FC 25 Youth Academy Tips and Tricks

FC 25 Youth Academy is every bit as fun as you’d expect it to be. But like the main game itself, it’s still pretty challenging if you don’t play your cards right. For now, we’ve got a guide on how you can have an easier time building your team of talented little leaguers in the game.

Before the guide though, don’t hesitate to drop by RPGStash's FC 25 store. We’ve got amazing deals on FC 25 coins that will help you get better players in Ultimate Team. Now, on to the guide!

This year’s career mode in FC 25 brings a range of updates, from revamped menus to expanded scouting options. But the real question is, has player development in career mode actually changed? Let's dive in to find out.

Key Changes in Career Mode

It seems like almost everything in career mode has been updated this year. The menus are different, there are tons of new settings, and we can now scout across nearly 50 additional nations. But when it comes to player development, how much has actually changed?

Player Development: Game Time

Historically, player development in career mode has been influenced by four main factors: loans, development plans, morale, and game time. Each year, the balance between these factors shifts slightly, making it essential to stay up-to-date.

This year, we’re starting with game time, which you’d think would be a critical factor in player growth.

However, last year, game time barely influenced growth, impacting only form, which then contributed to development via the development plan. In FC 25, this trend seems to continue. Playing every minute doesn’t guarantee faster growth; performance matters more.

For instance, playing fewer games but consistently achieving an 8 out of 10 rating is actually better for a player’s development than playing every game with a lower average rating.

League Impact on Player Development

Surprisingly, the league a player competes in has minimal effect on development speed. A player participating in League 2 and another in La Liga will grow at the same rate, despite the significant difference in competition level.

In fact, players in lower leagues might develop faster due to higher average ratings and better form.

Loans: Do They Matter?

Loans are often used by Premier League teams to provide their young players with game experience in lower leagues. But does this actually help in FC 25?

Loans work much the same as in previous versions: players in different leagues may hide their performance from the manager, but they still grow slightly faster on loan than they would at the parent club. Potential can still vary by a few points depending on loan performance.

The Role of Coaches and Development Plans

Playing time and loans may not have changed much, but coaching certainly has. Development boost, or "Dev boost," is influenced entirely by coaches.

By hiring the right mix of coaches with sufficient stars, you can achieve a high Dev boost for all players, while hiring no coaches results in a very low Dev boost.

EA has divided coaching into four areas: attack, midfield, defense, and goalkeeping, linking players to their relevant coaches based on position. A five-star goalkeeping coach can train all goalkeepers effectively, but for midfielders, you might need 14 to 15 stars for optimal results.

Matching the necessary star count can triple the rate of player development, so hiring the right coaches can make a big difference in growth.

Player Roles in Development Plans

Development plans allow you to adjust a player's growth based on their position and desired skill set. As in FC 24, players develop faster when they’re assigned a broader role rather than focusing on specific skills.

For instance, a center midfielder with high passing but low defense will develop faster if assigned a ball-winning midfielder role rather than a deep-lying playmaker role.

Youth Tournaments: A New Addition

This year introduces youth tournaments, giving managers the chance to enter tournaments every two months and face off against three AI-controlled teams in Rush mode. While this mode is fun (and we recommend setting the match timer to around 3 minutes), unfortunately, winning these tournaments does not contribute to player development.

All you get is a social media post from Fabrizio Romano.

Player Potential Visibility

You can now see a player’s potential by enabling a specific setting in the pre-save menu. After playing a game, head to "Performance," and you’ll see your player’s potential in the top corner. This feature provides insight but doesn’t affect development directly.

New Feature: Adjusting Development Speed

One of the most notable updates is the ability to adjust how fast players improve. This setting applies to every player in the game, affecting both Academy and senior players.

By selecting "Slow," players will progress at a slower rate, while "High" will make them grow faster. We tested this by placing a player in League One for a season, keeping all conditions consistent except for speed settings, and found that:

• On "Fast," he reached 79 overall.
• On "Default," he also reached 79.
• On "Slow," he reached 78.

It’s worth noting that loans don’t seem to be affected by this setting, meaning a player out on loan will develop at the same speed, regardless of whether the overall speed is set to fast or slow.

Youth Academy Adjustments

The Youth Academy has seen two notable changes:

1. Youth Tournaments – While these don’t affect growth, they add a fun element to the Academy experience.
2. Development Speed Control – You can now adjust how quickly Academy players progress, adding flexibility based on your preference.

