As I have decided one of my goals is to give at least one player from the academy the debut each season, and one goal is to field an all eleven with players from the Academy of Light – this forces me to have a bigger focus on the talents in the academy. It’s several good prospects from the get-go, but it’s also key to invest in the coaching, recruiting and facilities.
When you start the game the club has better facilities than the level they play on should indicate. Is it the only category 1 academy outside Premier League and Championship?
The areas that most need investment is Junior Coaching – which is only Adequate and Youth Recruitment which is average.
It is also important that you have a Head of Youth Development, a GK coach for the U18’s and a physio for the U18’s to keep the category one status.
A lot of the players in the U18’s seems to have a random potential rating, but some of them look like good talents. In the U23’s and first team more of them have a fixed potential or at least a higher number. In my latest save these are the ones that stand out.
** Note that these pictures are from the start of season two. **
U18’s
U23’s
First team
As it is in real life Dan Neil and Elliot Embleton seem the pick of the bunch, with Jack Diamond already proving to be a useful squad player. Kimpioka got his debut already in the 2018/19 season and could benefit from a loan move or be a game-changer from the bench with his pace.
The club also looks to be set on GK position for the foreseeable future. While it’s not likely that one of them will be the next Jordan Pickford, they could go on to do a good job for the first team or at least generate some cash back to the academy. Anthony Patterson could be good enough to be a contender for Lee Burge in the second season and should get some game time in the smaller cups. I gave him some games in the first season myself.
Patrick Almond seems to be the only defending talent worth mentioning on the books. The lad looks a unit with his physical stats. His technical stats do need a lot of work, but he could do a job in the future.
Denver Hume and Lynden Gooch are also worth a mention even if they are established first-team players they’re both from the academy. There’s also a new Gooch in the U18’s, he’s English so they don’t look to be in relation to each other. Funny coincidence that he also is a right-winger.
Former academy players
If you want to bring back former academy graduates you have enough to consider, as the club lost a lot of talents the last few seasons. Joe Hugill and Logan Pye at Man United with the former as the one most probably have heard of. Sam Greenwood at Leeds is also a real talent, Morten Spencer is also at Leeds. Bali Mumba at Norwich is another well known and the only one that has captained the first team in the Championship. Luca Stephenson at Liverpool is known as a big talent but doesn’t look as good in the game.
I’ve also created a shortlist with players from the academy if anyone is interested.
https://www.mediafire.com/file/d327qhjwfd1ibij/Academy+of+light.fmf/file
Who are the biggest talents in your saves?
FM Veteran 