FourFourTwo's 84 Best Football Manager 2017 wonderkids... by budget: for unlimited spending

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Cash to splash? Good: this lot will burn holes in your wallet, but boy do they get exciting... 

We've chosen 84 of Football Manager 2017's brightest under-21-year-olds with the best potential to bring you long-term glory – but handily for you, arranged them by budget so you know exactly who you'll be able to swoop for. 

Our first instalment, though, is for the most expensive youngsters – but they've all got their price tags. Dig in...

31. Ousmane Dembele

Available for: £36m

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Need to know: Silky attacking midfielder – usually out wide – who joined Borussia Dortmund from Rennes for almost £13m in the summer. Now a fully fledged France international and playing regularly in the Bundesliga for his new club under Thomas Tuchel. His potential is huge. 

30. Giovani Lo Celso

Available for: £36m
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Need to know: One of Argentina's greatest youth hopes, Lo Celso has shone at Rosario Central so much that PSG have made him theirs (but then loaned him back to his old club until January). The attacking midfielder impressed for the Albiceleste's Olympics team in the summer. 

29. Adalberto Penaranda

Available for: £37m
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Need to know: Striker snapped up by Watford for £9m in the January transfer window and since farmed out to two Pozzo-owned sides on loan (Granada, and then Udinese where he'll reside for the 2016/17 campaign). Shot to prominence aged 18 with the former last year in La Liga when he scored four goals in as many games from December-January. 

28. Kai Havertz

Available for: £37m
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Need to know: Only 17 but already part of Bayer Leverkusen's first-team squad with Bundesliga and Champions League minutes under his belt. Will need scouting to uncover his full stats from the start, but you're looking at a central midfielder with fine playmaking potential. 

27. Alex Grimaldo

Available for: £37m
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Need to know: Impressive left-back who has found his feet at Benfica, where first-team football is his. The Spain U21 international was schooled in La Masia but never featured for Barcelona, and has attracted the attentions of both Manchester clubs in real life. 

26. Lucas

Available for: £37.5m (release clause)
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Need to know: Not yet a shoo-in for a spot in Diego Simeone's first team – there's some serious competition in Diego Godin, Jose Gimenez and Stefan Savic – but that will come in time for the France-born 20-year-old who only broke into Atletico Madrid's team in the second half of last season. 

Next page: The stopper Chelsea don't know what to do with

25. Franck Kessie

Available for: £40m
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Need to know: Shining for Atalanta in Serie A this season after a fine year at Cesena, this 19-year-old defensive midfielder made his Ivory Coast debut aged 17 and looks destined for a bigger move soon enough. After 12 games of the 2016-17 season, he's scored six goals in all competitions. 

24. Gerson

Available for: £45m
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Need to know: Brazilian attacking midfielder who joined Roma from Fluminense for aroud £14m in the summer. Though a regular U20 international for his country, the 19-year-old has struggled to nail down a regular place in the capital club's first team.   

23. Johannes Eggestein

Available for: £45m
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Need to know: An 18-year-old German striker taking tentative steps towards Werder's first team in 2015/16, but who'll terrify defences in years to come. In real life his scoring record for Germany's U17s was better than one in two. 

22. Andreas Christensen

Available for: £46m
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Need to know: Currently in his second season on loan at Borussia Mönchengladbach, it's not yet clear what kind of future Chelsea see for Christensen at Stamford Bridge. What's more sure is that the 20-year-old has already proved himself one of the Bundesliga's finest stoppers, and that there won't be a shortage of interest should the Blues let him leave. 

21. Amadou Diawara

Available for: £48m
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Need to know: The 19-year-old Guinean joined Napoli from Bologna for £12m in the summer, and eventually landed himself a first-team spot after being eased into life at the Stadio San Paolo. He's come a long way fast: as recently as 2014/15 the defensive midfielder was turning out for third-tier side San Marino, who were relegated in his only season.

Next page: Europe's most in-demand teen?

20. Kylian Mbappe

Available for: £50m
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Need to know: Monaco's now-17-year-old forward has already broken two of Thierry Henry's club records, having become the team's youngest-ever player and goalscorer last season. He netted five times in France's victorious 2016 European U19 Championship, including a brace in the 3-1 semi-final win over Portugal.

19. Max Meyer

Available for: £50m
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Need to know: Long spoken of in glowing terms but still only 21, tricky attacking midfielder Meyer has nonetheless racked up close to 150 Schalke appearances already. Skippered Germany's team to the Olympics final, where he scored the equaliser before Die Mannschaft's shootout heartbreak. 

18. Niklas Süle

Available for: £50m
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Need to know: Towering Hoffenheim centre-back who made his full Germany debut in August 2016 against Finland. Süle's agent says the 6ft 5in defender turned down a move to Chelsea in the summer after his return from the Olympics ("the English have made it clear they'll still be interested next year," he revealed). 

17. Mahmoud Dahoud

Available for: £50m
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Need to know: Classy Borussia Mönchengladbach midfielder who has previously attracted admiring glances from Jurgen Klopp and Mauricio Pochettino, according to reports. The Syria-born 20-year-old was particularly impressive in the Champions League against Barcelona earlier this season. 

16. André Silva

Available for: £52.5m (release clause)
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Need to know: Portugal's new great striking hope, following a frustratingly fallow post-Pauleta era. He's produced the goods as Porto's main marksman too, shooting to prominence with a brace in last season's Portuguese cup final against Braga (equalising with a brilliant overhead kick in injury time). 

