FIFA 22 best cheap players: Free agents, contract expiry 2022 and bargain youngsters
Boost your Career Mode team in FIFA 22 with the best cheap young players and free agents with contract expiry in 2022.
Strapped for cash in your FIFA 22 Career Mode? You'll want to find the best cheap players, from affordable young talent to free agents with contract expiry dates in 2022.
Of course, if you want one of the best young players in the game, those wonderkids are unlikely to fall into the truly affordable category. But if you're savvy with your spending, you can still attract some very handy players into your Career Mode squad.
From those contract expiry mega-bargains to young players whose price tags haven't shot up yet, keep on reading for our top tips on building a FIFA 22 Career Mode team on a budget.
FIFA 22 best free agents in Career Mode: Contract expiry players in 2022
There's nothing cheaper than a free agent, so we're going to kick this article off with a list of the best free agents in FIFA 22 Career Mode – these are the players whose contracts are expiring at the end of your first Career Mode season, so you should be able to make them a contract offer from 1st January 2022. You'll want to get in there quickly before another club swoops in.
Being aware of players who will have FIFA 22 Career Mode contract expiry in 2022 can really help you build your squad without too much of a down payment. Of course, if you try to sign a big-name player in this way, you might find that their wage demands are pretty high.
Ranked by their potential rating, these are the 10 best free agents whose contracts will expire during FIFA 22's first season:
- Kylian Mbappe - ST, age 22, overall 91, potential 95
- Pedri - CM, age 18, overall 81, potential 91
- Ansu Fati - LW, age 18, overall 76, potential 90
- Paulo Dyabla - CF, age 27, overall 87, potential 88
- Giacomo Raspadori - ST, age 21, overall 74, potential 88
- Niklas Sule - CB, age 25, overall 82, potential 87
- Paul Pogba - CM, age 28, overall 87, potential 87
- Adam Hlozek - ST, age 19, overall 76, potential 87
- Franck Yannick Kessie - CDM, age 24, overall 84, potential 86
- Fabio Carvalho - CAM, age 19, overall 67, potential 86
Side note: if it's a free agent goalkeeper that you're looking for, Diogo Costa will be available to approach in January. The 21-year-old's overall rating is 73 and his potential rating is 85. Well worth signing if you want to start training up a replacement keeper.
FIFA 22 best cheap young strikers
If you don't want to go down the free-agent route, the best way to get good players on the cheap in FIFA 22 is to buy underrated young players that haven't reached their potential yet. Starting with the cheapest first, here are six strikers that are well worth snapping up – play them a lot, and you'll see their stats and value start to rise.
- Ricky-Jade Jones - ST, age 18, overall 60, potential 80, current value £675,000
- Dane Scarlett - ST, age 17, overall 63, potential 86, current value £1.3 million
- Benjamin Sesko - ST, age 18, overall 68, potential 86, current value £2.6 million
- Karim Adeyemi - ST, age 19, overall 71, current value £4.5 million
- Concalo Ramos - CF, age 20, overall 72, potential 86, current value £4.9 million
- Giacomo Raspadori - ST, age 21, overall 74, potential 88, current value £9 million
FIFA 22 best cheap young midfielders
The middle of the park is one of the most important areas of the pitch, and it might be wise to stuff your midfield with cheap young players sooner rather than later. Here are some of the best cheap midfielders to consider for your Career Mode squad:
- Pierre Dwomoh - CAM, age 17, overall 60, potential 85, current value £664,000
- Charlie Patino - CM, age 17, overall 62, potential 85, current value £1 million
- Romeo Lavia - CDM, age 17, overall 62, potential 85, current value £1 million
- Kayky da Silva Chagas - RW, age 17, overall 66, potential 87, current value £2.4 million
- Gavi - CM, age 17, overall 68, potential 86, current value £2.5 million
- Stipe Biuk - LM, age 18, overall 68, potential 85, current value £2.7 million
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FIFA 22 best cheap young defenders
The defensive area of the pitch isn't always the easiest place to make space for cheap young players – no one wants a leaky defence, after all. But if you're willing to risk it, these cheap players will develop nicely over time and you could sell them on for big bucks later:
- Rav van den Berg - CB, age 17, overall 59, potential 83, current value £578,000
- Valentin Barco - LB, age 16, overall 63, potential 83, current value £1.1 million
- Goncalo Esteves - RWB, age 17, overall 65, potential 82, current value £1.5 million
- Ravil Tagir - CB, age 18, overall 65, potential 83, current value £1.7 million
- Mickey van de Ven - CB, age 20, overall 68, potential 84, current value £2.5 million
- Liberato Cacace - LWB, age 20, overall 72, potential 83, current value £4.2 million
FIFA 22 best cheap young goalkeepers
Speaking of risky moves, if you're brave enough to put a cheap young goalkeeper between the sticks, these players will reward you over time with improved stats. For a big team, it might be best to save them for cup fixture, but lower-league teams might find starting spots for this lot:
- Charis Chatzigavriel - GK, age 17, overall 58, potential 84, free agent
- Gavin Bazunu - GK, age 19, overall 64, potential 82, current value £1.3 million
- Dogan Alemdar - GK, age 18, overall 68, potential 83, current value £2 million
- Konstantinos Tzolakis - GK, age 18, overall 67, potential 83, current value £2.3 million
- Maarten Vandevoordt - GK, age 19, overall 71, potential 87, current value £4.3 million
- Lautaro Morales - GK, age 21, overall 72, potential 85, current value £5 million
With all of those great cheap players to choose from in your FIFA 22 Career Mode, you should be able to put together a great squad - or at least a squad with heaps of potential - without having to break the bank or enable unrealistic transfers. Happy shopping!
Read more on FIFA:
- FIFA 23 release date - when is it coming?
- FIFA soundtrack - every song from every game
- FIFA 23 ratings - the best players revealed
- FIFA 23 price - how much does it cost?
- FIFA 23 crossplay - new feature explained
- FIFA 23 Heroes and Icons - all FUT World Cup cards
- EA Sports FC - what do we know about the reboot?
- FIFA 22 formations and tactics - tips from a pro player
- FIFA 22 cheap players - find a bargain in Career Mode
- FIFA 22 young players - the best wonderkids to sign
- FIFA 22 Career Mode teams - the best and worst clubs
- FIFA 22 goalkeepers - the best shot-stoppers in the game
- FIFA 22 defenders - best RB, LB, CB, RWB and LWB
- FIFA 22 midfielders - best CM, CDM and CAM
- FIFA 22 wingers - best LM, RM, LW and RW
- FIFA 22 review - a giant leap for realism, but some things never change
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Authors
Rob Leane is the Gaming Editor at Radio Times, overseeing our coverage of the biggest games on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC, mobile and VR. Rob works across our website, social media accounts and video channels, as well as producing our weekly gaming newsletter. He has previously worked at Den of Geek, Stealth Optional and Dennis Publishing.
