What's your strat with regens? I can't help going crazy

After a rather successful first season with Man United I had a huge transfer budget and no areas of the first-team that really needed improving, so I went to look for some good youngsters. Usually playing lower-level football all the good regens usually slip me by but it seems now that after the first season every scouting report I get usually contains info on a 16/17- year old who already has attributes good enough to be playing Prem/Championship, with potential to be a 4-star player at least AND with 15+ determination. To avoid a rival pinching them I've been buying them for maybe £1 million each and adding them to my first-team to try and give them some experience to develop well. I kind of regret it now... My team looks really lame with 5 or 6 16-year olds and I like to try and play and buy in a realistic manner.. Somehow I really can't see even Sir Alex Ferguson throwing a 16-year old on the pitch when we're 2-0 up with 20 minutes left.

Just today after seemingly calming down with the transfers... I found an 18-year old striker regen with unbelievable stats.. Like seriously he has similar stats to Rooney and his mental attributes are crazy also. I could get him easily for £3 million. But I would feel even lamer!

So how do you plan your youngster regen purchasing? Do you only go for 5-star potential players? Or do many people follow suit with what I'm doing? Buying anyone and anything that takes your interest?

well the problem that you currently have is that you are man utd, so you really you shouldnt be looking for regens below 4 stars and have the money to be able to cover it if they dont quite work out. Myself, im in the dutch 2nd division so i can look for more squd players, but need to alot more careful as i cant just write of any signings i make.

The way i do it, is simple. If they look to have the potential to cover gaps through injuries etc and maybe able to go for a good run during the season, sign them up. If you really dont see them playing then dont. I mean if you think about it, if they are not good enough for your first team (or dont look like they eventually will be) then there isnt a massive issue if your competitiors sign them.

I tend to watch games where the player im looking at is going to play in, maybe 3-4 of them so i can see how they are performing, that will give you a good indicator

i do my best to stick by my own academy as the only source of regens

The star ratings are relative to your current team, so are meaningless without context. If you have the best team in the world you probably can't find a 5 star player anywhere because they would have to be better than anyone on your team. Same with potential stars.

Secondly, read SFrasers guide to developing players in the tactics forum. You don't have to stick 16 year olds in the 1st team to develop them properly, especially somewhere like Man U!

I am a Newgen addict and never feel lame about playing them.... because I wait 'till I can't possibly keep them on the bench after years of development within the Youth/Tutoring/Feeder/Loan system. The only thing I regret is buying a youngster when I really know he'll never quite make the grade.

I usually buy 5-7 a year.

Stick them in my under 18's, then the one's I bought the year before either step up into my squad, maybe 1/2 and the rest go out on loan or another season in under 18's/reserves ...then carry on the process.

I'm in 2037 and my net spend is about minus (-) £130 million. Just keep bringing players through and then selling the players they over-take or become on par too for £20-30 million.

Usually regens start playing games in first team aged 18-19, although there are the odd exceptions either way, i.e. 16/17 or 20/21 ...depending on how far developed they are.

The star ratings are relative to your current team, so are meaningless without context. If you have the best team in the world you probably can't find a 5 star player anywhere because they would have to be better than anyone on your team. Same with potential stars.

Secondly, read SFrasers guide to developing players in the tactics forum. You don't have to stick 16 year olds in the 1st team to develop them properly, especially somewhere like Man U!

I am a Newgen addict and never feel lame about playing them.... because I wait 'till I can't possibly keep them on the bench after years of development within the Youth/Tutoring/Feeder/Loan system. The only thing I regret is buying a youngster when I really know he'll never quite make the grade.

This .

SFraser's guide is very useful. I am also a newgen buying addict, and have successfully turned a number of them into world class players. Some haven't made the grade, and some I had to let go because I didn't have room for them.

I don't see 5* players because my team is very strong, and in fact I don't even see 4* players any more. My latest new season scouting session has unearthed only about 6 players who have 3.5* stars, so I bought 3 of them.

-First i look if they are actually going to fit in my team, if i'm playing a lone striker formation with an intelligent deep-lying striker, there's no point in signing a brainless speed merchant even if he has really high potential, there are exceptions though of course, everyone loves a bargain and if that high potential 10k youngster is just lost on those reserves and i can sign him,tutor him, loan him and sell for a massive profit i'll do it as well.

-If possible try to get at least 1 match report from your scout, if you have really top scouts(and since you are in Man Utd it should be easy) then the initial report card is normally accurate enough but still i prefer to have them watch at least 1 match of the youngster if possible.

-Personality is very important, if they don't have a good personality and you don't have any player able to tutor them into a top professional, then i simply won't sign that player.

-Try to avoid players susceptible to injuries (though they can still have a good career as long as they are micromanaged a lot),players that won't perform on big matches,etc, i'll still sign players that are "fairly inconsistent" since that will improve over time by playing a lot of games, also Natural Fitness doesn't cost any CA so any players with high Natural Fitness are also good to look for since they'll endure the entire season a lot better.

-Getting a feeder club on the league 2nd tier is generally very helpful to give them playing time, not only for them to develop but to increase their reputation as well if they just aren't good enough for your team and you want to sell them, also don't just release all the low PA youngsters from your academy without having a look at them first, if they have the right basic attributes for the position sometimes they can end up being decent players and the first PA evaluation from the Ass.Man can be wrong.