How to Find the best Newgens on Football Manager

Developing a Newgen to reach their maximum potential is quite a difficult task, at times however – trying to even find these wonderkids is seemingly impossible. Here we will help you with that endeavor, of course as is true to the realism of Football Manager it is not as straight forward as one would like to believe.

USING TOOLS

One of the simplest ways to bypass this issue is to use scouting tools available here on FMScout. Tools such as Genie Scout and FMSE are powerful programs which can highlight the abilities and probable developments of newgens. They also allow you to view key attributes in a club to see which clubs are the best for consistently producing decent newgens and with some tools even allowing you to edit them.

Another tool to use is the “In-Game Editor” that Sports Interactive provide for purchase for on-point editing or using the database editor before starting a new save.

NEWGEN vs. REGEN

First things first – those of a certain age and those who have experience in playing FIFA and Football Manager will be familiar with the term “Regen” and still use it rather than the proper term “Newgen”. A simple error and one which many will bypass – but important to differentiate, especially for those coming from EA’s FIFA world.

A “Regen” is a regenerated player. This is how FIFA used to operate and the perception many people still have when beginning to play Football Manager, once a player retires – a new player is regenerated to replace that one player. Usually keeping the same position, nationality and attributes. This means that there is little fluctuation in terms of players available and the game is relatively straight forward – just look out for when Messi and Ronaldo retire and boom there is your next wonderkid. Some games have a mixture – some Regenerated players along with some Newgen players.

Football Manager is neither the above two – it is strictly all newgen players. This means that all generated players coming into the game are not based on any existing players and can be considered completely “random”. This is of course the most realistic, but that means its incredibly difficult to find the best newgens, so what factors are there to help us in this regard?

A COUNTRY'S YOUTH RATING

Think of who produces the best young talent in world football – you automatically think of Brazil, Germany, France and maybe a few others. This is what Sports Interactive have done behind the scenes, every country (or rather every association) has their own Youth Rating which is given between 0 – 200. With 200 being the absolute best.

Are there ways to edit the Youth Ratings? Through FMSE and the In-Game Editor you are able to adjust a nation’s Youth Rating. That makes it simple then if you want to go down that route, but overtime can you influence a nation’s youth rating without using the editors?

At this point it is speculation and theory, but yes it does seem like there is a way to influence a nation’s Youth Rating – however this takes decades to do so and there are so many factors that we need a separate guide – for now let us just focus on finding the best newgens.

Here is the table for every association in the game and their youth rating.

AFC

Country	Value
Afghanistan	19
Australia	90
Bahrain	85
Bangladesh	36
Bhutan	4
Brunei Darussalam	6
Cambodia	8
China PR	60
Chinese Taipei	14
East Timor	5
Guam	6
Hong Kong	47
India	86
Indonesia	56
Iran	105
Iraq	106
Japan	112
Jordan	107
Kuwait	70
Kyrgyzstan	17
Laos	7
Lebanon	70
Macau	5
Malaysia	35
Maldives	50
Mongolia	15
Myanmar	50
Nepal	13
North Korea	84
Northern Mariana Islands	1
Oman	70
Pakistan	37
Palestine	51
Philippines	30
Qatar	50
Saudi Arabia	85
Singapore	35
South Korea	110
Sri Lanka	16
Syria	85
Tajikistan	37
Thailand	75
Turkmenistan	36
United Arab Emirates	60
Uzbekistan	55
Vietnam	70
Yemen	55

CAF

Country	Value
Algeria	102
Angola	75
Benin	55
Botswana	42
Burkina Faso	70
Burundi	40
Cameroon	95
Cape Verde Islands	46
Central African Republic	17
Chad	26
Comoros	7
Congo	43
Democratic Republic of Congo	101
Djibouti	7
Egypt	138
Equatorial Guinea	28
Eritrea	8
Ethiopia	51
Eswatini (Swaziland)	14
Gabon	49
Ghana	99
Guinea	64
Guinea-Bissau	18
Ivory Coast	105
Kenya	45
Lesotho	25
Liberia	32
Libya	46
Madagascar	28
Malawi	51
Mali	73
Mauritania	25
Mauritius	21
Mayotte	7
Morocco	85
Mozambique	64
Namibia	39
Niger	31
Nigeria	120
Reunion	7
Rwanda	42
Sao Tome and Principe	7
Senegal	80
Seychelles	21
Sierra Leone	29
Somalia	9
South Africa	95
South Sudan	7
Sudan	74
Tanzania	52
The Gambia	49
Togo	64
Tunisia	82
Uganda	59
Zambia	61
Zanzibar	7
Zimbabwe	44

