FM16 - French Football - Joie de vivre

[Rustler]

Well done on a successful first season. Being better than the rest was enough, but Ligue 2 will probably be hard. Are you on the 16.3 database? I've only just updated to that last night, so not really familiar with the 'new' transfer targets yet.

Appreicate it and thanks for starting this thread! French football is all I play but never had the confidence to do a thread. Yeah on the database, its my first save on it too, but thanks anyway!

[Jogo Bonito]

@ Rustler: Yeah I wasn't sure about doing a thread for it myself, but was quite happy with the end result. Of course, now it's a bit out of date with all the transfers & any new Ligue 1 budgets etc. Not sure I will have time to update it entirely, but might do some sort of summary on major transfers if I ever get the chance.

Turning to your transfer question, there were some players 'cheap and undervalued' on the original database that might still be within your grasp. I asked for some of them to be upgraded but I'm thinking of Adam Ounas, Casimir Ninga and Ousmane Dembele, three of the emerging young talents that could be cheap or available on loan? You could also check out Kylian Mbappe and Adama Soumaoro, plus Ronael Pierre-Gabriel who I asked to be added to the database. All of these are in the list of players I would try and sign when I get my new club in France. Outside of France, although he seems to have random stats, Mfon Udoh can be useful sometimes.

@ Stu: Sorry I missed your post. Glad to hear you also like French football. I'm fond of Angers because they have really made a good impact in Ligue 1 after promotion, and have Ndoye, one of my favourite players of this season. I was also a big fan of Kodjia, who they had last season. I hope you're encouraged to try another club, either of those Paris sides would be fun.

[D0bi]

I've been hankering after a youth development save for a while and after a few google searches, settled on Lyon. They've got the third (or sixth depending on the site/source) best academy in Europe which impressed me and a decent number of graduates at top clubs (Martial, Benzema, Ben Arfa etc.) although relatively few defenders!

Anyway I've set myself a few rules to keep the save interesting; I can only sign one over-17 player a season, or two if one of the players is a Lyon academy graduate or ex-player ie Lloris. By signing mostly under-18 players they should then qualify as home-grown at the club (3 years spent at the club u-21) and classed essentially as academy products.

Started quite well, currently 2nd behind runaway leaders PSG after 11 games (2 points ahead of 3rd) in Ligue 1 and 2nd in my CL group of Juventus, Gladbach and Red Bull Salzburg, with a deciding match against Gladbach up next to determine who will qualify second and who will drop in to the Europa league.

Fekir, Lacazette and Valbuena have been predictably excellent but my new signing Jeremy Pied from Nice (ex-Lyon graduate) has started like a house on fire with several match winning goals and assists.

Really enjoying this save and hoping the results carry on!

[Jogo Bonito]

Great stuff D0bi. I like the rules you have applied as this will certainly make it a harder challenge, but will also provide greater satisfaction in whatever you achieve.

Looking forward to your updates, and please let me know how Cornet gets on, if you use him.

[Rustler]

Amiens SC Football - Season 2 - Ligue 2

Hello French Lovers, I'm back once again. Now in the last post, I knew this season would be difficult. I tried to upgrade the squad the best I could but considering I had a wage budget that was the 2nd lowest in the league, I know the standard that I was bringing in wasn't going to be amazing.



Transfers



To be honest, after saying that and looking back on this, I did do a huge upheaval of the squad. I needed to, end of. Notable signings were definitely the loan players, Jimmy Cabot and Sefo Fofana, who played the key roles in a successful season! (Spoiler)



Table



Yes, I know, with a media prediction of 19th, we easily went over that. We were even 3rd with ten games to go (we had a shocking end of season form)! But part of me was happy we didn't get back to back promotions. We weren't ready for Ligue 2 this year let alone Ligue 1! Now with an idea of who is this quality (which isn't many - we OVER achieved) and hopefully for some kind of wage and transfer boost we can at least get another top 6 finish. If I am honest, I still think after next year we are not ready. Heck this is our first year being a professional club! This club needs a couple of years in this division to get good staff and a deep squad (finished with only 20 players this season) before we can even think of surviving the top division.

