FIFA 21 Wonderkids: Best Young Central Midfielders (CM) to Sign in Career Mode

Having a strong midfield is extremely important in football. The players in the middle of the park provide cohesion between the defence and attackers, making a player who can help out defensively and be offensively capable a real asset.

Finding a CM wonderkid in Career Mode who can be a long-term player at your club is very helpful, especially if you are building a promotion candidate into a first division title contender.

To help you build your midfield of the future, on this page, you’ll find all of the best central midfield wonderkids of FIFA 21.

All of the best young wonderkid central midfielders (CM) on FIFA 21

All of the players in this FIFA 21 wonderkids list are 21-years-old or younger and have a minimum potential rating of 80. Central midfielders who are on-loan for the 2020/21 season above have been included.

The type of wonderkid that you’ll want to bring in is a ball-playing midfielder who has great stamina and can provide defensive cover.

Here’s a complete list of all of the best wonderkid central midfielders (CM) in FIFA 21 Career Mode.

Name	Position	Age	Overall	Potential	Team	Value	Wage
Federico Valverde	CM	21	83	90	Real Madrid	£66M	£125K
Jude Bellingham	CM, LM, RM	17	69	88	Borussia Dortmund	£3.1M	£2.5K
Eduardo Camavinga	CM	17	76	88	Stade Rennais FC	£15.5M	£4.8K
Riqui Puig	CM, CAM	21	75	88	FC Barcelona	£12M	£69K
Maxence Caqueret	CM, CDM	20	75	87	Olympique Lyonnais	£12M	£33K
Ryan Gravenberch	CM, CDM	18	71	87	Ajax	£4.3M	£3K
Aster Vranckx	CM, CDM	17	66	86	KV Mechelen	£1.2M	£540
Billy Gilmour	CM, CAM	19	71	86	Chelsea	£4.5M	£23K
Exequiel Palacios	CM, RM, CAM	21	77	86	Bayer 04 Leverkusen	£12.2M	£36K
Marcos Antonio	CM	20	72	85	Shakhtar Donetsk	£5.4M	£450
Xavi Simons	CM	17	65	85	Paris Saint-Germain	£990K	£2K
Matthew Longstaff	CM, CDM	20	72	85	Newcastle United	£5.4M	£18K
Kenneth Taylor	CM	18	64	84	Ajax	£833K	£1K
Joris Chotard	CM	18	69	84	Montpellier HSC	£1.9M	£4K
Matías Palacios	CM, CAM	18	65	84	San Lorenzo de Almagro	£990K	£2K
Imran Louza	CM, CAM, CDM	21	74	84	FC Nantes	£8.1M	£15K
Curtis Jones	CM, CAM, LM	19	64	84	Liverpool	£855K	£8K
Fausto Vera	CM, CDM	20	67	84	Argentinos Juniors	£1.5M	£3K
Eljif Elmas	CM	20	72	84	Napoli	£5M	£25K
