If you didn’t already know, a ‘wonderkid’ is essentially a totally awesome young player who has the potential to set Europe alight with his talents. It is important to note though that not all wonderkids are equal and even though one lad has the potential to be 4.5 > 5 stars, it does not mean they will make it to the promised land.

A combination of training, stewardship and most importantly game time are needed for a child-prodigy to make it to the worlds stage in Football Manager 2014.

What is immediately noticeable in FM 14 is the seed-change from those wonderkids of 2013, I only found a couple of players who were the go-to kids of the previous version who were good enough to sign for either of my two saves so far, but have they been replaced or simply ‘graded’ differently? Only time will tell.

Anyway, I did tell you that I have changed the way I play to ultimately benefit the growth of the wonderkids in Football Manager 2014, what I mean by that is instead of playing as Arsenal, which I have done on every single FM ever, I have started as Southampton, for two reasons.

Firstly, the Saints have a decent selection of young prodigies already, James Ward Prowse and Luke Shaw are the standout names but they sit on top of high quality training and youth facilities.

Secondly, hundreds of wonderkids never make the grade and it is so disappointing to see a player who once had the potential to be Lionel Messi, turn out to be the next Emile Heskey. So I wanted to manage a club who could attract youngsters but also be able to throw them straight in to the first eleven.

So, on with the wonderkids.

For me the frustration with lists of wonderkids online is the fact you never know what ‘level’ of youngster you are looking at, for example if you’re the West Ham you need to find a different level of wonderkid to if you were managing Real Madrid.

For that reason each of the 7 wonderkids I mention below is a) available to buy at the start, b) willing to sign for most PL clubs, c) capable of being one of Europes elite and d) won’t cost you tens of millions to buy.

First up is James Ward Prowse – the Southampton youngster has awesome stats for a midfielder from the off and is a ready made Frank Lampard of the future.

Second up is Andreas Chirstensen, a young defender from Chelsea who is a newbie to FM and to be honest a newbie to me in the real world scene but is available on the cheap and has the potential to be incredible.

Angel Correa, an incredible Argentinian attacking midfielder available for a few million who has the potential to be the next messiah of world football.

Oliver, young, Spanish, Central Midfielder – Need I say more.

Adnan Januzaj has started to show some incredible real world skills for Man Utd and this has been replicated in FM 2014, this kid looks the nuts and scores from the off from the heart of my Saints squad. Available from the start, but he does take some ‘persuading’ to join mid-table PL teams.

Gabriel Barbosa is an incredible poacher, with stats in all the right positions and available for a few mil, though beware of the work permit implications in the contract.

Gedion Zalaeam has been within the Arsenal youth set up for a few years now and is now in their full PL squad in the real-world, the FM editors haven’t missed this kid and who can blame them, potential to be 4.5 stars (it was 5 at one point) and a midfield maestro in the making. He will join bottom half teams on loan or slightly better teams for the odd million or two.

There you have it, 7 awesome Football Manager 2014 wonderkids that any PL manager can go out and buy today. If I could only choose one, it would be Ward-Prowse or Adnan, depending on whether I was managing the Saints or not.

Have fun, let us know any awesome wonderkids you spot in the game using the comments below.

As FM fans there is one thing we all have in common, one thing that takes us to the internet (unless you are dodgy and have the RTE) searching for, wonderkids. The young whipper-snappers that can make the difference to our teams in the years to come.

Wonderkids are like gold dust on many of the FM games of the past, but with the invent of the real-time editors lists can be found across the web from all and sundry, but how do you know which ones are any good? That’s were we come in.

I used to spend hours finding lists and scouting every player on their to then find that i was looking at a list of ‘Wonderkids for the Championship’ or like, so now, with my headache of the past in mind I have put together the ultimate list of wonderkids.

Whether you are looking for the best young stars of England, cheapo’s, foreigners or conference players they are all on this page, you will never need to go anywhere else to find wonderkids, star players and must buys for your team ever again.

Football Manager 2013 Wonderkids: Ultimate List (link)

This is a great list of over 200 wonderkids for FM 2013 from Aid the Boss. A cracking collection containing most of the ‘obvious’ choice wonderkids and some players that would suit mid-lower premier league teams, it contains everything from name, age, club, country and value at the start of the game.

Star player form the list: Kurt Zouma

List rating: 4/5

Ideal list for: Liverpool, Everton and Newcastle

Football Manager 2013 Wonderkids and Young Talents (link)

A very comprehensive list of FM wonderkids from True Football Manager, you can find everything here from decent Championship signings all the way up to superstar Champions League winners, my favourite and most used list which also has  all the key ingredients for finding the player on the game as well as some idea of wages.