My Player of the Season: Aboubakar Kamara



This guy was my main striker in last years title win and he lead the line again beautifully and stepped up. Won revelation of the year for Ligue 2 and hopefully he can continue his fine form into next season. In two seasons, he has scored 38 league goals in 60 appearances, so over a goal every two games. For those wondering, he starts at Amiens on the new database.

So there it is guys, what you thinking so far? Any advice on staff members to look for, players that could be good for a mid table Ligue 2 side? Hope everyone's else save is going well!

[Jogo Bonito]

Another excellent season Rustler, good work. I just checked out Kamara in my Marseille game, and he is still at KV Kortrijk. In his first season he scored 7 in 19 league appearances, and this season he has 5 in 3, so he looks to be a decent one to watch. His physical stats in my version are even way above what you are enjoying, and I thought yours were impressive enough. His record of 38 in 60 for Amiens is one to be proud of, definitely. I also see you took Soumaoro from Lille and Zouma from Sochaux, they should be solid if not spectacular. Sorry can't help with any more transfer targets yet, or staff, until I begin on 16.3 with somebody.

I've just picked up my Marseille save again, just starting season 2 and about to make a surprisingly large marquee signing to go alongside my more shrewd investments. More to follow soon...

[D0bi]

Cheers Jogo, and fantastic season Rustler you've managed a great final league position given your initial expectations!

It's definitely proving a challenge particularly on the goal scoring front! I'm currently coming to the end of January and aside from Lacazette (10 goals, but out for 2 months with a broken ankle), Fekir, Valbuena and Pied (7 goals) there is very little in terms of forward ability. Cover for the attacking spots is very thin, meaning Aouar, Cognat, Cornet etc. have all featured quite heavily, which can surely only be a good thing.

Competition wise, PSG are predictable storming the league with 54 points from 22 games. Just 3 points separate 2nd (39 pts) from 6th (36pts) with me in second. I managed to beat PSG on penalties to lift the pre-season Champions trophy before they got their revenge knocking me out in the French Cup. A disappointing defeat to Stade de Rennais in the Coupe de Ligue happened after I fielded a pretty youthful team. On a happier note I'm through to the Last 16 of the Champions League after finishing second in a group with Juventus (1st), Gladbach (3rd) and Salzburg (4th), however I face a tough ask in Manchester City.

Its been a pretty quiet January but I've managed to secure Hatem Ben Arfa on a pre-contract for next year, bringing in an academy graduate and extra cover for the attacking spots which is great. Lacazette's injury happened at the perfect time (in a way) meaning no one has come in for him in January after he initially attracted attention for a pretty hot start. Likewise Fekir picked up some early attention from City and Arsenal before going on a run of 20 games without a goal which saw interest tail off.

All in all I'm really enjoing the save!

[Jogo Bonito]

Interesting progress D0bi, it's a shame about Lacazette but glad you're enjoying it.

I mentioned a marquee signing earlier, and now I am ashamed to reveal that I just paid £16m for Ben Arfa, as unfortunately Nice gave him a new contract before I could get near him. Luckily the board gave me extra funds in season 1 that I didn't need, so I still had plenty left over for a special player like him.

I've recently been trying to steal Cornet from Lyon and had an offer of £2m accepted, but with free transfer signing Pape Sane currently providing cover for Batshuayi, and Osimhen also arriving when he is old enough to leave Nigeria, I'm not sure Cornet is necessary now, as much as I like him! I've also just swooped for Tiemoue Bakayoko, with a fee of just £2.1m being big enough for Monaco to trade as I try to bring in more young French talent. Vincent Koziello of Nice and Remi Walter (still at AS Nancy before his recent move to Nice) are two other players I'm trying to recruit at the moment. Unfortunately we are at stalemate on the latter, as the player won't accept a loan-back to AS Nancy, and his club are insisting on it being part of the £1.2m deal.

[D0bi]

Ben Arfa is certainly a cracking player; I think I got lucky that I managed to get in there before Nice could - although he'll become my third highest earner behind Laca and Valbuena. Osimhen should be a great signing, I've just had a look for him on my game and unfortunately I was too late, Wolfsburg have already agreed a transfer!

It sounds like you're building up a solid young side there, things should be looking very rosy in a couple of years!

