Whenever you're scouting for a player in Football Manager 2021 there's a good chance you don't want the finished article and would prefer a player who can still improve. The problem is some players look good but have already peaked and cannot develop any further because their CA matches their PA meaning they've used up all their CA points. Unlike our other lists, this isn't a list of players you must buy in FM21, but a list of players you should think twice about buying. To help narrow the list only players 27 and under have been included. You assume most players over this age will have peaked already.

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These players are some of the best players in FM21 but they have all maxed out their CA and will not develop any further in Football Manager 2021.

Name Age Position Wage Value Cost Expires Rating Potential
Aritz Elustondo 26 D (RC) £34k £17m £55m 30-06-2024
Mislav Oršić 27 M/AM (L) £13k £4m £5m 15-06-2024
Jhon Córdoba 27 ST (C) £44k £7m £19m 30-06-2024
Frank Acheampong 26 D/WB/M/AM (L), ST (C) £105k £18m £22m 31-12-2021
José Sá 27 GK £13k £4m £6m 30-06-2023
Vladlen Yurchenko 26 M/AM (C) £2k £855k £941k
Lautaro Giannetti 26 D (C) £15k £3m £5m 30-06-2022
Dimitris Pelkas 26 AM (RLC) £35k £6m £7m 31-05-2023
Ulrik Saltnes 27 D (C), DM, M/AM (C) £960 £1m £2m 31-12-2023
Jordi Quintillà 26 DM, M (C) £12k £3m £3m 30-06-2021
Miha Blažič 27 D (RC) £4k £2m £2m 30-06-2022
Etzaz Hussain 27 DM, M (C) £3k £1m £1m 31-12-2022
Mykyta Shevchenko 27 GK £7k £2m £2m 30-06-2023
Aaron Long 27 D (C) £12k £3m £3m 31-12-2021
Raphael Holzhauser 27 DM, M/AM (C) £8k £7m £7m 30-06-2023
Fernando Andrade (Fernando Andrade dos Santos) 27 AM (RL), ST (C) £9k £1m £564k 30-06-2023
Kasper Junker 26 AM (RL), ST (C) £2k £1m £2m
Thomas Henry 25 AM (R), ST (C) £4k £3m £2m 30-06-2023
Uroš Đurđević 26 ST (C) £9k £2m £1m 30-06-2023
Sebastian Schonlau 26 D (C), DM £5k £452k £398k 30-06-2021
Jonathan Clauss 27 D/WB/M/AM (R) £9k £3m £7m 30-06-2023
Aldair Rodríguez 25 ST (C) £2k £587k £762k 30-06-2023
Camilo Mancilla 27 D (C) £280 £44k £84k 31-12-2021
Aliou Coly 27 D (RC), WB/M/AM (R) £626 £1m £1m 31-12-2023
Gastón Álvarez Suárez 27 M/AM (C) £17k £3m £5m 30-06-2021
Tarik Tissoudali 27 M/AM (RL), ST (C) £6k £2m £2m 30-06-2023
Dorian Dessoleil 27 D (C) £7k £3m £4m 30-06-2025
Tigran Barseghyan 26 AM (RC) £17k £880k £987k 31-12-2021
Denis Kolinger 26 D (C) £3k £881k £2m 31-12-2023
Philipp Kühn 27 GK £4k £18k £16k 30-06-2021
Jesús Trindade 27 D (RL), WB (R), DM, M (R) £4k £793k £793k 31-12-2021
Andreas Bouchalakis 27 DM, M (C) £6k £3m £2m 30-06-2022
Giorgos Masouras 26 M/AM (RL) £10k £2m £1m 30-06-2024
Patrick (Ericksson Andrade) 27 D (L), DM, M (C) £1k £336k £369k 30-06-2022
