FM24 Youth Development: How to Produce More Wonderkids

FM 24 Player Development! Wonderkids from the Youth Academy!

Looking for tips on developing young talent in Football Manager 2024 (FM24)? If you're only ever getting one star wonderkid a year and can't figure out why you're not finding great players with potential, that can be pretty frustrating. Luckily, there are a few changes you can make to boost your chances of building a golden generation and a starting XI full of future stars.

If you haven't read our thoughts on this year's game yet, check out our FM24 review, wonderkids, and tactics articles. If you're thinking about signing young players, our FM24 best wonderkids guide will give you every top young talent in the game. For now, let's take a look at ways to develop young talent in FM24.

FM 24 Player Development

Developing wonderkids in FM 24 isn't something you can do overnight, especially if you're a lower-league or lower-budget club, since it's something you'll need to work at over several seasons. Luckily, it's possible to do, and we'll share every way to develop your young talent with you. Here they are:

FM 24 Player Development: 1. Improving Your FM 24 Youth Recruitment:

One of the most important things you can change to boost your chances of a good stream of young talent is improving your youth recruitment. Improving your youth recruitment increases your scouting range and scouting density. This increases your odds of finding players who might otherwise have gone to other clubs. However, once you've found them, you need to make your club attractive enough for them to want to join.

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2. Improving FM24 Facilities:

If you want young players to develop well, having the best facilities is a major factor in attracting great talent. Go to the Finances tab, select Make Board Request from the menu on the right, then choose Facilities and Improve Youth Facilities. If your club doesn't have much money, this will likely be rejected and you'll need to convince the board.

3. Increasing FM 24 Youth Training:

Just like facilities, having great youth coaches at your club will attract more young players and ensure the young players at your club develop well. Again, go to Make Board Request, this time go to Finances, and click Increase Youth Training Budget. If you don't have enough money, you'll need to put in some effort to convince the board.

4. Hiring Good Coaches for FM24 Youth Development:

A good Director of Football/Youth Development Coach determines what type of players you'll get through your youth recruitment. This person scouts young players for the academy and steers the academy's development. Find someone with good Judging Player Ability and Judging Player Potential attributes and a high Working with Youngsters attribute. Also pay attention to their preferred formation and style of play, and make sure the youth coach you bring in shares the same football philosophy as your team. If you're a manager who plays defensively, you don't want a youth coach who's trying to find players for a tiki-taka 4-3-3.

5. Increasing FM24 Reputation:

Like a lot of things in FM, youth recruitment also depends on reputation. If a young player has a choice between youth academies at a club like Manchester City or a club like Tuzlaspor, they'll obviously pick City. Performing well in your league, winning trophies, and taking part in continental competitions will boost your reputation and make your club more attractive to young talent.

We hope these tips give your ability to develop and find young talent in FM 24 a boost, and that your youth team quickly starts producing star players for your first team.