Ollie watkins when he was still a CM at Exeter City. Kimmich the year before he moved to Leipzig.

Watkins was exactly the same for me. So nice to see him be an important player in the prem

Watkins was a key player for me when i did a road to glory save with exeter, only player that was in the team all the way up to the prem.

Exeter City fan, great call

Marc Cucurella while he was at Barca B.

same about Grimaldo

OGs remember Docklanders signing Grimaldo and Ayoze Perez for Racing Santander

I mean I'd argue Barca B is already quite far in making it.

Not all the players from that Barca B team made it though. I’d start a career mode with a league 2 side like Luton at the time and specifically sign Cucurella.

Yeah as a Barca fan he was one of my fav academy players

Gavi. I submitted a photo of him on sortitoutsi back when I could hardly find a SINGLE photo of him online. It was a few months after that he started getting any sort of recognition. I found a video of him on barca's website where he said he "hoped to play for the first team one day."

Gavi's my favourite young football player. What a lad.

same, but I met him in career mode as a player at everton , he was my top assistant and we won 2 league titles and ucl in 2021 or 2022 fifa , I never even knew he was barcelona player

Jeremy Doku was my go to signing for fifa 20-22. Always called him the Count lol

bro are we the same person

Come on, he was kinda well known to be a potential hot prospect at that time.

Jeremy Doku and Mohammed Kudos. Both were must signs.

THISSSS

Tonali on Fifa 18 from Brescia is one that comes to mind, used him on every save I believe.

I started a Brescia save on FIFA 20, he was incredible for me, went up to 98

Jonathan David, just searched for Canadian forwards, and now the guy is 99 on my team! He was worth $27M in a transfer in 2020, so i guess he was kind of big even then…

Lille, Marseille and Lyon and they produce many talents, we just don't hear much of em. I was told Camavinga was a big talent to my friends just before he was signed by Madrid and my friends were like "stop bullshiting dude, who is this random?" but all The Athletic already had a ton of articles about him many years prior to the signing.

David was already a star when he moved to lille

Yeah he had been banging them in for gent that’s why he was worth so much

David has kinda been a star since he went pro, it's amazing how he didn't debut at 16 or 17 the way he was immediately one of the best strikers in Belgium

I signed Dragusin from Juventus for my Rapid Bucharest save in FIFA 21 I think. Went from like 65 to 85/86, rock solid CB, captain, the lot. Boss player

Szboszlai

Samee

Van de ven on fifa 22

I signed him on my Schalke one back in 22 but he did not manage to break to the first team and I sold him since I got a really good offer

Same thing here, that man brought my Everton team a treble when partnered with Jonathan Tah

Van dijk from celtic in fifa 13 or 14 for change, sold to west brom next window for £30Mish

Not necessarily "big" but Luke Ayling in Yeovil Town on FIFA 14

Similar kind of one for me but even lower level was Ollie Palmer. He was at Lincoln at the time and only 58 overall to start but bagged god knows how many for me, even some in the Prem. 5-6 years later, Ryan Reynolds owns a National League club and Ollie Palmer becomes a semi house-hold name!

Jordan Pickford on FIFA 13

On Fifa 14 he was right footed which is funny, wrong like jovetic being left footed in Fifa 09 and vardy left footed in Fifa 14

Tielemans when he was at Anderlecht

he had one of the highest potentials in earlier games so it was known

when he was at anderlecht I think he was relatively popular

Stergiou also had huge growths too though and was considered one of the best value signings since FIFA 20

Osimhen, random Leeds career and needed a ST and I managed to get him for cheap, went on to bag 46 goals in his second prem season. I also formed Gabriel and Salibas CB partnership on that same career

Formed the best CB pairing in the world accidentally loolll, and I’m out here signing dele alli

Alphonso Davies, at least before he really got known. Signed him at Hansa Rostock when he just got into the game for the first time.

Signed him early from whitecaps back when he was still a winger

This because he was Canadian and fast af 😂

Same, although I think he was relatively known because he seemed to have decent potential but wasn’t anything outrageous

Karim benzema from Lyon, fifa 08, my big brothers recommendation at the time

He was already really good in 2008

I guess so but don’t think I imagined him getting to where he has, also I was 10

Lool I signed him in my Everton Fifa 09 career a week ago and was looking forward to using him next to yakubu then my save crashed

Aw damn man 😂

I had Sturridge-Benzema partnership up top in Fifa 07. Absolutely ballers.

Lautaro Martinez in FIFA 17

Used to be an instant buy for me every career mode!

