We often get people asking why their club's youth academy doesn't bring through enough good players.
In the Pro app, there are a few simple factors that combine to determine how good your youth players are, and once you understand the system, it should be easier to make sure that your club's youth setup is at the right level.
1, New intake of players
Each year you get a few new 15 year-old players joining your youth squad. The quality of these players will depend on two things: how good your youth system is, and what division your club is in.
One of the biggest mistakes people make is setting their youth rating far too high for the division they are in. There's no point having a 99-rated youth system as a Non-League club, because the very best young players will still choose to join a top club rather than your team.
2, Players develop during their time in the youth system
Unless they get called up to the first team, the young players should develop steadily during their time in the youth setup. Some will inevitably do better than others; if you keep an eye on the youths, you might see a few stars starting to develop! But this process takes time - so after you've improved your youth system, it can still take at least a couple of years before better players start to come through.
3, Young players develop further when they get a Pro contract
Another thing that people often don't realise is that the players who come through from the youth system are not the finished article. All the way through their late teens and early twenties you should see your young players continue to improve (assuming your training/coaching ratings are good enough to help them develop).
A lot of people often ask why their 99-rated youth setup doesn't actually bring them 99-rated youths. What you need to remember is that a 99-rated youth system will give you players with the potential to become 99-rated. For instance, a 94-rated 17 year-old could become a 99-rated superstar by the time he's in his mid-twenties.
So don't ditch your young players just because they're not the finished article yet. Be patient, nurture your younger players (perhaps by sending them out on loan for experience) and hopefully you'll see some home-grown heroes coming through!