Football Manager 2022 Wonderkids: Best Young Strikers (ST) to Sign - Outsider Gaming (2023)

You can have the most creative midfielders in the world sending the ball towards the box, but without a potent striker, you won’t be able to capitalise on their playmaking skills.

A proven goalscorer is often expensive, as are many of the wonderkid strikers: but at least with wonderkids, you could get a good decade of goals. So here, we’re going through all of the best young strikers in FM22, with each player boasting an ocean of potential.

Choosing the best young strikers (ST) on FM22

You’ll find this list of wonderkid strikers in FM22 to be stacked with players already known for being prolific scorers, such as Erling Haaland, Moise Kean, and Mason Greenwood.

To earn the label of being one of the best young STs in FM22, each player had to have a Potential Range or potential ability (PA) of at least 140-170 or 155 PA. Furthermore, the strikers couldn’t be any older than 21-years-old and needed a rating of 20 for ST.

At the foot of the article, you’ll find a full list of all of the best strikers (ST) in FM22.

1. Erling Haaland (177 CA / 190 PA)

Team: Borussia Dortmund
Age: 20
Current Ability / Potential Ability: 177 CA / 190 PA
Wage: £131,538 p/w
Value: £96 million – £113 million
Best Positions: ST
Best Attributes: 20 Determination, 19 Natural Fitness, 19 Pace

Put on the same high CA and even higher PA plateau as Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland is one of the most valuable players in FM22, so naturally, he also ranks as the best wonderkid ST to sign.

Haaland is already a masterful striker, and a physical one at that. His 19 pace, 17 acceleration, and 17 strength are attribute ratings that few can match. Using his athleticism to muscle-in on goal, the Norwegian’s 18 finishing, 16 flair, and 14 heading can take over.

Still only 21-years-old, Haaland’s stats are nothing short of otherworldly. The Leeds-native scored 70 goals and 19 assists before his 70^th game for Borussia Dortmund and netted 12 times for Norway by his 15^th cap.

2. Mason Greenwood (148 CA / 178 PA)

Team: Manchester United
Age: 19
Current Ability / Potential Ability: 148 CA / 178 PA
Wage: £75,000 p/w
Value: £45 million – £65 million
Best Positions: ST, AMR
Best Attributes: 17 Finishing, 17 Pace, 17 Determination

Already a regular feature for one of the biggest clubs in the world – regardless of a recent lack of success – Mason Greenwood is seen by FM22 as one of the best young strikers in the world, being given 178 PA.

Even with him regularly deployed on the wing, Greenwood has demonstrated his eye for goal enough to earn ratings of 17 finishing, 16 flair, 16 acceleration, and 17 pace. Still only 19-years-old, the Englishman’s foundations here bode well for him to become one of the best strikers in the game.

Greenwood put together a prolific scoring record in the youth ranks of Manchester United, earning his first-team debut in March 2019. Since then, the Bradford-native has eclipsed 119 games for the Red Devils, netting 33 goals and 11 assists by that count.

3. Dušan Vlahović (148 CA / 173 PA)

Team: ACF Fiorentina
Age: 21
Current Ability / Potential Ability: 148 CA / 173 PA
Wage: £24,335 p/w
Value: £44 million – £53 million
Best Positions: ST
Best Attributes: 17 Finishing, 17 Strength, 16 Work Rate

Serbian pressing forward Dušan Vlahović ranks third on this list of the best wonderkid strikers in FM22 by virtue of his 173 PA.

Vlahović isn’t by any means a project, coming into the game with 148 CA. His 17 finishing, 16 work rate, 17 strength, and 15 off the ball already make him a menacing ST to put atop your formation. Furthermore, his highest valuation of £53 million is somewhat reasonable in the modern market.

Born in Belgrad of the former Yugoslavia, Vlahović has played in Italy since breaking through the ranks of Partizan Belgrade and moving to ACF Fiorentina for a mere £1.76 million. This season, the Serbian will eclipse 100 games for the Serie A club, for which he had scored ten goals by his 13^th appearance of this campaign.