Mario Sampirisi 27 D (RLC), WB (RL) £5k £1m £1m 30-06-2022
Moisés Corozo 27 D (C) £3k £206k £113k 31-12-2023
Streli Mamba 26 ST (C) £3k £314k £691k 30-06-2022
Julián Navas 26 D/WB (R) £3k £2m £4m 31-12-2021
Jeppe Tverskov 27 D (C), DM, M (C) £3k £676k £594k 30-06-2023
Ijiel Protti 25 AM (C), ST (C) £5k £2m £3m 31-12-2021
Cristian Vega 26 DM, M (C) £3k £2m £3m 31-12-2021
Marco Fossati 27 DM, M (C) £5k £1m £1m 30-06-2022
Michaël Tırpan 26 D/WB (R), DM £7k £974k £743k 31-05-2022
Petrus Boumal 27 DM, M (C) £5k £873k £1m 31-05-2022
Marc Andre Schmerböck 26 M (RLC), ST (C) £4k £1m £2m 30-06-2022
Bruno Sepúlveda 27 ST (C) £4k £2m £5m 31-12-2021
Tomás Mantía 27 D (LC) £2k £697k £920k 30-12-2021
Simone Perilli 25 GK £699 £624k £624k 30-06-2021
Mory Diaw 27 GK £3k £569k £512k 30-06-2022
Michał Nalepa 27 D (C) £3k £121k £166k 30-06-2023
Fernando Evangelista 27 D (LC) £4k £1m £2m 31-12-2021
Tobias Kainz 27 D (R), DM, M (C) £3k £701k £561k 30-06-2021
Abel Luciatti 27 D (C) £3k £854k £1m 31-12-2021
Luis Valcarce 27 D/WB/M/AM (L) £2k £206k £395k 30-06-2022
Alexi Gómez 27 D/WB/M (L), AM (RL) £2k £212k £212k 31-12-2022
Gäetan Paquiez 26 D (RL), DM, M (C) £2k £1m £657k 30-06-2022
Fabricio Pedrozo 27 AM (RL), ST (C) £3k £812k £1m 31-12-2021
Sebastián Prieto 27 D/WB/M (L) £4k £963k £2m 31-12-2021
Nenad Lukić 27 AM (RC), ST (C) £1k £533k £586k 30-06-2022
Glen Rea 25 D (C), DM, M (C) £7k £617k £543k 30-06-2022
Nicolás Sansotre 26 D (RC) £3k £690k £2m 31-12-2021
Rafa de Vicente 27 M (C) £2k £102k £90k 30-06-2021
Claudio Torrejón 27 DM, M (C) £1k £182k £145k 31-12-2021
Thibaut Peyre 27 D (RC), WB (R) £4k £1m £960k 30-06-2024
Kevin Medina 27 D (LC) £2k £256k £501k 30-06-2022
Jan Van Den Bergh 25 D (C) £4k £566k £898k 30-06-2024
Ulises Segura 27 M (RC), AM (R) £3k £1m £2m 31-12-2021
Matías Molina 27 D/WB/M (R) £3k £645k £2m
Yuriy Yakovenko 26 ST (C) £2k £224k £197k 31-12-2021
Nahuel Losada 27 GK £3k £667k £2m 31-12-2021
Josué Estrada 25 D/WB (R) £1k £154k £135k 31-12-2021
Vladimir Silađi 27 AM (C), ST (C) £1k £181k £398k
Luca Magnino 22 M (C) £3k £491k £915k 30-06-2023
Khiry Shelton 27 AM (RL), ST (C) £3k £1m £945k 31-12-2021
Edgar Babayan 24 M (RL), AM (RLC) £615 £412k £907k 30-06-2022
Gaëtan Karlen 27 ST (C) £3k £455k £935k 30-06-2023
Joël Geissmann 27 M/AM (C) £2k £243k £219k 30-06-2022
Nicolás Pelaitay 27 DM, M (C) £2k £485k £582k 30-06-2021
Lazar Jovanović 27 AM (RL), ST (C) £822 £197k £173k 30-06-2021
Dominik Simersky 27 D (C) £537 £244k £223k
Ayoub Abdellaoui 27 D (LC) £2k £163k £163k 30-06-2021
Gustavo (Luiz Gustavo Almeida Pinto) 27 GK £1k £66k £116k
Patricio Romero 27 D/WB (RL) £3k £444k £489k 31-12-2021
Saúl Nelle 26 DM, M (C) £3k £497k £1m 31-12-2021
Tom Pietermaat 27 D (RC), WB (R), DM, M (RC), AM (R) £1k £593k £427k 30-06-2023
