to stay in a smaller club and get more playing time or to go to a bigger club with the chance to shine in an important game and become a super star in a day

Playing time will always be the most important, however, it depends on the club. For Chelsea, it is better to be loaned to a smaller club, for Barca, it is better to stay at Barca.

Australian young players have this very issue and usually the youngsters get the move wrong. Start off at a minor club and stay there till your one of the best players in that position then move off to Europe. If you have potential and clubs pick you out early without realizing that they aren't the best in their position in the league then they will find it hard to impress in bigger leagues and clubs.

Yeh, I think playing time matters. Like for example Varane, whenever he played, he showed his quality. Then when Pepe was injured, he played in the big games and showed what he could do. He impressed and now I think he's pretty much a certain starter and the best CB at Real Madrid.

Varane could have stayed at a smaller club for more playing time, however I think being at a bigger club allows the player to grow more. At a smaller club he may be a big fish in a small pond.

Both are important, but it depends on each situation at the club, etc.

I mean, I would rather sit on the bench at a first division club instead of getting consistent minutes for a 5th div club.. etc.

The club which has the better coaching staff to help improve, point out deficiencies, correct them and let the player know his strengths. It's not like the only time footballers play football is during official matches.

If it wasn't for coaches Lahm would be an AM/SS, Gervinho wouldn't be Arsenal's, laughingstock despite being talented, Badstuber and Hummels would be DM's, Kroos Messi and Özil would be wingers etc.

Why do you think the same academies/clubs come up time and time again when mentioning youth products?

Epoto wrote:to stay in a smaller club and get more playing time or to go to a bigger club with the chance to shine in an important game and become a super star in a day

Everything must be taken into account when asking a question like this. While playing time is important, it is also important to be playing against good competition - this depends on the league this player is playing in, not just the level of the team he is on. If a player has continued to prove himself on the pitch, there comes a time when he must move on and show that he can play at that same level on a bigger stage, with better competition.

This leads me to believe that playing time is more important for growth. By the time a player is capable and/or wanted by a bigger club, one would think he has grown a lot as a player (which is not to say that he should stop looking to improve; although we have seen our fair share of players become complacent once they arrive at a big club.) But at that point I would still argue that it was his time at the smaller club which allowed him to grow the most. I'm sure many of you can come up with many scenarios where players came to bigger clubs and were diminished to role players (if not less than that).

You bring up some terrific points, Phritz, however the original poster did not really include coaches/academies as an option, hence me not taking it into account.

on the other hand you get someone like Iturbe , as talented as he is but i felt bad for him at Porto despite their repetition of introducing new faces to football world , i would add giovinco to the list as well but that's just my own opinion .