I am making this guide specifically for an English Premiership and Championship games. To be able to train the stars of the future you of course need; Junior Coaching, Youth Facilities and Training Facilities. Remember however that investing in these facilities can mean lower transfer and wage budgets.

This is my first ever guide and It's extremely basic, please tell me If i have missed anything. If I have my main reason for this is I'm about to go away for a while. Please enjoy. I hope you found this useful.

Two Players who came directly through one of my Youth Systems. They both need some work but training will see to that. As of recently they have improved drastically. (eg Graham Button's composure is now 14)

I am making this guide specifically for an English Premiership and Championship games. To be able to train the stars of the future you of course need; Junior Coaching, Youth Facilities and Training Facilities. Remember however that investing in these facilities can mean lower transfer and wage budgets.

Junior Coaching and Coaching:
Junior Coaching is important when recruiting youth as it is the way in which pre 15/16 year olds are essentially taught to play football, these are the kids who are acquired near the end of the season. So to have a good Junior Coaching system may mean you may have good players as soon as they emerge into the Under 18s. This should mean that the average standard of players in the U18s should be improved. You may be able to quickly see the best players in your youth system. Having good staff to train your first team i also neccesary for your players to reach their potential, so try to have a good backroom staff to help improve your players further.

Youth Facilities: these facilities are probably on par with the first team training facilities (I explain in the next paragraph). With good Youth facilities your youth players will be able to improve faster and develop to a higher standard than with terrible facilities. I assume that the Junior Coaching occurs in these facilities so to develop these is important.

Training Facilities: You may wonder why I include this into the guide but this is why. When your youth players have signed professional contracts with the club you still have a few years for them to develop fully. Personally when I discover that the players I pick up have potential I will usually send them straight into the first team, not to play but to be training with the top players as soon as possible (This is how I interpret this, I understand I may be wrong) as I tend to find them rapidly improving faster than in the U18s or Reserves.

Youth Recruitment Networking: Improving this will increase the reach you have for recruiting players. This will mean that you will be able to take on players with a wider reach. Essentially as it increases the likelyhood you will discover good players. It is highly beneficially you increase the Networking of your club.

If your club does not have a good Youth recruitment network for example if your club is surrounded by other clubs your club may have difficulties in finding the next star. When talking to the board there is an option to speak to them about Feeder Clubs in this menu look for the option that goes along the lines of ‘First team options from clubs youth systems’ (Sorry I don’t know the precise wording currently) Now if you are new to the club or haven’t been at the club for very long they may not agree or may pick the club themselves. If they do let you pick the club you will be greeted with a few clubs to choose from usually from abroad. Don’t expect a club like Ajax or Dortmund for example that have excellent an excellent youth set up to take advantage of. They would not want to have a parent club, while a small club may need the money from the yearly fee.

You will most likely have clubs you have never heard of being available. Do a little research on the clubs available for example if you come across two clubs from Brazil and one from Japan naturally you may go for Brazil as it is has more of a football culture and prestige than Japan but you should check their facilities before choosing which to go for. Some of the best nations for youth players are usually in; Western Europe, Eastern Europe and parts of South America. So try to favour these clubs in this region but I reiterate look at the facilities of these clubs.

The option to ask the board for feeder clubs happens roughly every six months. You should expect that the club that you feeder will not always give you incredible players but they significantly increase the chances.

Regen Players are players who are generated by the game to ensure the right number of players are in the game, these players will come through the youth ranks of clubs across the globe. These players come through at different times through out the year.

If you don't have the time to look extensively through the list then look for the countries that I have made bold. Otherwise look for: Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Ukraine. These Countries have a tendency to spawn several world class players a year.

Other nations that will produce good players but potentially not at a high rate (depending on how your game goes) must have a reasonably competitive football structure so countries like Luxembourg, don't generally create many/if any world class players

In Europe: Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Poland, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey,
In the Americas: Mexico, US & Canada.
In Asia: Australia, S. Korea.
Africa: Egypt, South Africa.
Below is the list of dates for all nations when they spawn regen players in the game.

