Breaking Down FIFA's Youth Academy System!

The youth academy is one of the most loved parts of career mode, but as a community we actually know very little about it. Have you ever wondered what the best possible youth player is? Have you wondered what the highest value a youth player can have is? Well today i’ll be explaining both of these points, and sharing a few other bits of information i’ve found about the youth academy in FIFA career mode.
So, how did i get this information? I ran FIFA 23 on my PC, using a cheat engine to have scouts with 5 stars for experience and judgement. I also enabled the cheat to get 15 players per report meaning each reload i was getting 45 new players generated. From here I set up a script that will screenshot every single player, and finally I used python to take the text from the screenshot and put it in a excel sheet.
This resulted in me having information about over 2,000 generated players, a data set that at least help us to make some assumptions of how the academy worked. While i’ve tried to be as accurate as possible in this video its possible that there are even better players than what I found, so let me know if you find a player thats better in any of the areas we’ll talk about today.
Help support the channel
-- FIFA 23 PS5 Amazon Affiliate Link - amzn.to/3RXslVO
-- FIFA 23 PS5 Amazon Affiliate Link - amzn.to/3euE5kW
-- Merch available - www.merch.geogr...
-- Become a Channel Member - / @geografifa
-- Stream Donations - streamelements...
Social Media Links:
-- Check out my written guides - www.geografifa....
-- Discord - / discord --
-- Twitter - / geografifa --
-- Subscribe - / @geografifa
-- Business Enquiries - [e-mail]
#fifa23 #careermode

[@farm1683]

I have a striker from the ivory coast 6'4 with 99 strength. He started out at 68 overall and is now 95. I also have a brailisn keeper at 95 and an Argentinan CAM at 94. It's really worth focusing on youth development

[@k1llsk]

in the words of FM youtuber Zealand: " Loans, loans, loans, loans" 😭😭

[@hessen5498]

Next Drogba

[@MohamedMouhoub-10]

free agents?

[@mohammedfaiisal]

I always look at overall when signing a youth player not potential. Because I know their potential will change based on performance anyway and most my high 60s rated players always end up reaching 90+. Always

[@Speyeder121]

I always look at the value

[@mohammedfaiisal]

@@Speyeder121 I look at the overall, it doesn't matter to me what they're valued at or what their potential is and when I bring them in, it doesn't matter if their potential is below 80or above 90. There's a way where if you loan the player and then recall them immediately, their potential changes, up or down, you save before recalling so that you make sure you recalled them when their potential goes up and not down and I usually either loan them and recall them however many times they need, usually between 1 to 3 recalls, that's when their potential is has potential to be special and that's when their overall rating boosts much faster Another way is I just play them every single game and make sure I get their match rating above 8 every game and to do that, you need to score at least one goal late in to the game. Especially when they come off the bench, the later you score the higher your rating goes and when I score or assist or basically have a good game with my youth player every single game, their potential the next season changes upwards from either this player has been at the club since 2022 or showing great potential all the way to exciting prospect or has potential to be special. Mine usually goes all the way to has potential to be special. That's when their overall goes up faster

[@k1llsk]

usually the best indicator is their minimum potential, if its 70, 71 or below, their 100% gonna be duds or at least their potential is gonna drop by a bit, that n if their value is below 500K, their pretty much worthless. But 75 n up for minimum potential, 66 minimum ovr, 800k n up, n 15 or 16yrs old is more the player thats gonna be that 90 ovr or above

[@benjaminburgess43]

​@Mohammed Faisal cheers for the info. But the value I'd worth checking before signing youth players, as it's a good indicator to what their rating is

[@adept852]

@@mohammedfaiisal super useful summarization for me personally.. Thanks a lot Edit: How do you decide which development plan to choose ?

[@Ryan-vr2gb]

tried getting a full 99 team this year. literally impossible. tried it with only youth players got pretty close

[@Nuggi17]

What team did you use?

[@Ryan-vr2gb]

@@Nuggi17 UDC Dublin so they could stat pad basically. still didn't work it actually impossible. I actually got closest when I used a full team of the highest potential 17 year olds in the game.