4. Youssoufa Moukoko (121 CA / 170-200 PA)

Team: Borussia Dortmund
Age: 16
Current Ability / Potential Ability: 121 CA / 170-200 PA
Wage: £5,130 p/w
Value: £34 million – £40 million
Best Positions: ST
Best Attributes: 16 Agility, 16 Acceleration, 16 Technique

Youssoufa Moukoko is the exact kind of wonderkid striker that every Football Manager gamer likes to uncover, with him being just 16-years-old and with a colossal potential of between 170 and 200 PA.

The left-footed German could already be seen as first-team ready if you take him on his key attribute ratings rather than his 121 CA. Moukoko boasts 15 finishing, 15 dribbling, 16 technique, 14 composure, 16 acceleration, and 15 pace, making him a top-tier striker already.

Born in Yaoundé, Cameroon, Moukoko joined Borussia Dortmund’s youth ranks from St. Pauli in 2016. In 2020, he made his first-team debut at 16-years-old and one day. Since then, he has continued to be deployed from the bench, getting the youngster valuable experience.

5. Moise Kean (144 CA / 168 PA)

Team: Everton
Age: 21
Current Ability / Potential Ability: 144 CA / 168 PA
Wage: £50,000 p/w
Value: £24 million – £29 million
Best Positions: ST, AML, AMR
Best Attributes: 18 Natural Fitness, 17 Acceleration, 16 Finishing

Coming into FM22 with a solid 168 PA, Moise Kean is certainly one of the top young strikers to sign and comes with the benefit of being deployable on either wing.

The Italian sharpshooter already has 16 finishing, 16 aggression, 16 bravery, 16 determination, 17 acceleration, and 16 pace – making him a lively striker to let loose. While he starts the game on-loan to Zebre (Juventus), Kean is a worthy young striker to target upon his return to Everton.

Despite being with the Toffees since the summer of 2019, in what was nothing short of a coup at the time, Kean has found little joy at Goodison Park. Instead, he’s amassed form and game time out on-loan to clubs that are more prominent than his parent team: Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus.

6. Alexander Isak (151 CA / 166 PA)

Team: Real San Sebastian (Real Sociedad)
Age: 21
Current Ability / Potential Ability: 151 CA / 166 PA
Wage: £45,000 p/w
Value: £30 million – £45 million
Best Positions: ST
Best Attributes: 17 Acceleration, 16 Flair, 16 Off the Ball

Lanky Swedish striker Alexander Isak breaks into the upper echelons of the best wonderkid strikers of FM22, boasting a hefty 151 CA already, but also with a 166 PA.

While his 14 finishing and 12 heading aren’t the most eye-catching of the strikers here, Isak more than compensates for these with his strong mental and physical game. His 16 off the ball, 16 flair, 15 anticipation, 17 acceleration, 16 pace, and 16 jumping reach combine to put him in the right place at the right time.

Born in Solna, he came south from AIK in his native Sweden to Borussia Dortmund in the winter of 2017. However, at the world-class wonderkid development club, Isak found first-team opportunities to be fleeting, so he moved to Real Sociedad to become their star striker. He’s since scored 38 goals in 102 games.

7. Giacomo Raspadori (135 CA / 165 PA)

Team: US Sassuolo
Age: 21
Current Ability / Potential Ability: 135 CA / 165 PA
Wage: £3,042 p/w
Value: £16.5 million – £25 million
Best Positions: ST, AMC, AML
Best Attributes: 16 Flair, 16 Off the Ball, 16 Agility

With a 165 PA but a valuation of up to £25 million, Giacomo Raspadori might just be the most cost-effective of the best young STs in FM22.

He may be cheap, but the Italian striker certainly has strong enough attribute ratings to be a trusted starter for many big clubs. Raspadori’s 15 finishing, 15 first touch, 14 technique, 16 flair, and 16 off the ball make him a crafty player to lead the formation – especially if he has someone to play off of.

With six caps and a goal for the national team already, Raspadori certainly shows himself to be a top talent. However, the scarcity of goals has often seen him deployed on the wing for US Sassuolo instead, with him netting nine times in 54 games at the time of writing.

All of the best young striker (ST) wonderkids on FM22

To see the full list of all of the best young strikers to sign in FM22, consult the table below.

Whether you want to splash out on a formidable talent like Erling Haaland or roll the dice on the high potential range of Youssoufa Moukoko, you’re guaranteed a wonderkid striker by picking one of the above.