CONCACAF

Country	Value
Anguilla	4
Antigua and Barbuda	21
Aruba	4
Bahamas	11
Barbados	34
Belize	10
Bermuda	28
Bonaire	0
British Virgin Islands	6
Canada	54
Cayman Islands	16
Costa Rica	66
Cuba	51
Curacao	25
Dominica	10
Dominican Republic	20
El Salvador	55
French Guiana	24
Grenada	26
Guadeloupe	36
Guatemala	58
Guyana	34
Haiti	43
Honduras	68
Jamaica	59
Martinique	32
Mexico	120
Montserrat	1
Nicaragua	18
Panama	49
Puerto Rico	23
Saint Barthelemy	25
Saint Kitts and Nevis	28
Saint Lucia	28
Saint Martin	10
Saint Pierre and Miquelon	5
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	34
Trinidad and Tobago	57
Turks and Caicos Islands	6
United States of America	110
U.S. Virgin Islands	3

CONMEBOL

Country	Value
Argentina	140
Bolivia	59
Brazil	163
Chile	93
Colombia	117
Ecuador	94
Paraguay	90
Peru	97
Uruguay	90
Venezuela	91

OFC

Country	Value
Cook Islands	6
Fiji	36
Kiribati	1
Micronesia	0
New Caledonia	29
New Zealand	67
Papua New Guinea	34
Samoa	14
Solomon Islands	40
Tahiti	39
Tonga	8
Tuvalu	5
Vanuatu	33
Wallis and Futuna Islands	3

UEFA

Country	Value
Albania	65
Andorra	36
Armenia	41
Austria	79
Azerbaijan	43
Belarus	62
Belgium	110
Bosnia and Herzegovina	78
Bulgaria	72
Crimea	0
Croatia	98
Cyprus	74
Czech Republic	94
Denmark	91
England	120
Estonia	62
Faroe Islands	42
Finland	75
France	140
Georgia	65
Germany	155
Gibraltar	15
Greece	94
Holland	122
Hungary	68
Iceland	67
Israel	84
Italy	144
Kazakhstan	47
Kosovo	0
Latvia	63
Liechtenstein	42
Lithuania	59
Luxembourg	35
Malta	42
Moldova	46
Montenegro	60
North Macedonia	64
Northern Ireland	76
Norway	82
Poland	94
Portugal	114
Republic of Ireland	83
Romania	91
Russia	118
San Marino	29
Scotland	83
Serbia	100
Slovakia	79
Slovenia	78
Spain	140
Sweden	88
Switzerland	90
Turkey	124
Ukraine	95
Wales	71

It seems quite shocking some of the numbers and where some nations are ranked. Plus, when you go into some of these nations it may not seem like they have any good players.

But this does not mean that lesser nations cannot produce high quality players, it is just on a less consistent basis or they do not have the foundations and infrastructure to increase the quality of players on a more consistent basis.

So, what are the main factors to consider? Looking at Clubs individually.

CLUBS

YOUTH IMPORTANCE

One of the first things to consider is does a club put any emphasis on youth?

We would put together a table to show all clubs who have max youth importance, but there are simply too many clubs. In truth so many more clubs have a rating of 20 – especially secondary or youth clubs as their whole purpose is to develop and work with youngsters.

Is there much we can learn then?

Maybe a little, we can understand how some clubs operate in terms of bringing in players and balancing their expectations accordingly – some expect silverware even with youngsters, while other’s sole purpose is to bring through young prospects and sell for a profit to operate.

We can spot this while looking at first team squads and of course focusing on common footballing knowledge such as which leagues and clubs emphasize youth.

What we as managers can glean is that some of these clubs put an emphasis on youth players and are more likely to invest in their youngsters via development and play them compared to other teams.

Therefore, some of these teams may be worth looking at, however this is not an indicator for quality newgens. This is strictly a point on how a club views developing youths.

YOUTH FACILITIES

Youth facilities are one of the key factors which contribute to the development and production of newgens. This numerical value which is given between 0-20 (but only displayed as text) describes the level a club’s training facilities are at from a global standpoint at their academy.

