The Art of Identifying Wonderkids

The best thing I do in Football Manager is find wonderkids. I have gotten better at tactics and through research have learned how to train players, but what I have always done, what I have always wanted to do, is find and collect wonderkids. This video is the art of knowing which player is a wonderkid and which one is just another young player.

Much Love,
FM Senpai

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[hamzakaroumia]

Just got my PhD in Wonderkids.

Appreciate it as always Z

[FMJellico]

Screen flow. Free "scouting" for any team at any level, and can give you a heads up on a lot of good to great players. It just a PITA to set up

[TheFakeAliG]

10:08 full respect to our boy Christian Yildiz

[declangaming]

The fact when I play FM wonderkids aren't my focus it's about focusing on the now if a team eg my wigan save when I joined them in November 2024 sat 19th in league 1 just above the drop zone signed will grigg, devante Cole, some 22 year old American forward, Alan mannus all on a free about 4 games in sat 13th in league 1. beat Leicester reserves in the papa John's trophy Ben Amos made 3 saves in the shootout we got drawn against Manchester City reserves and if we beat Cambridge united in the 2nd round replay face championship side Middlesbrough

[aaronnator]

Z you gotta be cautious on these titles. FBI gonna come looking for you 😂

[Draddar]

The video FM community really needed. People keep buying 5 star potentials and expect miracles.

[knappster]

So long as the potential shows that they can improve, I focus on the personality and current attributes to see if they look good. This video just made me a little more confident in that approach. Thanks z.

[arimarismacon]

The Diamond in the Rough players who come through and their "potential" isn't good, but they just keep improving are my favorite ones. I also think they are the most important players for any major club. Those players who end up in the 3 star range by 23 who started out looking like a future release just make things so much better for any club.

[tajj]

I'd 100% buy that centre-back if I was like a PL team or Bundesliga etc. A 17 year old CB, with that potential, that is either footed, has 12s and 13s in the right mental areas and has 13 starting pace? for what £12-15 million, that you could easily buy for probably £7-9 million up front with performance based bonuses. He also is already decent at handling pressure as well. Just train him on defensive positioning which should get that marking/positioning to at least 14-15, if not 16s. Plus he has no adaptability issues either. Push that guy forward 3-4 points and you are talking about an either footed, very smart, fast centre-back.

[Jensito]

this is the kind of video i subbed for. glad you are doing them again

[Ascalonn]

The AI also "tells" you which players have a chance of becoming world beaters. Look for the following:
1. Wanted sign from teams like Liverpool, PSG etc.
2. Insane market value and not at top tier teams (e.g. Bulow). If a team like Auxerre is asking $70 M for a 18 yo, he will be a world beater.
3. Contract Negotiations. For example, if a striker is asking for goals bonus or international cap salary increase it's a good sign.
Of course, you still have to look at personality and attributes.
Keep in mind, players with either feet or that play multiple position will get a really good scout report even if they are not that good and will never be.

[llSuperSnivyll]

While it's mostly true to not expect a player to change much in his playstyle, there can be exceptions, such as when there's a large gap between their Current Ability and Potential. But then again, it's tough to identify those cases without the In-Game Editor.

[attackus]

Instead of manually scouting international tournaments I just use the search filters to get a full list (15-19 year olds with at least one cap, 15-17 year olds with 5+ youth caps etc)

[mr.braiolo]

What's your opinion on selling these kind of "failed" wonderkids with a rebuy clause even though you might get less money for them? Just in case they end up reaching that potential. Great video, as always

[pulleyfm]

One thing about professionalism that almost nobody knows is there's a REALLY easy way to tell if a player has high professionalism or not.

If they tuck their shirt in for matches they have high professionalism, if they don't then they have low professionalism.

[upawastaken]

Why does the thumbnail look like H3H3, I'm cryingg

[javierfdez.]

I got to say. That while your general comment at the start about players not fundamentally changing who they are is more or less true, there is potential for change when the PA is very high compared to CA.

Your example with Cisneros shows this going from a 9 which is bad, to 18 which is top class. And of course even if its exceptional, its just a dramatic change in performance in that department. Even a lower 5-7 points would still be.

I myself found a young 18 yo Serbian midfielder for cheap with apparently loads of potential. Due to that I wanted him for RPM because its a demanding position and he was relativelly complete....with one issue, hisnpassing and vision were 10 and 9, terrible for a playmaker.

But I believed in him and went for it. I did suffer it a bit at the start, but yet here we are. With 22 years and still potential to spare he has 17 in both attributes giving me a very complete and creative player that fits the role greatly together with his other mental and physical increases. Of course I focused him on passing for 2 years. But when its a single thing that uou need to really chamge, it is possible if the potential is high.

Its true that other departments I didnt focus on, like technical and mental defensive aspects, have barely moved but those were good enough to start. So throgh development he was really allowed to fit a role he apparently wasnt meant to.

[bentn]

When I'm in just below the top league I like signing wonderkids, because it gives them a year at least of playing together before getting into the top league, meaning we don't need to renew the whole team when we get promoted, only half or so. Also lower stakes being not so good in the 2nd league than the first lol.

[lahmouriakram]

The probleme is that in the game training is not that impactful wich is a shame, the game just dosn't give us the possibility to realy shape players . The players developements are quite scripted and you can't go from a 9 passing to a 16 or 17 even if the player spend 5 years training and working on his passing skills wich is unrealistic . Even zealand can have a 16 passing if he works hard for years.

[R_LEGND]

I too am a connoisseur of incredibly talented young humans