26th January
Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Curaçao, Dominica, Dominican Rep., El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Surinam, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos Islands, US Virgin Islands

23rd February
Albania, American Samoa, Andorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Cyprus, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Fiji, FYR Macedonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, San Marino, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu

8th March
Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, N. Ireland, Russia, Scotland, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Wales

13th March
Austria, England

17th March
Slovakia

18th March
Belgium, Czech Republic, Demark, Italy, Poland, Portugal

19th March
Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Uruguay

23th March
Mexico

25th March
Holland

28th March
Serbia, Spain

2nd April
Argentina, India, South Africa

17th April
Indonesia

19th April
Hong Kong

27th April
Australia

7th June
Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Venezuela

13th August
Iceland

27th August
Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Chinese Taipei, East Timor, Guam, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Macau, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, Northern Mariana, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, U.A.E., Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen

2nd September
Malaysia, Sweden

14th September
South Korea

19th September
Chile

20th September
Brazil, Ireland

25th September
Finland

28th September
Singapore, Colombia

1st October
Norway

3rd October
Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Rep., Chad, Congo, Djibouti, DR Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, ♥♥♥♥♥, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé &Príncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zanzibar, Zimbabwe

8th October
China

16th October
Peru

2nd November
Belarus

26th December
USA

Staffs are needed to develop your young players to their full potential so Youth Coaches are needed. Try to get coaches with high stats in working with youngsters, there are plenty of coaches that will be available to become youth coaches so there is no real need to hold on to any specifically or offer high wages. The other most important position is that of Head of Youth Development (HYD). I personally always look towards potential HYD’s who may be former scouts. Preferably they should have excellent stats in judging players potential. This is because your HYD is going to be judging which players to take on and make recommendations and the second most important is judging players ability.

However it is important to note that you should always have a quick run through of the players you do recruit. From time to time the staff members, no matter how good the stats of his judgement are misjudge some players, so definitely have a look of the players.

This section covers the other methods of Youth recruitment via Transfers and Loans.

Transfers:
If your youth system is in a mess you may need or desire players from other teams and may buy them so they train at your club and grow to play for you. In the latter stages of the season you will recruit a bunch of players who are either 15 or 16, who are contesting to join your ranks and be given a youth contract. This happens across the country indeed it happens across the world. The few days you have between them signing their contracts with the clubs are vital.

If you come across a player you know will be a star you can offer them a precontract for when they turn 17. they will join your ranks once the nearest transfer window begins. (Some will not which i will explain in the next paragraph). For a penalty fee of a couple of hundred thousand you can enlist this player into your team. This way they will have plenty of time to be trained at your club which is three years. However there are difficulties with doing this. If for example they are from Brazil contracted to a Brazilian club you have to wait until the player is 18 before he moves abroad. It can mean you miss out on having them trained by your club as this happens for three years until they are 21 meaning that they will not have been trained at your club.

I won't really touch up on this but Wages are an important negotiation, when trying to nab players from other clubs during the *trials* every year, negotiating with them a slightly higher wage can mean they will sign for you Not always but it can. If you offer lower than they originally asked they will probably sign on at their current club. Not always but it can. No matter which club I am at and how rich they are I try to lower their wages in whatever way possible, if you are a club like Real Madrid you will notice that a lot of players will ask for £20K+ p/w wages. If you are unsure about them it may not be worth the risk. I get annoyed when renewing contracts on players who are not key to the team doubling or tripling their wage demands. Be wary of these players. Sometimes you will come across exceptional players who support the club they are currently at and will demand higher wages or refuse to negotiate with you. Always remember there are similar and/or better players out there who will demand less.

*That being the days when youth candidates are judged at clubs globally.*

Another quick side note I'd like to add is that of Free Transfers picking up the players with a bit of a reputation can mean money in the bank. As Reading in FM 12 for three years running I got my hands on 18 year olds on frees to sell of for a few million. It can be money in the bank but risky.

