FIFA 20‘s best young players cost a fortune – everyone knows that Manchester City’s Phil Foden has incredible potential in Career Mode, but it’ll come at a cost. However, look beyond the Premier League and you’ll find that the Championship is a hotbed of wonderkids.
[ad name=”article1″]
When FIFA 20 first came out, it looked difficult to sign top young players as, thanks to a glitch, the best teams were fielding inexperienced wonderkids rather than established stars such as Kevin De Bruyne, Lionel Messi and Ronaldo.
Thankfully, that glitch has been fixed, meaning that some players with great potential aren’t getting as much game time as they need – and will no doubt be looking for new clubs
And signing top young players, from whatever league you purchase them from, is important as even if you are lucky enough to have world class players in your XI, they won’t stay at the top of their game forever.
Once you have played a few seasons of the popular single-player game mode, you will notice that the top players soon become the average ones for many clubs, as exciting youngsters prosper all over Europe.
If you want to get ahead of the game and pick out a wonderkid early, the Championship is exactly where you should be looking. Using the FUTWIZ database, we’ve picked out seven players from the second tier of English football who could improve your side.
[ad name=”article3″]
NOTE: This list shows the potential overall of each player. Depending on training and injuries, their statistics won’t always develop to be exactly as shown here. It could be higher or lower.
1. Nathan Collins (CB, Stoke City)
Stoke City have struggled in the Championship since being relegated in 2018 following a 10 year stint in the Premier League. At the time of writing they are bottom of the league and managerless, but they do have a bright spark for the future in the form of 17-year-old defender, Nathan Collins.
The Irishman is a central defender and stands at 6ft 4 inches tall. His starting overall might be a 63 in FIFA 20, but not every player will know that this talent can develop into an impressive 84 rating.
His contract with Stoke runs until 2024, so you might have to pay a slight premium for his services, but with a potential 21 overall growth, surely he’s got to be one your scouts are looking at.
He’s valued at just £650,000.
2. Bryan Mbeumo (CM, Brentford)
[ad name=”article4″]
Bryan Mbuemo isn’t just a player for the future – he’s a midfielder who you might want to consider bringing into your starting XI immediately.
The 19-year-old has a 71 overall right off the bat, but has a potential growth rate of 12, taking him to an 83 rating.
He’s a right-sided midfield player who can also play up front, and he boasts four-star skills. He’ll set you back £3.6 million, but the goals and assists you’ll get in return will prove value for money.
3. Han-Noah Massengo (CM, Bristol City)
Han-Noah Massengo plays for Bristol City and is priced between £750,000 and £800,000, an absolute bargain for a player with the potential to be as good as some of the best midfielders around.
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
This 19-year-old starts out as a 64 rated player, but he has the potential to raise this figure by 19, and with an intensive training program alongside regular first-team football, there’s no doubt that the French playmaker can be a key figure in anybody’s Career Mode side in the future.
4. Edward Nketiah (ST, Leeds United)
There are a lot of wonderkids in the Championship that ply their trade for teams who are lower in the division, but don’t ignore bigger clubs like Leeds United. The Yorkshire side reached the playoffs last season, and have added a potential star striker to their ranks in a bid to gain promotion to the Premier League.
However, it might be tricky to sign Nketiah straight away as the Englishman is on loan to Leeds from Arsenal. That means you’ll have to wait until the following season in the game to make a bid.
His initial overall is 69 already and he’s valued at £2 million. That might sound a little expensive for a youngster in the Championship, but it could rise further when he returns to his Premier League club after the loan spell.
The good news, though, is that he has the potential to become at least an 84 rated player in FIFA 20, meaning a return on that initial investment is almost guaranteed over time.
5. Jayden Bogle (RB, Derby County)
Derby County’s young squad nearly achieved promotion last season, but many of their best players were on loan from big Premier League teams – Mason Mount and Fiyako Tomori from Chelsea and Liverpool’s Harry Wilson. They did have one of their own, though, in Jayden Bogle.
18-year-old Bogle has already featured regularly for Derby at the start of the season, playing at right-back. Starting at a 69, he can climb right up to an 84 overall if he’s given opportunities in your first team
Just for context, should he reach around those heights, he would be rated alongside the likes of Andy Robertson, Marcelo, Alex Sandro, and more of the game’s highest-rated full-backs.
His market value will be between £1.5 million and £2 million at the start of your Career Mode.
6. Jack Clarke (RM, Leeds United)
17-year-old right-sided midfielder Jack Clarke was signed by Tottenham from Leeds in the summer before being loaned back to the Championship side for the season.
The talented youngster with a four-star week foot has the potential to rise from his base 67 rating all the way to an 83 overall.
With a medium/medium work rate, he would be an ideal signing for managers who want their teams to attack together and defend in a unit as well. He’ll be moving up and down that channel every game.
If you’re looking to sign Clarke, it’s going to cost you around £1.3 million to prize him away from Spurs, but as with Nketiah, you’ll have to wait until next season to make your move.
7. Arijanet Muric (GK, Nottingham Forest)
If you’e looking for a goalkeeper, you should check out Muric, who currently plays for Nottingham Forest, on loan from Manchester City.
Muric is only 19 at the beginning of the game, and starts out as a 68-rated player – which isn’t exactly terrible for the second tier of English football.
Before you know it, that OVR rating will be way into the 70s, and could eventually reach 83.
With him being contracted to the Man City until 2024, you might expect his price to be quite high, but it’s set in the region of a reasonable £1.5 million. Within a few seasons, the Kosovo goalkeeper could be one of the best shot stoppers around.
So, there you have it! Those are our top seven recommendations for managers looking to dip into the Championship for wonderkids. We’ve covered a good few positions there, so whether you’re looking for a goalscorer, a solid defender or even a reliable pair of hands between the sticks, you’ll be able to find a top young player to sign – and for a reasonably cheap price.
