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At long long last my unicorn has arrived. Today for the first time I have a youth player hit the magic 100! He turned 17 a few days ago. He has been in my academy since he was 14. So now the question, do I hit promote straight away or do I leave it longer? Never been in this position before so not sure what to do haha!

I used to promote at 17 with 2 days left on the contract but for the past few seasons I leave them until they reach 18 as I think the longer they are in the academy the better.

Hmmm, interesting. He has around 50 days till he turns 18. He can't improve any more as he is at 100. So I guess the only benefit would be potentially loyalty, meaning he would be more likely to promote.

That said I would lose a full season of having a top rated player in my side. Assuming he is as good as his 100 rating suggest, he would almost certainly make my first team. So waiting a season might be a bit if a waste. Hmmmm, decisions decisions....

would take him a while to get his rating up at least a season

The only question is whether you think he'll promote or not. I've found that 3 seasons in the academy is usually enough for them to want to join, but there's always that small chance he'll turn you down. If you really want to minimise the chance, keep him longer.

Let's say, for the sake of example. the chance of him rejecting a senior contract is 5% now and would reduce to 2% if you wait until his contract is due for renewal. Do you take the risk?

I have a similar dilemma coming up as my 16 year old (turning 17 in 2 weeks) currently rated 89 nears the magic 100 mark. Do I promote when he hits 100 or wait until the end of his current contract in 51 days time?

The deciding factor may be if you academy is full or not. I filled my last spot yesterday but my scouts are still out looking for other youths. If I find another absolute gem, it might be worth promoting the 100 rated youth just that little bit earlier to make space.

i don't mean it like that. I mean lets say he he plays until he is 34 years old. If I promote him now I will get a full extra season out of him compared to if I promote him when he turns 18.

Don't really need the space, currently only have six players in my acadamy. My scouts have been really poor recently, not found anyone with much promise.

That said, I think I'm just gonna hit the promote button. Otherwise I'll just spend the next month or two wondering if and when. So I might as well get it over with.

I'll let you know tomorrow what happens

He said yes!

He looks to be an absolute belter as well. I finally got my unicorn!

Nice one! He sure looks to be a bit of alright

Congrats Andy

Do goalkeepers in the academy improve later than outfield players?

I've got 14 and 15 year old keepers, pretty well balanced within a few points, who have hardly improved since signing on as 12 and 13 year olds. Does the game reflect real life where keepers mature a bit later?

I don't think keepers develop later than any other position. Some players do just improve much later though. I've had players who've barely improved since I got them and then in the final season their improvements just jump forward massively and end up being very good players.

I've got a player in my academy at the moment who hasn't got much better but is in his final season. The coach seems to think he's got a lot of improvement ahead of him but I'm not so sure now and there are no guarantees that he'll be good enough.

Thanks for the reply. I?ll keep them in the academy, give them a chance as the coach reports looked ok. Could just be both late bloomers.

13 year old midfielder signed upto the academy tonight who is rated 60 across all attributes, expecting big things.

Ooh... very nice!

There's a bit of an unexpected youth pileup on my horizon... two of my 16 year olds have had sudden and welcome jumps over the last few weeks and now are both in the 90s! One is due for renewal and has apparently hit his maximum. The other one (a few points higher rated) is due for renewal in 30 days. They've both been with me for 2.5-3 seasons.

In the midst of that I've also got my 17 year old Gonzales who's going to age out in around 20 days. He's still in the 70s but whatever happens to him, when he reaches 18 he's going to have promotion offered to him.

It's a no-brainer to try and promote the first 16 year old now, and then hope Gonzales joins too.

The questions are - should I promote this first 16 year old ASAP to try and spread out the promotions, or wait until the "2 days before contract end" rule of thumb? And if this second 16 year old has also maxed out, should I risk promoting him too (three promotions in four weeks) or renew him and wait the extra 22 days?

I had two successful promotions last season and then right at the end of the season a 17 year old turned 18, despite being in my academy for three seasons he did not sign up and walked away. So maybe 3 promotions in a season gets a bit risky.

I think each additional promotion every season increases the risk of rejection, there's not necessarily a bigger step between the second and third promotions.

I think you should certainly make your first promotion of the season one that you really want to succeed if you have the option.

I have a balanced 99 rated midfielder ready to promote. I will be quite upset if he rejects the chance for first team football as he's been in my academy for 5 or so years.

Well I took the plunge and went for promotion, and it paid off - welcome to IAG, Paul Strasbach! He was 90 overall but had a couple of 80s attributes so I'm not too disappointed with how he's turned out - he'll be a good player for me.

I guess I'll hang on until next season for my diamond then, and hope he gets a few more points in that time.