adam_otbfm

Excellent league and cup double sir, a really successful season. You did indeed have unwavering faith that Bodø/Glimt would falter and boy did they! When I was managing in Japan I loved being out of kilter with the major European transfer windows, it allowed me to sign some players I had no right to really, so good to see you taking advantage to bring Thorvaldsen in!

@CameronFM thanks mate, yeah cohesion will definitely take time but pleased with the building blocks we managed to put in place. --- --- --- --- --- --- August 2024 With pre-season complete and some much needed new blood in the squad, I was heading into the season feeling optimistic. August would see us compete with the other side of Manchester in the Community Shield; it may not be the most prestigious trophy out there but bragging rights and setting a tone are beyond valuable. After that, we have a HAHA start to the season; Newcastle (home), West Ham (away), Nottingham Forest (home), Ipswich Town (away). I'd be lying if I said I didn't believe those to be four winnable fixtures, but it's never easy to tell early in the season, particularly in season one. Huge shoutout to @_Ben_ who’s match layout I’ve shamelessly ripped off! 🙈 FA Community Shield | Manchester City (Wembley) | Match Information | Goalscorers: None A cruel end to a really promising and heartening performance. It's not often teams keep the ball better that Pep's Manchester City, and although we lacked a little bit in quantity of chances, it's a positive sign that the few chances we did create were of a higher quality than we were allowing City. For the most part, we kept their key players quiet; De Bruyne was especially poor but Rodri and Foden were equally anonymous. Only Haaland and new signing Di Maria secured over a 7.0 from their front six players, which shows the element of control we were able to hold on the game. Towards the end it felt fairly obvious that both sides would rather settle the game on penalties than risk it all for a normal time victory, and in the end we fell on the wrong side of the lottery as Scott McTominay missed the vital spot-kick. We'll have other opportunities to let them know how serious we are this season. Man of the Match: Stefan Ortega (Manchester City) Premier League (1/38) | Newcastle United (Old Trafford) | Match Information | Goalscorers: Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford A really solid start to our Premier League campaign. Newcastle are always difficult to beat, but we made them look very, very average. We sacrificed a little bit of sharpness on the ball for a more dominant attacking display, with twelve shots on target and nearly 3 xG created. I'm a little disappointed to see us underperform that xG with just the two goals, but the performance was so complete that for now I'm happy to chalk it up as one of those days and move on. The back five have looked like a completely different beast in competitive action compared to our pre-season, perhaps complacency was a factor? Man of the Match: Marcus Rashford (Manchester United) Premier League (2/38) | West Ham United (London Stadium) | Match Information | Goalscorers: Odilon Kossounou og, Jarrod Bowen; Bruno Fernandes I'm historically terrible at getting results away from home consistently, so this was exactly the sort of match I was dreading I would see early on. Ironically the match stats tell a tale of a fairly routine performance; a good amount of chances created, the majority share of possession and dominant in the air. Individually though, only Bruno Fernandes can hold his head high, as him aside match ratings all around ranged from unspectacular to downright poor. In reality we were unlucky in this game; West Ham went ahead without a single shot in the game, and by the time they had taken their 2-1 lead on the brink of half-time they had amassed a paltry 0.03 xG(!) All credit to Jarrod Bowen though, his goal was a screamer. Far too early to say that a tweaked approach will be needed in away games, but it is something I'll be keeping a keen eye on. Man of the Match: Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United) Premier League (3/38) | Nottingham Forest (Old Trafford) | Match Information | Goalscorers: Rasmus Højlund, Alejandro Garnacho; Anthony Elanga A return to Old Trafford sees a return to winning ways, but it could have easily gone another way. Forest were excellent, if I'm being honest better than I expected they would, or even could be. Spurred on by ex-United winger Anthony Elanga, they threatened our goal with regularity, possibly owing to the poor performance of Casemiro who was making his first start of the season. Our attacking play once again looked fluid, much like against Newcastle, with Rashford, Fernandes and Højlund all having good games. Sancho was given an opportunity from the start and was poor; hooking him at half-time was potentially a bit extreme, but justification came in the form of Garnacho's goal and man of the match performance from the bench. There was also a nice little ten minute cameo from Dan Gore as a late substitute, I will admit to being a little apprehensive about throwing him in with the result not secured, but he played with composure and helped us to shut things down. My main concern for Gore is that I don't see him and Mainoo as a pairing in the pivot; both are better suited to being the more progressive player with a 'defensive' partner next to them. This is going to make a strong breakthrough season tough to achieve for Dan, but I'm committed to giving him as many opportunities as I can justify. Man of the Match: Alejandro Garnacho (Manchester United) Premier League (4/48) | Ipswich Town (Portman Road) | Match Information | Goalscorers: Kobbie Mainoo The complete inverse of the West Ham game; an underwhelming performance that garnered three points. A couple of changes saw Maguire and Mount come in, the latter a particular risk as it meant playing Kobbie Mainoo as our deepest midfielder. I switched the dynamic of our pivot, asking Mainoo to dictate play from deep, while Mount was given the freedom to join the attack and crash the box. In order to maintain the balance of the side, I in turn asked Shaw to invert and join Mainoo and Dalot in midfield while we were in possession. Kobbie was sensational, not for the first time this season, but this game felt like it belonged to him. Everything good that we did went through him and he also scored the winning goal, albeit with the help of a generous deflection. I already knew that he can play as the deepest midfielder for us, and this has only confirmed it, but I still wouldn't want to burden him with that responsibility in the biggest of games. Going into the game, I felt confident that an early goal would all but settle the game, and so it transpired. I knew Ipswich would make life difficult for us though, and without that early goal it felt almost certain that frustration and desperation would start to creep into our play, making a victory less likely. Our forwards were wasteful this game, with 9/13 shots off target, so on another day the scoreline could have been far more convincing, but ultimately we'll happily take the points and head home to Manchester. Man of the Match: Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United) I'd call our start to the season par for the course; I think realistically dropping points of some sort was always likely, and considering we're still looking to implement a tactical style and work on our attacking fluidity, we aren't in a position to be arrogant enough to assume we'll win every game. We've also received our fixture list for the newly implemented 'League Phase' of the Europa League. We're facing a number of very capable sides, and although we respect every team in the competition it's undeniable that we've not been given any of the 'minnows' from pot four - HJK (Finland), Zrinjski Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Vllaznia (Albania) would have been far more preferable than FC Utrecht and RC Lens. However, we're one of the favourites to win the whole competition, and we aren't going to do that without facing good sides, so let's go. I'll be looking to give significant minutes to the likes of Gore, Forson, Amad, Álvaro Fernández throughout the league phase, and look forward to seeing how they perform in some of the more intense atmospheres, plus I'll be looking to give some academy players a bit of first-team involvement with bench spots. Should we qualify comfortably, the likes of Harrison, Wheatley, McAllister, Lacey and Amass may get some minutes in the last handful of matches.

