FIFA 22 Wonderkids: Best Young Defensive Midfielders (CDM) to Sign in Career Mode

An ever more prominent role in the game, defensive midfielders have become essential to creating a balanced team of high-powered attack and stalwart defending.

Sitting just in front of the defence, athleticism is key, as are the more passive attributes. Now, most of the best defensive midfielders have been in the sport for decades, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t blood-in a top young player.

Here, you’ll see all of the best CDM wonderkids to sign in FIFA 22 Career Mode.

Choosing FIFA 22 Career Mode’s best wonderkid defensive midfielders (CDM)

While many of them aren’t household names yet, there’re many who foresee huge futures for the likes of Romeo Lavia, Sandro Tonali, Boubacar Kamara, and several others on this list.

To narrow down the selection to the best defensive midfield wonderkids in FIFA 22, this list only features young players who are 21-years-old at the most, have CDM down as their main position, and have at least an 80 for their potential rating.

At the base of the article, you can see the full list of all of the best defensive midfield (CDM) wonderkids in FIFA 22.

Sandro Tonali (77 OVR – 86 POT)

Team: AC Milan
Age: 21
Wage: £21,000
Value: £19 million
Best Attributes: 82 Sprint Speed, 81 Short Pass, 80 Ball Control

Just making it onto the list at 21-years-old, Sandro Tonali’s decent 86 potential rating lands him as the best CDM wonderkid in FIFA 22 – and he already has a 77 overall rating.

The Italian midfielder’s 80 ball control, 81 short pass, 77 vision, and 80 long pass are already great ratings to put into the defensive midfield role. Tonali’s 80 aggression, 74 standing tackle, and 72 sliding tackle help him to regain possession, while his passing ratings ensure that you keep the ball.

Hailed as ‘the next Andrea Pirlo,’ Tonali didn’t exactly get off to the most impressive start at AC Milan, coming over on-loan with an option to buy from Brescia Calcio. Still, the Rossoneri completed the move this summer, and have been utilising the youngster as their starting defensive midfielder since the start of this campaign.

Boubacar Kamara (80 OVR – 86 POT)

Team: Olympique de Marseille
Age: 21
Wage: £26,000
Value: £27 million
Best Attributes: 83 Aggression, 83 Interceptions, 81 Composure

Already an 80-overall CDM, Boubacar Kamara is the exact kind of build that most look for in a player for this position, with his 86 potential rating making him the joint-best defensive midfield wonderkid in FIFA 22.

Coming into Career Mode with 83 interceptions, 81 standing tackle, 80 sliding tackle, 81 composure, 83 aggression, and 79 short pass, few would dispute that Kamara is already a very user-friendly CDM.

Quite remarkably, Kamara looks set to eclipse the 150-game mark for Olympique de Marseille this season, despite still only being 21-years-old. The French wonderkid has been the Ligue 1 side’s go-to defensive midfielder for years, but he’s yet to be capped by the national team – what with N’Golo Kanté being such a force.

Roméo Lavia (62 OVR – 85 POT)

Team: Manchester City
Age: 17
Wage: £600
Value: £1 million
Best Attributes: 68 Slide Tackle, 66 Aggression, 66 Stand Tackle

Easily the lowest-rated on this list in terms of value (£1 million), wage (£600 per week), and overall rating (62), Roméo Lavia still achieves a high placing because his 85 potential rating makes him one of the best CDM wonderkids to sign in Career Mode.

As you’d assume from a 17-year-old with a 62 overall rating, Lavia doesn’t have any useful attributes ratings yet – if you’re planning on bringing him to a top-flight team, that is. However, the spread as it is, with 68 sliding tackle, 66 standing tackle, and 64 reactions, does bode well for the young Belgian.

Having switched from the academy of Anderlecht to Manchester City in 2020, Lavia went straight into the under-18s side. By January, though, the Brussel-born midfielder was promoted to the under-23s side, and was given his first-team debut earlier this year, playing 90 minutes in the EFL Cup.

Oliver Skipp (75 OVR – 85 POT)

Team: Tottenham Hotspur
Age: 20
Wage: £37,500
Value: £10 million
Best Attributes: 79 Stamina, 77 Short Pass, 76 Aggression

As a 75-overall defensive midfielder, Oliver Skipp can already feature for many teams in FIFA 22, but it’s his 85 potential that makes the Englishman one of the best CDM wonderkids to sign in Career Mode.

Hailing from Welwyn Garden City, Skipp’s in-game build is very well-balanced, with 79 stamina, 77 short pass, 76 aggression, 75 long pass, 74 balance, and 74 reactions all showing quite an even spread to make him not overly reliant on a particular facet of the role.

Skipp enjoyed a busy loan spell to Norwich City in the Championship last season, playing in 45 games to score one goal and set-up two more. Having returned to his parent club, Tottenham Hotspur, Skipp started the 2021/22 campaign as Nuno Espírito Santo’s preferred choice in defensive midfield.

David Ayala (68 OVR – 84 POT)

Team: Estudiantes
Age: 19
Wage: £2,200
Value: £2.6 million
Best Attributes: 84 Balance, 76 Agility, 75 Acceleration

Very much a hidden gem in FIFA 22, David Ayala is disguised by his 68 overall rating, with his 84 potential rating actually grading the Argentine as one of the best defensive midfield wonderkids in the game.