Weston McKennie	CM, CDM, CB	21	75	84	Juventus	£9M	£39K
Arne Maier	CM, CDM	21	74	84	Hertha BSC	£8.1M	£23K
Gedson Fernandes	CM, RM	21	75	84	Tottenham Hotspur	£9M	£45K
Vítor Ferreira	CM	20	66	83	Wolverhampton Wanderers	£1.3M	£13K
Joey Veerman	CM, CAM	21	75	83	SC Heerenveen	£9M	£7K
Ante Palaversa	CM, CDM, CAM	20	71	83	Getafe CF	£3.8M	£11K
Han-Noah Massengo	CM, CDM	18	66	83	Bristol City	£1.2M	£4K
Mykola Shaparenko	CM, CAM	21	72	83	Dynamo Kyiv	£5M	£450
Albert-Mboyo Sambi Lokonga	CM, CDM	20	72	83	RSC Anderlecht	£5M	£11K
Ludovit Reis	CM, CDM	20	70	83	FC Barcelona	£3.1M	£40K
Fran Beltrán	CM, CDM, CAM	21	75	83	RC Celta	£9M	£14K
Riccardo Ladinetti	CM	19	64	82	Cagliari	£855K	£4K
Kays Ruiz-Atil	CM, CAM, LW	17	62	82	Paris Saint-Germain	£540K	£1K
Thomas Doyle	CM	18	60	82	Manchester City	£428K	£5K
Hichem Boudaoui	CM, RM	20	72	82	OGC Nice	£4.5M	£15K
Lucien Agoume	CM	18	63	82	Spezia	£675K	£450
Marcel Ruiz	CM	19	72	82	Club Tijuana	£4.3M	£8K
Nicolas Raskin	CM, CDM	19	68	82	Standard de Liège	£1.7M	£3K
Jakub Moder	CM, CDM	21	69	82	Lech Poznań	£1.8M	£4K
Mickaël Cuisance	CM	20	71	82	FC Bayern München	£3.6M	£24K
Magnus Andersen	CM	21	70	82	FC Nordsjælland	£2.8M	£5K
Zaydou Youssouf	CM, RM	20	71	82	AS Saint-Étienne	£3.6M	£13K
Ivan Oblyakov	CM, LM	21	72	82	PFC CSKA Moscow	£4.5M	£19K
David Turnbull	CM, CAM	20	69	82	Celtic	£1.8M	£15K
Mattias Svanberg	CM, RM	21	68	82	Bologna	£1.7M	£8K
Luka Sučić	CM, CAM	17	62	81	FC Red Bull Salzburg	£540K	£540
Francho Serrano	CM	18	60	81	Real Zaragoza	£428K	£540
Daniel Leyva	CM	17	56	81	Seattle Sounders FC	£180K	£450
Federico Navarro	CM, CDM	20	64	81	Club Atlético Talleres	£878K	£2K
Dylan Levitt	CM, CDM, CAM	19	63	81	Charlton Athletic	£698K	£1K
Manu Morlanes	CM, CDM	21	72	81	UD Almería	£4.3M	£5K
Cristian Ferreira	CM, CAM	20	70	81	River Plate	£2.7M	£6K
Davide Frattesi	CM, CAM	20	69	81	AC Monza	£1.7M	£2K
Pelenda Dasilva	CM, CDM	21	72	81	Brentford	£4.3M	£20K
Ibra Pérez	CM	18	62	80	CD Tenerife	£563K	£630
Aimen Moueffek	CM, RB	19	62	80	AS Saint-Étienne	£585K	£3K
Samuele Ricci	CM, CDM	18	62	80	Empoli	£563K	£450
Jofre	CM, CAM	19	60	80	Girona FC	£405K	£855
Koba Koindredi	CM	18	63	80	Valencia CF	£675K	£2K
Armin Gigović	CM, CDM	18	61	80	Helsingborgs IF	£473K	£450
Kouadio Koné	CM	19	66	80	Toulouse Football Club	£1.3M	£1K