@_Ben_ Can't wait to follow along on this journey! Italian football is so iconic and with the passion you have for it, combined with your unbelievable content, this is going to be an unbelievable read!

@El Payaso thank you mate! The Ajax save that @SteinkelssonFM had was sensational, as is all of his work, so I appreciate the comparison greatly. Hopefully I can do it justice! @_Ben_ I usually scratch my United itch with an offline save, but actually skipped it last year altogether, so I've been looking forward to getting this going for a little while! I always think the big clubs can still make for interesting content, but there needs to be a clear angle or approach to be worth discussion. @Oppiiz thank you, I hope so too! The next non-results post will be about the tactical approach, but I'm not entirely sure when that will be yet! Early days but Mainoo is looking as comfortable as in real-life so far! @john1 thank you for letting me know! I could see it on my end but have tweaked the image, hopefully it shows now! --- --- --- --- --- --- Pre-Season 2024 Transfer Activity NOTABLE INS: Paul Wanner - Free Transfer - £22,000 per week until 30/06/2027 I don't see Paul Wanner mentioned often when discussion around Football Manager wonderkids takes place, but for me he's right up there, especially in recent years, and I'm delighted with his signing. Picking him up on a free transfer is an unbelievable bit of business, and reminds me slightly of United losing Paul Pogba to Juventus back in 2012 - Bayern have seemed reluctant to give him any more than scraps of first team football, but I feel he can settle with our Under 21's for a while and then start to make a real impact. Mehdi Taremi - Free Transfer - £84,000 per week until 30/06/2026 Mehdi is exactly the sort of smart, solid, value for money signing I'm looking to make a feature of this save. An experienced and very talented forward who was happy to sign for a couple of years as an Impact Sub and allow me to rest/rotate Rasmus Højlund when needed, he fills an immediate need while also allowing me to divert any transfer funds to other areas that need work. Unfortunately, Mehdi has had a relatively slow start and is now out with a torn hamstring, so we'll need to assess his level once he's fit again. Odilon Kossounou - £42m rising to £49m - £80,000 per week until 30/06/2029 Our most expensive signing of the window, and arguably the most important one for us to get right. With Varane, Lindelöf, Evans and Kambwala all leaving the club, we were left with just Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martínez and newly promoted Will Fish as natural central defenders in the first-team squad. With Maguire spending a lot of his career as a left-sided centre-back, and Luke Shaw able to cover there as well, it was clear to me that a right-sided player was an absolute must. We looked at a few options, Jean-Clair Todibo was a clear candidate, as were Odilon's former team-mates Jonathan Tah and Edmond Tapsoba, but ultimately I decided that the Ivorian was the correct profile, with his combination of pace, power and passing ability appealing, as well as his incredibly reasonable wage demands. The transfer fee is slightly more than I would have ideally liked to have spent, but I'm confident he'll be worth every penny in the long run. Morten Hjulmand - £23m rising to £27.5m - £85,000 per week until 30/06/2029 The last major signing of the window, Hjulmand comes in as a strong option on either side of the pivot. Early on he's been our deepest midfielder and has been keeping Casemiro out of the side, but he does also have the quality to offer a threat going forward should we need to rest/rotate the likes of Mainoo, McTominay, Mount etc. Signing a 25-year-old 'elite midfielder' (the game's words, not mine) for less than £30m and on another really reasonable wage feels like a sensational piece of business, and although the game doesn't necessarily reward players who do the dirty work with high average ratings, I think his contribution will be invaluable. Marcus Bettinelli - Free Transfer - £16,000 per week until 30/06/2026 An experienced third-choice goalkeeper is never a glamorous signing, but they are becoming increasingly important. I've discussed previously that I would have liked to have kept Tom Heaton for this purpose, but his wage demands were far too high for his role, and in fact in talks he expressed a desire to be our first-choice keeper! I admire self-confidence, but that borders on delusion, and therefore Marcus comes in as his replacement for less than half of the cost. Although the deal is not confirmed at the time of writing, we are also in advanced talks to sign young Argentinian right-back Agustín Giay from San Lorenzo for a fee of £6.75m, rising to a potential £11m. This deal would see Giay stay in Argentina and remain with San Lorenzo on loan until the end of the season. NOTABLE OUTS: I've talked through my reasoning for letting Jonny Evans, Tom Heaton, Raphaël Varane, Brandon Williams and Anthony Martial leave on free transfers previously, so won't be going into detail again here. I did hold contract talks with Willy Kambwala, but unfortunately it became clear that he wouldn't get a new work permit even if we agreed a deal, so he's moved to Italy to join Pro Vercelli. I don't really want to discuss him again, but in the name of full disclosure I will mention that in order to more closely match what is likely to happen in real life I did move the former Getafe loanee on with the use of the editor. Using the editor to do a deal was a last resort, but in-game going back to Spain for a second loan seems hard-coded, so I've moved him to a side I've seen him linked with in real life, Juventus, for what I think is a realistic fee of £22m. They love a bit of scandal. Victor Lindelöf - £10m - Tottenham Hotspur For me, Victor was the weakest of the central defenders still at the club on 1st July, but even with the absolute dearth of alternatives I didn't want to continue to pay him £170,000 per week when there was interest in him from other clubs. Spurs struck while the iron was hot, and although with some negotiation we could have maybe raised the fee by a couple of million, getting his wages off the books was priority number one, so we bit Levy's hand off and sent Victor on his way. Donny van de Beek - £5m - Celta Vigo I'm not thrilled with the terms of Donny's sale, as we've had to agree to pay £60,000 per week of his wages for this season, but honestly getting any kind of transfer fee for him is a positive, and it still saves us £110,000 per week compared to him staying. We weren't able to do the same with Christian Eriksen unfortunately, who remains at the club, and considering Donny would only have made the bench even due to the deepest of injury crisis, a clean break is