Football Manager 2022: 10 European Wonderkids You Must Sign

Those European stars of tomorrow who will drive you to FM22 dominance.

Football Manager 2022 Leandro Barreiro
SEGA

With each and every passing installment of the Football Manager franchise, there comes a fresh sense of intrigue around which youngsters will develop into world class talents as the game progresses. For FM die-hards, one of the most enjoyable parts of each release is discovering and developing the next generation of world-beaters. And for FM22, we've absolutely got you covered for some of the very best young European prospects out there.

As has been the case with the majority of our other Football Manager 2022 content in recent weeks, there'll be a distinct lack of the more obvious wonderkids in this one. Sure, the likes of Jude Bellingham, Eduardo Camavinga, Pedri, Nuno Mendes and Josko Gvardiol are all phenomenal prospects who mature into some of the absolute best players on FM22, but you likely know that already.

Here, the focus is on the more lesser-known stars of tomorrow, with these youngsters also being - for the most part, at least - far more affordable than Messrs Bellingham, Camavinga et al.

With that in mind, then, here are ten European wonderkids who can play a pivotal part in driving you to FM22 success for the next decade or more.

10. Ivan Martinez

Football Manager 2022 Leandro Barreiro
SEGA

Club: Castellon (on loan from Atletico Pamplona)

Nationality: Spanish

Price: £1.8 million

When it comes to the best wonderkid goalkeeper on Football Manager 2022, it's the relatively well known Maarten Vandevoordt who is still the go-to name. But while it'll cost you upwards of £20 million to convince Genk to part with Vandevoort, a far cheaper wonderkid GK is Ivan Martinez.

He may be on loan at Castellon when you start a new FM22 game, but there's nothing stopping you from agreeing a future transfer with Atletico Pamplona, aka Osasuna, for Ivan. And how much would such a transfer cost? That should be in the modest region of £1.8 million or possibly even less.

That low price combined with steady starting stats for someone still only 19 years of age, that all makes Martinez such an appealing proposition for major clubs looking to sign up their long-term #1 of the future. Within a couple of seasons, this stopper will be ready for first team football in a top league, and from there he'll be able to remain as your starting goalkeeper for easily another decade if needed.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.