Not quite ready for a starting XI place with a top-tier European club, but Ayala still has some eye-catching ratings. His 74 short pass, 75 agility, and 72 stamina lay a decent footing for him to become a busy, fast-moving CDM in the future.

For Club Estudiantes de la Plata, in Liga Profesional, the 19-year-old is still being eased into the first-team, but does look set to eclipse the 30-game mark for his club this season.

Alan Varela (69 OVR – 83 POT)

Team: Boca Juniors
Age: 20
Wage: £4,400
Value: £2.7 million
Best Attributes: 77 Stamina, 76 Short Pass, 73 Ball Control

The defensive midfield wonderkids pool of FIFA 22 is rather shallow, with Alan Varela making it into the top picks with a mere 83 potential rating.

Despite his relatively meek potential rating, and 69 overall rating, Varela does come into Career Mode with some decent ratings for a CDM. The Argentine’s 76 short pass, 73 ball control, 71 long pass, and 77 stamina all make him a viable choice from the start.

Still used rather sparingly by Boca Juniors in Liga Profesional, Varela has a fair bit of development to do before he’s trusted as the team’s starting defensive midfielder.

Lucas Gourna (70 OVR – 83 POT)

Team: AS Saint-Étienne
Age: 17
Wage: £600
Value: £2.9 million
Best Attributes: 75 Stamina, 72 Short Pass, 70 Stand Tackle

Featuring in a rather large stack of 83-potential young CDMs, Lucas Gourna makes his way into the top batch of the best CDM wonderkids in FIFA 22 at the age of 17.

Given his age and 70-overall rating, the Frenchman isn’t expected to have many user-friendly attributes. However, his 72 short pass, 75 stamina, and 70 standing tackle do come into use when he’s on the pitch.

Last season, Gourna was used regularly in Ligue 1, playing 30 games and collecting eight yellow cards for his efforts. To commence the 2020/21 campaign, the young player was used fairly fleetingly, but he’s got plenty of time to stake a claim in the starting XI.

All of the best young wonderkid defensive midfielders in FIFA 22

In the table below, you can find all of the best wonderkid defensive midfielders in FIFA 22, sorted by their potential ratings.

Player	Overall	Potential	Age	Position	Team
Sandro Tonali	77	86	21	CDM, CM	AC Milan
Boubacar Kamara	80	86	21	CDM, CB	Olympique de Marseille
Roméo Lavia	62	85	17	CDM	Manchester City
Gustavo Assunção	73	85	21	CDM, CM	Galatasaray SK (on-loan from FC Famalicão)
Oliver Skipp	75	85	20	CDM, CM	Tottenham Hotspur
Eric Martel	66	84	19	CDM	FK Austria Wien (on-loan from RB Leipzig)
David Ayala	68	84	18	CDM	Estudiantes de La Plata
James Garner	69	84	20	CDM, CM	Nottingham Forest (on-loan from Manchester United)
Alan Varela	69	83	19	CDM, CM	Boca Juniors
Lucas Gourna	70	83	17	CDM	AS Saint-Étienne
Amadou Onana	68	83	19	CDM, CM	LOSC Lille
Alhassan Yusuf	70	83	20	CDM, CM	Royal Antwerp FC
Florentino	74	83	21	CDM, CM	Getafe CF (on-loan from SL Benfica)
Javi Serrano	64	82	18	CDM	Atlético Madrid
Sivert Mannsverk	64	82	19	CDM	Molde FK
Samú Costa	69	82	20	CDM, CM	UD Almería
Khéphren Thuram	74	82	20	CDM, CM	OGC Nice
Mohamed Camara	73	82	21	CDM, CM	FC Red Bull Salzburg
Andrés Perea	65	82	20	CDM, CM	Orlando City SC
Cristian Cásseres Jr	71	82	21	CDM, CM	New York Red Bulls
Eliot Matazo	70	81	19	CDM, CM	AS Monaco
Sotirios Alexandropoulos	68	81	19	CDM, CM	Panathinaikos FC
Marco Kana	67	81	18	CAM, CB, CM	RSC Anderlecht
Han-Noah Massengo	68	81	19	CDM, CM	Bristol City
Federico Navarro	69	81	21	CDM, CM	Chicago Fire
Ethan Galbraith	64	81	20	CDM, CM	Doncaster Rovers (on-loan from Manchester United)
Rosberto Dourado	81	81	21	CDM, CM, CAM	Corinthians
Bastida	62	80	17	CDM, CM	Cádiz CF
Lennard Hartjes	64	80	18	CDM, CM	Feyenoord
Raphael Onyedika	64	80	20	CDM, CM, CB	FC Midtjylland
Metinho	61	80	18	CDM, CM	ESTAC Troyes
Terrats	66	80	20	CDM, CM	Girona FC
Eugenio Pizzuto	60	80	19	CDM, CM	LOSC Lille
Rodrigo Villagra	66	80	20	CDM	Club Atlético Talleres
Rassoul Ndiaye	61	80	19	CDM, CM	FC Sochaux-Montbéliard
José Gragera	70	80	21	CDM, CM	Real Sporting de Gijón
Edwin Cerrillo	65	80	20	CDM, CM	FC Dallas
Harvey White	62	80	19	CDM, LB, LM	Tottenham Hotspur
Morten Frendrup	71	80	20	CDM, CM	Brøndby IF

The selection is shallow for the best CDM wonderkids in FIFA 22, so be sure to sign one of the very best if you want to cement the position for several seasons to come.

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