Star player form the list: Luke Shaw

List rating: 5/5

Ideal list for: Everyone from low-level Championship teams to the best teams in the world.

250+ Football Manager 2013 Wonderkids (link)

A good-looking list from FM Scout, a good selection of players but only really useful for the best teams in the World, I feel there is also some TOP quality obvious English talents that are missing from the list, i.e Will Hughes and Luke Shaw, both 5 star Premier League players after several seasons. There is some great players on the list though that some others haven’t picked up on.

Star player form the list: Raheem Stirling

List rating: 3.5/5

Ideal list for: Mainly top teams but the odd ‘bottom half’ signing about.

250+ Bargain Buys (link)

Another decent list from the guys over at FM Scout, presented as well as the others but I feel this is more useful than most as its very well researched, bargain buys for FM 13 are harder to find. Its a decent list, would be nice if it was presented in a way that ‘filtered’ out unrealistic targets for those in leagues above or below the players’ expectations.

Star player form the list: Felipe Anderson

List rating: 4/5

Ideal list for: Just about everyone.

Football Manager Wonderkids Shortlist 425+ (link)

This is a good list from My Passion for Football Manager, it does require a download to see the whole lot but you can upload that straight into your game so the shortlist is on the game, no need to copy and paste for a few hours! It’s also great for finding the perfect player match as it breaks up players into playing personalities, I.E Ball Winning Midfielders. The only problem I see with this bunch is the presentation for those who don’t want to download the FM 13 Wonderkids Shortlist, the formatting isn’t the best.

Star player form the list: Sime Vrsalijko

List rating: 4.5/5

Ideal list for: Everyone, especially if you’re looking for a gem of a particular playing personality

250+ Best Free Players on FM 2013 (link)

Another list from the guys over at FM Scout, though I rarely use this type of player I’m sure there is a few of you out there who have a bigger interest than me, looks a good list and I can see a few cracking signings who I will definitely be checking out next time I start a new game.

Star player form the list: Roysten Drenthe

List rating: 4/5

Ideal list for: Lower league teams and teams with zero budgets (Liverpool)

Football Manager 2013 best wonderkids list (link)

For me this is the best list out there, its comprehensive, it offers so much more depth that enables anyone with a little time to see what the player looks like in a few season in to the future. Kudos to Darren Smith for putting this together, it must have taken weeks to perfect it. There isn’t much more to say really, this is THE place to be for finding, researching and signing players for any team, in any league.

Star player form the list: Kevin Volland

List rating: 5/5

Ideal list for: Everyone

400+ 2013 Wonderkids (link)

A nice little list from FM-Indo.blogspot. Fairly comprehensive and contains a LOT of players that are not picked up on any other list, its a brilliant resource for mid-table clubs and those on a tight budget. Can’t fault the list though I wonder if missing out a lot of ‘big names’ is intentional or not.

Star player form the list: Moritz Leitner

List rating: 4/5

Ideal list for: Something for everyone here, from lower leagues to CL winners.

Best Of FM 2013 Wonderkids and Young Talents 500+ (link)

A really good list of players from all across the globe, though I do feel that there is a few missing from the English leagues which is normally a staple diet for me, fairly good collection with something for most but like all of the above, what is lacking is some kind of segmentation for those looking for a particular ‘level’ of player, Championship, League 1 for example. Has everything needed to find the players you want quickly.

Star player form the list: Granit Xhaka

List rating: 3.5/5

Ideal list for: Loads of players with some uniques in there too, something for all.

The Ultimate Wonderkids Shortlist For FM13 (link)

A good little list of a couple of hundred names, there is some good picks in there but some that you wont be able to find unless you have some not so popular leagues activated on your database, you do need to download the list though, there is no mention of it online at all.

Star player form the list: Nick Powell

List rating: 3/5

Ideal list for: Plenty to choose from for everyone

Best French Wonderkids

Italian Wonderkids on FM 13

English Wonderkids and Must Buys

Spanish Wonderkids

Best Brazilian Wonderkids

Top Wonderkid Strikers

 Putting an end to the post…

Well thats it, we couldn’t find any other lists online that offered any value to you guys so thats the end of it.

There will no doubt be a lot of duplicates within the lists above but just pick and choose the ones that suit your current team and transfer policies best, for me the wonderkids list by Darren Smith is the best by a long way, check it out, the work that went in to it is ridiculously complex and you will definitely find some players on there that you would have never seen or heard of before.

Get involved, if you have any lists to add to this let us know using the comments below.

We won’t be looking at the consistently top players in the world, just those who have changed the most over the last year, both positively and negatively as these are the guys you may not think of.

