9 of the Best Under-21 Players in Football Manager 2024

The BBC footie pundit Mr. Hansen once said, “You can’t win anything with kids.” However, he was wrong because some great teams (most notably the Manchester Utd double-winners of 1996) have won trophies with younger players in their lineups. You should at least give some of the best kids a chance in your Football Manager 2024 teams as well. These are some of the best under-21 players in Football Manager 2024 to sign.

Lamine Yamal

Lamine Yamal is hailed to be the new Messi, who’s already a key player for Barcelona and Spain in his teens. In Football Manager 2024, Yamal has amazing attribute ratings for a player of 15 years. This prodigious winger has exceptional flair, technique, and dribbling. His crossing, passing, pace, and acceleration attributes are already good but will get better and better for about nine to 10 years in FM24. Yamal is an expensive kid to sign with a value of 31-39 million, but he’ll certainly be worth it.

Best attribute ratings:

• Dribbling: 17
• Flair: 19
• Technique: 17
• Agility: 17
• First Touch: 16
• Determination: 16
• Off the ball: 15
• Vision: 15

Abdul Fatawu

Sporting Lisbon’s Fatawu is a very exciting prospect who’s already played 14 international games (albeit for Ghana) at 19. This is a flexible attacking winger who can play on the left or right side of the pitch. Fatawu’s considerable speed is undoubtedly one of his greatest strengths, along with his good dribbling, long shots, and agility. This player is valued at 16.5-21 million, making him a more affordable winger than Yamal.

Best attribute ratings:

• Acceleration: 16
• Pace: 16
• Long Shots: 15
• Dribbling: 15
• Agility: 15
• Technique: 14

Andreas Schjelderup

Benfica’s Andreas Schjelderup is one of the most exciting youngsters in Portuguese football in FM24. Any 19-year-old player valued at 19.5-24 million is something special. Schjelderup’s best position is out on the wing in numerous potential roles, such as winger, advanced playmaker, and inside forward. Schjelderup has great technical attributes for an under-21 player, especially for dribbling, technique, first touch, passing, and long shots. The only thing he needs to work on a little is stamina, which you can remedy with some training.

Best attribute ratings:

• First touch: 16
• Dribbling: 15
• Flair: 15:
• Long shots: 14
• Passing: 14
• Pace: 14
• Vision: 15

Hugo Larsson

Frankfurt’s Larsson is a 19-year-old player with a strong physical game. His natural fitness, stamina, determination, work rate, and teamwork are all notable strengths of Larsson’s game. There’s room for improvement in his technical game, but Larsson has decent attribute ratings for his passing, technique, and first touch. Central midfield is where Larsson plays, for which he’s best in box-to-box and ball-winning midfield roles. His 2024 value in Football Manager 2024 is 8.4-12.5 million.

Best attribute ratings:

• Natural fitness: 16
• Stamina: 16
• Determination: 16
• Work rate: 15
• Acceleration: 14
• Teamwork: 14

Adam Wharton

With a transfer value of 53-78 million, Wharton is expensive for a player of his age (19). However, Adam’s great passing, technique, and first-touch attribute ratings probably justify his transfer value. His high vision and flair ratings further enhance his value, especially for the advanced and deep-lying playmaker roles. Although Larsson is probably a better value option, Wharton is a technically gifted player with lots of potential.

Best attribute ratings:

• First touch: 16
• Passing: 16
• Technique: 16
• Flair: 15
• Vision: 15
• Balance: 15
• Dribbling: 14

Jude Bellingham

Jude Bellingham is probably the best under-21 player in Football Manager 2024, already a world-class midfielder at 20. This makes him one of the most expensive, as this Real Madrid star will be beyond most clubs’ budgets with a transfer valuation of 174-190 million. That valuation highlights his quality, for Belligham is a player with exceptional determination, flair, and work rate. He’s also a player with great passing, composure, technique, off-ball movement, and dribbling. Thus, Bellingham is undoubtedly one of the best attacking midfield players in the world who excels in the advanced playmaker role.

Best attribute ratings:

• Determination: 20
• Flair: 18
• Work rate: 18
• Dribbling: 17
• Passing: 17
• Technique: 17
• Off the ball: 17

Marcos Leonardo

If you’re looking for the rising star of a striker, Benfica’s Leonardo is a player worth noting. Leonardo is a 20-year-old poacher with very decent finishing, composure, and off-ball movement, which are important attribute ratings for a striker. He’s also a young player with good fitness, acceleration, stamina, agility, and anticipation. Marcos can potentially be a world-class striker for your team with a few seasons of regular first-team football. His 13.5-18 million transfer value is also somewhat more affordable than the likes of Bellingham and Yamal.

Best attribute ratings:

• Finishing: 15
• Off the ball: 15
• Composure: 15
• Anticipation: 14
• Agility: 14
• Natural Fitness: 14
• Stamina: 14
• Acceleration: 15

Ousmane Diomande

Sporting Lisbon’s Diomande is one of the most promising wonder kid defenders in Football Manager 2024. He’s an excellent ball-playing central defender with great strength, pace, jumping reach, natural fitness, tackling, and passing. Diomande’s 35-44 million valuation makes him pricey for a 19-year-old player, but his future transfer value will likely double or even triple.

Best attribute ratings:

• Natural fitness: 18
• Strength: 16
• Composure: 16
• Vision: 16
• Passing: 15
• Tackling: 15
• Determination: 15
• Pace: 15
• Stamina: 15

Jorrel Hato

Hato is already a regular starter for Ajax at 17 and one of the most promising wonder-kid left-backs and central defenders in the game. Jorrel is a very fit defender and a great team player, who also has decent attribute ratings for positioning, determination, jumping reach, balance, composure, and bravery. However, he’s also an expensive wonder kid to sign with a 49-74 million transfer value.

Best attribute ratings:

• Natural fitness: 15
• Jumping Reach: 14
• Balance: 14
• Positioning: 14
• Determination: 14
• Composure: 14
• Bravery: 14
• Teamwork: 15

So, who says you can’t win anything with kids? With some of the wonder kids above in your team, you’ve got every chance of winning trophies in Football Manager 2024. They’re players with considerable future potential and attribute ratings that will get higher and higher into their mid-20s.