Twelve more young 'uns coming at you... but these ones in a more affordable price range
Got the patience but not the pounds to craft your dream Football Manager 2017team? Then relax: this lot below are affordable if you can get the work permits, but most of them are particularly young and in need of some nurturing.
This week on FourFourTwo.comwe're bringing you our 84 best wonderkids with burgeoning potential on the game– all by budget, so you know exactly who you'll be able to afford.
Need to know: Italy U19 defensive midfielder awaiting a first-team debut for Atalanta. No matter, though – he’s only 17, and has plenty of scope to improve on several already-double-digit stat areas.
11. Facundo Colidio
Available for: £5m In-game stats:
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Need to know: Year-2000 born, Colidio is still making his way through Boca’s youth ranks and hasn’t made much of a ripple yet. But the forward already boasts good stats for acceleration, pace, finishing and decisions, so that’s a fine starting point.
10. Predrag Rajkovic
Available for: £5m In-game stats:
Need to know: Goalkeeper who stood out during Serbia U19s’ 2013 European Championship success, which later helped earn him a move to Champions League Maccabi Tel Aviv after a season in Red Star Belgrade’s first team.
Next page: The Bournemouth reject
9. Ezequiel Barco
Available for: £5m In-game stats:
Need to know: Pint-sized Independiente attacking midfielder regularly involved in the Argentine side’s first team aged only 17.
8. Tomas Andrade
Available for: £5m In-game stats:
Need to know: Argentine winger currently getting game time with River Plate, but prematurely released from a year-long loan spell at Bournemouth in February after failing to make an impact on the south coast. Everton also passed up on the chance to sign him in summer 2015 – but all of it appears to have been for the best.
7. Evander
Available for: £5m In-game stats:
Need to know: Eyed by Real Madrid and Chelsea according to reports, Vasco da Gama’s 18-year-old forward who predominantly plays on the left wing. His attributes are already smashing.
Next page: The mini Mascherano
6. Kuki
Available for: £5.25m (release clause) In-game stats:
Need to know: Malaga's teenage attacker yet to make his first-team debut, but who has previous attracted admiring glances from some of Europe's biggest clubs. The Uruguay-born youngster is the son of former Charrúas midfielder Jose Zalazar, who won 29 caps and appeared fleetingly at the 1986 World Cup.
5. Andres Cubas
Available for: £5.5m In-game stats:
Need to know: Involved in Boca’s first-team setup since just before his 18th birthday, the defensive-minded central midfielder has been touted as a mini Mascherano.
4. Danilo
Available for: N/A (loan clause) Starting value: £6m In-game stats:
Need to know: Brazilian defensive midfielder currently on loan at Benfica from Portuguese rivals Braga, after a successful loan spell at Valencia in La Liga last term. Injury has kept him sidelined for most of the season.
Next page: The son of a football legend
3. Ianis Hagi
Available for: £6m In-game stats:
Need to know: Son of Romanian great Gheorghe, Hagi Jr. was made captain of his father’s team Viitorul Constanța aged just 16. Nepotism or otherwise, the now-18-year-old winger is good – so good, in fact, that Fiorentina signed him in the summer and handed him his Serie A debut soon after.
2. Nikola Vlasic
Available for: £6.5m In-game stats:
Need to know: Already in his third season with Hajduk Split yet only recently 19, vice-captain Vlasic has established himself as one of Croatia’s most exciting midfielders. He’s also the brother of world champion high jumper Blanka, and the son of a decathlete. It’s in the blood.
1. Bartlomiej Dragowski
Available for: £7m In-game stats:
Need to know: Fiorentina’s now-19-year-old goalkeeper who signed from Jagiellonia Bialystok in the summer. A Poland U21 international, he’s still behind Romanian Ciprian Tatarusanu in the pecking order but looks a fine long-term bet.
Joe was the Deputy Editor at FourFourTwo until 2022, having risen through the FFT academy and been on the brand since 2013 in various capacities.
By weekend and frustrating midweek night he is a Leicester City fan, and in 2020 co-wrote the autobiography of former Foxes winger Matt Piper – subsequently listed for both the Telegraph and William Hill Sports Book of the Year awards.
