Career Mode has been reconfigured in EA FC 25, offering players a more in-depth, fleshed out and unique experience when taking control of a club.

The introduction of FC IQ provides greater focus on tactics and in-game flexibility, while there has also been the introduction of women’s football within Career Mode for the first time.

No matter your Career Mode preferences, finding world-class players and high-potential wonderkids on a budget is a tough task. It’s about signing the right player, not simply the most expensive one.

Here are some of the superstars in the making you need to keep close tabs on during your Career Mode in EA FC 25.

Excluding free agents, below are the ten players with a value of £1m or less who boast the highest potential in EA FC 25. Many of them already ply their trade for Europe’s big-hitters, making them a touch more difficult to get through the door.

The Premier League is well represented with Harry Amass, Trey Nyoni, Joshua King and Myles Lewis-Skelly all featuring. They all have a potential of 82 or higher and would make fantastic signings for those watching their pennies.

The cheapest high-potential youngster available is Keny Arroyo, currently playing for Independiente del Valle in Ecuador. The versatile teenager has a potential of 82 and costs just over half-a-million pounds.

Guinea-Bissau-born youngster Geovany Quenda may well be the best value-for-money player in EA FC 25. The 88-potential Portugal youth international is valued at just £3.3m and has already made a handful of senior appearances for Sporting CP in real life.

The likes of Pau Cubarsi, Claudio Echeverri and Lucas Bergvall are already well-known names across Europe, plying their trade for Barcelona, Man City (currently on loan at River Plater) and Tottenham respectively.

Kendry Paez will join Chelsea in the summer of 2025, so signing the Ecuadorian will have to wait. But his fellow South American wonderkid Franco Mastantuono could be an alternative given the River Plate starlet is valued at £2.9m.

There are not many surprises when it comes to the £25m or under superstars, except for the fact that their values are so low perhaps. Real Madrid’s young Brazilian dynamo Endrick has a potential of 91 – the same current rating as teammate Kylian Mbappe – but is valued at just £20m.

The likes of Mathys Tel, Jorrel Hato, Guillaume Restes and Fermin Lopez are all too familiar to EA FC and Football Manager players with experience of snapping up wonderkids, but RB Salzburg forward Karim Konate is arguably the best option we’ve seen yet. The striker is rated 73 with 87 potential and is valued at £6.2m.

Oh, and Lionel Messi is still knocking around but we wouldn’t recommend signing the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner – if you even can given he will swiftly retire in-game.

Information on the potential ratings of women’s players in EA FC 25 is scarce but there are a handful of excellent youngsters for you to keep in mind when experiencing women’s football in Career Mode for the first time.

One of the most promising assets in the Women’s Super League right now is Aggie Beever-Jones of Chelsea, who showed her immense potential during pre-season with the Blues. The young striker has even earned a cap for England’s senior team and is well worth investing in.

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