With every release of Football Manager, hundreds of new players are added as they rise through the ranks and become noticed by Sports Interactive's extensive scouting network. In every Football Manager game there are a cluster of young prodigies hidden away in teams you've never heard of. These fresh faced wonder kids improve rapidly with training and can let you put together an unstoppable team for almost nothing. Read on for our pick of the best in each position.
Goalkeepers
The huge 17 year old, Jack Buckland has hands like buckets and can be pried away from Birmingham City for a meagre £0.85 million. If you want to go even cheaper then the 20 year old Paraguayan Tobias Vargas plays for Club Libertad, and starts the game valued at a minute £0.17 million.
Central Defenders
The 16 year old Tobias Figueiredo is initially available from Sporting Lisbon for the paltry sum of £0.4 million. Alternatively, Gale Agbossoumonde is another player in a wave of promising footballers emerging from the American leagues. He starts at Sporting Braga in Portugal and can be bought for about £0.475 million
Right Back
The Croatian Šime Vrsaljkois cuts a promising figure at right back. What he initially lacks in skill he makes up for in being big and aggressive. You can grab him from Dinamo for about £0.875 million. Tottenham's Kyle Walker represents a more experienced youngster if you have the cash to spare.
Left Back
Liverpool's 16 year old Jack Robinson is a steal for three quarters of a million, while Lucas Digne of Lille is another good cheap choice. Sao Paulo's Diogo will bring some Brazilian flair to left back for about a million pounds, and if you want to go more expensive, you can try and pry Fabio from Manchester United for £4 million.
Defensive Midfield
17 year old Lorenzo Crisetig learned the ropes at Inter Milan, where he can be purchased for about £0.85 million. If you're prepared to breach the million mark then there's plenty of choice on offer, whether it's the Brazilian, Romulo , based at Vasco, or the 20 year old Luca Marrone of Juventus.
Centre Midfield
If you're managing a British team there's plenty of home grown talent at Centre Midfield. Aaron Ramsey is expensive and starts out with a broken leg, but is a superb player. Alternatively there's Liverpool's Jonjo Shelvey , or the promising Josh McEachran at Chelsea. If you're on a budget then Vladyslav Kalitvintsev starts out with an initial value of £0.85 million at Dynamo Kyiv. If you're after the most obscure player possible then buy the Ghana born Torric from Hearts of Oak. He costs almost nothing.
Right Wing
16 year old Tony Silva at Liverpool represents the cheapest option with an initial value of £0.3 million. Stephan El Shaarawy of Genoa has plenty of pace and attacking know how and is a bargain at around a million pounds. Michael Ortega of Atlas FC is another obscure but talented youngster valued under a million. If you have money spare check out Aston Villa's Marc Albrighton , or Vladimir Weiss at Manchester City.
Left Wing
Rodrigo Alborno of Libertad is the youngest and cheapest option at left wing, closely followed by the Croatian Mario Ticinovic , who plays for Hajduk. Fausto Rossi of Vicenza is also a good deal at three quarters of a million. If you have three or four million spare then you can't go too far wrong with someone like Marco D'Alessandro of Roma.
Striker
The 17 year old Senegalese player, Khouma Babacar , starts the game contracted to Fiorentina. While the £6.75 million transfer fee might seem relatively steep compared to other youngsters, Babacar will return your investment with strength and power in the box. Like a youthful Didier Drogba, his youth makes him malleable, and he can make some stunning gains to his starting stats with a little work. If you don't want to spend that much, and would prefer someone younger, with more training ahead of them, then there are plenty of cheap 16 year old strikers in FM 2011 with buckets of potential. Try Lenny Nangis of Caen, Amine of Sporting Gijonm, Lucas Piazon of Sao Palo or, if you're especially short on cash, Marko Maletic of FC Utrecht.
These are just a few of the many, many wonder kids the community has already identified in Football Manager 2011. For a more extensive list, check out FM Scout . If you've spotted any other smart buys, let us know in the comments.
For Further Reading : See how Rich McCormick got on in our Review of Football Manager 2011.
