Top 5 Head of Youth Development in Football Manager 2021

Here’s a list of the top 5 Head of Youth Development staff in Football Manager 2021 which you must consider bringing into your team.

Here’s a list of the top 5 Head of Youth Development staff in Football Manager 2021 which you must consider bringing into your team.

Having the right people in the place of youth development is crucial if you want to develop talents in your own club and not rely on your club's power in the transfer market.

What is a Head of Youth Development, and what's his job?

A Head of Youth Development's (HOYD) primary role is to bring in new prospects to the club via the annual youth intakes or the intake days, which occur on random dates depending on which league you're managing in. These new prospects are commonly known as the Newgens (newly generated players by the game), aka Regens.

Along with the job of recruiting newgens for the future, you can assign HOYD to coach your youth teams, and you can even give them to handle press conferences at your club.

And even though it is considered that their primary job is to recruit new players for the club, they are a part of the Coaching Team, which means that they will have a big role in training and developing the players at your club. 

You can assign different tasks to your HOYD by going to your Staff screen > Responsibilities > Staff.

You can delegate a lot of work for your HOYD to do instead of you, but probably the best things to give your HOYD is for him to Provide Youth Development Information and provide you with Player Reports if he has good JPA and JPP attributes. 

And of course, you should delegate him the job of Find and signing young players for the future. And if you want to outsource even more responsibilities for the youth team, set the HOYD to deal with Player contract discussions for reserve and youth teams.

RELATED: Setting up staff responsibilities in Football Manager

What attributes should a good HOYD possess? 

In Football Manager 2021, these three attributes are considered key for a good HOYD; Judging Player Ability, Judging Player Potential and Working With Youngsters. 

Now, as we know that HOYD can be delegated much more work than just signing new players for the future, it is good to consider the following attributes as well, when signing your new HOYD look at his; Coaching attribute, Personality, Determination, Level of Discipline, Motivating, Preferred Formation.

RELATED: Great ways with dealing with youth training and recruitment

Top 5 HOYD staff in Football Manager 2021

Some of the mentioned staff on this list will not be available immediately for recruitment due to various reasons; however, they are the best staff available for the role of Head of Youth Development.

Huw Jennings

· Age: 60
· Current Club/Job: Head of Youth Development Fulham
· Nationality: Welsh
· Current Contract: £3k/week until 30/6/2023

Having been the former head of youth development of the highly praised Southampton academy, Jennings carries the reputation for finding very good young players from the British Isles. He currently serves as the head of Fulham's youth development and has occupied the post for 10+ years. 

He has some of the best JPP, JPA and Working with youngsters attribute which makes him ideal for the role of Head of Youth Development and has extensive knowledge of England & Wales. Considering that he works for Fulham, who are in a lower tier of English football, he should be relatively easy to acquire at the start. He will make a noticeable difference to your youth recruitment.

Davide Loddo

· Age: 56
· Current Club/Job: Head of Youth Development Juventus/Zebre
· Nationality: Italian
· Current Contract: £3.4k/week until 30/6/2025

A well-known name in Italian Football, Loddo (name changed for licensing purposes) has held General Manager's position for several of his previous clubs before becoming the Head Of Youth Development of Juventus in 2012. 

He has an important man behind several emerging stars from the Juventus academy and shares a tight bond with the club. He is one of the best Head OF Youth Development staff members in FM21 with some of the highest JPP, JPA & a full 20 in working with youngsters. It is not easy to get him out of Juventus, but if you do manage that, you are set for a long time in your youth recruitment.

Roberto Samaden

· Age: 54
· Current Club/Job: Head of Youth Development Inter
· Nationality: Italian
· Current Contract: £7.75k/week until 30/6/2025

One more giant of Italian Football, Samaden, has been with Inter as a Head of Youth Development since 2002. He is the best Head Of Youth Development in the game with almost perfect JPA, JPP & Working with Youngsters attributes. 

He has superb knowledge of Italy and has already been responsible for several superstars that came out of the Inter Youth system. He is definitely not easy to acquire since he shares a strong bond with the club, but his contract is soon coming to an end and will be one of the best acquisitions if you manage to praise him out of Inter.

Bruno Conti

· Age: 65
· Current Club/Job: Head Of Youth Development Roma
· Nationality: Italian
· Current Contract: £5.5k/week until 30/6/2022

Conti is an Italian footballing legend with AS Roma and has made over 300 league appearances for the club. He is also a football world cup winner and a well-known name in the Italian circuit. After his retirement, Conti had a stint as a youth team coach for Roma, gradually working his way up and even took over as caretaker manager for Roma. 

However, after the appointment of Spalletti, he moved on to become a technical director and is now in charge of Roma’s youth development. His in-game stats aren’t too bad either, with near-perfect scores on what is required to be a head of youth development with extensive knowledge about Italian football. His services, however, may not be easy to acquire since he shares a special bond with AS Roma.

Mauro Bianchessi

· Age: 56
· Current Club/Job: Head of Youth Development Lazio
· Nationality: Italian
· Current Contract: £4.8k/week until 30/6/2024

Another Italian on the list, Bianchessi started off as a scout with AC Milan and has worked as a scout for most of his life. He recently switched to the role of Head of Youth Development at Lazio and has been in the role for the past 3 seasons. 

He is amongst the best Head of Youth Development in the game, with near-perfect attributes required for the role in terms of stats. He can also be acquired quite easily with his contract nearing its end and make a great addition for most sides and make a positive difference to their youth recruitment.

Summary

There's loads of great HOYD's in Football Manager 2021, but the ones mentioned here are my go-to choices when it comes to hiring staff that will deal with youth recruitment in the best way possible. Always keep in mind that the tactical style and preferred formation of the HOYD should be the same as yours so that he looks for and makes offers to Newgens that will perfectly fit your style of football once they get into your first team.

READ MORE: 5 clubs with best Youth Intake in Football Manager 2021