the best outcome for everyone. Facundo Pellistri - £300k loan fee with a £4.8m fee after ten games - Fluminense Although I would have liked an immediate deal for Pellistri, the early suitors Sheffield United were trying to low ball us at a measly £3.1m, and with the option of triggering a one-year extension in his contract, I wasn't going to sell for the sake of it. Although I originally wanted closer to £7m, it became clear pretty quickly that nobody was going to bite for that price, so when an offer came in for Facundo to head back to South America, I thought it was worth accepting as the terms of the future fee are favourable. If for some reason he fails to play ten games for Fluminense throughout a famously hectic Brazilian season, then we may well trigger that extension and see if we can get a fee next year. Friendlies On the basis of results pre-season looks like a resounding success, but there are areas of concern. The first, and most obvious, is the apparent lack of defensive stability. The game against the Second XI was nothing more than minutes in the legs, so with a central defensive partnership of Will Fish and Álvaro Fernández I'm writing off the three goals conceded. One in particular from Ethan Wheatley was an absolute screamer! The three away games in Portugal against Covilhã, Penafiel and Santa Clara are particular concerns; although we were rotating to test partnerships and roles, we still had senior defenders playing at all times and some of the defending on display was schoolboy at best. Even in our most composed performances, ironically against the two toughest sides in Bayern and Porto, we weren't able to keep a clean sheet. I'm wary of tweaking too much once the season starts as I want us to settle, but it will have to happen quickly. Another issue (although I guess really it's just an unresolved selection decision) is on the right-wing. With Jadon Sancho returning to the club, we currently have him, Antony and Amad who will all want significant minutes, and that's without mentioning Omari Forson, or Alejandro Garnacho who probably forms our best front three with Rashford and Højlund. None have really asserted themselves in the position throughout pre-season (Amad arguably had the most promising performances), and so I feel we're bloated on that side with options I don't entirely trust, nor seem likely to sell on in January. In terms of positives, Odilon Kossounou and Morten Hjulmand both seem to have settled quickly with solid pre-season performances, and Odilon showing early on what a threat he can be from set-pieces. Mehdi Taremi has been slightly slower to impress; he did grab what turned out to be the winner against Covilhã but has otherwise looked slightly toothless off the bench. When adjusting to a new club and lacking sharpness it can be hard to fit the net, though. I've also been impressed by Dan Gore, who having returned from a loan spell at Port Vale looks ready to take a place in the first-team squad. He's looked good in limited pre-season minutes, and right now looks like he may offer the same box crashing threat I expect to see from Scott McTominay throughout the season. I don't expect him to have the sort of immediate impact that Kobbie Mainoo did last season, but I'd like to make him a prominent part of our Europa League campaign if performances allow. By far the biggest positive I have taken away is from the performances against Bayern especially, but also Porto. Diving into the match stats, it feels a bit counter intuitive to be so pleased with a late 1-1 draw when we created 3.67 xG and six clear cut chances; however, this was a full strength Bayern side, and although I have a decent track record of getting results in big games I rarely do it by creating so many chances. Finishing can be worked on, but the evidence I have in front of me at this time is that the approach I have decided to take can be successful. The Porto stats aren't quite as impressive, but show that the same approach can also see us dominate the ball and be more clinical with the chances we create. We actually went behind in the second minute, but that turned out to be the only shot on target we allowed Porto, as we completely dominated the rest of the game. Staffing The last area I've tried to be active in throughout pre-season is in our staffing, particularly the coaching department. I've been unsuccessful in a few ventures; I looked into deals for both Dan Ashworth and Jason Wilcox, but neither were willing to negotiate. I would have also liked to remove Darren Fletcher from his role as Technical Director and simply keep him as a Coach, but he's currently unwilling to consider this. For the sake of realism, I should really be looking to replace John Murtough as soon as is humanly possible, however, as I'm looking to oversee recruitment, at least for the first few seasons, he actually doesn't have many responsibilities to get wrong. I also took a look at the Assistant Manager situation, and will do again in the near future. I was a bit slack on day one, and just progressed without really considering any staff changes, which is poor on my part as it means mutual terminations will be either impossible, or expensive. Manchester United currently have two assistant managers, Steve McClaren and Mitchell van der Gaag. I did look to emulate real life by trying to lure Ruud van Nistelrooy to the club, but he instead took the Manager's role at Lyon. Both McClaren and van der Gaag are out of contract at the end of his season, so I think the plan will likely be to stick with what we have while I settle into the role, and then bring my own man in next season. That feels a fairly realistic progression. I have managed to do a couple of deals, though. Considering the enormity of Manchester United's workforce, I find it inexplicable that Benni McCarthy is the first-team's only general Coach. I've bolstered that slightly with the additions of Kevin Ball and familiar face John O'Shea, although I would like to sign a couple more. I did consider promoting the likes of Travis Binnion or Adam Lawrence into the first-team coaching staff, such is their regard within the club. However, with both of them having a clear affinity for working with young players, it feels counter productive to take them away from roles they clearly excel in. I've also signed a dedicated Set-Piece Coach, something the club were previously lacking. After putting out an advert I decided against many well qualified free agents, and instead gave Brighton £300k in order to take Nick Stanley from them. His preferences align most closely to mine, and for the first time this game cycle I'll be handing full control of set-pieces over to him. We looked fairly threatening from corners especially using my routines, so I'm intrigued to see how we fare throughout the season.

