The FM20 development centre is your biggest asset if you’re looking to bring through the next generation of FM20 wonderkids. The development centre houses every youth team within your club, keeps tabs on players you’ve loaned out, gives you feedback from your youth coaches, and much more.
It’s every manager’s goal to bring through the next crop of talented stars, so how you utilise the development centre will be vital. Use it well, and you could have the next ‘Class of ‘92’ on your hands. Bringing through your own talents, who could lead your side to glory, will be cheaper in the long-run as you won’t have to pay millions for other clubs’ stars, too.
How do you go about using the FM20 development centre to your advantage though? Worry not, for our expert guide will reveal all, from the basic breakdown of what this overhauled system now allows, to how you can best use it to spin out prospect after prospect. Even if your ultimate goal is to sell these youth players on, a solid FM20 development centre should be the backbone of your club.
If you want to embody David Moyes during his Everton spell, and be involved at all levels of your club, you’ll want to be hands-on with your development centre. That means you’ll have to take control of it rather than delegate it to your staff.
If you’d prefer to let your staff handle youth team affairs, you’ll want to hire a world-class Head of Youth Development to oversee things.
Similar to the above point, hiring the best youth staff you can attract will be key to developing your young talent and getting the most out of your FM20 development centre. It’s your youth managers and coaches who will oversee their improvements – if you don’t take charge – and bring them on to break into your senior side.
Once one of your youth prospects is ready for senior football, you can ship them out on loan. First-team exposure is vital for youngsters to fulfil their potential, and you might not have the room in your own senior set up to give them 20-30 games a season, which is what they’ll need to truly excel.
Not every club has world-class facilities, the best staff, or a good catchment area. For teams further down the football pyramid, the FM20 development centre can be the difference between progressing or stagnating on and off the field.