Tyler Pasher 26 WB/M (L), AM (RL), ST (C) £1k £733k £1m 31-12-2021
Luis Arce 26 DM, M (C) £690 £99k £199k 31-12-2021
Jakub Vojtuš 26 ST (C) £1k £411k £452k 30-06-2023
Ramy Rabia 27 D (C), DM, M (C) £3k £468k £421k 31-07-2023
Carl Winchester 27 DM, M/AM (C) £3k £182k £292k 30-06-2023
Román Martinangeli 27 M (R), AM (RL) £3k £807k £1m 31-12-2021
Šaleta Kordić 27 ST (C) £734 £395k £474k 30-06-2022
Dave Romney 27 D (RLC) £2k £880k £1m 31-12-2021
Víctor Salas 27 D (C) £1k £134k £118k 31-12-2021
Sead Hajrovic 27 D (C) £2k £41k £37k 30-06-2021
Clarence Bitang 27 M (R), AM (RL), ST (C) £0 £0
Marcel Hofrath 27 D (LC), M (L) £1k £19k £12k 30-06-2021
David Zarco 26 M (RC), AM (R) £1k £428k £599k
Evgeniy Shikavka 27 AM (L), ST (C) £1k £48k £122k 30-12-2021
Firmin Mubele (Ndombe Mubele) 26 AM (RL), ST (C) £3k £182k £80k 30-06-2022

These Young Players are some of the best young players in FM21 but they have all maxed out their CA and will not develop any further in Football Manager 2021.

Name Age Position Wage Value Cost Expires Rating Potential
Luca Magnino 22 M (C) £3k £491k £915k 30-06-2023
Keanu Cupido 22 D (RC) £457 £19k £20k 30-06-2022
Denis Marandici 23 D/WB (L) £238 £58k £36k 31-12-2021
Nicolás Grasso 23 D (L) £603 £143k £184k 31-12-2021
Taylor Bailey 23 GK £582 £141k £78k
Ayoub Ben Mcharek 22 DM, M/AM (C) £341 £16k £58k
Matías Amaro 23 AM (RL) £0 £0 £0
Levan Tsotsonava 23 M (RC) £100 £63k £69k
Lafi Ammash (Lafi Al-Deehani) 23 D (R) £999 £163k £120k 30-06-2024
Adnan Zuga 22 DM, M/AM (RLC) £0 £0
Gabriel Gómez 23 M (L) £0 £0
Danny Harmon 23 M (C) £43 £2k £2k 30-11-2021
Salifu Senghore 19 GK £0 £7k £6k 15-11-2021
Marcus Johansen 23 AM (RLC), ST (C) £0 £0 £0 31-12-2020
Muhammed Günay 23 AM (RL), ST (C) £0 £0
Jacopo Cassandro 22 D/WB (L) £324 £12k £14k 30-06-2021
Bjørn Arvad 22 M (C), AM (LC) £0 £0
Kim Tae-Hun (Tae-Hun Kim) 22 AM (R) £0 £0
Stiven Añón 21 D (R), ST (C) £0 £0
Ilyess Jeridi 20 M/AM (C) £100 £450 £21k 30-06-2022
Dustin Rengifo 19 DM, M (C) £146 £5k £6k
Jorge Martins 23 ST (C) £0 £0 £0 30-06-2021
Georgios Economou 22 M (C) £87 £4k £9k 30-06-2021
Thomas Leclef 22 DM, M (C) £45 £1k £1k 30-06-2021
Nikola Ilić 22 D (C) £36 £801 £0
Nikola Đukić 23 D (C) £43 £794 £0
Jordan Lambi 23 ST (C) £0 £0 £0 31-12-2020
Haris Salihović 19 AM (RL), ST (C) £100 £4k £16k 30-06-2021
Hüseyin Topbaş 22 DM, M (C) £0 £0
Daniel Wissel 23 AM (C), ST (C) £0 £0 £0 30-06-2021
Stian Trulsen 22 ST (C) £0 £0 £0
Omar Rojas 21 M (RLC) £78 £427 £0
Isaac Fabregas 18 ST (C) £0 £0 £0
James Hammond 23 M (C) £0 £0 £0
Joshua Oscar 17 AM (C) £5 £2k £2k
Jesper Sommensjö 21 M (R) £34 £1k £1k 31-12-2021
Rafael (Rafael Batista da Silva) 18 D (C), DM £0 £0
Ardit Lika 16 ST (C) £139 £3k £18k 30-06-2024