For die-hard FM fans this part of the game is always the most thrilling, the hours of scouting, searching through the under-18s of every country in the world and filling your scouts diaries with 99.9% of crap, hoping that one of these kids will show some promise, this article will be a great place to start.

Those of you who may be new to the series, perhaps you’re looking at the next instalment to be your first, these next few months will be tough going but luckily for you the 2013 game is available for under a tenor if you’re feeling blue.

Looking back in history its safe to say that those players that are performing week in week out in the daily rigours of top-flight football will be stat-heavy come the next game, it’s also a fair shout to say that those players that have seen a downturn in their performances will be downgraded in the same way but who are these players and how much will they be affected?

Firstly lets look at those people we expect to be the new class-acts come the new game.

Best FM 2014 Players: Our 5 Would-be Superstars

Theres dozens, if not hundreds of players that will be up there with the best in the game but we have focused on those that have changed the most over the last year, those players that were run of the mill or pretty good on FM13 that are bound to be absolute hero’s when 14 is released.

No 1. Gareth Bale

Gareth was good in Football Manager 2013 but this year he will be one of the best on the game, perhaps even in a Barca or Real shirt by the time it’s released.

He has shown on a World stage that he is capable of mixing it with the best and we fully expect him to be given a massive boost. The 23-year-old Tottenham superstar has made 41 appearances this year in the Prem and in Europe with a total of 24 goals and 8 assists including some monumental solo appearances and spectacular goals from distance.

The other key change to Bale’s FM  characteristics will be his positional awareness, in 13 he was accustomed to the ML/AML position with ability to do a job anywhere on the left side and fill-in on the right-wing if needed but now, with the free-roll given to him this season he will no doubt be much more flexible and we think his ‘bright-greens’ will stretch to the AMC position too.

Lets have a more in-depth look at his stats:

This is how he starts the game on 2013, as you can see a very good all-round winger and attacking midfielder but by no means a world-beater.

Using Bale’s extraordinary form in the Premier League as a gauge we fully expect his stats to raise considerably from the above. In particular:

Dribbling from 16 > 18
Crossing from 15 > 17
Finishing from 14 > 17
Longshots from 10 > 17
First Touch from 15 > 17
Free Kick Taking from 16 > 18
Off The Ball from 14 > 16
Flair from 11 > 16
Creativity from 13 > 16
Strength from 13 > 16

 We reckon that’s a fair adjustment to his ability and one that will make him one of the best on the game, especially if he isn’t playing at Tottenham.

No 2. Marouane Fellaini

In our book Fellaini is one of the best bullying midfielders on the planet, of course he isn’t a massively creative force and isn’t in the same league as his Spanish and Brazilian counterparts, but he offers something else, a towering brute of a man who is capable of using his extreme strength and tenacity to win games all by himself.

I have never been fortunate enough to own Marouane on FM, not to say I haven’t tried (bloody man city), but he is a must-have accessory for a team that likes to play a flat 2 in the midfield. Coupled with either a BWM or a DLP he is magical to watch and scores loads from set-pieces.

In his Everton colours he finished the season with 11 goals and 5 assists in 31 appearances but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Marouane is an inspiration to his team mates and the loyal fans that adore this fuzzy-haired midfielder, he has also scroed some massively important goals in crucial games.

His stats on FM 2013 show his class as one of the best midfield enforcers on the game but we do expect his creative side to be improved as well as some of his mental attributes, heres what we think:

Passing from 15 > 16
Influence from 5 > 14
Creativity from 12 > 14
Bravery from 18 > 19
Flair from 10 > 13

Though we don’t expect a massive increase in his stats, we do expect him to perform vastly better on the game and be able to operate more efficiently further forward.

No 3. Philippe Coutinho

One that could have made the ‘Wonderkids’ section but at 21 Philippe isn’t a youngster anymore, he’s a fully fledged star ready to show what he has in his locker.

Liverpool pulled off this signing last year, it really went under the radar and this season I think the top 4 will be wondering why they were not interested in this impressive attacking midfielder.

Those who have watched Coutinho play for Liverpool know this guy is class, we have been admirers of his talent for many years and its a bit of shame that his Inter Milan career was held back by a manager preferring experience to youth, great news for ‘pool though.

Though not a standout performer last season he showed enough for the scousers to take him under their wing, a pre-season training tour with Gerard and Suarez will definitely help his growth.

He only made 12 starts for Liverpool but quickly amassed 3 goals and 5 assists including some awesome creativity that many fans will be dying to see on a more regular basis next season, he is definitely under the guise of the right manager to achieve that.