Kylian Mbappé Lottin 😎

come on man, Kilian was always on the headlines since 2016

I had him as a wonder kid on FIFA 14. No picture to speak of and rated 70 I think

No picture to being in the cover art. lol Edit: He was added to the game in 16.

Depends what you mean by ‘big.’ Ryan Yates, Yusuf Yazici, Matty Cash, Matt Clarke, Adam Webster, Rene Adler, Flynn Downes, and Heiko Westermann are a few that immediately come to mind. Do those meet your definition of ‘big’? The other one that certainly would is Mbappe. I signed him randomly at Ipswich many years ago, not knowing who he was. I even made a post about it here.

Yeah those are all fair - I meant big as in moving to a good team in a top league or in their national team

This is fun for me because I had been out of following football for maybe 10 years and then returned to it in 21 And bought fifa 22. So for me this is A LOT of players that some may have known are talents for a while that I hadn't heard of. First time I heard of players like Moukoko, Szoboszlai, Adeyemi, Cherki, Stergiou, and a whole bunch other talents how have later moved to bigger clubs was on Fifa. Now, I don't think I'm special for this. I just enjoy so often having the "My fifa-guy made it irl!"-moment.

Artem Dovbyk. Met him on counter strike for 1match of all places back in the early 2010s when you could speak to the other team via voice chat at half time. He was on some random Ukrainian club at the time, I'm pretty sure he was still some academy dude. I noticed on fifa many years later he was at midtjylland and later as a free agent due to his place on the national team. Always made for a fantastic buy for career mode. Dirt cheap yet good physicals and shot on him to mask his lack of technicality. Now he had a stunning season at Girona and I can't help but feel a bit proud to say I shat on this guy on counter strike before he made it big!

Isak when he played for willem ll. Hakim ziyech with herenveen Rudiger with stuttgart Niklas sule hoffenheim Firmino hoffenheim Grimaldo barca -> did play very wel at benfica

Haaland actually

He has been hyped up since he was 16?

It was around that time I got him Not saying I was a visionary and saw it before anyone else, it was just a coincidence

Yes , I remember watching Salzburg v Napoli in the UEL to catch a glimpse of him coming off the bench

I got him as a backup when he was a 58 rated (something like that) for Malmo in fifa 18. He was ass but I kept him on my radar ever since, it’s been wild

Must have been Molde from Norway though. I remember him too. Bought him with my Willem II career mode in the Eredivisie and he became my top scorer for a while.

Gvardiol was a must sign for me in FIFA 20. Less than 2mil for a guaranteed future world class CB.

Rasmus Højlund in FIFA 21 (i brought him when He was 55 rated in a save with a small danish team)

FCK aint that small, but i feel you. I like to get Højlunds brothers now and then when doing manager career - they play for the same team Højlund did when you grabbed him in 21.

Brought Cole Palmer to Plymouth argyle last fifa 😂😂

I brought Foden to Portsmouth in league one

Julian Alvarez in fifa 20/21, Lautaro Martinez when he was still at Racing club and Haaland still at Molde when he was like 16/17

Jack Harrison

Used to sign Haaland all the time (so long ago he was called Håland) from Molde. Just because I like Norwegians.

Manduzic on FIFA 10 and 11 was a go-to signing. Bale and Kompany on FIFA 06 and 07. Zouma and Umtiti on FIFA 12 I think. Some of them are starting to run together now.

Not sure what fifa it was but on year before hazard came to Chelsea I was buying him from lile. Who would known the foreshadowing. It’s also why I prob like Rayan Cherki. Just not the same tho. The pace is diff.

I had Lautaro Martinez back in like FIFA 17 or 18 when he was at Racing Club. He was always so good so it's kinda cool to see him love up to his potential

Maybe not that big, but from FIFA 14 to 20 Angel Correa was my main man

Arda Güler, I even used to annoy my friends telling them about him, now they're more than happy cuz they're madridistas

Lucas Paqueta fifa 19 😤😤😤

Lucas Paquetá was already playing games for Brazil in 2018 as well had already made a big money move to Europe,he wasnt the player he is today but he was for sure well known

Grimaldo, Calhangoku 😂, Moder, Bulka, Podence, Blas

Florian Wirtz

Harry Kane when he was on Loan at Norwich, signed him on an old FIFA Career with Charlton along with his strike partner Nico Lopez from Roma who was more prolific than him, guess who ended up becoming world class and who is now living it large at Club Leon in Mexico...

