later be prised away from playing in Serie B for a modest fee after a few transfer windows.
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Diogo Costa is arguably the best goalkeeping prospect in FM23, but because he’s 22 at the start of any new game save, he wasn’t included here. Caprile is a cheaper and more accessible alternative if you can’t afford to lure Costa away from Porto.
Oscar Gloukh
Position: Attacking central midfielder
Age: 18
Club: Maccabi Tel Aviv
Gloukh plays for Maccabi Tel Aviv and only costs a few million to sign at the start of a new game save, which means he is a realistic target for a large number of teams.
One of his best attributes is his composure (19), while his vision (17), anticipation (17) and off-the-ball work (17) make him a low-risk, high-reward option to play in a No 10 role. Valentin Carboni is another enticing option but will cost more than Gloukh given that he plays for Inter.
Andrey Santos
Position: Defensive midfielder
Age: 18
Club: Vasco da Gama
Santos is a cheaper alternative to Moises Caicedo and is far easier to sign. He plays in Brazil but is often open to a move to a leading Championship club and most, if not all, Premier League clubs who can afford him.
There are a few holes in his style of play, but those are usually easily amended as long as you put him on the right training program.
Dario Essugo
Position: Defensive midfielder
Age: 17
Club: Sporting Lisbon
Sporting were listed as one of the most exciting teams to manage in FM23 predominantly because they have so many young players with great potential. Essugo is a player you should sign before his price rises too much.
A fee of around £3million is often enough to get a deal done, which will be far cheaper than waiting until he inevitably becomes a first-team player and therefore much more expensive.
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