The Most Affordable Players in the NXGN Top 50 2026

The best scouting strategy on Football Manager is simple. Just wait for the NXGN Top 50 to drop and add half the list to a shortlist. In the last few days, the real-life NXGN Top 50 2026 has been released, and as always, it is absolutely packed with future stars. The problem, obviously, is that a lot of them are completely unaffordable. The ones already at elite clubs, or the ones who have only just secured big-money moves, are usually out of reach unless you are managing one of the financial superpowers. So I have gone through the list and picked out the players you might actually be able to sign on Football Manager.

Over time, some of the others may become more realistic. But for now, Max Dowman is probably a bit beyond the range of your average save. So let’s start with the players highest up the list and work our way down. Just be quick about it, because all of these wonderkids are eventually going to be snapped up by your Manchester Citys and your Real Madrids at the first opportunity.

Jeremy Monga – Leicester City

Jeremy Monga made the NXGN Top 50 because his rise has been ridiculous even by wonderkid standards. He became the second-youngest player in Premier League history when he debuted for Leicester at just 15 years and 271 days, then followed that by becoming the youngest goalscorer in English second-tier history at 16 years and 37 days, breaking Jude Bellingham’s record. The reason he is affordable is Leicester’s situation more than his talent. The club’s financial problems have been well documented, including major losses and a PSR breach that led to a six-point deduction. Leicester are likely to need to raise money because of their perilous position.

 

Alvaro Montoro – Botafogo

One of the main reasons you can get wonderkids for relatively cheap on Football Manager is because they play outside Europe. That is exactly why Álvaro Montoro feels attainable, at least for now. He has become one of South America’s hottest teenage talents at serious speed. He scored a stoppage-time winner against Peñarol in the Copa Libertadores just days before turning 18, then carried that momentum into Brazil after joining Botafogo, where he posted eight combined goals and assists in his first 19 Serie A appearances. Botafogo only signed him for around £7 million in June 2025, so you are not dealing with the sort of bloated fee you would get for a teenager already established at a Champions League club. That said, it would not be a surprise if that price stopped looking reasonable very soon.

 

Viktor Dadason – FC Copenhagen

Viktor Dadason announced himself in the sort of way that immediately gets people paying attention. He scored three goals in his first six continental appearances, including one against Barcelona at Camp Nou, a goal that made him the youngest player ever to score in European competition there and broke a record that had stood for 67 years. That is not just promising. That is absurd. He is affordable on FM26 because FC Copenhagen sit outside Europe’s top five leagues and are also the sort of club that develops and sells talent rather than clinging to it forever. If you move quickly enough, this is exactly the kind of deal that can still be done.

 

Karim Coulibaly – Werder Bremen

Karim Coulibaly has had a ridiculous breakout season. He has gone from youth defender to one of the most wanted teenage centre-backs in Europe in no time at all. He is still only 18, but his market value has already climbed to around £19 million, which tells you how quickly his reputation has exploded. The reason he could still be relatively affordable on FM26 is that, despite all the hype, he is at Werder Bremen rather than an absolute superclub, and Bremen are the sort of side who will sell when the price is right. So no, he would not be cheap cheap, but he is still the type of player you can get now before another year of exposure sends his price into an entirely different bracket.

 

Ian Subiabre – River Plate

Ian Subiabre has established himself as a first-team regular for River Plate this season at just 19 years old. More importantly, that rise has been backed up by actual output rather than vague promise, with one goal and two assists in his first three matches after properly breaking into the side. He also scored twice for Argentina at the 2025 South American Under-20 Championship. The reason he will be so cheap is that he plays in Argentina, and Football Manager veterans know exactly how this goes. Unless you basically hold your best young players hostage, every club in Europe turns up with a bid that feels personally offensive and somehow still gets the deal done.

