4. Buy Players Between The Age Of 20 And 22
AP Photo/Sang TanAustus told the authors of "Soccernomics" that Lyon bought the best players in the country, who were between 20 and 22 years old. This was because, how good a player is at 17 or 18 is not a definite indicator whether he will succeed at a club. However, in the magical age of 20 and 22, one can get a pretty good idea of how a player will perform for a new club. In this age group, players have matured a bit. They are old enough to be nearly fully formed but too young to be expensive stars. A study by Fifa TMS, analyzing the transfers to England in 2013, showed that the players moving aged 20 to 22 were 18 percent cheaper than players aged 25 to 27. There is no need to pay a premium for the big stars. Instead look out for the budding young stars not known in the international circuit. The strategy works very well in Football Manager. Rodriguez is 21 years of age, while Romero is 19, and they have an average rating of 7.5 and 7.4 respectively. As per the fans, Rodriguez is a truly inspired bargain singing, while Romero's transfer is billed as a marvelous piece of business. De Sciglio, coming from Milan in January, is 21, and labelled as an Italian wonderkid. All three are for the future and will significantly improve the squad in the next two seasons.