What a player's potential is in a football manager
Potential is the quality ceiling a player can reach with proper training and game time. It is not his current level: it is how far he can still grow.
In a football manager, potential separates the players who are good today from the ones who will be good tomorrow. A 17-year-old with a low overall and a high potential can be the star of the side in a couple of seasons, while a veteran with a fine rating has little room left. Potential is never reached on its own: it takes training, minutes and time, and the older the player, the less he gets out of each week of work.
In ELDT potential marks the ceiling a player can reach with good training. In the academy potentials go from 5 to 20 and are grouped as: common 5 to 10, medium 11 to 13, good 14 to 16, gem 17 and 18, and star 19 and 20. Once a youngster hits his potential he stops improving.
Age rules everything: under 19 a player makes the most of training, and from 33 he barely improves. That is why a kid with potential 18 can start at overall 5 and end up a star if you give him years of training and minutes.
See it in the game: the manager's guide.
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See also: online football manager · guides on the blog