Farearii Tuteina 22 D (C) £16 £4k £2k
Matteo Guerrucci 16 ST £4k £19k
Farsedu Logan 22 AM (C) £100 £450 £0
Jan Nikodem 22 AM (L) £150 £37k £15k
Tobias Utoft 20 D/WB/M (R) £0 £0
Federico Polato 23 D (C) £183 £4k £2k 30-06-2021
Matteo Morbidelli 23 M (R) £0 £0 £0 30-06-2021
David Gnoli 23 M (R) £72 £1k £1k 30-06-2021
Simone Cristofaro 23 D/WB (R) £0 £0 £0 30-06-2021
Jone Ralulu 22 M (LC) £18 £12k £6k
Hamdi Sejdiu 23 M (C) £20 £918 £1k
Luís Paixão 20 D (C) £0 £0 £0
Pablo (Pablo Eduardo Silva de Assunção) 18 DM, M (C) £31 £214 £0
Alberto Rigato 23 AM (RL) £0 £0 £0 30-06-2021
Mattia Topao 23 DM £0 £0 £0 30-06-2021
Robin Pummer 17 M (RC) £0 £0 £0 30-06-2021
Martin Dam 21 M/AM (C) £0 £450 £0 31-10-2021
Alexander Burden 20 D (C) £0 £0 £0
Pedro Fonseca 21 M (C) £0 £0 £0 30-06-2021
Zalán Sütő 19 M (C) £100 £3k £35k 30-06-2021
Tiago Sousa 17 AM (C) £0 £0 £0 30-06-2021
Bence Ungvári 17 AM (C) £20 £4k £36k 30-06-2021
Lapo Quadri 23 M (C) £0 £0 £0 30-06-2021
Daniel Gonçalves 21 D (R) £0 £0 £0 30-06-2021
Francisco Santos 19 DM, M (C) £0 £0 £0 30-06-2021
Niclas Lindemann 22 GK £0 £0
Mads Grubak 22 D (C) £0 £0
Daniel Nylund 22 ST (C) £0 £0 £0 15-11-2020
Andrea Varano 23 D (C) £0 £0 £0 30-06-2021
Tiberio Granati 23 M (RL) £91 £1k £0 30-06-2021
Håkon Bådsvik 22 GK £0 £0 £0 31-12-2020
Mats Steinsland 23 M/AM (C), ST (C) £0 £0 £0 31-12-2020
Adrian Strand 23 M (C) £0 £0 £0 31-12-2020
Avinesh Prasad 22 D (RC) £5 £745 £0
Stefano D'Alessandro 16 AM (R) £27 £2k £4k 30-06-2028
Darius Marina 18 M C £3k £39k
Mattia Anastasi 23 D (C) £0 £525 £1k
Luca Pucci 23 D (C) £0 £0 £0 30-06-2021
Giacomo Avanzi 23 GK £0 £0 £0 30-06-2021
Giovanni Riente 22 AM (R) £0 £0
Nicholas Amoriello 23 AM LC £0 £0
Samuele Montanino 23 DM, M (L) £72 £1k £0 30-06-2021
Marco Marinelli 23 GK £90 £1k £0 30-06-2021
Federico Retini 22 ST (C) £90 £1k £0 30-06-2021
Andrea Brasi 23 M (C) £0 £0 £0 30-06-2021
Andrea Sacchelli 22 D (C) £0 £0 £0 30-06-2021
Antonio Galasso 17 AM (RC) £27 £2k £4k 30-06-2028
Nicholas Schembri 23 AM (RLC), ST (C) £316 £18k £22k 31-05-2021
Christian Laudiero 17 D/WB (R) £27 £2k £3k 30-06-2028
Ben Greenwood 22 D (C) £0 £0 £0
Simone Leoni 23 D (L) £0 £0 £0 30-06-2021
Murat Yıldırım 20 GK £0 £0
Henrique Martins 23 GK £0 £0
Jone Tagime 23 D/WB/M (L) £0 £0
Tuukka Laitinen 22 D (R) £0 £0 £0
João Terra 18 GK £0 £0 £0 30-06-2021
Josiah Serrão 16 WB (L) £0 £475 £0
Charlie Hanson 16 ST (C) £145 £1k £3k 30-06-2022
ElMehdi Litoumi 23 M (L) £0 £0 £0 30-06-2021
Claudio Rosati 23 AM (LC) £0 £0
Fabian Emil Meum Klevan 22 D (RL) £0 £0 £0
Kristian Bonde Krognes 22 GK £0 £0

These players can all be signed as a free transfer FM21 but they have all maxed out their CA and will not develop any further in Football Manager 2021.