If you have missed this opportunity you may still be able to buy the players that you seek, but depending on the club that owns them you may pay a little or a lot of cash for them. Again I highlight double checking stats of the players you are after. In Football Manager 10 I once spent around £24M on a 17 year old I thought was going to be a quick David Beckham according to my reports (I only spent that much as I was at a wealthy club and had no other use for the money). He didn't improve was daunted by his fee and completely failed and I made a huge loss on him. I quickly learned that unless it's in exceptional circumstances never ever break £10M let alone £5M some of my best players I bought who are internationals for countries like England, France and Spain for lower than £2M. Some good marketing advice is to enquire on the price the club wants and nag them with lower offers until they negotiate and agree terms. Never jump straight into a transfer if you have time. Patience is a virtue.

Continuing from the paragraph above I would also like to point out Valuations. Valuations come down to Potential, Ability and form to be basic. I have seen players like Nile Ranger when managing Newcastle (Not hating on him, just an example) with a valuation of around two million. I looked through his stats and was horrified; he was simply awful in my game. In the upper divisions it's common to find players with million pound price tags in U18s but the majority of the time it's simply the fact that they are in a good team that the value goes up. Even if they are terrible, an awful Gloucester United U18 is tens of pounds if that, while an awful Barcelona U18 is usually around £20k-£300K. Quite a difference, even if that's a tiny amount in the grander scheme it's more money than lower league club budgets.



Summary
Look during the global Youth "inductions" for potential stars.
Do not spend excessive amounts on a single player unless they are an exceptional.
Do not rely on Staff/Scout judgements always check yourself.
Offer low wages for risky youth prospects and youth in general to cut costs.
Free transfer can make money.
Valuations are not always true to the potential or ability of the player.
Don't jump into transfers.


Loans:
If you are a team in the championship that may be lacking in funding to sign potential players you can loan them with future fees attached, the club may not always accept these deals so it can be a balance but you are given the opportunity of seeing how good the player is whether he's the right player for you and if he is going to become a good player potentially saving you money. When I managed Bristol City in FM 2011 I loaned two Tottenham players Steven Caulker and (first name escapes me) Bostock. Caulker went straight into my team and I had one tight ship barely letting in any goals I latter bought him for around £1.5M (It was a bargain I swear) and he was happy and cut his wages slightly for me as he enjoyed the loan and his experience with the club. Bostock on the other hand didn't suit my style of play, and was poor. Generally he was a bench warmer. Good example of the use of loans.

In the reverse of this loans can be risky. I have many a time had players completely waste their time out on loan being benched and not playing. With the worse facilities available (depending on where they go but generally as a youth player they will drop down a division or two) they can be held back from some of their potential. On the other hand if the club they are loaned too, does use, them there has been many times they have return injured with lasting injuries. For example in my long running game I loaned a player to Everton who was a right back and 20 years old, He was enjoying regular football, was getting good match ratings and was working alongside professionals while training in good facilities but in one match he broke his leg. Out for months which stalled his development and now he is getting sold off with his potential gone.

Another thing to look out for about loans is that while the player is out on loan he is not getting trained by your club. I always wait for them to be around twenty and trained by the club before I let them out on loan and I won't loan them if I feel that I can give them more first team action. Of course if it is too late to be trained by the club because you missed training them because they are 18 it makes little odds, if they are a doubt for becoming stars then I usually just loan them in the hope and any potential transfer may be useful to make a quick buck. I also would say as general advice that if you do get loan offers you consider always tick the 'can be recalled' option when negotiating the loan.


Summary:
Scouting players from the use of a Loan can be worthwhile.
Set future fees when a player is coming into the club through a loan.
Loans can risk injurys when players are going from your club.
Use the 'Can be recalled option' when sending player on loan
If they are not trained by your club do not loan them.
Give players who you doubt will succeed loans in the hope of potential transfer interest.