[@LunchSays]

knock transfers off

[@Gingerbreadwastaken]

Use the loan glitch lol

[@dntpeekmete5825]

In fifa 22 I had a striker who was 6'7 and a 74 overall at the start of the career mode in league 2. He ended up being a 93 by the time I made it to the prem. James Rice was his name

[@k1llsk]

i remember i made a financial takeover save wit Burnley in F21 (at the time they changed owners so i thought why not) but i only added like 100m n did smart cheap signings like Newcastle r currently doin, i remember 2 academy players who were monsters: a American CF/ST 5'11 Luke Bliska n Finley Yates 6'2 CAM/CM (he was my homegrown), b4 i accidently overwrote my save Bliska won the ballon dor (i think twice or 3 times) n was a 91 ovr at 22 or 23yrs n Yates was bout 91 or 92 ovr, miss that save everyday

[@cesz1]

Same story! Josh Davison from AFC Wimbledon

[@RandomPerson-ng4kr]

Pretty much had a world class Crouch then

[@Moncerz]

Declan’s cousin

[@meagain449]

Same bro😂mines was 6’7 too but he started as a defender so i switched him too st since he was fast and had like 50 something shooting

[@dr.juliushibbert]

This is some impressive stuff. Well done!

[@anon-xc9fi]

Weird must’ve been very very lucky had a guy in my third div german career mode who was LM and when swapped to cam was a 79 - 17 yo off the bat

[@bostonpj]

I started a Bolton career mode this year and in the youth academy was a 68 rated striker with 88-92 potential and he was 15!! By the time he was 21 he was 91 rated and peaked at 96 rated 🎉

[@MatviykoIN]

I had a player who was 95 in his 19. He was ST from England (but when I took him to my academy he was CM, but I changed his position to ST and he was +20 (from 61 to 81). Changed: He was my favorite player, his name was Kai Fletcher. In first season he scored 40+ goals, because I was in fourth English league. I also had 2 more talents. One of them was my CDM Scott Sanderson, he was 77 in his 17 and his final rating was 86. Second was goalkeeper Andrew Williams, he was 81 in his 18 and 91 was his final rating. They all were in 1 career. I love them.

[@shadow1624]

This year i had a 17 year old ST who was 194 cm tall and had 94 potential, he was 71 rated. Then i retrained him to CB and he became 75 rated. Loaned him out for 2 seasons and now turning 20 he is 83 rated, still with potential to be special

[@cesarjoss5199]

I played with the cheat table to get higher potentials but I didn’t change the ratings and I found a youth player valued at 13 millions. Idk if it counts thought

[@ROYALPRIYANSHU123]

I once got the best Youth Academy player ever . He was 16 yrs 73 rated at an market value of 12 million . He was RM but when I converted him to LWF he became 76 rated . He was a beast and His name was Miguel Machado from Portugal .

[@Stoicism1989]

Great video. But the problem in this FIFA is the players with the same last names pool can be scouted in a wide number of countries. For example, in Ukraine you can find players with only two last names - Kovalenko and Shevchuk. This is so underwhelming.

[@Yoummzz]

Maybe the family of Kovalenko and Shevchuck breed top tier football players?

[@fanio9413]

Yeah, with Polish players its the same. I have 3 Barans in my team.

[@Stoicism1989]

Guys, you are absolutely right. How about Argentine players basically with Spanish last names.

[@jordanboys7979]

I got a 6 ft 7 keeper with a high reflexes rating in my first fifa 23 save scouting Romania of all places, he's been super solid since starting him at 16

[@lukaszrano8973]

Romania for keepers works so well

[@kaidenhall2718]

I’ve never gotten a target man over 60 overall or even a non central defender over 6’1 above 62 overall really annoying. Pedro Varela making my mouth water.

[@rafaelpimenta6279]

Eu tive um meia croata que era sensacional. Baixinho, chegou a 89 overall, mas era tão ligeiro e o chute certeiro que tomou conta da posição. Me trouxe 3 champions no Espanyol.

[@enemydolphin664]

I got a Brazilian winger with 73 OVR and PTBS in my youth career once

[@Shad0w5carab]

One of my favourite ways to use the academy is to try to make my full starting XI players from the youth academy and from the same nation as the team in playing. Currently doing this with Schalke and I’m 2 positions away from having a whole team of 85+ German players from the academy, all of which have potential to be special. Just need a ST and a CAM. The hard part is growing them to a high enough overall to use in the first team

[@jeremywaldrep8863]

I'm also trying this and it's difficult

[@sabinayasmin3410]

JarradHD: *Laughs in 99-99 potential YA player*

[@zMarsIsCool]

In the start of this year i was doing a rtg with Harrogate town and i hired some cheap cheap youth scouts then early in the first season i got a 68 rated Cam with 79-94 potential with 1 start scout

[@SalvadorHVAC]

Does anyone else Switch Wingback to Winger or Midfield? I usually get around +10 just from the position switch

[@johnnyfreespeech5815]

