FIFA 22 best young players: Career mode’s top strikers, midfielders, defenders and goalkeepers

See here for the best young players on FIFA 23

Career Mode remains one of the most popular game modes in FIFA 22 - especially with the new player development and training options in this year's game.

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As a result, finding the best young players in FIFA 22 and developing them at your club is more important than ever.

To help get you started on your Career Mode journey, Goal has compiled a list of the best young players in FIFA 22. These are the players aged 20 or under who have the highest potential rating in the game and are divided by position in the lists below.

All players are listed by their main position, but any position they can play is shown. For example, Bukayo Saka can play at left-back, but his primary position in the game is right midfield. You can also train him to play on the wing in the game if needed by assigning him that role and giving him minutes there.

All players need the right training and lots of game time to ensure they develop properly and reach their full potential. Substitutes and reserve players will not improve as much if they do not get minutes.

PO. = Position(s)

CR = Current Rating

PR = Potential Rating

VA. = Value

*Clubs listed are the clubs the players are assigned to in FIFA 21 Career Mode, while ages shown are the age at the start of Career Mode

FIFA 22: Best Young Goalkeepers

Gianluigi Donnarumma has been the best young goalkeeper in FIFA for the past few seasons, but he's now 22-years-old and after signing for Paris Saint-Germain costs more than £100 million in Career Mode.

That means you will have to look elsewhere for a long-term solution between the posts, even if you are a superclub that can compete with PSG for the world's best players.

Genk's Maarten Vandevoort is the best young goalkeeper in FIFA 22 as he can reach an overall rating of 87 and can be bought for relatively cheap at the start of the game.

Cypriot teenager Charis Chatzigavriel is available for free in some games as his current club, APOEL Nicosia, is not one of the teams in the game. You may be able to convince him to join your club, but his current rating of 58 means it will take a while for him to reach his potential.

FIFA 22: Best Young Defenders

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Alphonso Davies is not only one of the quickest players in the game, he's also the best young defender in FIFA 22.

The Bayern Munich and Canada left-back can also play in left midfield, giving you great versatility and helping you exploit the wings with his pace.

His price tag may put off a lot of teams, so there are good alternatives available at full-back including recent Borussia Monchengladbach signing Luca Netz and Standard Liege's Hugo Siquet.

There are plenty of good young centre-backs again this year, with Ajax's Jurrien Timber valued at less than £10m and St Gallen's Leonidas Stergiou costing just over £2m.

Swiss defender Stergiou can be bought for cheap thanks to his current rating of 67, but can reach 86 overall with the right training and game time. 

FIFA 22: Best Young Midfielders

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Unsurprisingly, Barcelona have the best young midfielder in FIFA 22 with Pedri already a high-rated star even before he reaches his full potential.

Unlike the real world where he could burn out after playing so many games for club and country, FIFA 22 will not punish you for starting him in every single game and more minutes will actually help him reach his potential rating of 91 even quicker.

A lot of the best young midfielders in FIFA 22 are quite expensive as they have high current ratings, such as Jude Bellingham, Mason Greenwood and Eduardo Camavinga.

However, there are some players available for less than £10m, including Norwich's versatile Christos Tzolis and Velez Sarsfield's Thiago Almada.

Cheaper again are Juventus's defensive-minded midfielder Nicolo Rovella and Chelsea's Billy Gilmour. Both of these are on loan at the start of the first season, but may become available options before your second season begins.

Fulham's Fabio Carvalho and Kacper Kozlowski are reasonable options for the first summer and may even be willing to join lower league clubs on loan.

FIFA 22: Best Young Forwards

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Not only is Erling Haaland the best young forward in FIFA 22, he can also become the best player in FIFA 22.

His potential rating of 93 is Lionel Messi's current rating in the game, meaning Haaland can become one of the game's GOATs - at least virtually anyway!

He's valued at over £100m as a result, so may not be the striker you need in Career Mode unless you're managing a club with lots and lots of money.

Sparta Praha's Adam Hlozek might be a much cheaper alternative at £8.6m and his versatility means you can also play him on either side of midfield as you look to develop his attributes.

Ansu Fati has a surprisingly low value at the start of the game, but it could be tricky to convince Barcelona to sell their new No. 10.

Red Bull Salzburg have a pair of exciting, young attackers in Karim Adeyemi and Benjamin Sesko, while Steaua Bucharest's Ovidiu Popescu can play on either wing and will be tempted by a move to one of Europe's bigger leagues.

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