[Jogo Bonito]

Yeah, Ben Arfa wanted monster wages of £65k p/w but I just had to do it. Mandanda is second biggest earner on £44k p/w, followed by Cabella on £40k p/w, and Nkoulou on £38k p/w. Our next highest wage would only be around £25k p/w.

I'm lucky with Osimhen because I'm on 16.2 and signed him for just small compensation at the start of the game (about £16k fee if I remember correctly). I did the same for Grasshoppers and he's now my main striker there in season 3. The Wolfsburg transfer is an official one as they did a deal in the winter window, but they have to wait until he is old enough to leave home - nothing you could do about that on 16.3.

Quite pleased with the young players I'm trying to recruit, yes. Tempted to bring a few more in as I look to replace the old guard.

[D0bi]

Ah okay, hadn't realised Wolfsburg had made an approach in real life. How is the league going for you at the moment, Jogo? Although it's tight and there's just three points separating 2nd from 7th, Marseilles and (surprisingly) Reims are my most persistent rivals for the remaining two CL spots! Due to University commitments I've not been able to get on the save as much as I would have liked this week.

[Jogo Bonito]

Olympique de Marseille - Season 2

Results - Part 1



Competition Status



Transfer History



First Team Staff



Tactics and Formation



Club Status

So, after finishing 3rd in Season 1, we faced a tough challenge to try and close the significant gap between PSG, AS Monaco and us. Probably more relevant is to fend off the other teams capable of matching us in Ligue 1, where (with the exception of PSG) things are usually quite competitive. Early qualifiers for the Champions League weren't going to help, but financially it was important to make some progress there. Luckily we scraped through a couple of rounds, and found our place in the Group stages alongside Sevilla, Shakhtar Donetsk and Lazio.

Our early league form has been a bit frustrating, with too many draws keeping us out of touch with the leaders. However, there are good signs of improvement in the last few matches, and we seem to have made some subtle tweaks that are beginning to pay dividends. In Europe, we are in the mix, although I was disappointed to throw away a 2-0 interval lead at home to Sevilla. The result in Ukraine made up for that though, so it could be much worse.

I was much more active in the transfer market than I expected, after deciding to try and concentrate on bringing in some promising young French talent. Some of these arrivals are ones for the future, but the marquee signing of Hatem Ben Arfa was a major outlay which needs to be a success. I've moved out Lassana Diarra to concentrate on a more youthful midfield, and Abou Diaby is also surplus to requirements. Unsurprisingly he's currently injured, which has been putting off prospective buyers, but he knows his time is coming to an end here. Another new arrival coming at the end of 2016 is Victor Osimhen, and I have high hopes that the young Nigerian striker can make an impact when given an opportunity.

I haven't made many changes to the coaching set up, with just Distin and Chiesa arriving in the summer (Thiery, Burgio and Six joined in the first season). Only three of the original staff have followed ex-manager Michel out of the club since I took over, so not much is different on that front.

I've decided to make some minor adjustments to our tactics recently, reluctantly asking Ndoye to give up his box-to-box midfield duties in order to sit deep alongside my other defensive midfielder. The more solid central zone seems to give us greater control and protection in the middle, but if I am struggling to create or score, I can easily revert one of the pair back to a box-to-box player to break the lines a bit better. I have also now changed my supporting attacking midfield player in to an attacking trequartista, and given instructructions for Ben Arfa and Cabella to swap positions during matches as each can play the other role well. The final tweak sees Batshuayi's role amended from that of poacher to complete forward.

The financial status of the club is looking quite good. Last year I made the club a profit on transfer dealings, and although that isn't the case this season so far, the extra cash from European competitions is helping us to maintain a decent financial position.

[D0bi]

As groups go in the Champions League that's a very tight group; it'd be tough to pick two qualifiers out of that group! Like you said, you were very active in the transfer window but settling doesn't seem to be a problem so far for you!

I've just finished my first season with mixed results.

As you can see, I managed to scrape in to 2nd place when it should have been much more comfortable. Only goal difference separated 2nd from 5th and we needed Toulouse and Montpellier to drop points in the final game in order to secure Champions League football. Talking of the Champions League, we finished 2nd in our group and drew Man City who beat us 3-0 at home while we managed a 2-2 draw in England to restore some pride. I mostly played kids in the cups so I wasn't too upset about either of those, although I think I'll make them a higher priority next season.