The squad needs a huge amount of work, we covered that in the last post. However, how much of that work we’ll be able to undertake will depend entirely on how well we can sell, as finances one day one are bleak. There is £140k per week free in the wage budget, which isn’t unsubstantial, but with only £500k in transfer budget, early deals will have to be players whose contracts are coming to an end. Huge shout-out to Jamie | CarrileroFM for his blog templates! The first priority is to plug the biggest gaps in the squad. In order of importance, I will be looking for a centre-back, a defensive midfielder and a forward. However, I won’t sign three players with contracts expiring just because they fill a need. If the right profile isn’t out there then we will bide our time and see what we can do when some funds come in. We of course know that a huge amount of wage budget will be freed up at the end of June. If we convert some of that into a transfer budget, I’d expect us to have around £30-40m to spend – probably enough for one good squad addition. So without other departures, we’re going to struggle to bring in all of the profiles we need. When it comes to identifying targets that we may be able to sign for a fee, I’ll be looking to dive into my INEOS driven shortlist, which at current looks like this: In addition to this, the frankly enormous scouting and recruitment team I’ve inherited have been working on recruitment focuses in some of the major European nations and Argentina, so anybody found through this will also be evaluated. Key Targets A right sided central defender. Strong aerial presence is a must; comfort on the ball and good pace are also important. A holding midfielder to replace/compete with Casemiro. Needs to be comfortable being the deepest midfielder and doing the dirty work, but an ability to contribute as a more progressive passer/running would aid rotation. An experienced centre forward to offer competition and rotation for Højlund. Profile actually isn’t as important, doesn’t need to be the same type of player as Højlund, but does need to offer a reliable goal threat. Additional Targets A second central defender; preferably young with a lot of potential, and predominantly left sided. Budget would depend on outgoings but would be likely to target a budget option with potential resale value. A top quality right-winger. This deal would be dependent on a high money sale of Antony/Sancho. Both footed, tricky, agile wingers would be the profile – more of a creator than a wide forward. An experienced third-choice goalkeeper, aka the Scott Carson role. Cheap wages, no expectation of playing time, desirable personality. Enough ability to play if absolutely needed. Replacements for any unexpected departures. Would need to take each of these as they come. The amount of wage budget we will be freeing up leads me to believe that we will be able to achieve our three key targets, by hook or by crook. That may be all we manage to do though, as interest for unwanted players doesn’t feel overly likely unless we accept knock down fees or burden a large portion of their salaries for the final year of their contracts. Long-Term Strategy As the save progresses, I’ll be overseeing the creation and distribution of recruitment focuses myself, to ensure that we’re finding as many viable targets as possible. Our scouting department will be the envy of practically every club in the world, and if we can get the best from them then we will have a massive advantage in the transfer market. I’ll be splitting recruitment focuses into three main types; Talents, Established, and Short-Term. Talents It goes without saying that focuses that fall under the ‘talents’ bracket will be looking for younger players. Of course, we want to be finding our next Wayne Rooney or Cristiano Ronaldo, but I think sometimes the impact of improving and selling on younger players can be underappreciated at the biggest clubs, and therefore I’ll be looking to cast a wide net. Talent focuses will be set as ‘ongoing’ in major nations and regions where we would expect to find exciting talent. To keep things fresh, the scouts and analysts assigned to each focus will be rotated periodically. In terms of criteria, it will be incredibly vague – just an age limit and a minimum potential ability requirement of 2.5*. This will allow me to pick up three main types of young player; the absolute superstar who is an instant must-sign, the decent young player who could challenge for first-team minutes and be a solid squad player until they’re sold on, and the extremely raw youngster who can join the youth teams to develop. As well as these, I’ll also occasionally run some more short-term focuses in areas where talents are a little more rare. In these, I’d be looking for the cream of the crop in that area, so the search parameters will be slightly higher, but still vague in a sense of only being age and ability. One last attempt to find young talents will see us scouting youth group international tournaments while they run. Established ‘Established’ focuses won’t be running consistently, but will instead be set between transfer windows if I believe that there is a position in the squad that I need to fill with a player in their prime, either to add depth or to improve our quality in the position. As these are going to be shorter, snappier projects, I’m happy to assign a large number of scouts and analysts to them, knowing that they can return to other work once complete. This means that to search for one position I can add a lot of nations to one focus, rather than needing a large amount of what would essentially be the same search. As these focuses will vary case by case due to the needs of the squad, it’s hard to describe exactly how they will look, but in general I’d expect to be searching for one position but potentially a couple of different roles, and will set ability parameters depending on whether we have the budget and need for a new star player, or whether we’re looking for a more budget friendly depth option. Short-Term The type of focus I’d anticipate using least, ‘short-term’ focuses will be few and far between, and set to fill a very specific need. The biggest use I can think of for this sort of focus will be mid-transfer window, if we’ve sold a player we weren’t expecting to and need to find a replacement quickly. In this instance I would set a top priority focus in regions we’re the most familiar with, in order to find potential solutions. I’ll also likely look to create a focus each December to find players who may be of interest to us entering the last six months of their contracts.

