What is Potential?
It’s only referenced in certain places in career mode like youth scouting but experienced players know all about potential. So what is it? It’s one of the main mechanics in FIFA career mode to keep the game interesting. If players stats remained the same over the course of several seasons, that would be unrealistic but also very boring. Players should decline after they reach a certain age, but more importantly players should improve until they reach a peak.
Each individual in FIFA 20 career mode has a pre-programmed player potential which determines how fast their attributes should grow and when they should stop. You can think of it as a player’s predicted or peak overall rating. This is how we know which players are going to be wonderkids.
Is Potential Guaranteed?
No, it only serves as a guide. Quite an accurate guide, but it’s not guaranteed that any given player will hit it. Lots of different variables in the game can stunt player growth, such as limited gametime, little to no training, bad form or injury. It can also be changed when a player transfers to a new club, and can easily go down. As of FIFA 20, the potential system has been changed significantly. Keep reading to understand what’s changed.
Can It Be Exceeded?
Yes. Either naturally or by force. When a career mode save is started, each player is randomly assigned a ‘modifier‘. This is a value between 0 and 10 that is added on to their existing potential. If a player receives a modifier that is greater than 0, they have a good chance of exceeding their potential. This is what we would call the natural route. Alternatively, you could train a player intensively and try to force their growth. Bear in mind this isn’t always successful. We’ve previously experimented with overtraining and found it to have a negative impact.
Dynamic Potential
Also known as Dynamic Player Potential, this is a new addition to career mode as of FIFA 20. It’s a long requested feature and adds some much needed variety to career mode gameplay. At its core, dynamic potential allows a player’s potential to increase or decrease based on their performance. As you would expect, a player having a fantastic season would see their potential increase in the next season. Similarly, poor performance would see dynamic potential limit their future growth. We love this improvement, in previous years the only way to alter a player’s destiny was to exploit the loan glitch.
While this system is mostly useful for young players, you can also use it to delay the decline of older players. To increase your chances of this happening, you’ll need players to get regular game time, be in good form and morale. It’s also more likely to affect younger players. Don’t forget, players under the age of 21 have indicators in their bio that will give you an idea of their potential Keep an eye on them and take a note of any changes.
Showing Great Potential
This description applies when a player has a potential of between 80 and 84.
Some examples of players who would fall within this bracket include:
- Malick Thiaw – Schalke (80)
- Pierre Kalulu – Olympique Lyonnais (81)
- Sergiño Dest – Ajax (82)
- Joshua Zirkzee – Bayern Munich (83)
- Armando Broja – Chelsea (84)
An Exciting Prospect
‘An Exciting Prospect’ applies when a player has a potential of between 85 and 89.
Some examples of players who would fall within this bracket include:
- Jeremie Frimpong – Celtic (85)
- Fabio Silva – FC Porto (86)
- Gabriel Martinelli – Arsenal (87)
- Tanguy Ndombele – Tottenham Hotspur (88)
- Mason Greenwood – Manchester United (89)
Has Potential to be Special
This description applies when a player has a potential of 90 or more.
Some examples of players who would fall within this bracket include:
- Vinicius Jr – Real Madrid (92)
- Matthijs de Ligt – Juventus (92)
- Kai Havertz – Bayer Leverkusen (93)
- João Felix – Atletico Madrid (93)
- Jadon Sancho – Borussia Dortmund (94)
- Kylian Mbappe – PSG (95)
‘Has Potential to be Special’ is the holy grail for most players of FIFA career mode!
Has That Special Something
This descriptor tends to confuse players more than the rest as it is quite vague. It applies if a player has the Flair trait and has nothing to do with their potential. While this can be useful, it would be better if more traits could cause descriptors like this.
At The Club Since…
Also a confusing descriptor. A year will always come at the end, for example ‘At The Club Since 2018’. This can apply to a few different scenarios:
- The player’s potential is lower than 80
- The player is 23 or older – nothing has really changed here, they can still grow. The game just stops seeing them as a ‘prospect’ at this point.
- The player’s overall is lower than 60
