Youth in great need, virtually abandoned (8)
I believe the answer is:
teenager
'youth' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'great need virtually abandoned' is the wordplay.
'virtually' means to remove the last letter (the word is virtually but not totally complete).
'abandoned' indicates anagramming the letters (the original order is abandoned).
'great'+'need'='greatneed'
'greatneed' with its final letter removed is 'greatnee'.
'greatnee' anagrammed gives 'TEENAGER'.
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for teenager that I've seen before include "one no longer twelve?" , "one that's not yet made a score?" , "Old child or young adult?" , "one with an unpredictable nature" , "Youngster" .)