Football Manager 17 is rife with young talent, and the key to sustaining success at any club is to fill your youth teams with wonderkids. Obviously, the key to growing your youth system around strikerless tactics takes you away from signing the very pricey young strikers, so you can focus your funds on more quality players in other positions.

Looking into the English divisions, there are loads of talented young players, but the some of the best ones play at right-back. So, without much further ado, here are a couple of the great under-17 players for you to sign on Football Manager 17.

Yan Valery

‘Sunset at St. Marys’ – Mike Beales via Flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0)

Last season, right-back Yan Valery made his way into Southampton’s under-23s team from their under-18s setup, making 20 appearances and impressing throughout. During the campaign, Valery also made his France under-18s debut.

Now, it looks as though Southampton will have their team – specifically their defence – raided during the summer transfer window. Virgil van Dijk is linked with a move away and top right-back Cedric Soares has had a slew of teams chasing his signature, most recently Chelsea. This means that there will likely be a chance for promotion, and seeing as the Saints have always been keen to promote young talent, you may even see Valery in the squad to face Swansea on the opening day, for which the Saints can be found at great odds of 5/6 to win.

On Football Manager 17, Valery also poses a great option for any team looking for an injection of young talent. Valued at £180,000, the 17-year-old excels in tackling, decisions, first touch, agility, and pace, making for a great wing-back.

Kane Wilson

‘West Brom 0 Chelsea 1’ – Chelsea Debs via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

West Brom’s wonderkid Kane Wilson has a huge future ahead of him and despite only turning 17 years old in March this year, he has been excelling in the West Bromwich Albion under-23s as well as being on the bench in the Premier League.

It won’t be long before Wilson adds to his sole appearance for the Premier League outfit – 50 minutes in the EFL Cup – having burst onto the scene last summer. He’s described as humble, grounded, and as having a thirst to learn, so looks to have the makings of the perfect professional.

Kane Wilson is a very highly rated prospect on Football Manager 17 but has a value of just £120,000. His preferred role is as a defensive full-back, but his positional bias means that he could feature anywhere up the right side. The young Englishman excels when it comes to acceleration, pace, technique, strength, and composure.

Nathan Moore

Everton’s Nathan Moore is touted as another potential graduate of the same academy that spawned the likes of Wayne Rooney, Leighton Baines and Jack Rodwell. The young full-back, born in Wigan, was 13 years old when he first began his association with Everton’s academy. So far, Moore hasn’t featured in Ronald Koeman’s plans yet, but that may change next season.

Nathan Moore is your average diamond in the rough in FM. He certainly has the attributes to make a great defensive fullback but he will require some polishing before this diamond can shine. Having him tutored by someone like Baines might prove really helpful to his development. Everton may be reluctant to part ways with Moore though.

Jordan Williams

Jordan, who hails from Meltham, joined Town’s Academy at nine years old and signed the deal upon turning 17. Still a first year scholar, Jordan is a regular feature in Senior Professional Development Coach Frankie Bunn’s Town Under-23 team this season, making 27 appearances and scoring one goal.

He also played a large part in the Under-21 side that won the Professional Development League title at the conclusion of the 2015/16 campaign. During pre-season of the 2016/17 season, Jordan went to Austria with David Wagner’s First Team squad and featured as a substitute in the pre-season friendly draw against Bundesliga side Werder Bremen.

More recently, the right back – who can also play centre half if required – has earned his first two caps for England’s Under-18 side during an international tournament in the North West.

Williams is probably the most accomplished player out of this bunch. A versatile asset to the defence, young Williams might develop into a first team squad rotation option during his first season. Huddersfield are probably reluctant to see him leave and rightfully so! Williams could be an asset for a decade or longer to any Premier League side.

Tyrell Warren

Tyrell Warren has been a high-riser at Man Utd over the last five years and could feature in Mourinho’s team next season. He made his academy debut as a schoolboy in 2013-14, featured in United’s 2014 Milk Cup win, and last season was lauded by Butt as the ‘best player on the pitch’ following United’s UEFA Youth League draw against Wolfsburg.

In FM, we can see that Warren has the raw potential but like the others in this list, he needs some refining in order to break into first team. A few loan spells at lower league sides might see him develop more quickly. While Man Utd will probably not sell Warren, he is an interesting prospect to take on loan.

Conclusion

Signing one or more of these young stars will shore-up the future at right-back for your club for years to come. It’s possible that either one of these talents may even be making first-team claims for your club after just a season or two.