Theres loads of room to grow but we reckon Philippe will see a dramatic increase in his stats, followed by an increase in his overall potential, he could certainly be regarded in one of the best youngish AMC’s on the game.

Long Shots from 12 > 15
Finishing from 12 > 16
First Touch from 16 > 17
Dribbling from 16 > 17
Passing from 16 > 18
Positioning from 7 > 13
Creativity from 16 > 18

Everyone has their favourite players, the ones that you have to sign even though there is better or cheaper available, Coutinho is my drug.

No 4. Jesus Navas

Man City have just snapped up Jesus and to be honest I am shocked that it has taken this long for him to be involved in one of the biggest teams in the world.

An explosive winger, mainly right, that loves to cut in. He has really shown his class during his countries journeys to the final of the confederations cup.

Though he is known as not putting in any sort of defensive shift Navas more than makes up for that with his contribution further up the pitch. His problem in the past has been in front of goal, his finishing is not the best but he is often targeted as the ‘main danger-man’ in a team so playing for City he is bound to have more freedom to show what he can do.

In FM Jesus has been a fairly run of the mill player for several seasons, often getting big moves but rarely setting the world alight with his new club but with his recent performances on the World-stage and a big money move to Manchester now completed Jesus is set for a huge rebuild of his stats and performances on the game.

For a winger his stats are already fairly good, definitely better than his new rivals in Milner and Scott Sinclair thats for sure but as a new-be to the Premier League we expect him to be given a nice boost:

Crossing from 15 > 17
Dribbling from 17 > 18
Finishing from 10 > 14
Long Shots from 11 > 13
Passing from 14 > 16
Acceleration from 19 > 20
Pace from 17 > 19

These improvements would really make Navas stand out in the City team and we think that will happen both in real-life and on Football Manager 2014.

No 5. Matija Nastasic

26 games for Man City in your first season, 2 MOM awards, only one yellow card and a pass success rate of 87% as a defender puts you at the top of your game in any team on the planet but doing that at the age of 20 makes you one of the best talents in the World.

Matija is just that, a towering powerful centerback with all the quality of Nemanja Vidic but without his ‘clunky’ athleticism.

Mancini had absolute faith in Nastasic for 90% of the games that he was available for, that says a lot but what will be his fate under the new gaffer at the helm of city?

Either way he is bound to be a must buy in Football Manager 2014 and his stats are set for a major makeover.

Matija, in my opinion will be the second most sought-after young defender on the game behind Varane and is set for a massive upgrade in playing statistics, my guess is:

Marking from 14 > 17
Tackling from 15 > 17
Heading form 15 > 18
Influence from 11 > 14
Off The Ball from 11 > 15
Teamwork from 12 > 14

And an overall 2-3 point increase in most mental and physical stats.

As well as these 5 there’s a few others that are well worth a mention, we anticipate some great strides forward from people like:

• Santi Cazorla
• Leighton Baines
• Laurent Koscielny
• David Luiz

Who Won’t Be Worth Targeting?

Now for as many top-performing players in the Prem this seasons there has been just as many under-performing stars of old, people who didn’t cut the mustard and players that will be due a downgrade come FM 14.

Heres who we think we not be quite as big a force as they have been on previous games:

Wayne Rooney

Wayne has continued to fall in standard over the last season or two, whether that is because of age, lack of motivation or being in need of a new challenge Rooney has certainly lost his charm slightly and we completely anticipate a fall in his skill levels come FM 2014.

Though he still scored a decent amount of goals last season he was often used much deeper than before to open up the position for RVP to take further forward.  Looking a shadow of his former-self Wayne has been attracting interest from other clubs and though he has said he didn’t hand in a transfer request, there is every chance he could be moving on to a lesser team than United.

David Silva

A year ago David Silva was regarded as one of the magical Spanish midfield, now he has lost his flair and lost his way slightly. Partially over taken in the pecking order by Pedro, Juan Matta and Jesus Navas Silva is no longer one of the first names on the team-sheet of Vicente Del Bosque’s team.

David will no doubt still be a very good player but he has certainly dropped in stature over the past season and we fully expect that to be correlated in his stats for the next game.

Vincent Kompany

In the same way David Silva was a modern great this time last year Vincent Kompany was seen as unflappable, perhaps the top defender in the world at the time. But towards the end of the season this previously solid defender started to show cracks in his armour, started making mistakes and was often overshadowed by Nastasic.

With Matija set to be upgraded, Kompany may well have some competition in next years FM for a starting place amongst die-hard FM fans.

In recent seasons on the game Kompany has been making a ludicrous amount of mistakes, is this a sign that in the recent patches the developers have already decided his fate?