Yeah that’s definitely something to keep an eye out for. On one save I signed a RWB 20 year old free agent with bags of pace, dribbling etc... to play back up to my first choice RB (who was a much higher rating and similar age). Anyways, I was content to keep this guy at RWB in the mid-70s range because that would be good enough to rotate for cup games and he wouldn’t be getting too upset about not playing. Then I moved club the next season and really needed a full back to serve as a quick stopgap signing. The team I changed for was far weaker than the other team that I had just built. Since this guy had a fairly low transfer value I signed him on the cheap. Looked at his development plan and realised that he’d actually make a really good winger and it would only take a few weeks to convert. Lo and behold he jumps up into the eighties overall and instantly becomes my second best player at the new club, his transfer value also shot up. Ever since then I make an effort to look very closely at the stats when it comes to wing backs.

[@ReallyTom]

In fifa 22 I had signed an 98 rated french CAM on a free transfer and I know how insane that sounds but try to trust me. I miss him, he was amazing

[@cstmollins]

The best thing to do is scout free agent auto Gen players. Easy to find big gems with many mid 70s or even some 80s. Last save got a 92overall 17 yo from it.

[@cfcstar9000]

Youth Academy Players with High Physical attributes like Varela are identical to one of my Top Lads Shaw for Blackpool ya Love to see it, Up the Tangerines💪🍊;)Gd video mate👍

[@alennalic8441]

As soon as you sa8d spreadsheets & 2500 players test, inknww this was quality

[@ojciechumoru92]

I just started playing Fifa 23 cereer mode and right now I received 17 yo RW with 69 OVR and 93 POT worth €3,500,000 so I'm looking forward to make him a star but also looking for player on other positions.

[@chaoticsniper6]

I'm glad i'm not the only one that feels like 5 star skillers have better ball control when dribbling

[@norgeball3971]

A few years back, I had a really good defender from England. CB, only like 175cm tall but was a menace in the air. Became 93 rated in the end👍

[@cikjamal]

my favourite youth player I had was a Spanish left-back named Hurtado, with a potential of 81-92, and I got him to 81 rated when I won the UCL. I know he can be much better than that, but he was class.

[@trentmyers6515]

Geografifa thanks for the video, you ever bring up youth players that played nothing like their stats? I brought up a striker a few weeks ago that was a 61 overall and terrible shooting stats but the kid never missed a shot. also could you do a video breakdown of how you like to control your youth academy? Meaning what you see in different players sat wise and how you think that will translate to different positions on the field?

[@michaelosborne9894]

When I started an AFC Wimbledon career mode and at the start without scouting I found a 72 rated academy player with a 4sm-5wf. I am now in the championship (from league 2) and at 18 he is 83 rated and could of sold him for 55mil but kept him.

[@harrygamezz]

i have had this year a 70 rated 16 year old with up to 94 potential i always find that brazil technically gifted brings up to 94 potential every report

[@nikolasnaidenov402]

How they generate traits to?

[@alphamlalghali6698]

You People Just Make Videos Without Really Teaching Anything

[@SalvadorHVAC]

Don't be sacred to scout the player whos MV is under 500K - With Potential from 69-94 can be a star with playing Time, loan away, and most underated part SWITCH POSITIONS

[@cesarjoss5199]

yes changing position is actually slept on

[@Megatron2012]

yeah fs, just devel I them

[@wscottwalters74]

That’s where the 89-94 potential is the hint on the low rated 15yo who’s probably out of position. The ones who should be strikers can blossom very nicely.

[@jp6085]

Best home grown talent I had was 80 rated in an Everton career mode but best player from a report was a schalke career and he was 70 rated HPTBS and 4.3 mil £ ( better than my home grown talent in that save 😂)

[@dxmxn.f5245]

did an ingolstadt career mode and on a scout report if found a 70 rated german cam named kohler. 5'6 and had around 90 potential. ended up reaching 89 rated after 3-4 seasons

[@DAYLU1]

Perhaps not as bad as years prior, but generated players are still very overpowered 😅😠

[@Grasshopperdad-bc5yx]

Unfortunately potential will remain just potential as the career mode ends after only 15 seasons😢

[@Damienoos]

I have a question. Is it beter to pick a training tactic or to keep balanced for youth players?

[@pachu13]

What are you doing with Athletic Club 😢

[@yoru465]

Could you show us pls how to download cheat engine?

