I put around 1000 hours into each FM and I think they're at the point now where the game is consistently good without actually going that one step better. I thought that FM20 and FM21 were no better (or worse) than 19, with just a few tweaks here and there. If you wasn't bothered about the latest up to date information I'd advise a newbie just to save some money and pick up the 2019 edition.
I must say too, credit to them for releasing the game after a year in Covid but I've never played a game more buggy than FM21 in it's initial release. Teams not registering their players, newgens not being created amongst a ton of other game-breaking shit. It was horrendous, to the point where I legit rage-quitted from the franchise for a month or two around Xmas.