Thomas Vermaelen

Captaincy hit Thomas hard, he struggled and buckled under the pressure of being the clubs leader and this lead to some rather shocking performances on the pitch, this soon lead to him being dropped from the team and no doubt from his captaincy role come the new season.

Though he may return to his former self he barely pulled on the Arsenal shirt towards the end of the season and they looked much better for it, he is surely going to be given a penalty for this lack of game-time, composure and unreliability.

Luis Suarez

A controversial choice as he has probably just had his best season in his career, but for us and the FM developers it must be about time that he was labelled as a liability.

His on and off the field actions are not marks of a superstar player and I suspect that his levels of aggression, composure and concentration will be adjusted dramatically to encourage this type of irrational play on the game.

For us Suarez is no longer a top-player, though he will no doubt be sold to a massive club, his qualities on the pitch do not overshadow his ability to cause controversy on it.

Lucas Leiva

For a few seasons now Lucas Leiva has been less than impressive on the pitch and is constantly suffering with injuries and yet on the game he has consistently been one of the best DMC’s there is. It’s time this changed, he does not deserve to be labelled with such qualities.

Shinji Kagawa

A lot was expected from Shinji when he signed for United, a great talent and a very skilful player indeed but in his debut season he barely did anything more than Ji Sung Park ever did, only without his work rate.

Often described as another way for United to increase their revenues from Asia Kagawa has a lot to prove, but I do imagine he will get more game time this season, he matches the type of mould that Moyes’ likes, for the same reason I see Nani getting less time which will help Shinji.

He was long a good signing on FM and was regarded as a great signing by many this time last year but it hasn’t come to fruition and we think he will be no more than an average attacking midfielder when the game comes out.

Sandro

Like Leiva, Sandro has long been an FM favourite, he has long been an over-performing and overrated player on the game who contributed little in the real world. It’s about time he was lowered in standard.

There is no excuse for Sandro anymore, he’s been in the country for a few years and is yet to show the potential he once promised. If only he would spend as much time doing good stuff on the field as he does with his hair.

Wonderkids, Where Art Thou Wonderkids: 5 Predicted Stars

For me, one of the most exciting parts to any Football Manager instalment is trying to find and sign the latest batch of wonderkids, those super-human stars of the future that have been identified by the developers over the past 12 months so we’ve been testing our knowledge and have ear-marked a selection of  wonderkids that we think will be top-notch and available for all most Prem teams in the new game.

No 1. Lloyd Jones

Lloyd, touted by some as the next Alan Hansen, was signed by Liverpool from Plymouth for an initial £20k and has shone in the under-18′s and been a regular in the under-21 set up years before average.

Commanding in the air but graceful and comfortable in possession Lloyd was handed a squad number by Brendan Rogers for a game against Fulham last term and is widely expected to be promoted through the ranks quickly and make his debut before his 18th birthday this October.

Jones is sure to have caught the eye of the SI developers and could well be one of the game’s top youngsters.

No 2. Alen Halilovic

Dynamo Zagreb’s 16-year-old midfielder is already picking up attention from a host of top European teams with Spurs being the most recent.

Croatia’s youngest ever top-flight player Alen is fast breaking more records and is expected to be one of the top youngsters in the world in the coming years.

Grounded and talented the youngster could have his pick of clubs but has his mind firmly set on growing and doing what is best for his career.

Regularly compared to Luka Modric the youngster is confident on the ball, agile and very skilful. Though slightly light-weight he has the ability to step-aside the rough and tumble of the Premiership.

N0 3. Jordan Ibe

Another Liverpool youngster, this kid is quick and is of a similar mould to Raheem Stirling but with a more physical aspect to his game.

It has been said that Ibe may end up being positioned further forward in the future but is already plying his trade with regular appearances on the Liverpool bench and team towards the end of last season.

Jordan was not particularly recognised on FM 2013, but under the guise of the right manager he was capable of becoming a leading Prem winger and this is only going to get better come 2014.

No 4. Luke Shaw

Although already an awesome prospect and already very good on Football Manager 2013, he is sure to get a big move this summer and that will only increase his stock and profile.

I see him moving to Chelsea or Tottenham this summer with an outside chance of United, if not he will be an awesome signing for any top-flight club in FM 14.

A Premier League regular, Luke is progressing very well and is certainly an all-round left-back. Many have compared him to a young Ashley Cole but I think this boy could be better than that, take the athleticism of Cole, crossing ability of Baines and a more attacking minded Philipe Lahm and you get somewhere near the player Luke turns in to on FM 2013.

Lets hope that is portrayed in real-life too.