[@abk009]

how do you use cheat engine? you should give a video to community about that bro it shuts when i open fuck

[@odh3424]

I always learn something new in these videos

[@asharahmed4873]

my pedri went to 98 rating at age 30 and he was ridiculously op

[@nurderscf04]

In my current FIFA 23 cm, I got an LB that was already like 70 rated at the start, after a few seasons he went Up to 86 and is still growing

[@nurderscf04]

I also got a 69 rated LW who has a Potential of 93-94 and is 16

[@Doctor_HB]

A few days ago I had my best youthplayer ever. I started a Career with Werder Bremen. He had a value of 13.5 Million Euros, was a CAM from Ecuador, 74 overall rating and 85-94 Potential. Right footed, 5 Star Skills, 4 Star Weak Foot. I immediately promoted him to my first Team. In the first Game he scored two Goals. The second halftime didn't started. Game crashed. I haven't saved. I only have a photo send to a friend. All on Xbox Series X, so no cheats at all.

[@Pratikpatel0814]

How can u use fifa 23 cheat engine I cannot use it

[@0BI-WAN.KENOBI]

I found a 78 rated 16 year old with 96 potential last week. Allso sold him for 256 million when he was 92 rated.

[@HamburgerMustard]

My Best youth player is only 73 rated!🤣

[@deadmansfire]

on FIFA22 I started a career in League 2 and had a goalie ,who came from the youths at 67-68 Overall, and by the end (6-7 seasons played) I got him to 96.

[@dripballmapper]

in fifa 23, I had a Argentine Wonderkid (rw) 86 min potential and max 95 potential, issue came i simmed a few weeks and he cancelled contract because i forgot to promote him he was originally 71 when he cancelled

[@5FourFieldMouse]

I did a manager career from league 2, already in the academy was a 69 rated 15 year old striker from Gabon. He had 91 shooting, by the time I deleted the save he was 97 rated at 23, scored a volley from kick off in a champions league final🤣

[@WolfGx5]

Scout Greece . Best players I’ve ever had.

[@polekczyliokiemnuba8634]

I just wanna know how tf people get like 70+ overall rated newgens... i never got one since probably the beginning of the become manager thingy in FIFA

[@wrestlingscandal9717]

I just got fired in less than two years after taking Huddersfield to the PL and building a great youth academy. I simmed many games but wtf. I invested a billion dollars into the team. This game is weak. You need to help us avoid this. This is so frustrating and pathetic

[@gavincorns285]

Had this Brazilian player with 65 overall and 81_to 94 potential he was only 15 by the time he was 20 he was 91 rating I sent him out on loan for 3 seasons

[@wscottwalters74]

Hit on a 17yo winger from England valued at $5.5M (69 ovr). By far the highest valued YA player I’ve run across. He’s now 85 ovr entering his third season.

[@p.dybalarevange1461]

Once i got one player 98-99 potencial player

[@arschloch1507]

I‘ve made video about my best Youthplayer ever

[@anthonyolivares6935]

Best I've gotten in fifa 23 were from the same scouting report. 1 in England (started my team in league 2) and the other from Croatia. English player lm/lw/rw 68 ovr at 16 potential was 92. He's 22 now and is 88 ovr with teams offering me over 150 mil for him but he's such a beast crossing I can't. Croatian player cm/cam/cf was 71 ovr potential 94 at 17. His value now at 23 is also over 150 mil and he's a 92 currently

[@hadifelani]

I still hope that fifa's manager career mode have a live view simulation like PES master league do. Playing it ourselves all the time is tiring, and just watching the simulation from top down with some dots is boring. 😭

[@nemanjasretenovic8505]

Hello. Can you make video how to install cheat table and live editor for fifa 23...EA app is not allowing to play game without internet, but other guys who has been maked tutorial, said that must turn off internet and then run game with live editor. Please help!

[@lakerskb2465]

Just found 15 yr old from America plays RW/LW/LM/RM worth 2.9 million definitely excited for him

[@milanvans9586]

Best player I had was 6'2 striker. 99 acceleration 99 sprint speed overall rated 96. And I feel like it may have even been able to get him higher. But that was in Fifa 22 and I gave up on that save as Fifa 23 came out. So played that instead.

