I've got 2 x 31 yo wandering around at the lower depths of my squad. They hardly ever play now but can be relied on to perform at 7 or 8 level in one-off appearances. They lag behind the overall quality of my squad but don't each much.

Apart from them my squad is 24 or below. But if I need someone in quick I'll go for older because its less of a risk cash-wise and they usually have a good history to check.

I think building a young team is a good idea but its easier to get young duds (that need development and time) than older duds (that can't develop much). If ofc you're only picking up young Nordgens then thats a different matter.

But, tbh, I'm still putting together a team to do the job that day (and that I can experiment with skill points) rather than building a team to go for multiple seasons.