by MaddFM.
It comes up almost every transfer window these days. “No Wonderkid is safe”. Never has this sentiment been more true; as soon as we see a 16 or 17 year old player having a breakout season and enjoying their 5 minutes of fame, the big clubs are instantly sniffing around and already have plans in place having long been aware of these youth players such is the vastness of their scouting networks combined with the ease of transferring knowledge and viewing games at all levels around the world thanks to the internet and the power of social media.
Never was this more evident than in December 2022, when just a month after he made his Football Manager debut we saw Real Madrid complete the signing of 16-year-old Wonderkid Endrick Felipe from Palmeiras for a reported €60m, the highest fee ever paid for player from the Brazilian league let alone a 16-year-old which means Endrick is now locked in for a move since the FM23 Winter Update dropped - we barely got to enjoy him!
Devastating
This was a monumental moment in wonderkid history and a huge statement by the Madrid club. Nowadays players are being scouted and lined up for big money moves before they have even completed a full season at Senior level, and if football has taught us anything it’s that when one club leads, others will follow and while it brings great levels of excitement around the football community, it is surely bad news for us wonderkid enthusiasts and most certainly bad news for fans of the selling clubs in this scenario.
Based on this we can almost derive a new challenge in Football Manager which we briefly introduced back in FM20 - the Keep Your Wonderkid challenge, whereby the goal is to do everything you can to keep a highly-rated wonderkid at their home club and try to fight off all bids and interest from any bigger clubs or suitors interested in their services, meaning the focus of the save is to retain a top talent and in turn build your team around said wonderkid. Sounds easy? Only 2 of the 10 players we identified 3 years ago are still at their original clubs, and knowing how ruthless the big clubs in Football Manager can be, you may have a job on your hands to keep these guys around and avoid their heads getting turned at the first sign of interest elsewhere.
Here are 6 Wonderkids to keep hold of in FM23 and in turn build your squad around them - GOOD LUCK.
1. Arda Güler - Fenerbahce
We already profiled Arda Güler in our Wonderkid Watch series a few weeks back and since then he has gone from strength to strength for Fenerbahce, most recently his performance against Sevilla in the Europa League knockout round where he helped his side to a 1-0 victory. His 84 minutes have suddenly propelled him to global stardom whereby his vision, awareness, composure and passing ability have opened the eyes of a number of top European clubs, and while he has been loosely termed as the “Turkish Messi”, it’s clear that Fenerbahce have a hell of a player on their hands and at 17 his on-field maturity wherein he continuously looks for the next pass and shows no fear running at opposition defenders have made him highly coveted ahead of the summer transfer window with the likes of Barcelona and Atletico Madrid all rumoured to be considering a transfer bid.
In FM23 we are looking at a glorious Number 10 with phenomenal technical skills and attributes far beyond his 17 years - in particular his 16 Determination, Flair and Technique combined with his “Dictates Tempo” player trait. We previously compared Güler to a young Mesut Özil and he clearly has the potential to emulate Özil in terms of his creativity and exceptional passing ability. The challenge? Keeping him in Turkey - if you have never managed in the Turkish Süper Lig it is complete chaos and havoc and well worth a dabble if you are looking for a brand new save adventure, taking the reigns at Fenerbahce and building a team around Güler to dominate both domestically as well as mounting a serious Champions League challenge knowing that the furthest the club have ever reached is the Quarter Final stages.
2. Alex Scott (Bristol City)
Having received a substantial attributes boost in the FM23 Winter Update and already confirmed by Football Manager as the most signed player since the update was released, it's safe to assume that Alex Scott won't be in Bristol for much longer. Now in his second full season having played 38 games for Bristol City last season, his performances this year have received widespread plaudits with Pep Guardiola labelling him as an "unbelievable player" following their recent FA Cup clash. The last Guernsey born footballer to reach Premier League heights was one Matt Le Tissier and its looking increasingly likely that Scott will be the next 👀
In FM23 we are looking at an 18-year-old midfielder who can be developed for almost any central midfield role you need him for - already advanced in terms of speed & agility and powerful passing and dribbling for a player his age, add on his high determination and you're looking at a guaranteed future England midfielder at least in-game whatever about real life. For a club in the Championship there are string echoes of Jude Bellingham at Birmingham a few years back and we all know how that turned out - the challenge here is to take the reins at Bristol City and see if you can build a promotion project for a team who have never even made the Championship playoffs let alone play in the Premier League. Build a team around Alex Scott and you may just go where no Bristol manager had ever gone before.
3. Roony Bardghji - FC København
Another player who Football Manager highlighted as having received a Winter Update attributes boost and a player who we have long obsessed over here at 5 Star Potential (particularly @FridayNightFM who voted him as his Player of the Year last year in FM22). Roony Bardghji is arguably the most exciting player in Denmark at the moment and looks certain to be one of the best exports we have seen from Scandinavia if rumours of a move to Real Madrid are to be believed. Having broken into the FC København first team last season scoring 2 goals in 13 games to help them win the Danish Superliga as well as featuring twice in the Champions League, Bardghji has already bagged 3 goals and 3 assists this season and is now a first team regular due to his incredible pace, flair, confidence in taking on opposition full backs and his exceptional ability in cutting inside and creating goalscoring opportunities for himself or for his attacking team-mates - it surely won’t be long before we see him in a Sweden shirt alongside the likes of Dejan Kulusevski or Alexander Isak not to mention Zlatan who recently was recalled to the side at the ripe old age of 41 (the man is like a fine wine).