@danyates8 @john1 thank you both for your kindness! --- --- --- --- --- --- In the last post I talked through the earliest decisions I’ve had to make to set the tone for the new era dawning at Old Trafford. In this post, we’ll be talking transfer strategy, outlining both the profiles of signings we’ll be looking to make, plus how we plan to approach scouting in order to find those players. Different Types of Targets As the old saying goes, there is more than one way to skin a cat. Manchester United may not be the force they were in the Sir Alex Ferguson era on the pitch, but off it they are still an absolute juggernaut, and having vast resources available means that recruitment could be approached in many different ways. We could spend the next few years signing one or two world-class players every year for huge fees, hoping that they can raise the level of the existing squad to take us to new heights. Or, we could go the other way and sign a horde of young wonderkids, accepting that there will be some short-term teething problems but with potential huge long-term benefits. Either of these would be a perfectly reasonable, and fun, approach to take to the save. But I’m looking for something slightly more realistic, with a few more shades of grey; therefore, I’ve put together a fivefold transfer strategy to guide me throughout my time at Old Trafford. Don't Be Afraid To Spend Big When Required ‘Spending big’ is of course a very subjective term, but Manchester United have never been afraid to splash the cash. Given the amount of poor high-profile signings the club has made, especially in the past decade or so, it would be easy to suggest that continuing to sanction expensive signings would be a poor strategic decision. However, I reject the idea that a high transfer fee cannot represent value for money. It’s not easy to identify value when big money is involved, but it is out there. There are a couple of ways that I will take this into consideration throughout the save. When it comes to potential first-team ready signings, I think it’s especially difficult to identify true value for money. Players can come in for huge money and perform exceptionally well, but if the side is already at a good level then how do you quantify the value they’ve added? In my mind, the only player brought into the first-team fold for big money in the last decade to truly prove value for money is Bruno Fernandes. One player. In a decade. It’s an awful record, but the difference for me between the signing of Fernandes and some of the other relatively good high money signings we’ve had (arguably Mata, Herrera and Shaw would be some of the next on the list) is that he obviously, and immediately, raised United’s level beyond what it had been. Between his debut on February 1st 2020 and the end of that season, Manchester United were the best side in the Premier Division, two points better than rivals City, but this was only enough to help secure a third place finish – a sign of how United’s season had been going previously. To try to maximise our chances of getting another Fernandes, and less of the likes of Fred, Mkhitaryan and Wan-Bissaka, I’ll only be looking to target first–team players in their prime if they fill an obvious gap in the squad, or I feel I can get instant performances from them that may push us towards a title or cup win. If there isn’t a player like that on our radar, then I’ll focus instead of giving opportunities to a young player at the club, or look to spend less bringing one in if we don’t have an obvious candidate. When it comes to signing younger players, who maybe won’t have quite the same pressure to succeed right away, I’ll still happily spend big on the right player, but I will need to be convinced they are an elite level talent. With some players you just know, and I won’t pay above market value for a player without being confident they’re destined to stay at the very top of the game for a long time. Be Wary of Premier League Tax There is very little true value for money when signing players from Premier League rivals any more. The amount of money in the league means that even lower mid-table clubs are often demanding £50m plus for their players, not to mention the wages players are often on, and wanting pay rises from. Of course, Sir Alex Ferguson often had success in poaching players from other Premier League sides, with Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie being two prime examples. However, Rooney had already shown the world his talent at Everton and then lit up Euro 2004, while van Persie was identified as the striker to bring home Manchester United’s 20th league title, and he duly delivered. In the current day, United are strongly linked with Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite. He’s an excellent player and as a fan, I’d like United to sign him if they can get a deal done. However, in terms of the save, it’s the type of deal that I’d probably look to avoid. For the money that Everton would likely demand for Branthwaite, there are almost certainly similar profiles in other divisions that would cost less and would have lower wage demands, so the question then becomes whether a player already in the Premier League offers advantages that warrant the extra expenditure. This isn’t me making a rule that I’ll avoid signing players from the Premier League, it’s more about having the awareness to look for alternatives from cheaper sources that may offer the same profile or ability. If none are out there, or the outstanding candidate is at a Premier League club, then we will still pursue them. Search for Value in the Championship Manchester United, certainly in recent years, don’t have much activity (or luck) when it comes to picking up players from lower divisions. I’m not talking about players to join the academy here, as United are actually fairly good in this area, but players ready to come in and make an impact at first-team level. There have been a few, the likes of Tomasz Kuszczak and Michael Owen were both signed as cheap cover from relegated sides, but I’m talking more about the likes of Daniel James, Wilfried Zaha and Nick Powell. Powell was a bit more of a prospect and further away from first-team involvement after his move from League Two side Crewe Alexandra, but James and Zaha were both signed for around £15m each, with the idea being that they would go on to be great additions to the squad for modest fees, due to the league they joined from. This didn’t work out particularly well, especially for Zaha, and it’s rare lately to even hear of United being linked with a player from the Championship or below. Compare this to Crystal Palace, who have recently been excellent at picking up and integrating Championship talent, and it’s clear to see that this pathway absolutely can work, providing that sides are willing to commit to first scouting and then developing these players. Ebere Eze, Michael Olise and most recently Adam Wharton are the most notable cases of this, but Palace also have the likes of Sam Johnstone, Joel Ward and Jordan Ayew who have been solid since signing from Championship clubs, plus Nathan Ferguson who was a hugely exciting prospect before a horrible run of injuries. There are absolutely players currently in the Championship talented enough to make the leap and have an impact at United; the likes of Wilfried Gnonto, Kyle Walker-Peters, Archie Gray and Crysencio Summerville immediately spring to mind, so it’s definitely a market I would like to tap into, rather than letting others unearth the gems and then paying a premium for them further down the line. Agree Smart Pre-Contract Deals One of the biggest weapons in our transfer strategy could, and should, be pre-contract deals. With player power higher than ever before, and the sheer pull the club still has despite our current predicament, we should be able to approach players whose contracts are expiring and bring them to the club without the need for a transfer fee. Juventus and Bayern Munich are generally considered the masters of securing elite players on free transfers, with the most famous being Andrea Pirlo’s move to Juve, and Bayern poaching Robert Lewandowski from rivals Borussia Dortmund. However, Juve can also boast the likes of Fabio Cannavaro, Paul Pogba and Dani Alves, while Bayern have also signed Leon Goretzka and Rafael Guerreiro in recent years. United actually don’t have a bad record with free transfers; Zlatan Ibrahimović and Edinson Cavani are both loved by the majority of United fans, while Christian Eriksen also had a solid first season at the club. It’s also been a popular way for United to sign backup goalkeepers, with Sergio Romero, Víctor Valdés, Lee Grant and Tom Heaton all joining on frees. I’ll be looking to secure deals early where I can, although I won’t rule out signing free agents if a player does fall through the cracks. I’ll primarily be looking to supplement the squad with decent squad players and young talents through this route, although if a genuine star looks attainable then it would be daft not to explore it! Use INEOS Links Wisely Purchasing a stake in Manchester United is not the first venture into football for INEOS. The group wholly owns French side OGC Nice, as well as Swiss outfit FC Lausanne-Sport. Added to this a partnership with RC Abidjan from the Ivory Coast, and United actually become INEOS’ fourth investment in football. With these new links established, it seems foolish not to look to utilise them to strengthen us. I have manually added affiliate links between United and each of the other three clubs, with varying conditions that I would consider realistic to each relationship. Now of course, in real life there is talk that United are actually unable to sign players from Nice, with their publicised pursuit on Jean-Clair Todibo seemingly brought to a halt due to UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules, and the fact that both United and Nice will compete in the Europa League in the 2024/25 season. This is another example where I’m looking to tread the fine line between trying to adhere to real life situations, but also having a save that is interesting and enjoyable. I have no doubt that Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS will fight any potential ban on inter-group transfers, and therefore as it’s not a restriction within Football Manager I don’t feel it necessary to self-impose a ban. Manchester United are always linked with a host of names when transfer windows approach, it’s the nature of the beast amongst the world’s elite clubs. However, there have been names that have cropped up a lot since INEOS’ arrival, and so I’ve created a shortlist of those names to give me an early pool of talent to scout and potentially target.

