Master League youngsters for PES 2017 & PES 2018

The tips on this blog will serve both newbies and experienced players. If you’re obsessed with creating teams from scratch, spending the least possible amount of money, and using all the youth potential available in the game, this is for you. And I dare say, it doesn´t matter if you’re playing PES 2017 or the “soon to come” PES 2018. This approach will work on any year of PES Master League. I don’t believe Konami will change the core of Master League for the next chapter of the franchise, so I’ll risk saying this will probably work in Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 too.

I’m a veteran PES player, so whenever I buy the latest edition of the franchise I start in the hardest difficulty available (I’m sure you do too). That’s how you learn and adapt to each year’s tweak, in your way to become a Master of tactics and create your own style of play. Whether your preference lies on a poacher waiting for your fast wingers to deliver millimetric crosses or a tiki-taka approach keeping the ball on your side most of the game, all is possible in PES.

In any case, when you hit “new game” on Master League mode and pick your team, you should quickly place all the unnecessary players on your transfer list. Then, the most important part of your success in ML arrives, bringing some fresh blood to the squad!

There are plenty of players who, simply put, are excellent assets to your team. A lot of videos and blogs were made about this, so feel free to Google around to find exhausting lists at your disposal.

What I would recommend though, is that you invest your time developing young players. You should also consider loan an experienced player or two, to bring that extra confidence to the squad. But only in the first 2 seasons (considering you’ll get promoted right away). This might take a considerable slice of your budget, so leave the loans as a last resort, and turn your attention towards signing a few youngsters until your squad is pretty much complete.

  

  

Without further delay, here’s what you should do: search for players with a maximum age of 18, with a minimum Overall Rating of 65/66 and a maximum of 75. Don’t bother going too high on their Ovr, they just won’t sign for your squad. You have to prove yourself first. The position is not so important, think long term here. If you sign a 16-year-old, after 5 seasons playing for your squad, he’ll still be a youngster of 21!

Then if you’re not completely satisfied, do the same with a maximum age of 20 years old. Then 22. And that’s enough. Sometimes I buy young players only to loan them out, so they can develop and gain experience. After a season or two, they’ll return ready to hit the bench or even play more regularly with me. This won’t work for all the players, though. Some you’ll have to sell. If that’s the case, you still win, because you probably made a cheap investment and will now reap a few million.

You should also know that it’s easier to sign defenders than strikers, that’s just a fact. Also, start by searching for free agents and then do the same type of research for players you’ll have to pay for. It’s key to save some cash in the first 2 seasons of Master League, to give you some extra comfort for future signings.

Pay special attention to renewing contracts. If you want a good player, make the effort to keep him. I already lost a few good players because I was too stubborn to accept their contract demands and kept pushing, only to end up with a good player going away for free… Don’t make that mistake, negotiating contracts in PES is no longer that easy for the coach.

Sure, sure… here are a few names I wanna share because you can sign them in the beginning of your 1st season quite cheaply and without too much fuss (there are some players who simply are a nightmare to sign). In my 2nd season, some of them already are rated 77! You can compare the stats of some of these players in my A.S. Roma Master League save (almost mid-season 2) and Leeds United save (almost mid-season 7).
Here they are sorted by position:

– TARJEDIA (LB) Uruguay

– FILTAOZINHO (LB) Portugal, youth team

– K. AYHAN (CB) Germany

– R. MARCHIZZA (CB) Argentina

– FRANCISCO RAMOS (CM) Portugal

– A. LOBATO (SS) Brazil, youth team mid 1st season (always generates, no matter who you start with)
– J. GOMES (ST) Portugal

– G. BAEZA (ST) Chile

Compare the player stats between my 2 Master League saves, to see how much (some of them) can evolve.

– K. BIELIK (CB) Poland
This kid is a must buy! Get him on a loan, as you won’t have enough cash to buy him. Or you do, but then it’s your only signing for the season… Get him again on a loan for the 2nd season, with a buying option clause (or if you have the cash, go for it), and you’ll have a very effective CB for a cheap price.

If you take a look at the screen shots below, you can see that he didn’t evolve that much on my Leeds United Master League save. That’s only because he rarely plays (the same happened with TARJEDIA, the Uruguayan LB). I used him most of the time as a backup CB, so he didn’t get enough margin to evolve. On my Roma saved game, he is playing almost every game, so he’ll probably go much higher. It’s a great CB to have around, rarely compromises.

Besides this one, I really must say that you should adapt to your needs. I had a lot of hard work getting good DMF in both PES 2017 Master League ventures. With Leeds United, I could loan WEIGL from Dortmund and with Roma, I grabbed OBI MIKEL from Chelsea. They only came to my teams on season 2, but both had a great impact on my defensive strategy.

Also, keep an eye on your youth team at the end of each season, as plenty of players retire. If you’re lucky, a few good ones will come your way (check my screenshots for some examples). Even if they don’t, stay sharp in the “advanced search” section, because there’ll be plenty of free gems ready to be signed. KÄLSTRÖM here is 16 years old and already rated 72. This is just an example of decent players that can come your way, and this is only in season 2. As you progress, more players retire and more highly rated they’ll be when available in your youth team.

Oh, and please never, ever, ever, sell L. GIORZA! He usually builds up to be one of the best players in PES. As you can see below, in the mid of my 7th season with Leeds United, he’s 25 years old and OVR 93.

MUST BUY
The only player I would sign for every team I start in Master League is Y. POULSEN, from Denmark. Don’t be fooled by his OVR rating, as he only goes as high as 81 (this is something that is great in PES 2017, player stats matter more than Overall Ratings, depending on the kind of player you seek for your team’s needs). Still, he is the only ST that managed to score 50+ goals in 2 consecutive seasons, in all competitions! PES 2017 is full of great players, PES 2018 will be the same. But I doubt few can achieve what Y. POULSEN does.

Now it´s your turn, fans of the beautiful game! Let us know your thoughts regarding our tips to sign youngsters for your Master League, the list of shared players and which strategies you’re using when signing players in Master League. We would love to hear from you and launch a discussion thread right here, in the comments section.

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