Additionally, you can scout 13-year-olds, although there’s no significant difference in development between 13-year-olds and 24-year-olds if they have the same rating across the board.

Player Age and Growth Rate

Age affects growth only in terms of regression, with players’ ratings typically declining around age 31. Younger players don’t automatically improve faster; instead, they’ll progress at the same rate as older players with comparable ratings.

The main difference lies in the relative starting stats of a 23-year-old versus a 16-year-old.

New Scouting Countries in FC 25: Are They Worth It?

There have been loads of new scouting countries added to the FC 25 Youth Academy, but are any of them actually worth scouting?

In previous versions of career mode, the nations with the highest scouting costs statistically produced the best players with the highest potential, and they did so more frequently. This year, out of all the newly added nations, only eight fall into the most expensive scouting bracket:

• South America: Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago
• Southern Europe: Malta, San Marino, Andorra, Gibraltar, and Cyprus

To see if this trend holds up, I tested three of these countries—Guyana, Cyprus, and Trinidad and Tobago—by scouting for a central midfielder without specific role requirements.

Scouting Results

Here's a breakdown of what each country produced:

1. Guyana:

   • Overall Range: 60-80
   • Potential Range: 70-94
   • Value: 1.4 million

2. Cyprus:

   • Overall Range: 50-70
   • Potential Range: 77-94
   • Value: 2 million

3. Trinidad and Tobago:

   • Overall Range: 60-80
   • Potential Range: 75-94
   • Value: 1.8 million

After signing these players to the Youth Academy and promoting them to the first team, here's how they ranked:

• Cyprus: Had the highest-rated player with a potential to be special (91+ potential).
• Trinidad and Tobago: Produced a player showing great potential (80-85 potential).
• Guyana: Produced a solid player, but with a lower potential, ultimately needing to be placed on the loan list.

Based on these results, the eight nations mentioned above appear to be among the best options for scouting in the Youth Academy. If you're looking to develop high-potential players, Cyprus, Trinidad and Tobago, and possibly the other expensive nations are solid places to start.

Finding The Best Players In FC 25 Youth Academy

In career mode, the Youth Academy remains incredibly valuable from a financial standpoint. Nothing else comes close to matching its money-making potential. A well-run academy can bring numerous benefits, making your job as a manager much easier.

Getting Started: Growth and Scouting Decisions

Before even beginning career mode, you need to make key decisions about player development. For lower-league teams, it’s wise to set senior players to fast growth while leaving youth players on normal.

However, if you’re starting with a top-tier team, consider leaving both on their default settings, which we’ll explain more fully in a moment.

Once in the menus, head to the youth scouting section and hire three Scouts. Although the game provides one by default, the initial Scout at a smaller club may not be very skilled. Ideally, you want Scouts with five stars in both judgment and experience.

If budget constraints mean you need to hire a Scout with lower stats, remember this: experience gives you more chances to discover players (like having more tickets in a raffle), while judgment improves the quality of players scouted.

Both attributes are valuable, but aim to replace Scouts with five-star options as soon as possible.

Setting Up Scouting Missions and Player Positioning

Scouting missions in FC25 now rely on specific positions and roles, which directly affect the attributes players receive. However, the attribute system is still a bit glitchy, and patches are likely needed.

Until then, experiment with different positions and roles to find players that fit your tactical needs, as players suited to certain roles may receive in-game boosts. Let us know if you find any overpowered attribute combinations!

For updates on any issues and workarounds, I’ll keep a pinned comment on this video to provide any new insights on optimizing your scouting.

Assessing Player Potential

Once scouting assignments are set, it will take a month for the first reports to come in. At this point, focus on the maximum potential shown for each player, ideally 90 or above.

While this doesn’t guarantee a 90 overall rating, it does increase the likelihood of them reaching at least 80—a solid rating for most big clubs. Potential is a range that can shift over time with a better understanding of a player’s skills.

The overall range shown at the top of the report only matters if the player is 16 or 17. Low overall players can still improve through bimonthly youth tournaments, so be sure to play these tournaments regularly, especially for players needing development.

For 16-17 year-olds with high potential, aim for an overall of 60 or above; otherwise, they may struggle to fulfill their potential. Still, if you desperately need a player for a specific position, even a 55 overall with 90 potential could be worth signing.

Youth Development and Growth Mechanics

New to FC25 is the ability for youth players to grow in height over the years, so don’t be too quick to dismiss younger players who seem undersized at first.