No 5. Wallace

After joining Fluminese at 11 years old this right back soon grew in to a cracking youngster and although he has already agreed a big move to Chelsea as part of the deal that took Deco the other way a few years ago, he could be potential loan signing for lower-league or bottom half Prem teams next term.

A fast, tricky and athletic right footed defender Wallace is very similar to Dani Alves but has already shown his ability to defend very early in his career, he has shown his class in the Under 17s for Brazil and is the first name on the team sheet with a full international call up believed to be not too far in the future.

Though a very raw player he is vastly superior in terms of strength over the Man Utd Da Silva twins and is expected to slot straight in to the Chelsea first team fold upon his arrival in England.

Though potentially not available for the first season on FM 2014, Wallace may be available for loan and those type of player is often available for purchase early on in their careers. He is well worth checking out, there isn’t many good right backs on FM 2013 or appearing on the world scene at the moment.

 Until next time

You may have guessed that we are massively excited about Football Manager 14, we love talking about it and if you do to give us your ideas to add to this post and we will get them mentioned.

For anyone who is keen to get their mits on the game through pre-order, Amazon are the official partner for SI on this so have a look here for the best price online.

Featured image thanks to https://www.facebook.com/SerbianFM

That dream is reignited after a couple of seasons when regens start to become the top transfer targets for every team across the world. Some young whippersnapper with stats coming out his arse bum and has the potential to set the league alight.

Unfortunately for me, my mindset is one of negativity towards regens, a double-edged sword if you will. Let me explain.

I’m a bit of a purist Football Manager player, one that likes to progress youth and regens but also one that feels the ‘magic’ diminishes from the game when those youth and regen players that have reached their potential are filling your squad. But for those 4-5 years in the middle, there is nothing better than regen hunting, discovering a gem in the rough that even Arsene himself would be proud of.

I want everyone to be a part of that mystery, that inquisitiveness that can quickly turn to a childlike excitement if you find the next Messi.

For that reason alone I have put together the techniques that I use to find the best regens on the game, without cheating with RTE’s.

I may be taking a bit of a ‘punt’ here but I am guessing SI won’t overhaul the game in the way I think it should be and so these practices will work on FM 2014 too. (I’ve been using the same tactics since about FM 08).

First off, you must have the right scouts

The first step to finding awesome regens is having the right scouts.

It is a common mis-conception amongst newbie’s to the game that scouts are only for scouting, they’re not. Not only do they evaluate and point out the key credentials of any would-be signings but they increase the range/knowledge in countries and continents across the globe, in-turn increasing the amount of regens (and other players) that show up in your results.

believe it or not, 32% World knowledge is pretty good!

As a starting point if you’re a top-level team you need to have the right scouts under your employment, scouts that cover the main countries across the globe that produce high volumes of regens.

For me this entails Brazil, Argentina, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Holland, USA, Ivory Coast, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey.  I don’t know if these are the ‘official’ places that produce the most regens, but for me these are my gut instinct about the countries that produce the best, after several years and hundreds of seasons in the game.

You need a scout for each country, in other words one that is native or has a more than 75% knowledge of that region. Secondary to that knowledge is the scouts skills and both identifying current player ability and potential ability, note that at this stage, scout stats are firmly secondary to the knowledge he/she possesses.

Heres one of mine, for Holland.

So once you have a nice collection of scouts for those regions mentioned, you are ready for the next step.

Get the search criteria right

The next step is to actually start searching for the regens you crave, here though, don’t be tempted to streamline your approach, don’t be tempted to search for all players under a certain age, if you’re looking for a defender add that position and the same for all of them.

Heres the search that I use if looking for a midfielder.

Make sure that you do not ‘check’ ‘unrealistic targets’ as many regens start on youth contracts or are not listed on transfer and loan list so unless you have 100% scouting in that region, these players will be filtered out.

Typically I find that using ’20′ as the max age gives you a good start, its rare that a regen starts the game older and usually if so they are the ones that clubs just won’t let you buy anyway.

When you have your results you need to select show ‘attributes’ and for midfielders and strikers, go for ‘technical’ as below:

Now,  your list is getting towards where you want to be, as a default it is probably showing the players listed in order of ‘value’ unless you have previously selected something else.

What you want to do now is either highlight the most important stat for your ‘perfect player’ or just flick through, pushing each stat to the top individually and having a scan through the top few dozen players looking for ‘blue numbers’.

If I was looking for a central midfielder passing and first touch would be first on my list, attacking midfielders would see me looking more towards technique and dribbling but obviously you want an all rounded player.

You can find some cracking gems doing this but you can also be fooled.

Scouting the right way

When you have found a regen or ten, the next step is to scout them which is something that I see done completely incorrectly by so many people, especially on Football Manager 14.