Next page: Peak potential in Madrid

15. Breel Embolo

Available for: £55m
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Need to know: Snapped up by Schalke for £19m in the summer after two full seasons in Basel's first team. The Cameroon-born striker has been a Switzerland international from U16 level onwards. 

14. Jonathan Tah

Available for: £55m
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Need to know: Only 20 but already playing for his third club in Germany (after breaking through at Hamburg and then spending a season on loan at Fortuna Dusseldorf). Tah has been a Bayer Leverkusen regular for two seasons under Roger Schmidt and was part of Germany's Euro 2016 squad as a late call-up.

13. Benjamin Henrichs

Available for: £56m
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Need to know: Henrichs is a great source of pride in Leverkusen's prolific academy, having been with die Werkself since he was seven. The versatile full-back can play on either side of the back four, and is reaping the rewards with regular Bundesliga football. Having won Germany's esteemed Fritz-Walter gold medal award in the summer, he snapped up a first senior cap in November's 8-0 win over San Marino. 

12. Thomas Lemar

Available for: £57m
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Need to know: A decent first year at Monaco in 2015/16 has been followed up by an even more eye-catching second: Lemar had equalled his league goal tally by mid-November and scored what proved to be a Champions League winner at Tottenham on Matchday One. He's mainly deployed on the left wing, but can play on the right too. 

11. Marco Asensio

Available for: £60m
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Need to know: Zinedine Zidane didn't feel the need to sign players at Real Madrid last summer because he knew he had Asensio returning after a fine loan spell at Espanyol. The 20-year-old has proved himself a dependable option ever since, announcing his Bernabeu arrival with a 25-yard scorcher against Sevilla in August's Super Cup. Most pertinently, his scope for improvement in Football Manager is massive. 

Next page: Germany's assist machine

10. Julian Brandt

Available for: £60m
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Need to know: Exciting Bayer Leverkusen attacking midfielder who clocked nine assists at the Olympics for Germany's U23s, having only just missed out on the senior Euro 2016 squad. He'll be a fixture in the years to come, though, with speed, intelligence and a deadly eye for goal.  

9. Adam Ounas

Available for: £65m
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Need to know: Bordeaux attacking midfielder previously linked with Manchester United, but still looking to make his mark in Ligue 1 with les Girondins. Ounas, 20, recently declared allegiances to Algeria, the nation of his parents' heritage. 

8. Gabriel Barbosa

Available for: £66m
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Need to know: Known as 'Gabigol' in his home nation with reason: the stocky forward bagged 24 goals in 83 games for Santos and has two in four for Brazil so far. He's still finding his feet at Inter after his summer switch, having started every game of Brazil's victorious Olympics run before heading to Milan. 

7. André Horta

Available for: £77m
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Need to know: Let go by Benfica aged 15, but eventually found his way back after some fine displays for Vitoria Setubal. Horta's fine passing and vision have earned him the central-midfield spot held by Renato Sanches last season. 

6. Kelechi Iheanacho

Available for: £85m
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Need to know: Manchester City's 20-year-old striker with a mighty fine goals-per-minute ratio in the Premier League. Unsurprisingly behind Sergio Aguero in the City pecking order but has taken his opportunities brilliantly when given them, including scoring at Old Trafford in an early-season Manchester derby win. 

Next page: Who commands the silly money? 

Well, you're not going to buy them straight away (surely) – but who doesn't like a bit of window shopping? 

5. Marcus Rashford

Available for: £100m
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Need to know: Manchester United speedster who terrified Arsenal on his Premier League debut last season and hasn't put much of a foot wrong since. His Premier League performances couldn't be ignored – the 19-year-old was named in England's Euro 2016 squad and has featured regularly since. 

4. Renato Sanches

Available for: £120m
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Need to know: Joined Bayern Munich for a fee that will likely rise to €80m, after breaking through at Benfica and then dazzling enough to be part of Portugal's winning Euro 2016 team. 

3. Anthony Martial

Available for: £175m
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Need to know: A potential world-class Football Manager star with potential as high as they come: Martial is a likely superstar... but only if you're Manchester United boss. The Frenchman may have tailed off after a blistering start at Old Trafford, but there's no doubt he's first-team material with the scope to get even better. 

2. Dele Alli

Available for: £200m
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Need to know: Already among Tottenham's best players – and he doesn't even turn 21 until April. As you can see from the price you can get him for, though: Spurs won't sell without you driving a lorry full of cash to Daniel Levy's doorstep. 

1. Leroy Sané

Available for: £200m
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Need to know: He only joined Manchester City from Schalke this summer, at an outlay of £37m, so you could hardly expect to land him for peanuts at the start of your new save. Still, he only gets better anyway, which is fine news if you're ousting Pep as boss at the Etihad Stadium.  

More Football Manager 2017 

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Joe Brewin
Joe Brewin

Joe was the Deputy Editor at FourFourTwo until 2022, having risen through the FFT academy and been on the brand since 2013 in various capacities. 

By weekend and frustrating midweek night he is a Leicester City fan, and in 2020 co-wrote the autobiography of former Foxes winger Matt Piper – subsequently listed for both the Telegraph and William Hill Sports Book of the Year awards.