Youth players, academy and intakes

Your youth academy is a slow-burn but high-reward investment. Every month the academy generates an intakeof new prospects. The size of the intake is gated by your facilities rating, and the quality is influenced by your youth coaches and your club's reputation. Big-reputation clubs in major countries pull better intakes; lower-tier clubs rely on patience.

Intake mechanics

• Capacity is roughly facilities rating × intake multiplier.
• Intake quality follows a distribution — most prospects will be average, a handful good, and rarely one with elite potential.
• Country and club reputation tilt the curve. A reputable club in a top-5 country pulls noticeably better youth than a third-division side.

Promotion to the senior squad

Youth players are eligible for the senior squad once their FC reaches a usable level, typically around 50 for fringe roles in lower divisions. You can promote earlier for cup minutes — useful for accelerating development — but expect a real drop in match output for the first dozen appearances. The Youth page lets you mark prospects for fast-track development with extra coaching focus.

Selling vs developing

Not every youth prospect should stay. Selling a 19-year-old with average potential to a richer club for 8M is often better business than carrying them to 22 on the bench. Use scout reports (see Scout reports article) to estimate PC before deciding. A clean academy is one where every prospect is either growing towards your first team or being sold to fund the next intake.