In the off-season, Ben Arfa is already confirmed as coming in and I don't forsee any major moves in the window, however there's interest by clubs for Darder, Jallet, Fekir and a few others which may disrupt things.

Goal scoring was a problem whilst Lacazette was out injured, with only Fekir, Valbuena and Pied able to pick up the slack. Player of the season has to be Rafael, his 12 assists were invaluable, although he did pick up 19 yellows and 3 reds in his 35 matches. An honorable mention must go to Clinton N'Jie who came in on loan from Spurs on January deadline day (after departing in the summer) to score 6 goals in just 10 games (5 starts) in the final run-in. If he's available cheap enough I might have to bring him in after those performances.

Allez L'OL!

[Rustler]

Amiens SC Football - Season 3 - Ligue 2

Hello French Lovers, I'm back once again. Now in the last post, we had just finished 6th in our first season in Ligue 2 under my reign, which was extremely successul considering our team and how we just squeezed to win the National a year previously. How would this year fold? Would we build on this or would would slip down the table? For reference, this year our media predicition was 15th and we were 16th in how much we were spending on wages (4th from bottom).



Transfers



So not as many signings as last year. One because we only were given £500,000 pounds in transfers and an extra £10,000 a week on wages and two, I felt we had a small team as it is so outgoings didn't feel right even if I didn't really play them this year. One big news story, I signed Slobodan Rajkovic on pre-contract agreement. He was fit at the time and everything was all good, international experienced and even was on Chelsea's books. However, within two days of joining, he broke his leg and at the age of 28 retired within a few months as he was out for a year! So I signed him on one of the highest paid players and never used him once, what a waste of money! Nevertheless, some of these signing turned out to be key. Pellenard became starting left back, Adama Ba was a superb free signing in January after he didn't get a club since his release from Auxerre, however as you can see I have already spent my first million at the club. Yes it was over monthly installments, but my god was it worth it. 5 star rating off the bat, was second in command at Monaco but wasn't getting game time so was on transfer list! So happy about this signing and will be our first team goalkeeper for years to come!

Table



Thought I would get this over and done with. Wow. Just wow. I cannot believe it, It doesn't look it there but with 8 games to go, there was 6 points between 1st and 8th, it was so tight but somehow our schedule was a lot easier compared to others and somehow, maybe with luck and maybe with changing to 3 different tactics throughout this season (we were 16th after 7 games), it somehow worked. Adama Ba in January helped, it sure did, chipped in with 8 goals and a couple of assists as a CAM but this guy went out of his skin for the team:



My Player of the Season: Aboubakar Kamara



So yes, I know I mentioned him last year and honestly if I would I would of picked someone different for you guys to see, for example Loic Puyo, who was second in terms of highest rating in the team over the course of the season but this guy was on a different level. Now compared to previous years, he was injured a lot more however they were like for a maximum at 3 weeks, never any long term problems. In total, in 28 league appearances in which 1 was a substitute, he scored 27 goals which made him league top goal score by a country mile and revelation of the year in Ligue 2 (which he won last year, so don't know how that works?). Consequently, was in the leagues XI of the season (along with Puyo) and overall in 88 league appearances has scored 65 goals for the club, which is a club record.

Sorry this was a longer post than normal, but I am so hyped that this happened to the point where I am worried for next season. Considering we were 16th out of 20 teams in terms of how much we pay players on a weekly budget I can see us being cannon fodder for everyone else in the league, considering Toulouse and VA came up with us as well who are proven Ligue 1 teams. I have just finished the season so no new signings are coming as of yet. All i know is that I have 2 million to spend and an extra £20,000 a week to spend on players! This still means however, my wage budget is still under £100,000 a week for the whole squad. I think I need prayers, but lets go and see where this rollercoaster ride will take me. Any questions, just give us a shout! By the way, well done Jogo Bonito, looks like you've made a good start

[Rustler]

Sorry Dobi, you must of posted as well as I, well done on your first season with all things considered, looking forward to see who you get in next to make that title challenge!