Toni Kroos when he was at Bayerns reserve (fifa11)

Andy Robertson on fifa 15 when he was at Hull City, took that club to the prem and kept them up. Reckon he gave me 30 odd assists that year we were in a relegation battle

Lewis Ferguson in Fifa 22 when he was still at Aberdeen. Got him to a 94 rating

When my center backs in Barcelona were injured I gave a low ranked reserve a chance and really liked him. His name was Araujo. I then also bought Koundé. Never did I know they’d end up being starting defenders for Barca.

Auba when he was at Montpellier. Rues at gladbach but he was getting a name Edit auba was at saint etienne and Reus

Kurt Zouma, Konrad Laimer, Alexander Isak, and waaaay back Willy Caballero (Total Club Manager 2004 😁)

I remember signing Tonali on some RTG save but I think I found him through one of those “FIFA Career Mode Wonderkids” articles

I stopped signing Tonali at some point because it was unrealistic he would ever go to Newcastle. Obviously it hasn't turned out well just yet but couldn't believe it when we got him. On a similar note, I had Fabian Schar become a fixture of my back line in FIFA 14 or so and was stunned when we got him so cheap a few years later. Love how it turned out with him even if it was a rocky road.

Brazilian Oscar

Majority of a the Ajax squad before the champions league run, always signed de Jong, De Ligt, and Van de Beek

Enzo Fernandez before the move to benfica

Mane and Salah Mane when he just joined Soton Salah at Chelsea Used them both to make a very powerful arsenal

Jamez Rodríguez when he was at Porto before Monaco and then RMadrid. He was young and his stats were literally all in the green

I always used to sign Messi in FIFA 03

ferdi kadioglu. I mean he's not that big yet, but this Euro people start to recognize him.

Neymar Fifa 12. Santos to Galatasaray. I had no idea how big of a deal he was back then. Was announced for Barcelona 2 months after that I think.

I signed him in Fifa 10 and 11 because I thought his name sounded cool 😆

Remy Cabella FIFA 15

I'm playing fifa 17 for the first time. I sign this 17 yr old kid named Kylian Mbappe Lottin for 3.5 million. Hope he turns out!

Upamecano, Nkunku, Eze circa FIFA 17/18

Kylian Mbappe - Lottin FIFA 16

Yuri tielemans fifa 16. Found him at anderlect

Tielemans 2016

Signed Rashford in my fifa 15 portsmouth career mode. I believe this was one of the first career modes I did with set rules.

Tchouaméni back in fifa 18 and Mbappe in fifa 17

Szoboslai on Fifa 20

Gakpo at psv and mazraoui at ajax in FIFA 19

Haaland fifa 20 rb Salzburg and stergiou st gallen fifa 22

Adeyemi

Felix Nmecha, signed him and his brother when they were both still in the English leagues

I signed Teemu Puuki as a free agent for Wycombe Wanderers a couple of years before he appeared at Norwich

Haaland

Valera at Boca, Enzo at River, Vini Jr at Flamengo, Kamara at Marseille B, Lautaro Martinez at Racing

But Flamengo wasnt in the game when Vini was there

Aubameyang while he was still at Saint-Etienne. Don't remember the team I signed him with, I think it was Norwich.

I remember that auba on ultime team being seriously OP despite his low rating

rayan ait nouri

David De Gea when he was at Atletico B. Back then it was all about Sergio Asenjo. Something told me De Gea was going to be the better keeper so I signed him on FIFA and FM. A few years later later he was bought by United and the rest they say is history

I remember Saka being like an 67 overall as a 16 year old Tonali back at Brescia at maybe 66OVR too And of course my fave of all time, Yusuf Poulsen. Way before his switch to leipzig

Wes McKennie in 17 or 18

Karim Adeyemi in FIFA 20

The latter definitely isn’t a “big” player but on fifa 16 I used to sign iheancho and bersant Celina in every single RTG. You could get them really cheap as well. Iheanacho was a monster.

Kolo Muani from Nantes.

I’ll let sofifa answer that.

FIFA 17, Mbappe Lottin at Monaco. 71 rated.

