Future of Youth Academy

Another feature I would love to see enhanced for Manager Career Mode is the Youth Academy. In ‘25 we got some fantastic new additions to the YA system. A lot of glitches and bugs, that don’t seem evident in the ‘26, so the YA is certainly at its best ever in my opinion. So many new nations were added to the scouting network. Youth players look like kids and actually grow in stature. Heights in specific positions are kind of all over but again, seems better for ‘26. The YA is good, but could be great. I would like to have the option to do training matches between academy players and my first team players. 11 v 11 not Rush. The Rush option is still good and should stay the way it is, with maybe an actual tournament feel and reward, but I want to actually train with my youth players, and have the opportunity to turn a 60/70 potential into 80/90. We are getting 13 yo players now. If they have low pot. I want to be able to manually train and improve them. We should also be able to send first teamers down to the academy. Maybe there’s an age limit but either way should be there. Ultimately, the YA needs to be much, much more functional. We should hire a manager and coaches. Get transfer offers for our elite prospects, and get match performance notes before signing prospects and after signing. Maybe they play for fake clubs or other academies before we get them. Have simmed academy matches for our club to see how players perform before getting the call up. We need big, big changes here and soon!