Name Age Position Wage Value Cost Expires Rating Potential
Clarence Bitang 27 M (R), AM (RL), ST (C) £0 £0
Frantz Pangop 27 AM (RL), ST (C) £0 £0
Alan Schons (Alan Eduardo Schons) 27 DM, M (C) £0 £0
Jhon Palacios 25 ST (C) £0 £0
Souleymane Koanda 27 D (C) £0 £0
Simon Gbegnon 27 D (C), DM, M (C) £0 £0
Michael Salazar 27 AM (R), ST (C) £0 £0
Hendrik Somaeb 27 AM (RC) £0 £0
Alan Depotte 27 GK £0 £0
Sergey Pushnyakov 27 AM (LC) £0 £0
Daniel Carr 26 AM (L), ST (C) £0 £0
Pavel Bordukov 27 DM, M (C) £0 £0
Maxim Chizh 26 M/AM (L) £0 £0
Matteo Bruzzone 26 D (C) £0 £0
Yuriy Volovik 27 DM £0 £0
Pedro Henrique Bueno 27 AM R, ST
Jacob Lissek 27 GK £0 £0
Aguinaldo (Aguinaldo Alige) 26 GK £0 £0
Colin Bonner 26
Miroslav Orlić 27 GK £0 £0
Sergey Rusak 26 DM, M (C) £0 £0
Alex De Carolis 27 D (LC) £0 £0
Léo (Leonardo Gonçalo Silva) 27 D/WB (R), DM, M (R) £0 £0
Gideon Gambo 27 GK £0 £0
Yanush Ladutko 26 M (C) £0 £0
Pavel Okhremchuk 27 GK £0 £0
Francisco Burgos 27 M/AM (L) £0 £0
Ísak Simonsen 26 D/M (L) £0 £0
Andrey Vshivtsev 26 ST (C) £0 £0
Abylkhair Zulfikarov 26 M (RL) £0 £0
Vladimir Kozko 27 AM (RL) £0 £0
Adnan Zuga 22 DM, M/AM (RLC) £0 £0
Dario Mastrototaro 27 DM, M (RC) £0 £0
Gabriel Gómez 23 M (L) £0 £0
David Alonzo 26 ST (C) £0 £0
Zuneid (Zuneid Miquidade) 25 ST (C) £0 £0
Jérémy Randaxhe 27 M/AM (L), ST (C) £0 £0
Evgeniy Prokopchik 27 D (C) £0 £0
Andrey Bezhonov 27 WB/M/AM (L) £0 £0
Emre Akdağ 25 AM (RL), ST (C) £0 £0
Enver Filiz 24 D (LC) £0 £0
Ogün Alkan 26 GK £0 £0
Muhammed Günay 23 AM (RL), ST (C) £0 £0
Roman Vorobey 26 DM, M (C) £0 £0
Bjørn Arvad 22 M (C), AM (LC) £0 £0
Kim Tae-Hun (Tae-Hun Kim) 22 AM (R) £0 £0
Stiven Añón 21 D (R), ST (C) £0 £0
Artem Komarov 26 ST (C) £0 £0
Trésor Pene 27 DM, M (C) £0 £0
Andreas Juul-Olesen 26 M (C) £0 £0
Dmitry Litvinov 25 AM (RL), ST (C) £0 £0
Mića Svilar 27 AM (R), ST (C) £0 £0
Fahri Küçükkurt 26 D (C) £0 £0
Veloso (Nélson Castigo) 27 DM, M (C) £0 £0
Vitaliy Ignatenko 27 D (R) £0 £0
Thomas Helledi 24 M/AM (R), ST (C) £0 £0
Aníbal (Aníbal Hernández López) 27 DM, M (C) £0 £0
Hüseyin Topbaş 22 DM, M (C) £0 £0
Blake Sokolowski 27 M (C) £0 £0
