What is maximum PA in Football Manager?

Potential Ability in Football Manager runs on a 1–200 scale, so the maximum PA is 200. Only generational players are given PA close to 200 in the database — a PA of 180 or more already marks a potential world-class player.

What does negative PA like -10 or -9.5 mean in Football Manager?

Negative PA values are ranges, not fixed numbers. A youngster with -10 PA is randomly assigned a potential between 170 and 200 at the start of each save; -9.5 rolls between 160 and 190, and so on down the scale. It's how the game keeps wonderkid potential different in every save.

What is the difference between CA and PA?

Current Ability (CA) is how good a player is right now on the 1–200 scale; Potential Ability (PA) is the ceiling they can develop toward. Training, playing time, professionalism and injuries decide how much of the gap between CA and PA a player actually closes.

What does INT mean in Football Manager?

In squad screens, Int usually refers to international caps or international appearances, and in scouting contexts to a player's international reputation. It is not one of the 1–20 coached attributes.

PA & CA in Football Manager, Explained

Maximum PA, negative PA ranges, and how player potential actually works.

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The short answer

Football Manager rates every player on two hidden 1–200 scales. Current Ability (CA) is how good they are today; Potential Ability (PA) is their ceiling. The maximum PA is 200, reserved for generational talents — in practice anything from 180 up is world-class potential, and a solid top-flight starter sits around 140–160. Neither number is shown in-game; scouts and coaches report star ratings that estimate them.

The PA scale at a glance

PA range	What it means
190–200	Generational — Ballon d'Or ceiling
170–189	World-class potential
150–169	Top-division quality, possible international
130–149	Solid top-flight / strong second-tier player
100–129	Lower-league professional
Below 100	Semi-pro and grassroots levels

Negative PA: why -10 doesn't mean bad

Young players in the database often have negative PA, which confuses everyone the first time. A negative value is a random range rolled fresh in every save:

-10 → rolls 170–200

The elite wonderkid band. In one save he's a 172, in another a 198.

-9.5 → rolls 160–190

Very high potential, just below the top band.

-9 → rolls 150–180, and so on

Each half-step drops the range by ten points. It's why wonderkid lists differ between saves — and why scouting in your save beats any online list.

Whether a player ever reaches his rolled PA depends on training, minutes, injuries and hidden personality attributes like professionalism and ambition. Plenty of 180-PA teenagers retire as 140-CA journeymen.

Other abbreviations that trip people up

Int in squad views is international caps (or international reputation in scouting contexts) — not a coached attribute. The visible attributes are the 1–20 ratings like Passing, Vision and Work Rate. If football jargon itself is the problem, our football terms glossary covers the real-world vocabulary, from the gaffer to the false 9.

Quick answers

What is the maximum PA in Football Manager?

200. The scale runs 1–200 and only generational players get close to the top — 180+ is already world-class potential.

Can a player's PA change during a save?

Ordinarily no — PA is fixed once the save rolls it. CA moves constantly within that ceiling based on development and decline.

How do I see a player's PA in-game?

You can't see the raw number without an editor — scouts and coaches give star-rating estimates instead, and their judging attributes decide how accurate those stars are.

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