FM21's Winter Update unleashes new Wonderkids

FM21's Winter Update has arrived - well, most of it anyway.

The biggest Football Manager patch of the season has arrived, and it's likely you'll want to restart your save.

There have been some significant changes, including some huge upgraded ratings.

Latest News - Wonderkids Ranking Reworked

The FM21 Winter Update has brought with it some new faces, including "the best wonderkid ever" which you can read more about below.

But it has also made some significant changes to the standings as far as the top wonderkids on the game go.

Thankfully, we've got you covered with an updated list of the top 10 youngsters in FM21.

Head here to find out who's retained their place, and who's form has helped them break the top 10.

The "best wonderkid ever" arrives

The new update means new wonderkids, and simply, you HAVE to sign Borussia Dortmund's Yousouffa Moukoko.

The 16-year-old striker has been labelled the "best wonderkid ever" by FM Scout, and they have analysed his progress - taking Dortmund to the top of European football, and the Cameroonian national team into the world's top 10.

Check out his development, and why you MUST buy him here.

FM21 Winter Update Patch Notes

We can see the patch notes in the Football Manager Community Forums:

Database and Research

• Over 3.7 million updates reflect real life, including (but not limited to) transfers, managerial changes, and player attributes

Stability and Technical

• Number of stability fixes and improvements

Gameplay

• Further improvements to total player count and number of newgens generated in youth intakes
• Number of improvements to keeping player promises
• Re-enabled option to ask board for Reserve/U23 team
• Improvements to Club Vision logic
• Tweaked logic to make user manager appointments more realistic
• Fixed press conference questions being asked incorrectly following certain results
• Recruitment meetings being driven more by agreed club visions
• 'Interest in transfer' filter player search fix for when user manager changes clubs
• Improvements to staff given non-playing staff appointment responsibilities
• Newgen staff now correctly having second nationalities set
• Improved transfer logic for MLS teams at game start
• Improved MLS teams salary cap management

Match Engine 21.6.0

• Further balancing of player ratings across both full and quick match engines
• Number of improvements and fixes to match stats, including key tackles, clear-cut chances and interceptions
• Improved goalkeeper distribution when set tactically via instructions
• Improvements to assistant advice during pre-game build-up and matches

Competitions and Rule Groups*

• Removed salary cap for EFL League One and Two
• AI teams making better player registration choices in England
• Fix for user not being able to register squad changes
• Champions Cup sub rules corrected for second knock-out round
• Fixed incorrect age restriction appearing in Germany
• Improvements to MLS transfer window and roster freeze dates
• Added MLS 2021 Schedule dates and updated Superdraft process
• Fixed incorrect Serie C and D teams appearing in Italian Cup in 2020/21
• Updated structure in India for 2020-21 season
• Various Brazilian state championship updates
• Resolved Portuguese transfer window and registration window end date mismatch
• Resolved French transfer window and registration window end date mismatch

User Interface

• Added assist details to the goal caption in matches
• Fix for blank speech bubble appearing when discussing broken promise with player
• Sent off player now clearly shown during team talks
• Fixed rare issue where goal captions could get stuck on screen
• Fixed team beaten in the cup incorrectly displaying as the previous winner
• Addressed issue where users unable to return to team talk after entering tactics at half-time

Pre-Game Editor

• Enable users to be able to search by player attributes
• Fixed warning when verifying any advanced European club continental rules file

Network Games

• Fixes for mid-term draft process in Fantasy Draft
• Fix for clients being able to set highlights level outside those set by host

*In some instances, changes to competitions, rules and registrations will require starting a new game to come into effect.

Enter Wonderkids

Big news - new wonderkids will be arriving in the FM21 Winter Update.

The first one confirmed is Borussia Dortmund starlet Youssoufa Moukoko.

Aged just 16, Moukoko has scored twice for BVB this term, building on his outrageous success at youth level - scoring 151 goals in just 88 games for the U17 & U18 sides.

The official Football Manager post confirming his arrival says: "Moukoko’s going to be one of the highest-rated young players in the game when he makes his debut in the post-January data update."

We can't wait to get our hands on him.

Transfers

The main area to focus on is the newly transferred players following the conclusion of the winter transfer window.

There weren't too many major signings, with Eduardo Camavinga's decision to stay at Rennes the biggest talking point amongst FM fans!

Jesse Lingard to carry West Ham to FM glory? That's the dream!

All of the switches will be enforced in FM when the winter update drops.

The biggest winter transfer moves to watch out for:

• Moussa Dembele - Lyon to Atletico Madrid
• Stephan El Shaarawy - SH Shenhua to Roma
• Alejandro Gomez - Atalanta to Sevilla
• Sebastien Haller - West Ham to Ajax
• Ozan Kabak - Schalke to Liverpool (loan)
• Jesse Lingard - Manchester United to West Ham (loan)
• Arkadiusz Milik - Napoli to Marseille (loan)
• Mario Mandzukic - Free Transfer to AC Milan
• Martin Odegaard - Real Madrid to Arsenal (loan)
• Daniele Rugani - Juventus to Cagliari (loan)

The Football Manager has already confirmed some of the Bundesliga transfers, as confirmed on the league's official website they are:

• Luka Jovic - Real Madrid to Eintracht Frankfurt (loan)
• Klaas Jan-Huntelaar - Ajax to Schalke
• Sami Khedira - Juventus to Hertha Berlin
• Dominik Szoboszlai - Red Bull Salzburg to RB Leipzig
• Chris Richards - Bayern Munich to Hoffenheim (loan)
• Max Meyer - Crystal Palace to FC Koln
• Demarai Gray - Leicester to Bayer Leverkusen
• Jeremie Frimpong - Celtic to Bayer Leverkusen

Release Date

The FM 21 Winter Update is now live as of Monday, 22 February!

A second update will arrive in March, however, which SI is calling the "final update".

This will include February transfers that happened in Russia, the MLS and EFL.

It will also include the NewGen competition winner.

Rating Refresh

You can also expect to see some changes to in-game attributes when the winter update comes around.

READ MORE: FM21: Best Wonderkid Attacking Midfielders (AMC) - Pedri, Demir, Reyna & more

It's unlikely that we will see any major changes, but expect to see a couple of upgrades here, a couple downgrades there and maybe a position change or two if the FM devs see fit.

Of course, we will update you with all the rating changes in due course.

New Faces

Could we see one or two new faces make their way to the Sports Interactive title when the winter update arrives?

Youssoufa Moukoko is the man that we all want to see, with the 16-year-old Dortmund man become the youngest ever player to feature in the Bundesliga when he made his debut back in November.

READ MORE: FM21: All the Best Left Midfielders (ML, AML) to Sign - Neymar, Mane, Hazard & more

We're not sure if he'll come in the update, but there's always a chance.

Who knows what his potential ability will be!

Become NewGen

Sports Interactive currently have a competition on allowing you to become a NewGen in FM21!

Sign up to FMFC to enter, with the competition winner arriving in the "final update" for FM21.