I haven't commented much here (if at all), but have been following the save keenly and it's offered enjoyment and inspiration in equal measure. It's been a sensational journey and I can't wait to see what's next for you!

@CameronFM thanks mate! I'm excited to finally get this properly underway! --- --- --- --- --- --- As I mentioned in the save introduction, it’s no secret that the Manchester United squad needs a massive amount of work. There are some incredibly talented players, but there are also a lot of players undeserving of the massive wages they are on. It’s not practical to suggest that we can completely overhaul this in one transfer window, especially starting with zero scouting work done. What we can do, though, is start with the ‘easy wins’, letting go of any players we can who aren’t on long contracts and don’t offer the value or performances we’re looking for. In order to do that, we need to identify those players, so I’ve taken a look at the squad as a whole and split them into different categories. I’ve included a couple of younger players who have either had a little bit of first-team involvement or I can see potentially getting some next year, but I think the split in the chart above speaks for itself, and not in a good way. Out of a 34-man first-team squad, there are just eleven players that I would not entertain offers for and would want to see here next season no matter what. This is nowhere near a good enough ratio, and really puts into perspective how many unsuitable players will still have to be in the squad for next season. Expiring Contracts These are the players who will be set for release, and will definitely leave upon the expiry of their contracts. Although it seems like an obvious choice to let all of them go, some decision making did have to happen in a couple of instances. Ideally I would like to keep Tom Heaton and Jonny Evans at the club; both are academy players and would serve to be excellent role models for the younger players we’re looking to continue bringing through. However, there has to come a point where the financial aspect becomes the priority, and with neither willing to discuss a pay cut I will be reluctantly showing them the door. Over £100k per week is too much for two players who will have next to no game time, despite the other upsides that they bring. A very large part of me wants to keep Raphaël Varane at the club, especially as there is a one-year extension that I could trigger. Despite being slightly injury prone he is still an exceptional defender and I would definitely not hesitate to play him next season. However, extending a £350k per week deal for a 31-year-old doesn’t sit well with the new direction we’re trying to take the club in, and as is shown in real life also doesn’t suit INEOS’ decision making. There is better value to be had by letting an excellent player go before he starts to decline rapidly, and using the money saved to look at bringing in one or two really good squad reinforcements. As it stands at the moment Sofyan Amrabat will return to Fiorentina at the end of his loan spell, although there is potential that I could revisit this before the loan expires if the funds are there and I decide he’s a player who could fill a role next year. An optional fee of £17m seems a decent price for an experienced holding midfielder with reasonable wage demands, although he would demand an increase on his current £31.5k salary in Italy. As another homegrown player, Brandon Williams may feel aggrieved to be on the way out. However, despite being a decent full-back, he isn’t going to ever reach the level I would expect from a Manchester United player, and a wage of £50k per week is far too much for the ability that he has. There was never going to be any outcome for Anthony Martial other than release. He is a prime example of the sort of player Manchester United have kept around for far too long, on way too much money, and never been close to getting a transfer fee for. Exactly the kind of situation I’m looking to avoid going forwards. Martial has had some great moments for United, but for me it never got better than his debut, and although I don’t dislike him as a player, I won’t miss him. Charlie McNeill and Shola Shoretire aren’t first-team players, but I’ve made mention of them here simply because they’re on a significant wage compared to their peers, and although there is still potential there in both of them, I’d rather let them go and forge their careers elsewhere as I don’t feel they will become United calibre players. Having a guaranteed £810k per week with which to supplement the squad next season is a huge boost, especially as the transfer budget is currently non-existent. We could easily bring in two or three strong free transfers and still convert some money to put towards transfer fees, should the right targets be out there. Looking to Sell Manchester United have a terrible record of selling players for anything resembling good value. The list of their top ten highest transfer fees received in history still includes Jaap Stam and Juan Sebastián Verón, who were sold in 2001 and 2003 respectively. Add to this the fact that four of the top ten were also sold at a loss and it makes for pretty grim reading. Of course, some context should be added; for a lot of players Manchester United will be a side they want to join and never leave, not a stepping stone in their career. From the top ten, only Cristiano Ronaldo could be considered a player that United would have been desperate to retain. (David Beckham and Jaap Stam would have been too if not for infamous arguments with Sir Alex Ferguson.) We have five players that I would consider sellable assets who I don’t see a future for at the club. Under the previous regime, they would almost certainly just stick around, possibly go out on loan while the club covered some or all of their wages (a la Martial to Sevilla), and then leave on a free at the end of their contract. I’m looking to change that immediately. That won’t be simple, considering these