You have just spent thousands recruiting a scouting network that knows the regions, use that ability to get the most accurate scout report, I have seen scouts vary by 2 full stars, just because of regional knowledge.

Use a specific scout who has knowledge of the regen that the player is currently playing in. Do not use one based on nationality.

What to look out for on a report

Dealing with your scout reports become second nature once you know what to look for, they are fairly basic and to be honest i hope there is more ‘depth’ to be added to these come FM 14 but anyway, the key components here are matching a few bits of data together.

Firstly, do you trust your scout? Secondly does the regen have the current ability to help your team or the future potential to be a star? Lastly is their any frightening ‘stuff’ on the report?

As a standard, I never sign a regen or youth player unless he has a potential of 4.5 stars. The only time I would sign a potential of 4 stars is if the player is good enough to play regularly for me straight away. You will find out why in a minute.

Be sure that there is no ugly traits of the player your scouting, for example I tend to avoid anyone who ‘lacks consistency’ is poor in the big games and is ‘injury prone’. All of these will affect how effectively the player reaches his potential, which after-all is the reason you are looking to sign him.

Understand the ‘flex’ effect

The ‘flex’ effect is a name I just made up, literally this minute. But this effect is a real thing, its something that needs to be addressed.

When signing a regen or any player for that matter the ‘flex’ effect is what the real potential of the player will be if you a) played him every game, b) played him regularly or c)put him in the reserves or sent him on loan.

The flex effect swings both ways, if you for example sign a player with the potential to be 4 stars and play him often, he could easily ‘flex’ to be 4.5 or even a 5 star player in the future.

On the other hand, a young player who isn’t given time in the first team, tutored and trained specifically to hit his prime, he won’t do so. His potential could drop by 2 stars, (most I’ve seen).

It is easy to get it wrong

Stats can be deceiving, they can ‘cloud’ your judgement, lots of blues on one player can be a huge distraction that leads you to make an un-informed bid, check this dude out:

On first inspection you’re thinking “what a find”, young, stats all-over the place and cheap at that, perfect.

But look closer, this guy is an AMC, apart from decent technique and flair he just isn’t up to scratch for that position. At 19 you would want a much better passing, finishing, creativity and positioning stats for an AMC, not to mention better pace and acceleration.

Your cause isn’t helped by a scout telling you this dude could hit 4 stars, he couldn’t, as he wouldn’t perform at a level high enough for you to play him consistently enough to get to that level.

Here’s what you could have won

If you get it right the rewards are certainly there, here’s a couple of awesome regens that I have found using the techniques above. Fingers crossed that you guys are ready to find some cracking regens when FM 2014 comes out, as soon as its available for pre-order you can find it here.

CM, the next David Beckham?

Awesome striker!

By far the best RB regen I have ever seen

Each week when I’m flicking around the football channels and spot some young whipper snapper from the academy coming on I make a mental note of their name, or even check him out on FM 13 in preparation.

In the coming weeks and months we are going to be looking at the expected wonderkids for the forthcoming release of Football Manager 14, today is the first and where better to start than the depths of England, which for many UK based players is the preferred places to find a regen or two.

Let’s get going.

FM 14 Wonderkids: Who are they?

Of course a lot of this is going to be guess-work but the game builders are people just like us and those of you who like to ‘keep an eye on youth’ are no different to those who will be scouring the under 18 leagues looking for the next wonderkids to go in the game.

Rather than list a shed-load of players we are going to create a little team of out those we expect to be real title winners in the next game using my chosen formation, 4-2-3-1. Trying the best not to be obvious but in some cases we just have to put in the ‘best’ choice.

Firstly in goal: Jack Butland

Current Club: Birmingham

Estimated Club for FM 14: Liverpool/Arsenal

Estimated FM transfer fee:£8m

Footballer’s profile: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Butland

A little snippet: Jack is a great young keeper who many feel should have had his ‘big’ move last summer, I’m sure he will be a name banded around the bigger clubs this year. He was average to good on Football Manager 2013, a good solid signing who within 4-5 seasons was good enough between the sticks to compete for the title with.

LB: Luke Shaw

Current Club: Southampton

Estimated Club for FM 14: Arsenal/Chelsea

Estimated FM transfer fee: £6m

Footballer’s profile: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luke_Shaw

A little snippet: Already touted as a future start this left back is only a young whipper snapper at 18 but already has a good wedge of PL experience under his belt, on FM 13 he was a good signing, going on to be a 5 start left back in my 4th season with Southampton, play him every game and you are on to a massive winner.