 

Vasilije Kostov – Red Star Belgrade

Vasilije Kostov’s value has rocketed this year and he is already the most valuable player in the Serbian SuperLiga according to Transfermarkt. He has also backed up the hype with serious end product, posting 11 goals and seven assists in the 2025/26 league season as a 17-year-old. That is the kind of output that gets people scrambling to open a new scouting assignment immediately. The reason he is still affordable on FM26 is that, for all the buzz around him, he is playing in Serbia rather than at one of Europe’s financial giants, which usually keeps the fee lower than it would be for a player putting up those numbers in England, Spain or Germany.

 

Kerim Alajbegovic – Red Bull Salzburg

Kerim Alajbegovic has exploded in his first season at Red Bull Salzburg rather than just looking like a nice prospect in a good academy. He hit double figures for goals in all competitions after joining from Bayer Leverkusen, and his league output backs that up too, with seven goals and two assists in 20 Austrian Bundesliga matches as an 18-year-old. The reason he is affordable on FM26 is that Salzburg are still a development-and-sell club rather than a final destination. His current value is sitting somewhere around £9 million to £13 million, which is not exactly pocket change, but it is still nowhere near what the same profile would cost if he were already producing like this in one of Europe’s top five leagues.

 

Nathan De Cat – Anderlecht

A regen you would sign purely for the name. Thankfully, he is outrageously talented as well. Nathan De Cat already looks like one of Belgium’s next major exports. He won the Belgian Pro League Player of the Month award in November, which is not a bad effort for a 17-year-old midfielder, and his numbers across the season are impressive too, with two goals, four assists and more than 2,200 league minutes. The reason he could be affordable on FM26 is that Anderlecht may not be negotiating from a position of total strength. He is heading into the final year of his contract with no renewal appearing imminent, which could force the club to accept a lower fee than his actual potential deserves.

 

Kennet Eichhorn – Hertha Berlin

Kennet Eichhorn is already doing things that almost no 16-year-old midfielder ever does in senior football. He became the youngest player ever to appear in the 2. Bundesliga, then later became the youngest goalscorer in Hertha Berlin’s history as well as the youngest scorer in the DFB-Pokal since the Second World War. That is not a normal development curve. The reason he is still affordable on FM26 is that he remains at Hertha in the second tier. His value has already jumped to around £17 million, but even that is still more gettable than you would expect for a player carrying this level of hype. Kennet Eichhorn. Remember the name.

 

Gilberto Mora – Club Tijuana

A name that will already be familiar to anyone who has sunk enough hours into FM26. Gilberto Mora looks like a once-in-a-generation Mexican talent rather than just another promising youngster. He became the youngest scorer in Liga MX, the youngest player to debut in a competitive match for Mexico and even surpassed Pelé and Lamine Yamal to become the youngest player to win an international trophy at the Gold Cup. Which is a completely ridiculous set of milestones for someone who is still only 17. The reason he could be affordable on FM26 is that he is still at Club Tijuana rather than one of Europe’s superclubs. Although his value has risen quickly, it is still around £9 million, which means you are buying him before the inevitable move that sends his price into another world.

 

Konstantinos Karetsas – Genk

If you got a regen with this name, you would know instantly that he was destined to become elite. Konstantinos Karetsas made the NXGN Top 50 because his rise is already packed with proper record-breaking moments. He became the youngest goalscorer in Nations League history when he scored for Greece against Scotland at 17 years and 124 days. Before that, he had already become the youngest-ever goalscorer in the Belgian second division and started breaking through at Genk. The reason he could be affordable on FM26 is that, despite all the hype, he is still at Genk, a club famous for developing players and selling them at exactly the right moment. His market value is currently around £30 million, which is obviously big money, but still below the sort of fee you would expect once a richer club turns its interest into a bidding war.

 

Lamine Yamal – Barcelona 

Haha, just kidding. 

 

Conclusion

So turn your computer on. Load up Football Manager. Add these names to your wonderkid shortlist. If you do not buy them now, you will be loaning them from Barcelona in a year’s time when their value is pushing £100 million. Have you signed any of these wonderkids? Which is the best affordable wonderkid you have found? Let me know in the comments.

 

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