What youth players are and when to promote them
Youth players are the young players in a club's academy who are not yet part of the first team. They train and compete separately until they are ready to step up.
Every club faces a key moment with its youngsters: deciding when to bring them into the first team. Promote them too early and they may not be ready; wait too long and they lose years of first-team minutes.
In ELDT youth players grow every week, closing in on their potential. They grow faster if they are young (those aged 16 or under get a 15% bonus), if they play minutes in the Youth Tournament, if the training ground is of a good level, if their morale is high and if you handle their events well. The Youth Tournament is played in zones of 16 clubs, home and away, on Thursday and Saturday mornings, and at the end of the 30 matchdays the zone champions play the Final Phase for the title of national youth champion.
From Season 3 every player (youth and first team) turns a year older once per season, each on his own date. To promote a kid to the first team he needs to be 17 with an overall of 12, and when he turns 20 he goes up automatically, whatever his level. If you want to pick the moment, promote him yourself between 17 and 19. Youth players are not sold directly: first you promote them to the first team, then they can be auctioned.
See it in the game: the manager's guide.
Related terms
See also: online football manager · guides on the blog