EA Sports FC 24: Why Youth Academies NEED to be added to Career Mode

EA Sports FC 24 is a brand new game from EA which promises to set the standard for a new era of football gaming.

Splitting away from FIFA for the first time, EA will make their mark on the footballing landscape by ushering in a brand new franchise.

As with the start of any new era, major changes are almost certain and we want to take a look at how one simple Career Mode feature could revolutionise EA Sports FC 24.

With that in mind, let's take a look at why youth academies need to be added to EA Sports FC 24.

EA Sports FC Youth Academies

A concept that has been mentioned many times by the Career Mode community, adding a meaningful youth academy system into EA Sports FC 24 would be a great way to revolutionise the game as a whole.

Right now, the youth system offered in Career Mode is incredibly basic, with recruitment and development lacking a real sense of achievement.

Instead of this formulaic approach to youth signings, EA should strip it back to the bare bones and start again.

Youth scouts are a good idea and having a separate youth squad where players can develop is also a strong concept. However, that's where the positives end.

We'd like to see a fully-fledged youth system added to EA Sports FC 24, allowing you to take charge of behind-close-doors games and try out your young players before promoting them to the first team.

One of the biggest issues with the current youth development structure is that it's incredibly difficult to get players to grow when they aren't playing games.

Loaning them out is one option, but adding the option to play youth team games is a great way to test out players and help them begin their journey towards their full potential.

Whole youth leagues and tournaments could be added, creating a totally different experience to the standard Career Mode formula.

Not everyone would be a fan as it would make seasons last longer, but you could also offer the chance to simply use basic youth recruitment, allowing players to divert back to the previous system if they wished.

FM Influences

A lot of this concept derives from the way in which Football Manager treats youth recruitment.

The premium immersive football game doesn't shy away from all of the necessary intricacies and this is where we think EA are missing out on making their game unique.

Youth Intake Day in Football Manager is one of the best days in the calendar and you could easily recreate something similar in EA Sports FC 24, having a designated day in which certain players join your academy, or can be poached from others.

Adding this simple feature would make the whole Career Mode process feel more immersive and rewarding, with different challenges thrown in along the way.

Balancing the books is something that has become more prominent in Career Mode in recent years and you could be faced with signing a superstar or investing in your academy set-up.

Whichever way you look at it, this concept would undoubtedly improve the overall Career Mode experience.

Wonderkid Glory

Another problem this concept would solve is the lack of spontaneity that exists in Career Mode right now.

Anyone can find the best wonderkids at the start of the game. Heck, we have multiple articles covering the biggest and best stars for each position.

Whilst this is helpful, it also means that most of the time you're adding the same players to your team.

This in-depth youth system would add an element of surprise to your save, with new names and legends waiting to be etched into your club's history.

Similar to the kind of tech seen used for referees, EA could add more generic face scans into the game that give each youth player a unique and authentic feel, making them feel less out of place with the rest of the team.

With EA Sports FC 24 marking the start of a new era, and this concept being banded around for some time, we think it's time for EA to action this feature and make this year's Career Mode offering the biggest and best it's ever been.