[Rustler]

Sorry quick post, things have escalated! I have been sacked before the season has started. As soon as transfer window started, that £2 million pound transfer budget went because the board wanted to buy the stadium. I only signed Mbappe for £600,000, however after that signing I was supposedly £100,000 in wages over. After calculating before I made the signing that I wouldn't be in this mess and that I could sign more players, I went to the board requesting funds, you know because we really REALLY need to sign some players. After refusing and saying I don't know if I could do my job, they brought me in a emergency meeting and here I am unemployed! I don't know what to say....

[DKB]

Have we let go on the other French threads and putting it all in this one for the focus of it???

[D0bi]

Sorry quick post, things have escalated! I have been sacked before the season has started. As soon as transfer window started, that £2 million pound transfer budget went because the board wanted to buy the stadium. I only signed Mbappe for £600,000, however after that signing I was supposedly £100,000 in wages over. After calculating before I made the signing that I wouldn't be in this mess and that I could sign more players, I went to the board requesting funds, you know because we really REALLY need to sign some players. After refusing and saying I don't know if I could do my job, they brought me in a emergency meeting and here I am unemployed! I don't know what to say....

Ouch, seems harsh after the success you've brought the club, but it was an ultimatum after all! Did you save the game before you went to the board, or do you have a slightly older save you could go back to? I enjoy reading your updates.

Have we let go on the other French threads and putting it all in this one for the focus of it???

It seems so. Certainly makes it more active than individual threads for each club, in my opinion.

[Jogo Bonito]

Very harsh Rustler! I hope you have the urge to start again in France though.

Dobi, well done on your first season. I look forward to reading more soon.

DKB, that choice is yours. Only OM have a dedicated thread but it isn't very active. Hope to see your updates in here though.

[mr_whitey]

Glad to see a thread for managing in France. I'm currently enjoying a save with Le Havre who start in Ligue 2, I was promoted season 1 (And won the French Cup, qualifying for Europe) and in my 6th season I have finally toppled PSG and won the title. If there is interest I will try and summarise my save.

[Gungner]

I'm very interrested

[Jogo Bonito]

@mr_whitey: Yes please, I'm always interested to see how people start out with clubs outside Ligue 1.

[Rustler]

I know really harsh and no previous saves to go back to, especially before selling players and couldn't replace them! So thinking of doing another french save, only ones I can get my teeth into? I'm torn between two saves though, unemployment challenge (put as sunday league footballer), see who I get and climb from there even if it does mean going to different clubs or choosing a Ligue 1 team which I am open to suggestions to (maybe a team between a media prediction of 4th and 12th?), what you guys think? Will start this tonight, so be quick with your suggestions!

[Jogo Bonito]

Lille, St Etienne or Nice?

Lille have some good defensive players, which are always harder to recruit than attacking ones. Then you can just add some spark to your attack.

St Etienne strengthened their squad quite well in the winter window, have a really passionate support, and are the most successful club in France despite quite a few lean years.

Nice have a really 'nice' balanced squad, with some good defenders, really strong central midfielders including a couple of youngsters beginning to make their mark, and then the star quality of Ben Arfa! Add a top class triker and you're going to have a great side.

The other option you mention is likely to be a longer path to success, like a magical mystery tour that could take you anywhere!

Not on your list of ideas, but you could also consider Sochaux in Ligue 2? Still the side with the most seasons in Ligue 1 history, and need some aid to get back in to the top tier.

[Rustler]

Thanks Jogo Bonito for the suggestions! You'll be glad to know I didn't take any notice of them or even myself! Typical me, not sticking to my own words! But when looking at Sochaux, I came across Evian TC as a potential save. Obviously their shock rise to Ligue 1 a few years ago to being back to Ligue 2 now with lots of old players is a good opportunity to re-invent the team. I will do a season and post on here my outcome but already in a potential starting eleven, there are 4 players over 32 (one even being 39!) and the rest apart from Tejeda (who's value is £6 million already), are pretty poor especially if we are looking at promotion this year. But I think this team needs a promotion to ultimately get the budget to do an overhaul of the team. There is simply not enough budget nor players available on the winter update database to change anyone this year, but please wait to find out! Until then, speak to you guys soon!

