FIFA 20 best young defenders: The top 50 DEFs on career mode

Goal looks at all the wonderkid defenders in Career Mode, listing their potential ability and price in the game

Manchester United made Harry Maguire the most expensive defender in the world in August, breaking the record set when Liverpool bought Virgil van Dijk in January 2018. World-class defenders are also expensive in FIFA 20 Career Mode, but there are many bargains to be had if you are willing to scout in the right places.

New Juventus centre-back Matthijs de Ligt is the best young defender in the game and has the potential to be a 92-rated superstar, while RB Leipzig have a centre-back pairing that should dominate for the next decade or more. Ibrahima Konate and Dayot Upamecano are valued at £18.9 million and £15m at the start of Career Mode so may be above the budget of many clubs.

Portugal has a number of top young defenders in the league, including Porto right-back Tomas Esteves and Benfica's Nuno Tavares who has the ability to play in both full-back spots. Both of these are available at less than £3m and will end up as some of the best full-backs in the game.

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Here are all the best young defenders in FIFA 20 Career Mode, ordered by their potential rating in the game.

PO. = Position(s)

CR = Current Rating

PR = Potential Rating

VA. = Value

*Clubs listed are the clubs the players are assigned to in FIFA 20 Career Mode, while ages shown are the age at the start of Career Mode

FIFA 20: Best young defenders

#	Name	Age	Club	PO.	CR	PR	VA.
1	M de Ligt	19	Juventus	CB	85	92	£42.8m
2	T Alexander-Arnold	20	Liverpool	RB	85	90	£41.4m
3	D Upamecano	20	RB Leipzig	CB	80	89	£18.9m
4	I Konate	20	RB Leipzig	CB	79	88	£15m
5	A Davies	18	Bayern Munich	LB, RM, LM	77	88	£11.3m
6	W Saliba	18	Arsenal	CB	75	88	£9.9m
7	R James	19	Chelsea	RB, CDM	75	87	£9.5m
8	D Zagadou	20	Borussia Dortmund	CB, LB	79	86	£14.4m
9	J Kounde	20	Sevilla	CB	77	86	£12.6m
10	O Kabak	19	Schalke	CB	77	86	£10.8m
11	E Tapsoba	20	Bayer Leverkusen	CB	76	86	£10,4m
12	Z Vanheusden	19	Standard Liege	CB	75	86	£9m
13	J Todibo	19	Barcelona	CB, CDM	73	86	£6.3m
14	M Simakan	19	Strasbourg	CB, RB	72	86	£5.4m
15	M Kumbulla	19	Hellas Verona	CB, RB	72	86	£5.4m
16	B Williams	18	Man Utd	LB, LWB	71	86	£4.1m
17	E Ampadu	18	Chelsea	CB, CDM	68	86	£1.5m
18	M Kana	16	Anderlecht	CB, CDM	66	86	£1.1m
19	L Stergiou	17	St Gallen	CB	63	86	£675k
20	A Bastoni	20	Inter	CB	75	85	£9m
21	Diogo Dalot	20	Man Utd	RB, LB	75	85	£9m
22	E N'Dicka	19	Eintracht Frankfurt	LB, CB	75	85	£8.6m
23	Emerson	20	Real Betis	RB, RM, RWB	75	85	£9m
24	M Salisu	20	Real Valladolid	CB	75	85	£9m
25	M Aarons	19	Norwich	RB	73	85	£5.9m
26	L Pellegrini	20	Cagliari	LB	71	85	£4.3m
27	R Ait Nouri	18	Angers	LB	70	85	£3.1m
28	Eric Garcia	18	Man City	CB	69	85	£1.8m
29	J Frimpong	18	Celtic	RB, RWB	68	85	£1.5m
30	J Gvardiol	17	Dinamo Zagreb	CB, LB	67	85	£1.3m
31	J Vagnoman	18	Hamburg	RB, LM, LB	66	85	£1.1m
32	A Bella-Kotchap	17	Bochum	CB	63	85	£675k
33	P Retsos	20	Bayer Leverkusen	CB, RB, LB	75	84	£8.6m
34	O Wijndal	19	AZ Alkmaar	LB	74	84	£7.2m
35	N Perez	19	Atletico Madrid	CB	74	84	£7.2m
36	Tomas Tavares	18	Benfica	RB	72	84	£4.2m
37	Nuno Tavares	19	Benfica	LB, RB	71	84	£3.7m
38	D Popov	20	Dynamo Kyiv	CB	71	84	£3.8m
39	J Tanganga	20	Spurs	CB, RB, LB	69	84	£2m
40	Tiago Djalo	19	Lille	CB	69	84	£1.9m
41	N Katterbach	18	Koln	LB	67	84	£1.4m
42	S van der Berg	17	Liverpool	CB	66	84	£1m
43	N Armini	18	Lazio	CB	66	84	£1.1m
44	N Collins	18	Stoke	CB	63	84	£700k
45	K Hoever	17	Liverpool	RB, CB	62	84	£550k
46	S Bornauw	20	Koln	CB	75	83	£8.1m
47	V Mykolenko	20	Dynamo Kyiv	LB	74	83	£7.2m
48	P Schuurs	19	Ajax	CB	74	83	£6.8m
49	D Bradaric	19	Lille	LB	73	83	£5m
50	Pedro Porro	19	Man City	RB, RWB, RM	73	83	£5m
51	R van Drongelen	20	Hamburg	CB	73	83	£5.4m
52	Diogo Leite	20	Porto	CB	72	83	£4.2m
53	B Sutalo	19	Atalanta	CB	72	83	£4.3m
54	T Tomiyasu	20	Bologna	RB, CB	72	83	£4.4m
55	L Cacace	18	Wellington Phoenix	LB, LWB	72	83	£4.1m
56	T Kouassi	17	PSG	CB, CDM	71	83	£3.1m
57	J Bogle	18	Derby	RB	71	83	£3.2m
58	D Maresic	19	Reims	CB	71	83	£3.4m
59	I Diveev	19	CSKA Moscow	CB	70	83	£2.8m
60	Mujaid	19	Deportivo La Coruna	RB, CB	69	83	£1.9m
61	A Chindris	20	Botosani	CB	69	83	£2m
62	N Ferguson	18	West Brom	RB, LB, CB	68	83	£1.5m
63	L Balerdi	20	Borussia Dortmund	CB	68	83	£1.6m
64	A Bernabei	20	Lanus	LB, LW, LM	67	83	£1.4m
65	J Beyer	19	Borussia M'gladbach	RB, CB	67	83	£1.3m
66	K Sardella	17	Anderlecht	RB, LB	65	83	£900k
67	E Laird	17	Man Utd	RB	65	83	£900k
68	Manu Sanchez	18	Atletico Madrid	LB	64	83	£800k
69	T Harwood-Bellis	17	Man City	CB	60	83	£400k
70	L Matheson	16	Rochdale	RB	60	83	£400k