RB: Jon Flanagan

Current Club: Liverpool

Estimated Club for FM 14: Liverpool

Estimated FM transfer fee: £4m

Footballer’s profile: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Flanagan

A little snippet: Perhaps an unknown but not to those who have managed Liverpool on the 12 and 13 versions of the game, a great youngster with bags of potential and already putting a few real-life premier league shifts. Bound to be a star of the 2014 game.

CB: Nathan Baker

Current Club: Aston Villa

Estimated Club for FM 14: Aston Villa

Estimated FM transfer fee: £5m

Footballer’s profile: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Baker_(footballer)

A little snippet: Aston Villa have had a hard time this year but they avoid relegation and next year will be a good solid team of young British kids. Nathan was the star of the show in the PL this year, that will not have gone un-noticed, keep an eye out in Football Manager 14 as this kid will be cheap and definitely one for the future.

CB: Chris Smalling

Current Club: Manchester United

Estimated Club for FM 14: Manchester United

Estimated FM transfer fee: £15m

Footballer’s profile: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Smalling

A little snippet: Perhaps a suprise inclusion to some, Chris has been in the England set up for a while now but is still labelled a a good young player, he is getting on a bit now and he is included as I think with the increased volume of games he has been getting this term he will be a massive defender to have on FM 14.

CM: Will Hughes

Current Club: Derby

Estimated Club for FM 14: Chelsea/Liverpool/Aston Villa

Estimated FM transfer fee: £7m

Footballer’s profile: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Hughes

A little snippet: The best player on the game on my Southampton save, 5 start AMC after a few seasons, 30 assists and 15 goals a year, enough said. I imagine he will be a bit more than a surprise signing for the 2014 version of the game though. WIll be shocked if he is still at Derby though, the new Frank Lampard?

CM: Nathaniel Chalobah

Current Club: Chelsea (out on loan)

Estimated Club for FM 14: Chelsea

Estimated FM transfer fee: £12m

Footballer’s profile: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Chalobah

A little snippet: A defensively minded youngster currently plying his trade on loan, once thought of as a great CB he has progressed forward and if anyone saw his goal recently in the cup you will no doubt be well aware of his talents already. I imagine that he will not be going on loan next season. 100% sure to be a big player on 2014.

AMC: Nick Powell

Current Club: Manchester United

Estimated Club for FM 14: Manchester United

Estimated FM transfer fee: £13m

Footballer’s profile: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Powell

A little snippet: After little Willy, this guy is the best signing for anyone looking for a future England midfielder on Football Manager 13, its a shame he hasn’t figured much in the PL this season but Moyes is well known for playing youth. Nailed on to be a star of FM 14, might cost a few bob though if you don’t fancy sacking Moyes 1st season.

AMR: Callum McManaman

Current Club: Wigan

Estimated Club for FM 14: Liverpool/Villa/Swansea

Estimated FM transfer fee: £5m

Footballer’s profile: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callum_McManaman

A little snippet: An unknown quantity for many 6 months ago but Callum has really pushed on at Wigan and has his first England call up as a teenager, this will not go un-noticed with the FM scouts, he will be a shrewd and cheap signing though I am guessing he will not be at Wigan by the time of the games release  my guess would be Liverpool, Villa or Swansea.

AML: Raheem Sterling

Current Club: Liverpool

Estimated Club for FM 14: Liverpool

Estimated FM transfer fee: £20m

Footballer’s profile: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raheem_Sterling

A little snippet: He started the season with a bang this term but has really flattened out towards the end of it, but this won’t effect his statistics when it comes to development of the game, can’t see him coming cheap but definitely a cracking player for Football Manager 2014.

CF: Adam Campbell

Current Club: Newcastle

Estimated Club for FM 14: Newcastle

Estimated FM transfer fee: £7m

Footballer’s profile:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Campbell_(footballer_born_1995)

A little snippet: The ginge from Shields and touted as the new Wayne Rooney (with hair) this kid is on his way to the top and if you have not seen him yet you are bound to be astonished when you see that scout report on FM 14. He should be a cheap signing but I quite fancy a Newcastle game anyway!

Bench Warmers:  Alex McCarthy (GK), Nathaniel Clyne (RB), Andre Wisdom (CB), Ross Barkley (CM), Thomas Ince (AMR/L), Andros Townsend (AMR/L), Wilfred Zaha (CF)

There we have it, my young ‘uns team for Football Manger 14, a blend of established and coming through youth with a few curve balls thrown in. Who would you put in your team though?

You can get our ultimate list of FM wonderkids using the button below, over 1400 names of the best kids you could find on the game which makes it the biggest list online, get yours now. All you have to do is follow the instructions to share us and its yours, FREE!