Best FM26 Scouts to build your club’s scouting network

Leonardo Biazzi Published October 25, 2025

One of the key aspects of managing a club in Football Manager 26 (FM26) is building a top-notch scouting network, and for that, you need to hire the best scouts possible.

Hiring good scouts is essential for any long-term saves in FM26, as they can identify good bargains, the best wonderkids, and the regens, which are players generated by the game every year. Though it could take a year or two for the scouts to pay off, it’s definitely money well spent.

Without further ado, here’s a comprehensive guide on how to identify the best scouts in FM26, how to utilize them properly, and a list of the best scouts in this edition.

How to find the best scouts in FM26

To identify the best scouts in FM26, all you need to do is check their Judging Player Ability and Judging Player Potential skills. The former measures how precisely your scout can determine a player’s current ability, and the latter measures how well they can judge a player’s future ability.

Unlike FM24, FM26 doesn’t have a numerical attribute for the staff, so what you’re looking for is Outstanding ability in the case of the scouts, as the screenshot below shows:

Now that’s a good scout in FM26. Credit: © Leonardo Biazzi/SEGA

Additionally, you want to pay attention to their Scouting Knowledge, which is located in the right-hand corner. Preferably, if you want to find players in England, for example, hire a scout who has complete knowledge of England.

Great Adaptability could also play a factor, especially if you plan on sending a scout abroad.

But, reinforcing, nothing is more important than their Judging Player Ability and Judging Player Potential skills.

How to use your scouts in FM26

Even though you can assign your Chief Scout or your Director of Football to take care of your Scouting strategy, I’ve found out over my 20+ years of Football Manager that handling it personally delivers better results. So, if you have some spare time, I strongly recommend that you do it too.

What I like to do is assign Recruitment Focuses myself. This way, I can pick countries or competitions that I want to observe and assign my best scout for that task.

Here’s how I assign Recruitment Focuses in FM26:

1. Click the Recruitment tab at the top of your FM26 screen.
2. Click the Recruitment Focuses tab underneath, and then click Create a New Recruitment Focus on the left.
3. Set it to scout players in Any Position and click Next.
4. Set up a name for the Recruitment Focus, pick the Minimum Current Ability and the Minimum Current Ability desired, as well as the Age and the Scouting Area.
5. Now, set the Recruitment Focus Priority to Ongoing. This will guarantee that the scout keeps producing reports without the need for you to reassign the task to them.
6. Last, assign one or more scouts to that task. Remember that it’s best to send a scout somewhere they have Complete Scouting Knowledge.
7. Check the Recruitment Focuses tab regularly to see their reports.

List of the best scouts in FM26

These are the best scouts that I could find in FM26 after loading all countries possible in the beta. In case one of them doesn’t show up in your game, it’s likely because you’ve loaded fewer leagues.

Feature image credit: © SEGA