[Jogo Bonito]

Good luck at Evian TG. That sounds like a challenge - hopefully you won't be treading water for long

[Rustler]

I thought the 'Nice' one was bad, but this...

[Jogo Bonito]

Hahaha, yeah shameful stuff. I'll consider deleting the thread

Look forward to your Evian updates anyway!

[thomas166]

Just wondering, has anyone had any success in overthrowing PSG? I'm just starting my 3rd season with Marseille and can easily get second in the league, but obviously the target is to take over as the dominant force

[Jogo Bonito]

I'm not aware that anybody has yet, but it must be possible eventually with a team like OM or OL. Don't give up and I will be happy to hear your updates as you continue.

I'm still in season 2 with OM (pre 16.3 update) and will hopefully update soon.

[Rustler]

Hello everybody, Evian save didn't take off so was looking again for a club and came across this potential bug but will a good save for those french enthusiasts. If you start off a save as Reims you have £714k p/w avaliable wage budget. That means if you do the budget adjustmentarino, you have over £22 million to play with first season?! For a team, ranked as 12th Media Predictions, some may have fun with these....

[Jogo Bonito]

Wow, that is interesting indeed! Did you find a new club yet Rustler?

[Rustler]

No, I don't know what to do literally can't get past the first month without having second thoughts...

[thomas166]

This is a link to my OM career if anyone fancies a read

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/456982-Marseille-Building-a-Dynasty?p=10822155#post10822155

[Jogo Bonito]

Thanks for the link, I have just read your story from the beginning. Very enjoyable to see what you have been doing there, as I have been managing OM myself.

[thomas166]

I find it interesting to read other peoples stories for the same team, especially the players they decide to keep or sell and reasons why. Think I've got really lucky with my young players though, Porsan Clemente has 19 goals for me this season!

[Poddy]

Do monaco get any stadium expansions down the line considering the population there is barely anything?

[thomas166]

I'm halfway through season 3 and Monaco haen't expanded, although they underachieved last season and look like doing so again this year

[rastaman219]

Has anyone else noticed Giroud appearing as a key player for Montpellier?

[Bkftw]

Season 16/17

Review

I haven't been able to play FM for long time but finally managed to bust out another season for the Purple and Whites.

It was a tough year! Ligue 1 is tough and very competitive and I feel you really battle for every point!

Transfers:

I tried but couldn't keep hold of Ben Yedder! He was a pretty massive loss and went to Aston Villa for 16.5 million.

Uros Spajic also departed for 4.5 million to RBL now in the Bundesliga after promotion.

Of the 21 million we generated in sales I spent 14.4 million. I feel overall the money was well spent

Ben Yedders goals were replaced by unwanted Wolfsburg poacher Bas Dost. He took a while to get going but got into a groove netting 24 goals

Signing of the year had to be Konstantin Rausch for free! Snap him up guys, he is unbelievable!! 14 goals and 12 assists from the wing is a great return. I'm hoping to go through the Darmstadt thread to see what people think of him. Toulouse lack a set piece weapon and he fills the void nicely.

Sime Vrsaljko was my most expensive signing but he failed at Chelsea and was available for a good price. Replacing the ageing Ninkov, Sime returned 1 goal and 7 assists and was MotM 6 times. He has some anger issues and saw red twice but boy can he put in shift!

Alex Galvez was a bit of a flop. He scored an own goal on debut and the fans never really got off his back. I used him for the run in at the end of the season and he did ok.

Kiyotake was brought in to compete with Trejo and saw the Argentine play much better football. Another average signing and I wish I had saved my money. Will look to move on, but Trejo will be leaving for free so he might get another chance!

Casteels was made available right at the deadline and I had just enough to bring him in. An upgrade at GK with room to grow, should be a bargain

Europe

We made the last qualifier for the Champions league and of all teams we drew Porto. I underestimated them tactically and went on the offensive only to be 2-0 down within 20 mins. I switched to the counter tactic but the damage was done and we lost 6-4 on agg over two legs.

This meant we played the Euro cup and did great in the group stage.

Then we drew Tottenham in the knockout and it was a bloodbath. We were never even in it and went out 7-1 !! Embarrassing!