1. Federico Valverde (OVR 83 – POT 90)

Team: Real Madrid
Best Position: CM
Age: 22
Overall/Potential: 83 OVR / 90 POT
Value (Release Clause): £66M (£148.5M)
Wage: £125K a week
Best Attributes: 89 Sprint Speed, 86 Stamina, 85 Short Pass

The highest-rated wonderkid available at the central midfield position is Real Madrid’s Federico Valverde. The Uruguayan has been on the Los Blancos books since 2017, and a stint with the Castilla and Deportivo La Caruña has been beneficial for his development.

Last season was Valverde’s breakout campaign, making 33 appearances in La Liga and playing a key role alongside the likes of Casemiro and Toni Kroos to control the midfield.

Valverde is excellently rated, boasting 89 sprint speed as well as durability, as his 86 stamina indicates. Add in the Montevideo-native’s ability to keep possession (86 short pass) and you can see that he has all of the tangibles needed to forge a top CM.

The main issue in Career Mode may be his affordability. With a release clause of £148.5 million, only teams with incredibly high transfer budgets can to afford his services.

2. Jude Bellingham (OVR 69 – POT 88)

Team: Borussia Dortmund
Best Position: CM
Age: 17
Overall/Potential: 69 OVR / 88 POT
Value: £3.1M
Wage: £2.5K a week
Best Attributes: 78 Acceleration, 77 Sprint Speed, 74 Agility

There was a lot of hype around English midfielder Jude Bellingham prior to this season. After a strong campaign with Birmingham City in the EFL Championship, he made the move to Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund.

Bellingham has started every game this season for Dortmund in the Bundesliga, at the time of writing, and has adjusted well to life in Germany.

The Englishman has the lowest starting rating in our top five, but that shouldn’t deter you. His development would suggest that Bellingham will improve on his already quick 78 acceleration, 74 sprint speed, and 74 agility.

Since Bellingham has only just moved to Dortmund, making a deal at the start of your Career Mode will be tricky. However, he should be available after a season and could prove to be a bargain buy.

3. Eduardo Camavinga (OVR 76 – POT 88)

Team: Stade Rennais FC
Best Position: CM
Age: 17
Overall/Potential: 76 OVR / 88 POT
Value: £15.5M
Wage: £4.8K a week
Best Attributes: 79 Stamina, 79 Composure, 79 Short Pass

Eduardo Camavinga is one of the more highly touted wonderkids in world football. The 17-year-old product of Stade Rennais became the first player to debut for the club in the 2000s and hasn’t looked out of place.

Camavinga made his Ligue 1 debut as a 15-year-old: since then, he has made 49 appearances in all competitions. Last season, the Frenchman showed off his excellent passing, attempting 41.4 passes per 90 minutes at a completion rate of 87 per cent.

The starting point for Camavinga is strong – 79 stamina, 79 composure, 79 short passing – with him being durable, confident in big games, and an excellent user of the ball.

The expectation is that the wage bill demanded will increase if you sign him straight away. His contract runs out in 2022, meaning that you’ll most likely be paying upwards of his market value. He could be worth the punt, though, as he has so much upside with his 88 POT.

4. Riqui Puig (OVR 75 – POT 88)

Team: FC Barcelona
Best Position: CM
Age: 21
Overall/Potential: 75 OVR / 88 POT
Value: £12M
Wage: £69K a week
Best Attributes: 85 Balance, 83 Ball Control, 82 Vision

Riqui Puig was considered part of the future for Barcelona as they entered into a period of uncertainty. The Spanish midfielder made his debut for Barça back in the 2018/19 season but found himself in a more prominent role in midfield when Quique Setién was made head coach.

However, the situation seems to have changed under Ronald Koeman, with Puig only making it onto the bench in the early season. In 11 appearances last season, he averaged a pass completion rate of 90.5 per cent.

Puig’s strong passing ability is replicated in his FIFA 21 ratings: 85 balance, 83 ball control, and 82 vision. These numbers are the hallmark of a player pulling the strings in possession.

His wage bill is high, but he is out of contract at the end of the first season. If Barcelona are willing to sell, you might get Puig for cheaper. If not, a loan deal would be a viable choice.

5. Maxence Caqueret (OVR 75 – POT 87)

Team: Olympique Lyonnais
Best Position: CM
Age: 20
Overall/Potential: 75 OVR / 87 POT
Value: £12M
Wage: £33K a week
Best Attributes: 84 Balance, 83 Agility, 80 Aggression

The last player to feature in our featured section is the very talented French midfielder Maxence Caqueret. A native of Vénissieux, Caqueret joined Lyon in 2011 as an 11-year-old and has played a pivotal role for their academy teams.

Caqueret saw first team action last season, making eight appearances for Lyon. On his Ligue 1 debut, he assisted the game-winning goal as a late substitute. Caqueret started this season as a regular feature for Lyon.

The French CM has excellent off the ball skills from the start of a Career Mode. An excellent combination of 84 balance, 83 agility, and 80 aggression enables Caqueret to be the perfect partner to a more attacking central midfielder.

Caqueret is someone worth trying to sign in FIFA 21. He’s contracted until 2023, but is certainly one of the more affordable CM wonderkid options if you have the budget.

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