In FM23 Bardghji is simply lethal - only 16 at the start of the game, we are already seeing high Pace, Technique, First Touch, Dribbling, Passing and of course that lovely 16 Determination, along with which he clearly likes to Run With the Ball Often, Plays One-Twos and ultimately just makes things happen regardless of which club he plays for. If you can somehow manage to keep him in the Danish capital, then he along with the likes of Ísak Bergmann Jóhannesson and Mohammed Daramy will provide a core around which you can build a team to dominate Denmark for years to come as well as take them into a new era of competitiveness in the Champions League having never qualified from the group stages previously. This is a challenge we can all get behind.
4. Kaiky (Almeria)
Along with Bardghji and Güler, Almeria’s now 19-year-old defender Kaiky was nominated among the NxGN Top 50 Young Players in the world this year and for very good reason - after breaking out for Santos last year starting 15 games he has been hailed for his exceptional aerial ability, read of the game and adeptness in making blocks/interceptions and never fearing a strong tackle accordingly. Such was the level of his performances that UD Almeria showed no hesitation in being the first club willing to pay €8m for his services and having shown that they are no fools when it comes to scouting South America (it was they who brought Darwin Nunez to Europe), it’s safe to say they have a player on their hands and they are wisely taking their time in moulding him for first-team football - this season he has made 8 starts and 5 sub appearances but despite this he ranks in the 90th percentiles for Blocks and Interceptions in La Liga this season.
In FM23 he is ready; despite only being 18, he already has good enough attributes to play for most top-tier sides in Europe and knowing how quickly good players can be developed in-game, we are looking at potentially one of the best central defenders in the game this year which is probably clear in most saves out there where he regularly ends up at one of the elite level clubs after a few seasons (in my case it was Man City in Season 3). As a player who has been frequently likened to Thiago Silva it’s a no brainer - take the reins at Almeria, park Kaiky in your back line, lock the doors and throw away the key..he’s that good.
5. Diego Coppola (Hellas Verona)
The amount of top class young centre-halves is outstanding in this year’s game and this is highly evident in Italy where not only have we seen Giorgio Scalvini evolving into arguably the best centre-back in FM23, his compatriot Diego Coppola has certainly been giving him a run for his money and it’s easy to see why. At 6’4” Coppola has dominated aerially for Verona, ranking in the 90th percentiles for Aerial Duels won while also stacking up in terms of blocks and interceptions made - that said, he also contributes positively to Verona’s transition and possession play showing confidence on the ball and also ranking highly for progressive carries and progressive passes received which at 18 is often an undeveloped skill for a central defender of his size.
In FM23 we find a young defender at one of Serie A’s relegation favourites who is unlikely to stay at the club beyond the first one or two seasons - though tall he is not slow, and with strong mental and defensive attributes already he develops rapidly in-game (even under the AI) and alongside Scalvini form the future of the famous Italian National Team back line. The challenge is of course seeing if you can keep him at Verona and build an entire project around him - the last time the club won the Scudetto was in 1985 and since then the highest they have finished is 9th in Serie A (multiple relegations certainly haven’t helped); as Shakespeare himself put it - “In fair Verona where we lay our scene”
6. Alberto Moleiro (Las Palmas)
If I was to tell you about a short, technical, intelligent and mature-beyond-his-age midfielder at Las Palmas you would probably think we are still in 2020, moments before Pedri made his move from the Canary Islands to Catalonia for what is now one of the bargains of the century at just €5 million. However we are of course in 2023 and in this case we are not referring to Pedri but a player that somehow Las Palmas have managed to produce and help their fans to almost forget about Pedri’s existence - that player is Alberto Moleiro, the 19-year-old local-born attacking midfielder who enjoyed a breakout season in La Liga 2 last year playing 35 games and contributing 3 goals and an assist in a season that saw Las Palmas ultimately fall short in terms of their promotion hopes. This season Moleiro has started like a house on fire with 8 assists in 30 odd appearances, propelling Las Palmas to 3rd in the league just 4 points off leaders Eibar at the time of writing.
Another of @FridayNightFM’s top tips for FM23 - Moleiro starts the game as an 18-year-old who can largely play as an AMC or out wide on the left, with already excellent technical skills (watch out for that 16 Technique and 15 Vision) as well as bags of room to develop physically considering he is only 5’7”. With traits for “Tries Killer Balls Often” and “Likes to Beat Opponent Repeatedly” already in place, Moleiro is an absolute firecracker in-game and can absolutely be the difference maker in helping Las Palmas return to La Liga for the first time since 2018 and with the likes of Jonathan Viera, Vitolo and former FM wonderkid Florin Andone alongside him this is definitely an attractive challenge - lock in Moleiro with as big a release clause as you can find and operation Las Palmas can begin, not a bad excuse for an ad-hoc holiday to the Canary Islands either 😉.
That’s your lot - if you are looking for a new challenge in Football Manager, why not try taking the reins at one of these clubs where your main objective is to keep hold of their prized asset and in turn build your team and your save project around them? Knowing that you will have to deal with big clubs circling, board members getting greedy and of course the player themselves having their head turned - there is a lot to navigate here, but we wouldn’t want it to be too easy either right?
Let us know if you decide to try one and keep us posted on your progress either in the comments below or @5StarPod on Twitter.
Thanks for reading.
