How to scout like Ajax in FIFA 21 Career Mode

Want to build a roster of guns in FIFA 21 Career Mode, but don’t have the players to do it yet? You’ll need to scout them out yourself. Thankfully, there’s a formula you can follow to make sure you build a winning squad ⁠— and it’s just as good as Ajax’s.

If you’re learning the ropes of FIFA 21 Career Mode, it’s totally acceptable to look up stats sites to find out everything there is to know about each player. But often in Career Mode, the best players out there are the ones that don’t exist.

The Youth Academy, Global Transfer Network, and scouting plays a major role in curating your perfect team. If you use these tools effectively, you can have a team of world beaters in no time flat, and you’ll be racking in the Manager of the Month rewards.

It’s not rocket science either. If you just know what to look for, you can be able to replicate success in your own saves ⁠— without even having to boot up an external stats site to check you’re making the right moves.

We’ve got a guide to exactly how, breaking down both the Youth Academy and the Global Transfer Network, so you can develop a system as good as Ajax’s.

FIFA 21 Career Mode Youth Academy guide

Youth academies work a bit differently in FIFA 21 to previous titles. There were a few set strategies to really farm up money and talent. However, you can throw most ⁠— but not all ⁠— of your previous knowledge out the window.

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If you’re entirely new to Career Mode, here’s what you need to know about Youth Academies. In FIFA 21, you are automatically assigned a scout, with different Experience and Judgment ratings based on the club you are playing. You can get up to three youth scouts.

They will scour the globe, when you send them out, to find you the hottest prospects. You can then bring them back to your club, train them up, and promote them to your first team if you believe they are good enough.

The biggest change for returning players is that first point ⁠— you automatically get a youth scout in FIFA 21. No waiting for a few days to pick one up, then sending them out; you can send them out on Day 1.

There’s a few things to note with where, and what instructions you give your scout. The home country buff for scouts is gone. Also, it doesn’t really matter what nation you send them to, because in FIFA 21 all countries have around the same potential of finding your next star.

As for instructions, the Goalkeeper farming strategy for easy money is gone. Because of the new training system, you can’t train up individual players as easily, before shipping them off and pocketing a hefty sum.

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However, the new training system does allow you to branch out and truly curate the perfect set of players. You can even train skill moves, weak foot, and work rate. That means if you find a 90+ potential prodigy with 1* skill moves and weak foot, it’s not the end of the world anymore.

You’ll also want to hold your players in the youth academy for as long as possible. You no longer get to choose what contract conditions they get, so if you promote someone too early with a Crucial player contract, your options will be far more limited than if you kept them in the academy, as they could end up leaving without enough game time.

If this is all a bit too wordy, here’s a few quick dot points you can follow to make sure your Youth Academy gets off on the right foot.

• Be sure to use your youth scouts. It’s an obvious tip, but they’re not worth it if they’re laying around. Send them on scouting missions, pick up better ones if you have the cash, and keep the process going.
• If you scout a player with over 90 potential, pick them up immediately. If they have a peak potential of under 80, discard them immediately. Use your judgment for the rest.
• Be sure to check a player’s value when you look into their stats. If they have a high value, that means they have a high overall rating right now. If it’s upwards of $400,000, you might want to consider picking them up, even if their potential is lower.
• Send your scouts far and wide ⁠— there’s no real home country advantage in FIFA 21.
• Specialize your players’ training to your needs. Young players are more flexible than their older counterparts. Use this to your advantage.
  • If your youth players have low work rates, or poor skill moves and weak foot, be sure to prioritize training this to a decent level.
• Don’t sign your players up to the first squad too early. You can’t really control their team role (it’s based on rating relative to the rest of the team), so you don’t want to lose them if you promote them early.

FIFA 21 Career Mode Global Transfer Network guide

Outside of the youth system is the Global Transfer Network (GTN). It might not seem as thrilling as high-rolling your own youth star, but it’s just as important in the scouting process.

If you’ve never touched Career Mode before, the GTN allows you to set up scouts to look at a specific region, highlighting talent on other teams you should consider signing. You can set the parameters, and they’ll find what you need.

It can be a bit overwhelming though. Once you have a few scouts with a few instructions, you can easily get dozens of players on your watch list. Don’t fret though, there’s a few ways to get around it.

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Being specific in your instructions is one of them. If you want a young player showing promise in a specific position, try and narrow the search down. While you’ll potentially miss some gems, if you are starting out in Career Mode, this is an easy way to make sure you don’t get overwhelmed.

Just putting them on your shortlist isn’t enough either. If there’s a player you’ve really got your eyes on, it’ll be worth scouting them further. It’ll take upwards of a couple of weeks for some players, but you get a better picture of the kind of player they are. It can save you from signing a dud and letting the next star though.

While you shouldn’t turn away from weaker regions with the GTN entirely, it’s a lot less efficient if you are sending them outside of the major nations. Because most talent ends up centralizing in Europe, or some of the South American countries, focus your efforts here with GTN scouting.

Here’s some handy pointers you can follow if you are struggling to keep up.

• Much like with youth scouts, be sure to use your GTN scouts. They can find you the next best talent a team is willing to part ways with. The higher level your scout, the more players they find, and the quicker they can turn around full reports.
• Don’t just blindly follow what the game tells you. Take the time to investigate a player’s full potential by scouting them further.
• If the GTN is a bit overwhelming, focus on one region or one scout at a time. Make your instructions super-specific, and you’ll only find exactly what you are looking for.
• As more regens come though, the GTN becomes even more important. Don’t always rely on the stat sites to pick players just because of their high potential.

That’s all there is to scouting in FIFA 21 Career Mode. If you want to build a squad of guns, it’ll take time. However, you can do it on a penny if you follow this method, and you’ll be able to ride the journey with your players too.