Football Manager 2020: Best Young Goalkeepers (GK) to sign – Ederson, Kepa & more

Football Manager 2020 was released last month to rave reviews from the critics and the approval of Sports Interactive’s die-hard fanbase.

Goalkeepers tend to be overlooked in highlight reels and footballing awards, as the blockbuster names that play outfield often dominate both of those fields. A strong shot-stopper is key to a successful side, though, if you don’t concede, the opposition can’t win.

In the modern game, ‘keepers don’t just need to be able to block shots, but also instigate attacks from the back line with their ball-playing ability. Therefore, finding the perfect fit is crucial.

How to choose the best Young Goalkeepers on Football Manager 2020

To qualify for this list, these players are aged 25 and under, and have a Potential Ability (PA) range of at least 160.

This means they can progress into the best players in their position on the planet in 5-10 years. However, some of the players on this list are already first-choice for a top tier club and their country.

Any
players with a PA range of 140-170 or higher have also been included, as long
as their Current Ability (CA) is high enough to defeat the competition. CA and
PA are hidden when in-game, and can only be viewed by using the Football
Manager Editor tool or In-Game Editor.

READ MORE: All the best Wonderkid Strikers (ST) to sign on FM20

Star ratings only reflect how good a player is in relation to your first-team squad, so if you want pure accuracy you must follow the CA & PA.

For
reference, all CA & PA values are out of 200 and highest-rated goalkeeper
in the game currently is Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer with 176.

Ederson (CA 169 – PA 180)

Age: 25

Club: Manchester City

Country: Brazil

Best
Attributes: 20 Kicking, 18 Bravery, 17 Passing

Value: £52 million

Wage:
£100,000 a week

It’s incredible to think that Ederson isn’t first choice for Brazil, but the form of Liverpool's Alisson has largely kept the Manchester City player out of goal for the Selecao.

You’ll do
very well to pry Ederson away from Manchester, as his transfer valuation is
over £50m, meaning you’ll have to pay well above that to get the former Benfica
man in your team.

Kepa Arrizabalaga (CA 158 – PA 167)

Age: 24

Club: Chelsea

Country: Spain

Best
Attributes: 17 Reflexes, 16 Handling, 16 Communication

Value: £35 million

Wage:
£145,000 a week

A lot of eyebrows were raised when Chelsea bought Kepa Arrizabalaga from Athletic Bilbao for over £70m last season, but the Spanish international has established himself a solid goalkeeper for the Blues.

READ MORE: All the best Young Right Backs (DR) to sign on Football Manager 2020

Kepa’s future promise has been reflected in his PA value of 167, he’s still got plenty of room to improve and at 24, has potentially 15 more years at the top.

Gianluigi Donnraumma (CA 155 – PA 160-190)

Age: 20

Club: AC
Milan

Country:
Italy

Best
Attributes: 18 jumping reach, 18 reflexes, 16 anticipation

Value: £29 million

Wage:
£184,000 a week

Gianluigi Donnarumma topped our Wonderkid goalkeeper list and the Italian finds himself on the podium on this list. After the international retirement of the legendary Gianluigi Buffon, Donnarumma is now the undisputed #1 for the Italian national team.

Stats of 18 jumping reach, 18 reflexes and 16 anticipation take him to a CA of 155, making him the 14th best goalkeeper on FM20. His potential between 160 and 190 gives him the second-highest ceiling behind Manuel Neuer and Donnarumma will most likely become the best in the world once the German retires.

Jordan Pickford (CA 148 – PA 168)

Age: 25

Club: Everton

Country: England

Best
Attributes: 18 Kicking, 16 Communication, 16 Reflexes

Value: £36.5 million

Wage:
£120,000 a week

Jordan Pickford must have been fearing the worst for his career when he was relegated from the Premier League with Sunderland in 2017. However, Everton took a gamble on the youngster with a £30 million transfer fee and he’s currently one of the few players keeping the Toffees afloat in the top-tier of English football.

READ MORE: All the best Young Left Backs (DL) to sign on Football Manager 2020

Like
Kepa, Pickford plays for a club that isn’t in the form of their life, although
Everton seems to perform better in FM20. That being said, though, £50m could be
enough to pick him up, with the promise of European football being a strong
motivator for the 25-year-old.