• 0 - 3 = Poor
• 4 - 5 = Basic
• 6 - 7 = Below Average
• 8 - 9 = Adequate
• 10 - 11 = Average
• 12 - 13 = Good
• 14 - 15 = Great
• 16 - 17 = Excellent
• 18 - 19 = Superb
• 20 = State of the Art

Better youth facilities mean you are more likely to see Youth Candidates with higher current abilities and possibly influence potential ability when coming through the Academy.

This is a flexible attribute – naturally as you simulate, overtime your facilities will become outdated and start to drop compared to the development of the world, meaning that after every few years some investment may be needed.

Also, while we have tabled below the best clubs – investment, changes at board level, new managers and changes in ethos of a club can manipulate the standard of a club’s youth facilities either for the good or worse.

AFC

Country	Club	Rating
Australia	Melbourne City FC	18

CAF

Country	Club	Rating
South Africa	Cape Town Spurs FC	18

CONCACAF

Country	Club	Rating
Mexico	Pachuca	18
United States	Toronto FC	19
United States	LA Galaxy	18
United States	New York City FC	18
United States	Sporting Kansas City	18

CONMEBOL

Country	Club	Rating
Argentina	Velez Sarsfield	18

OFC

None

UEFA

Country	Club	Rating
Austria	FC Red Bull Salzburg	19
Austria	Admira Wacker	18
Belgium	Club Brugge	20
Belgium	Standard Liege	19
Belgium	Genk	19
England	Manchester City	20
England	Chelsea	20
England	Manchester United	20
England	Tottenham Hotspur	20
England	Burton Albion	20
England	Liverpool	19
England	Everton	18
England	Southampton	18
England	Brighton & Hove Albion	18
England	Middlesbrough	18
France	PSG	18
France	Olympique Lyonnais	18
Germany	Bayern Munich	19
Germany	RB Leipzig	19
Germany	Borussia Dortmund	18
Germany	Hoffenheim	18
Holland	PSV Eindhoven	18
Holland	AZ Alkmaar	18
Italy	AS Roma	18
Italy	Atalanta	18
Poland	Legia Warszawa	18
Portugal	Benfica	20
Portugal	Sporting Club	19
Russia	Krasnodar	20
Spain	FC Barcelona	20
Spain	Real Madrid	18
Spain	Athletic Club Bilbao	18
Spain	Real Sociedad	18
Spain	Espanyol	18
Switzerland	FC Basel	19
Ukraine	Dynamo Kyiv	18
Ukraine	Shakhtar Donetsk	18

YOUTH COACHING

The youth coaching is a second key factor - describing the quality and quantity of your coaching team at your academy. As is typical of all these attributes they rank between 0-20, (however only displayed as text).

• 0 - 2 = Minimal/Basic
• 3 - 5 = Fairly Basic
• 6 - 9 = Average
• 10 - 13 = Adequate
• 14 - 16 = Good
• 17 - 19 = Excellent
• 20 = Exceptional

The direct link is rather straight forward – the higher the quality of youth coaching the more players that will quickly reach their potential ability once entering the club on a newgen / youth intake date.


AFC

None

CAF

None

CONCACAF

Country	Club	Rating
Honduras	CD Olimpia	19
Honduras	CD Marathon	18

CONMEBOL

Country	Club	Rating
Colombia	Envigado FC	18
Uruguay	Defensor Sporting Club	19
Uruguay	Danubio FC	18

OFC

None

UEFA

Country	Club	Rating
Austria	Austria Wien	18
Belarus	FC Smena Minsk	18
Belgium	Anderlecht	18
Belgium	Genk	18
Croatia	Dinamo Zagreb	19
Croatia	Hajduk Split	18
England	Chelsea	20
England	Manchester United	18
Holland	Ajax	18
Italy	Atalanta	18
Portugal	FC Porto	20
Portugal	Benfica	19
Russia	Akademia Dimitrovgrad	19
Russia	FC Togliatti	19
Spain	FC Barcelona	19
Spain	Real Madrid	18

YOUTH RECRUITMENT

Similarly – attributes are between 0-20 and only displayed by text. Now in this category it is quite common to have high values as this describes how far and wide your reach is into recruiting players not only from your home nation – but also from foreign ones.

