If you’re anything like us, we know you love jumping into a new save as soon as the Winter Update drops so you can get your hands on the latest squads. 

So, this window wasn't the best for big money moves... or even average money moves. That said, there's still plenty to get excited about in the Main Winter Update though as we've tweaked a number of players' attributes based on their real-life performances through the first half of the season. We’ve gone through the list and picked out our favourites, so here are the 12 improved players YOU should be getting your scouts to track.

We’ve all got stories of the Wonderkids that we discovered in Football Manager long before they’d made an impact in real-life. Those players that not only lift your team to new heights on the game but let you drop that ever so slightly smug ‘oh him, yeah I signed him on FM a couple of years ago’ into the group chat. It’s even more satisfying when the player has flown completely under the radar so that you seem like some kind of Wonderkid Nostradamus.

To help get you up to speed on the latest crop of emerging talent, we’ve put together a Matchday squad of the brightest young stars, including one player you definitely won’t have discovered in FM21 so far…

If you were asked to name the most important part of a car, what would your answer be? The colour? The size? The interior? The bodywork?

No - you would (or at least should) answer with the correct response: the engine. While a car can be big, small, fast, shiny or stylish, ultimately the key determining factor in a car’s performance and longevity is the engine, and while often the more aesthetically pleasing aspects of a car get the most attention, it is, of course, what’s under the hood that counts.

The same can often be said for football teams. Usually the players grabbing the headlines are the flashy, stylish or more creative players that contribute crowd-pleasing stats such as goals, assists, clear-cut chances, or a high xG. It’s always much more exciting to watch or analyse a player that catches the limelight through their skill, goalscoring or technical ability, right? However, such rose-tinted spectacles often lead to one of the most important positions/roles being overlooked or underestimated (both in real life and in Football Manager), and if history has taught us anything, it’s that often the strongest individuals are not those who show strength in front of us, but those who win the battles we know nothing about.

Let’s see if we can change this shall we? Today, MaddFM has come to The Byline to look at the four defensive midfield roles available in Football Manager - the Ball Winning Midfielder, the Anchor Man, the Half Back and the Defensive Midfielder. These are the unsung/unappreciated roles which, on the surface, might be considered boring or unattractive (how many kids want a DMC’s name on the back of their shirt?) but in actual fact are often the engine of a midfield and the driving force behind a team’s performance. They can be the difference between success or failure in executing a well-balanced playing style as you attempt to conquer all in your latest FM save. 

In this strangest of years, the global transfer market has looked a little different. Windows have been open at different times and clubs are keener than ever to find value. As always, we kept our eye on the comings and goings across the footballing world and here are nine transfers we’re excited about.

For me, player development is one of the most exciting and engaging aspects of a Football Manager save – that thrill of bringing a youngster from your academy through to the first team is hard to beat. It’s not just about the excitement, though, as the success of a long-term save often hinges on your ability to bring through and develop youth prospects.

FM20 gives us more control than ever over the development of our youngsters with Playing Time Pathways built into contracts and a very in-depth Development Centre which puts all the relevant information at our fingertips. This comes with more detailed advice and suggestions on training, mentoring and loan time than ever before.

This wealth of information can be overwhelming, especially if you've just taken over at a new club and are not as aware of the youth players as if you had been there for a couple of years.

In this blog post, FM blogger InvertedWingbacks gives you a more specific, in-depth example of how all the youth development tools work together in order to shape the youngsters in your squad.

Football is a game of fine margins, with split-second decisions often deciding promotion and relegation, or who wins the title and who finishes second. As said countless times before, history is written by the victors. 

This is no different in Football Manager and for this reason it’s vitally important to focus on the attributes of your young players. Ensuring that they are mentally strong, capable of remaining calm under pressure and able to make the right decisions at the right times could be the difference between scintillating success and disappointing defeats. Here, Dan Gear talks us through the key steps for developing the mental attributes of your young stars.

When looking at young players I imagine most focus on the Physical and Technical attributes. I’m the same - I usually glance at Mental attributes but I'd would never back out of buying a young player because these were poor if the rest of their profile looks good. We must remember physical attributes develop earliest, followed by technical then finally mental. In other words, a youth player has time on their side when it comes to developing their mental attributes.

Some words of wisdom from Dan Gear on bolstering the mental fortitude of your latest wonderkids. 

Much emphasis is placed on finding the next wonderkid in FM, through global scouting and leaving no stone unturned your pursuit of a rare discovery. That’s natural, football is a dynamic and rapidly changing sport, but I want to encourage you to adapt your approach by considering older players to complement your squad of fledgling talents.

These players have been around the block before. Their minds are strengthened by experience, and they have the knowledge, skill and ability to cope with pressure. Whether it’s a lengthy relegation scrap, or the crunch fixtures in a title challenge; don’t underestimate the older guy in a profession where men usually peak young. Here are five reasons why…

The Bundesliga is back.

This season has already been one of the most competitive and dramatic in years. Five teams in a battle for the title. Big names battling to beat the drop. Seven weeks to decide it all. 

The Bundesliga’s brand of pulsating, attacking football is punctuated with explosive young and developing talents who mix it up with the very best in the league. Those promising stars will have the chance to decide their team’s fate. 

With such an array of talent, we had the hard job of singling out the players who will have the biggest impact over the remaining fixtures. Some players narrowly missed the cut and we could’ve included multiple stars from some teams. In the end, we decided to go for one from teams at the top and bottom of the table. Here are the stars you won’t want to take your eyes off.

Just because most of the major transfer windows slammed shut at the end of January doesn’t mean that there weren’t interesting deals taking place across the world in February. The second half of our winter update features the deals that took place in the Russian and Chinese leagues, the final moves in MLS before the start of the 2020 season and free transfers in the EFL and beyond.

Here are some of the moves that were slightly off the beaten track that we took a shine to.

A lot of us jumped straight into a new save when the first part of the winter update was released last week, relishing the chance to take on new challenges with the latest squads. It’s not just the freshest transfers that are included in the update though, as a huge number of players saw their abilities adjusted to reflect their performances in the first half of the season. We sifted through the list and picked out six of the best that you should definitely be sending your scouts out to take a look at.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that the January transfer window was just about the transfer of Erling Haaland, given that he’s making headlines all over the place for his ludicrous goalscoring exploits. There’s been some excellent business done across Europe, so we did a sweep of the ever-evolving market to see where the best deals took place.

This week's Wednesday Wisdom comes courtesy of Dan Gear and features an in-depth look at one of the key new features in FM20 - the Development Centre.