are players who are unlikely to garner a lot of interest and they all have just twelve months remaining on their contracts, but I feel actively trying to ship them out is a step in the right direction, and any fee we can gain for them will help. Let’s start with the elephant in the room. I’m reluctant to mention him for obvious reasons, but the player formerly on loan at Getafe is still a club employee who I could get a good transfer fee for. He will not be at the club next season, come what may. Victor Lindelöf is by no means a bad defender, but is on huge money for the level of performances he has produced for the club, and while there is interest in him I would rather sell him on than lose him for a free next year. On day one of the save there is interest from Tottenham Hotspur and Inter Milan, so there is definitely scope to get a decent fee while also getting his wage off of the bill. Christian Eriksen could conceivably fall into the Tom Heaton and Jonny Evans bracket of being a useful older head to keep around as a mentor to the younger players. As a Model Citizen he would be excellent in this regard, but I cannot justify a wage of £170k per week for a player who’s positioning isn’t strong enough to sit in the pivot, especially in tougher games, and isn’t mobile enough to play behind the striker. If we can’t move him on then cup and possibly late substitute appearances would be the best he could hope for. At just 22, Facundo Pellistri is young enough that he could probably be given another year to prove his worth and earn a new deal, but I just don’t see him coming back to the club from his loan at Granada and pushing Antony and Amad for much game time, especially when Garnacho and Sancho can also play on the right. With this in mind, it seems sensible to try and get as much for him as we can, and wish him well with his career. I didn’t agree with the signing of Donny van de Beek when he joined the club back in 2020. He was never going to get into the team consistently considering his competition was a certain Bruno Fernandes, and also didn’t suit playing in the pivot, despite many fans thinking he should be given a chance there. As a result, his career has completely stagnated, and even his former boss ten Hag coming to United couldn’t get him back on track. His loan at Eintracht Frankfurt does have an optional future fee of £8.5m but I don’t expect them to activate it, as in this save he has had a poor loan spell, so it will be a case of ‘welcoming’ him back to the club and then seeing what we can get for him. If, and it’s a big if, I can get the fees I want for all five of them, then we’re looking at nearly £65m in transfer fees and more than half a million a week extra saved in wages. Even if we have to sell for lower fees, the free wage budget alone would be a huge boost to the recruitment operation. Combined with the expiring contracts, all of these players leaving would bring us £64.5m in transfer fees and free up nearly £1.4m a week in wages – absolutely incredible numbers considering there is not one player there that I would be disappointed to be without. Entertaining Offers The rest of the squad comprises players that I would be happy (in a lot of cases willing is a better word) to have at the club next year, for a number of various reasons. Some I believe won’t attract interest if I try to actively sell them due to their wages (Antony, Sancho, Casemiro), some I see as good squad players who I’d accept suitable offers for but aren’t a priority to move on (Bayindir, Maguire, Wan-Bissaka, Malacia), and some are homegrown players who are worth keeping around for depth and registration reasons unless we get offers above market value for them (McTominay, Hannibal). I do believe we could see some offers for a few of these players – Casemiro especially I’d happily move on should a Saudi club come knocking, for example. However, rather than moving these players on just to bring in funds, these sales would need to be considered in the context of who would/could conceivably replace them. For example, if we sell Casemiro for £40m then we could easily bring in a quality young player for the same money or less, and save a lot in wages, so the sale makes sense. However, should we accept a bid of around £15m for Altay Bayindir, only to find that any potential number two we could bring in to replace him would cost similar money, then there would be no point in making the deal, especially as Bayindir’s wage is incredibly reasonable and likely to be less than what we would have to pay a replacement. With all that being said, there is some really good money to be made if clubs do come in for some of these players, especially if we could convince somebody to take on Casemiro, Sancho and Antony’s wages. However, I think offering them out will damage any chance of getting good offers and therefore these players will all be given opportunities to be a part of the squad if they perform well. Willy Kambwala and Omari Forson will both be offered new deals, as I believe they are both high potential players on the cusp of more regular first-team involvement. However, we won’t be bullied into giving them excessive pay rises, and will let them leave if terms cannot be agreed. There are also concerns around whether Kambwala would get a work permit, so he may leave the club regardless. Álvaro Fernández will also be offered a new deal as his contract is expiring; ideally I would like to keep him at the club next season, but Benfica have an optional future fee of £5.25m as part of his loan deal and if they trigger it then I am powerless to stop him. If we do manage to retain him, then this could be a factor in whether we actively look to move on Malacia. So with these early decisions made, the earliest building blocks are in place. I have no idea what kind of transfer window we have in store for us, we may well be stuck with a lot of the existing squad and therefore a lot of compromises in the first season. However, if we can sell well, it could be a very exciting window indeed!