Keep youth players in the academy as long as possible, where they’ll enjoy steady growth without external pressure. Pay attention to inbox notifications of players requesting promotion; if not moved to the first team after a request, they’ll leave your club.

In the first team, players become subject to dynamic potential, which can harm growth if they aren’t regularly playing—especially in lower leagues where potential is harder to maintain. Get these players loaned out until they’re ready to be part of the rotation.

Loaning can also help weaker players improve overall, but beware, as the game’s mechanics might mean they miss out on future playstyle bonuses.

Development Rate and Modding Tips

First-team coaches can dramatically influence player development rates, but lower league clubs start with fewer coaching slots, making it difficult to achieve the ideal levels.

If you’re able to get the game on PC, we highly recommend it for the access it provides to the career mode modding community. Tools like Aranaktu Live Editor and RDBM database editor can help solve many of these developmental issues on the fly.

Tips for a Successful FC 25 Youth Academy Career Mode

By combining these tips, you'll have all the tools to build a thriving Youth Academy and enjoy a long, successful FC 25 Career Mode. Here’s a quick overview of setup recommendations and ongoing management strategies:

Key Youth Academy Setup Options

1. Player Quality: Set to Full Potential to view each player’s potential overall when participating in Youth Academy tournaments.

2. Scouting Speed: Set to Instant to immediately see player value on initial scout reports.

Appointing Coaches

Assign quality coaches across all departments (goalkeeper, defense, midfield, and attack) to reduce Youth Academy players’ development plan lengths.

For example, you may see development times decrease from 5 weeks to 3 weeks for one player and from 10 to 7 weeks for another.

Checking for Initial Talent

Each new Career Mode assigns random players to your Youth Academy. Although Homegrown Talent has been removed, it’s worth checking if you have any unexpectedly high-quality players.

Scouting Basics

• Scout Quality: Ideal scouts have five stars in both experience (scouts more players) and judgment (scouts higher-quality players). However, these scouts are pricey and may not fit all budgets, so hire the best you can afford.

• Top Nations and Regions: EA’s top nine nations include Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain. These regions statistically yield more top players, and scouting here costs more monthly. With patience, however, good players can be found worldwide.

Scout Instructions

1. Trip Length: This doesn’t impact results significantly.

2. Position: To improve scouting success, specify only one position initially. Additional positions can be added later using development plans.

3. Role: Avoid specifying a role at the start; like position, this can also be assigned later through a development plan.

Timing Scout Reports

Leave a few days between scout report returns to analyze each report separately. This ensures smoother management and implementation of the following tips.

Maximizing Youth Academy Potential

1. Save Before Reports: Always save your game a day before each scout report returns. This way, if a report yields no worthwhile players, you can reload and try again until you find a good candidate.

2. Spotting High-Quality Players:

• Overall Range: The second number in the overall range should be at least in the high 60s.

• Potential Range: The second potential number should be 94 or above.

• Value: Set scouting speed to Instant in Career Mode setup. A good player’s value should be over 1 million. If a player meets all three criteria, add them to your Youth Academy.

Filling Specific Positions

If you need players for a specific position, send all scouts to search for that position and save your game before the reports arrive. This way, you’ll have more options to fill that role quickly.

Developing Your Players

• Youth Tournaments: Playing Youth Academy players in these tournaments helps them grow and improve attributes.

• Full Potential Viewing: During tournaments, you can see each player’s full potential overall by pausing the game and going to Performance in the top-left corner. This is helpful for deciding which players to keep or release.

Using Development Plans

Once players are in your Youth Academy, development plans can be employed to level them up for new roles or positions. Start a new plan as soon as one finishes to maximize growth.

Keeping Players in the Academy

It’s beneficial to keep players in the Youth Academy as long as possible, either until their potential is definitive (e.g., 91–94) or until they become unsettled and request promotion. Player potential is safe within the Youth Academy but subject to changes from Dynamic Potential once promoted.

Managing Promoted Players

Once in the senior team, players’ potential status remains visible if their overall is above 60, up to their 22nd birthday. For example, a player with an overall of 59 might show as a prospect until he progresses further.

Loaning Out Players

Up to FC 24, loaning out promoted Youth Academy players often boosted both overall and potential. However, in FC 24, loaning out players prevented them from upgrading to Play Style Plus. We’re waiting to see if this restriction still applies in FC 25.

Start Your Youth Academy Journey Now

FC 25 Youth Academy is a great way to scout talent for your team. Hopefully, our tips above help you out significantly. If you want help outside of this guide, check out RPGStash's store for FC 25 coins and more!