Do players develop into new positions?

I've got Jonny Evans on loan and I'm playing him at left back although he's a D C. Will he develop into a better left back, or would he need to be specifically trained for this?

I've got Jonny Evans on loan and I'm playing him at left back although he's a D C. Will he develop into a better left back, or would he need to be specifically trained for this?

i read soemowhere, if your training a position, just playing him there will do minimal effect, as it said that you spend hours on the training pitch to perfect it and only 90 mins on a saturday to use it, so personally, train him for sure

Defo specifically train him. His progress will depend on his Versatility attribute which is hidden. If it is high then he will develop quickly, if it is low it will take him a few seasons to master a new position. Playing him helps, but as fatboy ^_^ says above it must be accompanied by training...

WTS^ It mainly depends on his (hidden) Versatility rating. You need to train and play him in that position for some time to get any benefit too.

I've noticed that a few players (and i mean very few) can change position automatically as they get older.

I've came across one or two examples of players who play now as strikers or midfielders have changed into defenders as their attributed have changed (pace etc)

Don't have any examples but.

varies on the length of time for me, about 2 - 6 months to go from cant play in the position to accomplished. beware though some players if you stop training them there or train them for another position they will lose that posisiton, this s based on another hidden stat iirc. but yeah just train them there it will go a lot faster.