Understanding Ability Rating

Hello,

As we know, there are 2 ability ratings for players; current ability (CA) & potential ability (PA). My question is; can the PA of a player change over time? For example, if my scout says that this player has the PA of 3 star, will it appreciate or deppreciate over time? I know that the CA can change over time but what about PA?

PA always remains the same.

PA will never exceed what its set value. A player might never reach that potentiol though so he can go from having 3 stars potential to 2 star potential depending on factors like training, injuries and lack of 1st team football.

PA won't change, but your scout might have underestimated it.

PA never changes, but it often happens it can't be reached anymore by the player, no matter how well he trains/plays. Anyway a decent scout will "tell" you when/if a player isn't good enough, regardless of his original PA.

[e.g. in my save Lukaku went from Real Madrid to Free Transfer, now being the target of the likes of Cardiff and Scunthorpe... that's because he didn't turn out as good as his PA suggested, and Top Clubs know he's now useless]

So, unless your scouts are really really REALLY poor, their evaluation is quite ok... maybe off by 1/2 star, give or take.

Also keep in mind the scout report isn't absolute.

The very same player can be a 2* if you are Chelsea or a 3.5* if you are Everton, or a 4.5* if you are Burnley.

His CA/PA is still the same, but the scouts compare those values to those of your players and evaluate them according to the goal and the stature of your club.

So, on the same vein, the striker who was 3.5* six months ago can be 2.5* now... Either because your strikers have improved, or he has gotten worse. Or a bit of both.

P.S. the game tends to "flatline" in terms of scout reports after a while, so you'll get a lot of 3* reports, even for players who are actually good.

Remember 3* means "he's good enough to be starting eleven material", and that 4*+ players are usually very few, very expensive and almost impossible to buy unless you're dirty rich or you can somewhat scoop them up on free transfer/Bosman.

The PA never changes, but their reflection in the ability report might change as these are relative to your club's stature and team.

Thus a 3-star potential player might only be given as having a 2-star potential a year later if you have improved your team in the meantime. Yet, the player's PA has remained the same.

PA never increases, but it can decrease due to a long term injury, or this was the case on FM09 and I am fairly sure it is still the same now.

The best way is to assume that the hidden value of PA never changes and hope your scouts get it right.

PA always remains the same.

While the actual PA (which is hidden) may not change, the in-game version of it that we get from the scouts does. Scouts will often re-evaluate their judgements on players as they get older as potential is easier to judge.

I've noticed that the star ratings for youngsters tend to be quite cautious, so a 3 star youngster can go on to become a 4 star player when they are older.