Andre Onana (CA 147 – PA 160)

Age: 23

Club: Ajax

Country: Cameroon

Best
Attributes: 16 jumping reach, 16 natural fitness, 16 Kicking

Value: £16.5 million

Wage:
£16,250 a week

There are some bargains on this list and Andre Onana is the first of them. The Cameroon international goalkeeper has over 100 appearances for Ajax already at the age of 23 and the sky’s the limit for him.

Ajax are no strangers to producing the best young talent around and Barcelona will be kicking themselves after they let Onana go as a youth player. He’s not as talented as the previous entries on this list, but can be bought for around half of their price.

Alex Meret (CA 146 – PA 169)

Age: 22

Club: Napoli

Country: Italy

Best
Attributes: 18 agility, 17 reflexes, 16 handling

Value: £14.75 million

Wage:
£30,000 a week

Alex Meret has had to fight off the competition from David Ospina since the Italian’s £30m move from Udinese but has made that number 1 jersey his own. Despite only being 22, Meret’s playing regular Champions League football, something not even Donnarumma can say.

READ MORE: How to sign an uninterested player on Football Manager 2020

A similar value and likely a similar cost to purchase as Onana, Meret represents excellent value for money. If Napoli drop out of the Champions League spaces, he could go for a cut-price as well, so be on the lookout.

Pau Lopez (CA 145 - PA 160)

Age: 24

Club: Roma

Country: Spain

Best
Attributes: 15 Handling, 15 Reflexes, 15 Bravery

Value: £13.57 million

Wage:
£67,000 a week

Roma had struggled to fill the void left by Alisson’s record-breaking departure a couple of seasons ago, but Pau Lopez is looking like the man to do it.

Lopez is solid across the board, not having many stand-out attribute ratings but not possessing many lower ones either. If you’re managing a top club and looking for a player that can replace your ageing stopper, Lopez is a very good option.

Dominik Livakovic (CA 144 - PA 160)

Age: 24

Club: Dinamo

Country: Croatia

Best Attributes:
17 One on Ones, 17 Reflexes, 16 Rushing Out

Value: £7.75 million

Wage:
£10,000 a week

Croatia isn’t a nation that springs to mind when you think of top-class goalkeepers, but Dominik Livakovic could be about to change that. Livakovic plays for Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia’s top tier and would fit in perfectly in one of Europe’s top 5 leagues.

READ MORE: All the best Young Goalkeepers to sign on Football Manager 2020

With nine caps for his national side already, he has experience of playing in the Nation’s League in their top group. As he’s valued under £10m as well, he represents excellent value for money.

Unai Simon (CA 139 - PA 163)

Age: 22

Club:
Athletic Bilbao

Country: Spain

Best
Attributes: 16 Aerial Reach, 15 Handling, 15 Reflexes

Value: £10.5 million

Wage:
£22,500 a week

Kepa’s move to Chelsea created a vacuum in goal for the Basque club but Unai Simon has done a sterling job of filling it. Athletic Club is well-known for an incredible academy and are notoriously hard negotiators, with players only selected from the Basque region.

It’s
potentially worth waiting a bit to see how Simon develops, his career could go
either way, but if Bilbao give him regular first team football, he’s got every
chance of making it to a Champions League club in a few seasons.

Wuilker Farinez (CA 136 – PA 140-170)

Age: 21

Club:
Millonarios

Country:
Venezuela

Best
Attributes: 16 reflexes, 15 decisions, 15 natural fitness

Value: £875,000

Wage:
£9,750 a week

Wuilker
Farinez isn’t a name that European readers of this article will be familiar
with, but he has a glowing reputation in South America. Aged just 21, the
Venezuelan already as 22 caps for his country, seeing him linked with a move to
Barcelona.

READ MORE: All the best Wonderkd Defensive Midfielders (DM) to sign on Football Manager 2020

When trawling through the depths of the FM editor, you’ll discover that the ‘keeper has a CA of 136, rising to a PA between 140 and 170. For his 16 reflexes, 15 divisions and 15 natural fitness you will only need around £2 million, a true FM steal.

All of the Best Young FM20 Goalkeepers

READ MORE: All the best young Centre Backs (DC) to sign on Football Manager 2020