How old is too old? Developing players.

[Morrow]

It has been my experience that some players never reach their full potential due to a poor start as a youngster. For example a player doesn't get enough starts in the first few years they never seem to recover from this.

Every now and then I see a player with great potential reach the end of their contract at the age of say 21/22 having never been given the playing time to develop. I've bought a few of these players and tried to release the locked potential but it doesn't seem to work. The damage has been done.

Is this the case for you guys? Have I just been unlucky, or is it a factor of the game that some young talent just falls by the wayside and can't be recovered? If so, what is the typcial age that you would avoid a player that hasn't developed?

 

[Hireax]

My rule of thumb is, U21 has loads of time to develop in a good potential first team player. 21-24 should be off their potential by max 1 star. Not reached potential at 24+? I avoid them, unless their current ability is good enough to play a decent role in the team.

Some players will just not reach that potential unfortunately.

 

[Aarøe95]

It's just like in real life. Some players are made to be bigger than they really are. It's not like we haven't seen it before, players like Pato(mostly because of injuries, but still), Lulinha, Patrick Olsen(compared to other danish players, he was meant to be something special) etc. Players that haven't been given the time and trust to develop properly, and thus they haven't reached their full potential, and never will.

 

[xtremeRED]

players like Lucas Piazon, Scott Sinclair, Jack Rodwell, Rafael/Fabio, Suso and many others were rated very highly when they were 20-22, and seemed to be the next big thing.
what happened next we all know, and all of them at the moment would be mid table players now at the very best..

they need game time and the right environment to flourish.

the very best example of this is De Bruyne. he was rotting at Chelsea, and were he to stay there for another couple of years, there's no denying the fact that he'd have been just another could have been, a player like the ones mentioned above!

but today, he stands close to becoming a key player for a team competing for top honours.

Paul Pogba, in case he had a longer contract, stayed at United, and just played as a reserve player/back-up option, he too would have had the same fortune.

but the right development, trust of the manager, and constant, consistent game time acts as catalyst for the development of these players, while the lack of the same thwarts any progress, and to an extent, potential progress as well...