Top South American Clubs for Youth Development in FM24

Explore top South American clubs in Football Manager 2024 for youth development. Build a golden generation and lead your team to glory in FM24.

Discover the Best Clubs for Nurturing Talent in Football Manager

There’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good youth development save. Taking over a club and harvesting a golden generation of youngsters who go on to lead your club to unprecedented success is just a different level of satisfaction to anything else in FM. You feel like you’ve truly built a club, and made anything possible for your fans and players alike. While there are talent factories in Europe renowned for their success, there are also plenty of clubs with phenomenal potential in South America. If you’re looking to guide a crop of your own homegrown talent to Copa Libertadores success, the clubs listed in this article are the best places to start.

Universidad Catolica (Chile)

One of the most successful domestic clubs in Chile, Universidad Catolica, have struggled to make a lasting mark on continental football. Having only reached the final of the Copa Libertadores once, the club have only one Copa Interamericana to their name in terms of continental trophies. Considering their proficiency at winning Primeira Division, this is surprising and you’ll want to rectify that straight away.

While the club has a few decent talents already to help challenge for the title in your first season (such as Eugenio Mena, Cesar Pinares and Fernando Zampedri), it’s the development of youngsters such as Alexander Aravena, Gonzalo Taipa and Jorge Ortiz you’ll be most concerned with. You’ve got one of the best youth recruitment in South America, and your training and youth facilities are at a fantastic standard, so you’ll be able to churn out further wonderkids in no time.

Atletico Nacional (Colombia)

Atletico Nacional are one of the biggest clubs in Colombia, and boast an extensive list of Colombian internationals among their former players. For FM players, this is no surprise when you see the facilities available to them. With state of the art youth recruitment, as well as excellent training and youth facilities, Atletico Nacional have the reputation to draw the best youngsters from all over Colombia. With two Copa Libertadores in their history, you’ll be looking to add to that with your own batch of wonderkids.

While you’ll be dependent on some ageing players to start with - such as Cristian Zapata and Jefferson Duque - in the early days of your save, starlets such as Oscar Perea, Andres Salazar and Tomas Angel are already beginning to emerge. It won’t be long before they’re challenging for roles in the starting XI, and they’ll form the core of your club going forward as you seek to challenge in the continent.

READ ALSO: FM24 Hidden Gems: Low-Tier Teams with Potential

Defensor Sporting (Uruguay)

There’s a lot to like about the possibility of a Defensor Sporting save. They’re the third most successful side in Uruguay, however their four titles pales in comparison to the combined hundred of Penarol and Club Nacional. The big two have a stranglehold over Uruguayan football, but Defensor have an ace up their sleeve: the best youth recruitment in Uruguay, and youth facilities and coaching to match. This is a club heading in the right direction, and with a little investment in training facilities will be able to compete with the big two in no time at all. Watch out for Anderson Duarte, as his development holds the key to the future of this sleeping giant of Uruguay.

Palmeiras (Brazil)

There’s plenty of choice for a good youth recruitment save in Brazil. With seemingly every club blessed with great youth recruitment, it’s no wonder they produce incredibly talented footballers at the rate they do. However, with Palmeiras, you’ve got the best balance of all facilities in Brazil, as well as a healthy reputation to help you lure youngsters to your academy. Endrick has obviously drawn headlines and will be a great help to you before his move to Real Madrid, but don’t sleep on Estevao’s development either, as he has the potential to be an all-time club legend.

READ ALSO: Best Brazilian Wonderkids in Football Manager 2024

River Plate (Argentina)

A club which needs no introduction around these parts, River Plate is one of the most famous clubs in all of South America. As you’d expect, they have some of the best facilities and youth recruitment on the continent, so it’s no surprise expectations are so high for your club. Your first team is already brimming with talent, but it’s the development of Claudio Echeverri and Sebastien Boselli that’ll set you apart and get to the important business of extending your record of 38 titles over arch-enemy Boca Juniors.

Conclusion

Developing a team through the youth academy to compete at the highest level is one of the most enjoyable ways to play Football Manager. While there’s plenty of clubs where this can be achieved, I hope this list of the best clubs for development in South America has given you an appetite to build a golden generation at your club.