[@scorch34]

my 96 rated brazilian keeper on fifa 16 who i signed because he looked stupid😍😍

[@ryan_alexander]

Doing an MLS save with Whitecaps, I signed a 15 yo GK whos higher rated than my starter lol

[@rscfootball]

I hate a Dutch winger, De Vries, come into the academy with a overall of 71 and a potential of 91-94 he’s now my starting winger for my new club 6 seasons later

[@SherlockHomeless221b]

One thing I don't like about youth academy and stat growths in general you can't earn traits and specialities. Guess I'm showing My age but I remember the likes of fifa 13 you could earn traits and specialities at certain stats. I also use cheat engine to find players potential I do miss the fact you can no longer search for players by their overall

[@Xaxhi]

I literally have a 98 Raf Leao in a Chelsea save lol

[@rifqyhazim18]

I see good playee value i sign... Simple

[@kryten6569]

In fifa 22 I had a young player come up through ranks got him to 96 rating Sam butler Doncaster rovers

[@fetavalentine248]

I remember getting a youth player rated 90 and he was 17 and a free agent bruh I was confused how lucky I got to sign him without buying 😂😂

[@fchonkafan23]

Doing union berlin takeover

[@andradavelda]

imo, the best fifa youth academy is back in fifa 11. they use to scout players for 17 years of age with +90 overall straight away.

[@detsimba7146]

You just make the same videoes with 10 different titles bro? 😂

[@alvinmarshall1535]

I'm doing a RB Rouen CM right now, just got a 72 ovr gk youngster with 4m value yesterday, fantastic

[@reeitsmewilliam3637]

in fifa 23 i started a pcm with ronaldo then retired and in the job pop up i picked pacos de ferreira and signed a free agent by the name of 'Mario Cruz' he was 22 years old and I signed him now my save is in 2025 or 2026 and he is 96 rated with around a 300million market value i then signed a regen called valentin bertrand from real betis to play along side him he is 19 and 93 rated

[@kyngcal83]

In fifa 21 I had 2 world class midfielders come out of the academy. One got up to 96 overall while the other hit 98😮‍💨

[@tinomar1090]

I got a 7.5 million german on my ajax career mode he had on ovr of 58-78 and has potential to be special with 75-94 i forget what his ovr was but now i have him up to 97

[@afc9819]

An easy method to signing the best youth players. Only sign players with a value over 1M. This will ensure the overall is at a decent level which will accelerate them to the first team

[@jimmy7134]

On fifa 23 I have a 15 year old 71 overall

[@78town]

Yea. I brought Saka to Athletico and played him at RW. In a few seasons he turned into a 94 overall RW!!

[@BigNorra]

I found a 15 year old worth £2.6m, his standard overall was 68

[@brandentaylor8617]

Just hire a 5 star scout. He’ll do it for you. Simple. Broken

[@gothboi_6386]

my legends is Austin Bates. i grew him from 70 to a 95 and he is still 23y so he can grown many years

[@patrykjasnowski6374]

To this day i remember my austrian ST Winklar 94 ovr, 6’2” heading machine with 78 defending, he was an absolute gem in my sheffield wed rebuild

[@fabiankrasniqi666]

so when Cheat Engine tutorial?

[@diegochapur4492]

Jackson Slater. A youth academy player that I found at the first season of my Career Mode. He was 74 rated, 5 WF/5 Skills, English, 1.93m. He was originally a CM but I changed his position to a LW and he ended up being 99 rated. His lowest stat was 76 defending.

[@Philou67]

In this FIFA, I had a 72 CAM at 16 years old, I didn't manage to grow him up further than 82 rated at 21 so I sold him for 45M. But I have a ST with 92 rated but he's injured every end of Season...

[@greb3n]

Please unban me from your disc

[@tobyhill3831]

best player i had was fifa 19 forest green rovers career his name was estaban navarro he came to the club at 15 he was 69 rated 6'3 and bald he stayed in the youth academy for about a tear before he turned 16 and by that time he was already 80+

[@passiveincome4151]

On the pc version, is it possible modify the game to scrap regens and just generate new players every year? Regens are just a lame excuse to reuse existing players. The game can still generate superstars that are unique since they do show up in the YA.

[@dariuslim7633]

bro sounds like futfanatic

[@scriptedriot]

found a 72 rated 18 year old with 89-94 potential in morroco

[@SuperWarfare1]

I found an Argentinian winger and raised him to a 94 overall and then loaned him out. He came back as a 99 rated player

[@gaytoast.]

1:50 i once got mbappe to 96 rated

[@benjaminjohnsen8643]

can someone explain to me what the green color means in the youth academy when the scouts have come back from their trip,i have seen the green color every now and then so want to know what they mean.

[@veresa3131]

Back in old fifas you could scout a youth player and they had a max overall of 85

[@Yellamarilla]

Almost any player can get to 99 if they at least 85 rated under 20 years old

[@Yellamarilla]

But yeah takes like 5-6 seasons to get full 99 team lol

[@DjVonDiego]

THIS IS AN AWESOME VIDEO!! THANKS FOR SHARING THE KNOWLEDGE GREETINGS FROM POLAND!!