How to find wonderkids without resorting to google searches?

[2feet]

Is there a way to do find wonderkids in-game, without using websites out there which publish lists of wonderkids, which is kind of cheating?

I ask because Ive got a set of five good scouts with 15+ for judge current and potential ability, (Im a league one team), but I cant find any wonderkids who are interested in league one, just players who have potential to become championship players.

Should I be scouting competitions, or countries? Which is better?

[Mattyboy89]

Wonderkids are far too good to Transfer to League One teams. Your best bet is to get the on loan for a season or two, then maybe buy them if you get promoted to the top division. 

Wonderkids tend to be sold for a huge amount so you'll have no chance signing on permanently. 

[2feet]

But there must be wonderkids who are young, and who would benefit from playing league one football?

In past games, Ive used the online lists and was able to sign one or two of the cheap wonderkids for league one, they were quitre young about 17 or 18 if i remmber rightly.

But this year i wanted to play fairly without using the lists - however im struggling to find any using the in-game methods.

[daylight]

You don't have to get hung up on players already listed as 'wonderkids', it is quite possible to find a young player and if he plays really well he could then get listed as a 'wonderkid' while playing for you.
I have done this quite a few times in the past in lower leagues.

If you do want to do it without looking at lists then you have to do as I and others do, search, search and then search again, they are out there you just have to put the work in to find them.
 

[HUNT3R]

1 minute ago, daylight said:

You don't have to get hung up on players already listed as 'wonderkids',

This. Sometimes that description won't even be there because of a lack of scouting knowledge.

[2feet]

OK thanks, I understand now. The answer, as with everything in life, is to work harder.

To help me get off on the right foot though, do you get more success scouting regions, or individual countries, or competitions, and do you limit the age criteria to say 17yrs-21yrs?

[pdstanbridge]

A book could be written on finding the elusive wonderkids. But general rule of thumb is thoroughly scout 14-17 year olds and look at work rate and determination. If they are determined then there is the possibility they will train well. I usually find a lot of regens in South America whom are worthy of consideration but work permits now can cause problems. Having said that, if you buy them as soon as you can (whilst they are cheap) you can loan them out of feeders who will allow them to gain one. By the time they are 20 or so they will be ready for first team action and will probably have a permit. That's what I do anyway, or did in 16. In FM17 it might be slightly different. 

 

[pdstanbridge]

Something else to consider, whilst scouts 'do' the scouting as such, coaches with geographic knowledge will open up areas that may have been inaccessible. For example, my scouts were scouting Europe but I hired a coach with lots of North American knowledge. When I returned to my scouting list there were players from North American countries who weren't there before. So having a good set of foreign coaches and scouts is essnetial.

 

[carlowsaint19]

2 minutes ago, pdstanbridge said:

A book could be written on finding the elusive wonderkids. But general rule of thumb is thoroughly scout 14-17 year olds and look at work rate and determination. If they are determined then there is the possibility they will train well. I usually find a lot of regens in South America whom are worthy of consideration but work permits now can cause problems. Having said that, if you buy them as soon as you can (whilst they are cheap) you can loan them out of feeders who will allow them to gain one. By the time they are 20 or so they will be ready for first team action and will probably have a permit. That's what I do anyway, or did in 16. In FM17 it might be slightly different. 

 

I'm not so sure this is accurate, determination and work rate are important to players while they are playing actual games but do not affect there training. This is decided by their personality and the hidden attributes Professionalism and Ambition. (these can be assessed by looking at their media handling and personalities).

[Verby]

I would suggest scouting the lower leagues in other countrys,  Spanish Second Divison,  Serie B, Ligue 2, Jupiler League and hope to get lucky and fine a talented youngster and try and get him early that way

[daylight]

I search from 15 year old.

Also I don't go with just my scouts find, its not unusual for me to spend an entire evening going through smaller clubs around Europe, looking through U21 international sides, especially the smaller international sides.
The truth is if you find a player that either is or can be a wonderkid at a big club or a good international side the chances are he won't come to a lower league side or you can't afford him.

They come from anywhere though, I've had them from Ireland to Russia and from Scandinavia to Poland.

[pdstanbridge]

1 minute ago, carlowsaint19 said:

I'm not so sure this is accurate, determination and work rate are important to players while they are playing actual games but do not affect there training. This is decided by their personality and the hidden attributes Professionalism and Ambition. (these can be assessed by looking at their media handling and personalities).

There are lots of factors to consider, hence my writing a book about it comment. Don't foget injury prone too. But me personally I've always looked at those two attributes first. I've never considered professionalism and ambition - can those attributes improve do you know? I know a player who is injury prone can also lose the attribute although it is rare. I've also seen players grow in height. This only happens before they are 18. 

 

[carlowsaint19]

Just now, pdstanbridge said:

There are lots of factors to consider, hence my writing a book about it comment. Don't foget injury prone too. But me personally I've always looked at those two attributes first. I've never considered professionalism and ambition - can those attributes improve do you know? I know a player who is injury prone can also lose the attribute although it is rare. I've also seen players grow in height. This only happens before they are 18. 

 

Yep for players to improve in terms of stats this is driven by training facilities, coaching staff (and their workload) as well there professionalism and ambition. Those mental attributes drive the players to be better in training. These hidden stats can be improved by tutoring the younger players with senior players with excellent personalities, for example Mark Noble is a Model Pro and an excellent tutor as is Drogba who is a perfectionist. Using tutors is a great way to improve young players as well as giving them some game time.

You're right about injury prone players as they will not improve (and may go backwards) when injured so a broken leg or other serious injuries can ruin your best prospect especially if they are continuously injured. Young players can also grow in height, I'm not sure what age this stops at though.

 

Just as an aside in the tactics and training treads there are superb guides from Cleon and other contributors which details how to train your players and help them achieve max potential. Really worth a read as they can be a massive help in understanding the game and growing your own players.

[Double Indemnity]

You can make your own "Wonderkid." It's just a label the game sticks on players who hit certain CA/PA thresholds at young ages. Either build up your youth system or buy a bunch of lottery-ticket 16-18 year-olds and develop them well.

[HUNT3R]

Scout competitions. It's more specific than sending a scout into an entire country and he'll have matches to watch.

[Sherdil]

17 hours ago, 2feet said:

Is there a way to do find wonderkids in-game, without using websites out there which publish lists of wonderkids, which is kind of cheating?

I ask because Ive got a set of five good scouts with 15+ for judge current and potential ability, (Im a league one team), but I cant find any wonderkids who are interested in league one, just players who have potential to become championship players.

Should I be scouting competitions, or countries? Which is better?
 

For wonderkids, even as a big team like Arsenal, I only really scout the countries outside the TOP 5 leagues. So I don't scout England, Spain, Italy, Germany or France. I even don't scout Brazil, Argentina, or Netherlands because the players are way to expensive.

While it is very difficult and rare to find hidden gems, the ones you do find in Africa, or Eastern Europe can be bought for as low as 250K.  That's where you will have a chance. Other than that, loaning is the only other viable option.

[facman]

21 hours ago, 2feet said:

Im a league one team, but I cant find any wonderkids who are interested in league one, just players who have potential to become championship players.
 

I finished 7th in the Premiership last season and qualified for the Europa League, and I am scouting wonderkids who aren't interested in joining me. Why? Because they are all being snapped up by Juve, PSG and Barca... to be fair, if I was a wonderkid and was given the choice between living in Turin or Leeds, I know which I would choose!

As an old friend from Halifax used to say "Don't talk to me about sophistication, I've been to Leeds!"