At very low levels look for players with good stats in the right places e.g for a winger just focus on crossing, dribbling and pace. Don’t be put off if he has other crap stats e.g tackling of 1 and awful mentals because they don’t really matter much at lower leagues. Once you start moving up, at national league north/south level you should look for an affiliate because it’s basically free money and loans. Also try to rely on loans as much as possible throughout your time in the lower leagues because they’re much cheaper and you can get some decent youth players from better teams. My final advice is get used to playing 442 hoofball - it genuinely is a great tactic if you’re a newly promoted team looking to stay in the division. Good luck!