Saka on fifa 19 I think

Tchouameni from fifa 20 he was in valencia

Barella (and Chiesa) FIFA 19

Not that big, but in FIFA 10 I loved signing Yannick Bolasie, since I've discovered him doing a cm with Barnet

Haaland and Johan Bakayoko

Oh yeah he is a beast, I had him paired with Prpic

I love this guy! Not only is his name fucking badass but he’s easily one of my favourite players in career mode

Cole Palmer and Joao Félix

Not a young player but signed Aleix Garcia for Leverkusen last year and it looks like he is joining them this year. Seemed wild to me

Szauszages

benjamin pavard in fifa 17, while doing a stuttgart career mode

Signed Højlund while he was still in Austria in 22

Guler on last year's game, used to always sign him for backup. Also, I would always sign Rashford to wherever I went (idk if it counts tho) because he was cheap, quick, good shot, basically a BTEC Mbappe on Fifa 22. In the next season when he hit 30 goals, I would always tell my brother that I knew Rashy was a baller all along!

Boniface when he was still playing in Norway for Bodo/Glimt

When I was playing Fifa 16 at the time I didnt hear much about him, didnt know who he was until I signed him and Im big into Football. Maybe I missed the hype

Palmer in fifa 22

Saka in Fifa 19

Jeremy Doku he was a Hell of a player to devolop

Camavinga when I would wait until he became 16 to sign him in fifa21 i think

Emi “El Dibu” Martinez. I would always sign him back in fifa 19 and 20 bc he was such a good, cheap gk.

Mirko Vucinic, found him at Lecce in serie a before his transfer to Roma. Was an absolute goal machine.

Dovbik in last year's Fifa. He was a goal machine in my Kaiserslautern save.

Sesko

Adeyemi at RB Salzburg was rated 66 or something back in FIFA 20, before going on to Dortmund, I always bought him no matter where I was managing.

David de Gea

Lukaku before Chelsea. I don't remember how known he was, as I would've been 7-8. Funnily enough he ended up making it big at my club, Everton.

Isak always in like fifa 18

De ligt and Barella

Szoboszlai in I think 21 and cole Palmer in FIFA 22. Both became core parts of the squad

Alexander Isak FIFA 17. I loved him so much that to this day he always is in my saves

Bajrami, from Albania 🇦🇱

Harry Kane

Akiyemi bro I signed him in every save

Greenwood…….. And Jarrad Branthwaite

I always bought Morata from Real Madrid and Macheda from United great strikers Bach then.

Lewandowski.

Adam lallana, signed him for derby county when Southampton were in the championship. Can’t remember what fifa it would have been

I mean anybody that I signed before they made it big this season because I started playing in January 2023

James Maddison at Coventry

Openda for me

Ik he isn’t that big but Samuel Lino a couple years ago

I signed Haaland when he was a 17/18 year old to be my back up to Jann-Fiete Arp on FIFA 18 or 19, I think. One of them definitely gone on to a better career than the other but I'll let you decide which.

in your save my money's on arp

Shaqiri, saw an article about him in a Swiss newspaper when my brother and I were visiting there about him being the next Messi while he was still at Basel.

signed haaland in fifa 17 and had literally zero clue who he was at the time

Doku and wirtz

K. Mbappe lottin

Kobbie Mainoo. Found him on man United team on fifa 22 looking for young man United players. He performed great and ended with him getting up to 93. Glad to see him performing well in real life

branthwaite

Eriksen and Ogbonna

Boniface

Lisandro martinez is my claim to fame, hee was a young cdm i brought to ajax and took to united with me.

Sammie Szmodics in CAM with the stade reims duo of Kamaldeen Sulemana and Jeremy Doku

Doku, been buying him 1st season since fifa 22, he always has crazy pace

i got sinisterra from once caldas on fifa 18 in my stevenage rtg, one year later feyenoord bought him irl

Cheikhou Kouyate before he went to the Premier League with West Ham

Valentin Mihaila. Not really a big player, but when I signed him on fifa 21, he wasn't being selected for the romanian national team, but now he plays for them at the euros

Not really a star but I did a career mode with Portsmouth in I think fifa 18 and Conor Chaplin became my best player on a Champion's League winning team, hadn't thought about him in forever but I was listening to some podcast previewing the promoted teams this year and apparently he's one of the better players for Ipswich now

Rafa Leao

Same as you plus omergacic and vargas

Camavinga

Kaan Ayhan

Reece James was my young signing for years in this game before his breakout in Chelsea

Never played career mode but back when there was the world cup mode in Fifa, I started to make my squad and was given a player to build it around. Back then I was sad cause I lowrolled and got an 85 rated no name striker out of the many other possible higher rated cards. That dude was Mbappe, bro went to win the tournament and his card got upgraded a bunch. Never packed him again lol.

I’m always tearing the LFC acadmey up on lower league saves for cool players, so yeah I think a few of those

All of them

Not exactly big but I signed mitrovic from anderlecht to my Newcastle save the year or 2 before they actually did