You have two options when looking for new players in FM24: spend hours looking yourself or hire a strong scouting team.
In FM24, you get an email each season letting you know the top 10 academies, but, to get ahead of the curve, it is worth employing people to be aware of those academy players before the rest of the world is.
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Here, The Athletic has found the best scouts and recruitment staff to sign in FM24. Each of them begins every new save without a club.
We’ve given each entry a key attributes score. For example, if they need to be proficient in three attributes and each attribute is ranked out of 20, the maximum key attributes score will be 60, and so on.
Chief scout
Key attributes: judging player ability, judging player potential, adaptability
David Trezeguet
Key attributes score: 57/60
The person employed as your chief scout should have the strongest scouting attributes in your team and there is no one better for that role in FM24 than former France striker Trezeguet.
He honed his recruitment craft for six years at Juventus but is without a club at the start of a new game save. His high adaptability rating (18/20) means he will be able to hit the ground running pretty quickly, too.
Steve Hitchen
Key attributes score: 55/60
Pavel Nedved is the second-best scout available, but like his former Juventus team-mate Trezeguet, he will only join a big club.
In the interests of variety, Hitchen is a great shout for smaller sides and has excellent numbers across the board.
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Scouts
Key attributes: judging player ability, judging player potential, adaptability
William Santos
Key attributes score: 52/60
Santos’ ability to judge a player’s potential is as good as it gets. When he says a player could become a five-star prospect in FM24, the chances are he will likely be right.
If Santos does not appear in your search results, that may be because you have not activated Brazil as a playable league. Giancarlo Antognoni is a nice backup option.
Brendan MacFarlane
Key attributes score: 46/60
The former Brentford scout made a name for himself searching for players in France between 2017 and 2021.
During that period, the club signed Said Benrahma and Bryan Mbeumo from Nice and Troyes. One was sold for a big profit and the latter has probably been the club’s best player this season. MacFarlane would be a very nice addition to your staff in FM24.
Recruitment analysts
Key attributes: analysing data, judging player ability
Antonio Gagliardi
Key attributes score: 35/40
Recruitment and performance analysts can often fulfil both of those roles in FM24.
In Gagliardi’s case, he is capable of performing either role at an exceptionally high level. His data reports will almost always be accurate.
Adam McGuinness
Key attributes score: 31/40
Recruitment analysts will provide data-based reports on a player and a scout will conduct further analysis on them if you want.
Teams with lower reputations should take a look at McGuinness and entrust him with working out how good a player may become in future.
Director of football
Key attributes: judging player ability, judging player potential, negotiating
Max Eberl
Key attributes score: 53/60
Eberl made his name working at Borussia Monchengladbach for 14 years and played a role in helping them qualify for the Champions League in three seasons out of six.
If you choose to delegate negotiations to your director of football in FM24, you will be in safe hands with Eberl.
Leonardo
Key attributes score: 49/60
The Brazilian has spent time working in Paris and Milan at two of Europe’s biggest clubs.
For that reason, he is unlikely to join a club with a smaller reputation than his former employers.
Technical director
Key attributes: judging staff ability, negotiating
Iain Brunnschweiler
Key attributes score: 30/40
Brunnschweiler, a former cricketer and author of two books about improving performance in sports, left Southampton after five years this summer.
The 43-year-old would be a strong addition for a lot of clubs in FM24 and is willing to join teams playing in the Championship.
Paolo Maldini
Key attributes score: 27/40
Maldini is one of the most accomplished defenders in the history of Italian football.
He most recently worked as a technical director for the only club he played for, AC Milan, before leaving this summer. He will only want to join a team with a global reputation.
Loan manager
Key attributes: judging player ability, judging player potential, analysing data, people management
Loan managers are not in plentiful supply in FM24. There are, however, a lot of regenerated coaches who can fulfil that role, so your best bet would be a made-up coach, as the pool of real-life options is extremely thin.
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(Top photo: Alessandro Sabattini via Getty Images)