• 0 - 2 = Limited
• 3 - 5 = Basic
• 6 - 8 = Fairly Basic
• 9 - 11 = Adequate
• 12 - 14 = Average
• 15 - 16 = Good
• 17 - 18 = Excellent
• 19 - 20 = Exceptional

This can be considered like a tiered system, where the best of the best gets to choose… well the best youngsters from the best pools of talent while other clubs are at the bottom of the pecking order. A clubs’ youth recruitment is almost directly tied to their reputation (self explanatory) and a higher reputation will mean more players from all over the world will look to those clubs to become the best player they can be.

AFC

Country	Club	Rating
Australia	Western City Wanderers FC	20
Bahrain	Al-Muharraq Club	20
China	Shandong Luneng	20
Hong Kong	Hong Kong Rangers	20
Iran	Speahan Isfahan	20
Iran	Foolad Hkuzestan	20
Iraq	Al-Zawra	20
Iraq	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	20
Japan	Kyoto Sanga FC	20
Japan	Tokyo Verdy	20
Jordan	Al-Wehdat	20
Jordan	Al-Jazeera Club (JOR)	20
Kuwait	Al-Qasida	20
Lebanon	Al-Ahed	20
Malaysia	FAM-MSN Project	20
Qatar	Al-Sadd	20
Saudi Arabia	Al-Shabab	20
South Korea	Ulsan Hyundai	20
South Korea	Pohang Steelers	20
Thailand	Muangthong United	20
UAE	Al-Ain	20
UAE	Al-Jazira	20
Vietnam	Ha Noi FC	20
Vietnam	Song Lam Nghe An	20

CAF

Country	Club	Rating
Congo	Racing Club de Brazzaville	20
Ivory Coast	Academie de Football Amadou Diallo	20

CONCACAF

Country	Club	Rating
Barbados	Barbados Defence Force	20
Barbados	Weymouth Wales	20
Cuba	FC Villa Clara	20
Dominican Republic	Cibao Futbol Club	20
Guyana	Alpha United	20
Guyana	Guyana Defence Force	20
Haiti	Baltimor Sportif Club	20
Mexico	Guadalajara	20
Puerto Rico	Bayamon FC	20
Suriname	SV Inter Moengotapoe	20
Trinidad & Tobago	Williams Connection	20
Trinidad & Tobago	Central FC	20
Trinidad & Tobago	Jabloteh Sports Club	20
United States	LA Galaxy	20
United States	Los Angeles FC	20
United States	FC Dallas	20

CONMEBOL

Country	Club	Rating
Argentina	River Plate	20
Brazil	Santos FC	20
Brazil	Sao Paulo FC	20
Chile	Colo-Colo	20
Colombia	Deportivo Cali	20
Colombia	Envigado FC	20
Uruguay	Club Nacional	20
Uruguay	Denfsor Sporting Club	20

OFC

None

UEFA

Country	Club	Rating
Austria	FC Red Bull Salzburg	20
Bosnia & Herzegovina	Zeljeznicar Sarajevo	20
Bulgaria	Ludogorets	20
Bulgaria	CSKA-Sofia	20
Bulgaria	Levski-Sofia	20
Croatia	Dinamo Zagreb	20
Denmark	FC Midjylland	20
Georgia	Dinamo Tbilisi	20
Gibraltar	Lincoln Red Imps	20
Greece	PAOK	20
Hungary	MTK Budapest	20
Iceland	Breioablik Ungmennafelag	20
Italy	Atalanta	20
Kazakhstan	Kairat	20
Norway	Molde FK	20
Norway	FK Bodo/Glimt	20
Norway	Valarenga	20
Norway	Stabaek	20
Poland	Legia Warszawa	20
Poland	Lech Poznan	20
Portugal	Benfica	20
Romania	Viitorul	20
Romania	Voluntari	20
Scotland	Celtic	20
Scotland	Rangers	20
Serbia	Red Star Belgrade	20
Serbia	FK Partizan	20
Switzerland	FC Basel	18

OTHER NOTES AND CONCLUSION

All these factors contribute to producing high class newgens and can help you to find them accordingly. However, it is not a guarantee that world class talents will constantly be produced out of these clubs nor is it a guarantee that they will reach their potential.

The better a club's attributes are as noted above means that there is an increased chance of producing newgens with higher abilities and potential. Some luck is needed at times to find these players.

So, once you have your newgens, now you need to develop them. How do you do that?
Here on FMScout we have several guides which can help you in this regard.