Tough draw in the Champions League, but a couple of winnable fixtures in there for sure!

You know how much I love reading/hearing about this save! Aalberg looks a good pick up, and good to see Volden get his debut. Not necessarily a massive surprise to see your xG generally drops a bit in Europe, especially playing a side like Gladbach!

Excellent save idea, will be following this!

@Rikulec Really enjoying the thread so far. I started a save with SJK on the last FM and even though I only played a season of it I really enjoyed Finland, going back is a strong contender for me for FM25. Will be following the rest of the save with interest!

Profiles for each member of the current first-team squad will be added here, and updated at the end of each transfer window.

An overview of each season's performance will be provided here once complete. Keep checking back for a quick glance at the progress of the save! Just as Manchester United have their honours board on display at Old Trafford, I will have my own triumphs immortalised here for all to see

When Sir Alex Ferguson retired having guided Manchester United to the 2012/13 Premier League title, the thirteenth of his legendary reign, even the most pessimistic of fans would not have imagined that they would struggle to even compete for another title in the decade to follow. Fans who were used to almost constant success were suddenly faced with mediocrity, and despite some definite high points David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, José Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Ralf Rangnick have all flattered to deceive. The current man in the hot-seat is Erik ten Hag, who has brought two trophies in two seasons, but what can only be described as a horror campaign has seen United eliminated from the Champions League early despite a favourable group, and finish eighth in the Premier League – their worst league position since 1989/90. Despite such a poor season, there is a feeling amongst the majority of the fan base that a new era may finally be starting, thanks to Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS coming in as minority owners, but crucially also taking control of football operations. Since this change in infrastructure changes have already been made, with Omar Berrada coming in from rivals Manchester City as the new Chief Executive, Jason Wilcox coming in as a Technical Director and a well publicised pursuit of Newcastle United’s Dan Ashworth. Rumours were rife that INEOS would look to bring in a new manager – their own man who more suitably fit the profile of a ‘head coach’, rather than a manager who would demand input in every area as Sir Alex Ferguson famously had. Although Erik ten Hag has ultimately been allowed to remain in the job the rumours of his imminent sacking came thick and fast, particularly in the run-up to the FA Cup final, which United went on to win, with rumours still not subsiding and in fact intensifying that he would be relieved of his duties the day after his Wembley triumph. This save will forge an alternate reality where ten Hag was indeed fired the day after the FA Cup final, and we will be taking the reins to hopefully bring success to the INEOS era. Save Structure In order to pick up the INEOS story in the immediate aftermath of the FA Cup Final, I am using a Real Fixtures file, as well as a Custom Start Date file to recreate the 2023/24 season as accurately as possible. These are available from www.fmrte.com, although you will need to purchase a license in order to download them. As the real fixtures file only takes care of league fixtures and not cup ties, I reloaded the file a whopping 91(!) times in order to have Manchester United lift the FA Cup, meaning that we will be playing Europa League football in season one. Funny story, Manchester United also won the FA Cup in attempt 7, but they inexplicably also made the Champions League Final which was not only unrealistic, but also ruined what I needed from the file! There are a couple of things that won’t be entirely realistic; Although Omar Berrada is already at the club, Jason Wilcox and Dan Ashworth are still with their previous clubs, and although I may well make approaches for them, there is of course no guarantee they will join. Also, as a result of our FA Cup win, Chelsea have indeed been bumped into the Europa Conference League, but Newcastle United are also listed as qualifiers for the competition which is no longer the case in real life. The last is the outcome of the Championship Play-Off Final, as in this instance Leeds United won out over Southampton. Although I would prefer these things to be accurate to real life, in the grand scheme of things they are relatively minor and won’t affect the realism of the save too much. In terms of my save setup, I have loaded England down to National League North/South level, the top two divisions of the other major European leagues, plus the top divisions of Scotland, Brazil and Argentina. When playing a save where Champions League football is likely I always include at least the top five nations as playable leagues, in order to give more realistic progression from clubs as the save progresses. The Scottish Premiership feels like a division where some of our young players could flourish on loan, and also a place to pick up some talented youngsters, while Brazil and Argentina are wonderkid central and speak for themselves. For the first time since this year’s Early Access, I’ll be using a skin that displays player and staff attributes. Despite the fact that I adore the Mustermann Iconic skin that I’ve used almost exclusively this year, there are a couple of reasons for the switch. Firstly, although it is a return to the ‘standard’, after eight months of not truly knowing how good a player is it feels like a move that will freshen the game up for me as we approach Football Manager 2025. Secondly, using Mustermann Iconic has made me approach aspects of the game in different ways, and I’m keen to bring those approaches back into a numerical skin and ensure that I don’t slip back to old habits. Core Principles I don’t tend to set a massive amount of restrictions in my saves, in regards to being an academy only save or working to particular wage or transfer restrictions, for example. I tend to just try to bring as much realism as I can to the save while also having an enjoyable playing experience. With that being said, there are a few things I’ll be looking to ensure I either implement or maintain during this save. Smart Signings I’ll be covering our transfer strategy in full in a future post, but it’s clear for everybody to see that Manchester United need to make a change to their approach in the transfer market. The ratio of successful signings in the post-Ferguson era would probably sit somewhere in the region of one in every six or seven, which is an awful record. Added to that the extortionate transfer fees and wages shelled out for some truly unworthy players, and a sheer lack of ability to sell players for anything near their value because of this, the club’s recruitment is up there with one of its very biggest problems. Although Manchester United can obviously field a very talented side, the squad has some real problems and is in need of a major overhaul. Trimming the fat and making some funds for new recruits will be priority number one, before expanding the operation to put Manchester United at the forefront of the transfer market once more. Squad Composition Tying in nicely with the recruitment strategy, I’ll be looking to keep a realistic squad composition throughout the save, trying to treat the playing staff as people rather than just a set of numbers. I’m not looking to build a squad of twenty-five wonderkids as soon as humanly possible while selling all of our best players in the process, personalities and experience will count for a lot and less talented players may be kept around to offer depth as long as the rationale suits. As well as this, I’ll be looking to address one thing that I am particularly guilty of, which is bloating the squad with extra signings to pre-emptively cover injuries before they happen. Manchester United have never been afraid to give a young player an opportunity when needed, and it’s part of the reason that so many youngsters succeed at the club. I’ll be looking to lean into this and give deserving young players the chance to step up if gaps appear in the squad. Club Restructuring This of course won’t be an entirely realistic aspect of the save, as Erik ten Hag won’t be in charge of the continuing recruitment of staff. However, I think it is important that I focus on improving the club as a whole and not just the playing staff, and so will be taking an active role in making sure our staffing is up to scratch across all areas. I will also consider the areas where I may be willing to delegate responsibility to the staff to improve realism but not reduce my enjoyment of the save. Youth Development Youth development is the sheer lifeblood of the United way. Recently, Ethan Wheatley has become Manchester United’s 250th academy graduate to play for the first-team, and the club holds an astonishing record of naming at least one academy player in every matchday squad for over 85 years! That is absolutely insane, and I will not be the person to end that streak! As a personal little aside, I’d like to create what I’ll be calling the Class of 2011. Although Manchester United won the FA Youth Cup in 2011, with players such as Pogba and Lingard in the side, I’m actually referring to a save I had with United back on Football Manager 2011. I’ve mentioned this save a couple of times in previous posts, most notably when creating the Danny Birchall list at Tokyo Verdy. I brought through some sensational youth intake newgens in that save, but also supplemented them with some youngsters brought in for nominal fees who then went on to become world beaters. This is something I’ll talk about further in the future, but is a part of the save I’m exceptionally excited for. There’s no time to waste getting stuck into the save, although there’s a full summer of international football before we can get stuck into pre-season, some early decisions need to be made as there are contracts expiring in just a month’s time!

@_Ben_ can't wait to get stuck into having a good look around the skin and starting my main save with it!

Hi @FrazT, sorry I had no idea! This account is the one I’d like to keep and use, the @OnTheBreakaccount can be merged/deleted, which ever is needed! Thanks and apologies again!

Apologies, the post before from @OnTheBreak was from my old account that I was still signed into somehow! Thanks for your quick response mate, adjusting the vertical_gap to 5 has fixed it! Amazing work once again!

Hi @_Ben_, absolutely unbelievable work with the skin, it's the most innovative player screen I've ever seen! I have a quick question, I use a 2560x1080 resolution but like to play in 110% zoom. Everything in the skin still looks great except the bottom row of player attributes gets cut off at the bottom, the names show but the numbers don't. Is there anyway of tweaking that panel to make them fit? Also loving your Career thread, will be following it for sure!

Hi Zachary, I'm playing on PC through Steam and the file uploaded is called Man City BETA.fm