Pedro Calhau (Pedro Costa) 27 M/AM (C) £0 £0
Wanderson Pinto Silva 26 ST (C) £0 £0
Abdel Rahman Hassaan 26 D (R), M (RC) £0 £0
Branimir Macina 24 D (C), DM £0 £0
Tobias Larsen 27 D (C) £0 £0
Sámal Jákup Joensen 27 D (RL) £0 £0
Chero (José Antonio García González) 27 GK £0 £0
Rui Rodrigues 25 M/AM (C) £0 £0
Ruizinho (Rui Silva) 26 DM, M (C) £0 £0
Rafael (Rafael Batista da Silva) 18 D (C), DM £0 £0
Giorgi Sepashvili 27 ST (C) £0 £0
Lukas Hapal 27 ST (C) £0 £0
Matteo Guerrucci 16 ST £4k £19k
Alexey Mokhnach 27 GK £0 £0
Nikolaj Kristensen 27 M (RC), AM (C) £0 £0
Sebastian Frank 26 D/WB/M (R) £0 £0
Tobias Utoft 20 D/WB/M (R) £0 £0
Bruno Mbonu 26 ST (C) £0 £0
Antti Ruostekoski 27 GK £0 £0
Andri Þór Þórunnarson 25 GK £0 £0
Israel Whitley 25 D/WB (L) £0 £0
Daniel Olsen 27 ST (C) £0 £0
Corneliu Apostol 26 GK £0 £0
Jacoqes Pakoa 25 D (C) £0 £0
Kristoffer Esbersen 26 AM (RL) £0 £0
Niclas Lindemann 22 GK £0 £0
Visti Sloth 24 AM (RLC), ST (C) £0 £0
Mikkel Mortensen 24 ST (C) £0 £0
Jonas Bang Andersen 25 D (C) £0 £0
Lasse Bramvel Christensen 27 M/AM (L) £0 £0
Jakob Granlund 25 ST (C) £0 £0
Mads Grubak 22 D (C) £0 £0
Darius Marina 18 M C £3k £39k
Jerry Liluce 26 M/AM (C), ST (C) £0 £0
Giovanni Riente 22 AM (R) £0 £0
Nicholas Amoriello 23 AM LC £0 £0
Christian Engholm 27 GK £0 £0
Haitam Taha 26 AM (C) £0 £0
Murat Yıldırım 20 GK £0 £0
Henrique Martins 23 GK £0 £0
Jone Tagime 23 D/WB/M (L) £0 £0
Salacieli Dakunaiduca 26 ST (C) £0 £0
Salvatore Panarello 27
Alfonso Bruno 26 GK £0 £0
Luís Lopes 27 AM (RL) £0 £0
Alessandro Giorgio 25
Niklas Ahlqvist 27 D (RC) £0 £0
Claudio Rosati 23 AM (LC) £0 £0
Kristian Bonde Krognes 22 GK £0 £0
Robin Escorne 19 DM, M (C) £0 £0
André Ávila 27 M (C) £0 £0
Jacob Weaver 27 £0 £0
Omer Zec 24 AM (C), ST (C) £0 £0
Peniamina Aleni 17 GK £0 £0
Filippo Righini 27 ST (C) £0 £0
Timote Hala 18 D (C) £0 £0
Travis Ah Fook 20 GK £0 £0
Lauina Vaitagutu 24 D/WB (R) £0 £0
Hugo Cordeiro 25 GK £0 £0
Guilherme Fortes 27 AM C
Wahed Ahmed 26 ST (C) £0 £0
Vincenzo Leo 23 M (L) £0 £0
Jordan Dixon 23 M (C) £0 £0
Garrido (Micael Garrido) 26 ST (C) £0 £0

Football Manager 2021 Short Lists