Football Manager 2020 wonderkids: the best, highest potential players in FM20 listed

Football Manager 2020's wonderkids are as important as ever, and with the game out in the wild and new saves beginning once more, it's time to find the best young players - the so-called wonderkids - that hold ratings for the highest potential in the game. It's one of the most satisfying reasons to play FM20.

These future greats have the potential to change any club you decide to manage, but aside from luck, having a supercharged scouting record is the only way you'll be able to find them when you start a new season.

Below we've compiled a wonderkids shortlist of the fifty (well, fifty-five) best young players in FM20.

If you're after a bargain, mind, it's worth giving our guide to FM20 free agents and bargain transfers a look.

FM20 wonderkids list: the best, highest potential young players in Football Manager 2020 listed

Here's our list of the best wonderkids in FM20, sorted by highest potential to lowest potential rating - a hidden number as found in the in-game editor.

FM20 wonderkids list: the best young players in Football Manager 2020

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FM20 wonderkids explained: what are wonderkids and how do you find them?

There are three ways in which Football Manager 2020 shows how good each player is throughout the game. Each player has attributes displayed on their main page, and this is the primary source of info for every manager. These ratings (out of a maximum of 20) describe their physical, mental and technical abilities. Sometimes, these numbers can even be displayed as a range, but this can vary depending on your coaching and scouting staff.

The second rating system in the game is a rating given to each player out of five stars. This is split into a player's current rating but also a second, “potential” rating. Once again, this depends on the quality of your staff members to discern each player's abilities.

But the most interesting way players are rated in FM20 is through the hidden system in the game's database. Here, each player is given a “current ability” rating (a score out of 200) but also a secondary, “potential ability” rating too. It goes without saying that these will be some of the best players available to you in the game. However, just remember that these potential ratings are dependent on many factors, such as the collective quality of your squad, your coaching staff and, of course, you as the manager.

Unsurprisingly, the top two players in this year's edition are Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. But there are many players that have the potential to come close to ratings of 190 (with Kylian Mbappe's potential rating of 196 being the highest). However, with many players having their potential fall in the 150-180 range, it looks like our task will be to perfect the overall squad and training routines to squeeze the very best out of this year's wonderkids.

For more Football Manager 2020 guides like this, meanwhile, our FM20 free agents and bargain transfers page is worth checking out.