Summary

PSG are just unstoppable. They spent 150 million in the first window on the likes of Laporte, Blind, Payet and Wanyama. Really feels like you are playing for second at times.

OM were back to being a great team again as were Lyon

Lille had a shocker finishing 16th!

There were some surprising names popping up for unlikely teams like Santi Mina at Guingamp. Angers has Piazon, Sanogo and Reine Adelaide on loan!

It was a fun but gruelling season even though I was knocked out of both domestic cups at the first fixtures (embarrassing again!)

The upcoming 3rd season could be a hard slog and the Ben Yedder money is long gone. I don't really have anyone worth much that has interest. I need some generosity from the board but I think failing to qualify for the champions league will cripple us financially. My wage budget is bursting at the seams aswell!

I have enjoyed reading through the other saves you guys are playing.

IRL Toulouse escaped relegation on the final day which was pretty awesome. Ben Yedder had a blinding season and is surely destined to move on!

[Jogo Bonito]

Very nice update with Toulouse, and 4th is still a really good finish. I guess that it may not feel that way after 3rd the year before, but that was a massive overachievement really.

Unlucky that Ben Yedder has gone, definitely the outstanding talent in the team. You don't have to spend too big in France to pick up good youngsters though, so hopefully you have another decent season. The end of the Ligue 1 season was certainly exciting down at the bottom, so great credit to Toulouse for finding the right formula and surviving - even if they left it late!

My OM save hasn't really progressed, although my team is made up of some good young players now. I think watching OM play so badly week in, week out probably got me too frustrated with them, and 'my' team has unfairly been affected by that. I'll see if I can spark it off again, or pick a new French challenge on the 16.3 version instead.

[DKB]

Casteels was made available right at the deadline and I had just enough to bring him in. An upgrade at GK with room to grow, should be a bargain

you are not going all in on Lafont being your first choice goalie for the next couple of decades??? wauw, don't understand that all

[bestbrother]

Cracked a game up with Reims, part based on their history but also because I saw the post about massaging their budget and thats right up my street

So with the future of one of French footballs grandest teams in my hands, ive proceeded to spend £61.5M in the summer window.... alot of that is backdated of course (£46M worth), so success is needed in order to begin to pay back some of that.

Deals completed so far include:

Ertit Berisha £8.5m Lazio

Andrija Zivkovic £3m Partizan

Emanuel Mammana £5.5m River

Tony Trindade £10m Feyenoord

Rodrigo Bentancur £3m Boca

Luan £10m Gremio

Nicola Sansone £15m Sassuolo

Steven Defour £6.5m Anderlecht

Ive also Lincoln penned for £3.5m from Gremio, he comes in November.

Still looking for alot more tbh, but its a tough market, not many fancy chancing their arm at Reims, let alone French football.

£12m still in the bank, so theres room for at least 2 more to come into the fold. Current weekly wage spend is around £500,000.... miles to much for us to sustain, but we can worry about that nearer the time

EDIT:

Broke our transfer record by corking out another £12.5m on Breel Embolo, added Hidde Ter Avest for £6.5m and with it being deadline day, ive fingers in pies as I type.

EDIT2:

Im done, Lucas from Atletico to cover at the back for £10m... so we spent £90m this window, eat your heart out PSG

[bestbrother]

Finished the season in 6th and just missed out on Europe. Squad depth caused us problems, but there are no excuses, we fell short of our aim and will pay for that.

Unfortunately the club ended the year with debts of over £100m... of which the chairman put in a loan to at least give us cash to pay the bills. This meant a stingy summer, but sales of Luan for 20m to Spurs and Zivkovic 15m to Fiorentina at least give me some lee-way in the transfer market.

But with little money, we relied on those players transfer listed and as such we managed to sign Joel Campbell, Loic Remy, Sime Vrsaljko and Marouane Fellaini all on free transfers... backdating their fees to when they have played 50 games for the club, totaling 33m.

We also added Ramiro Funes Mori for 800k, but again we owe Everton if he plays 50 league games and thats another 20m potentially on the books.

Our weekly wage bill has sky rocketed to 750k per week and that is likely to soar, given that any new players generally sign with a 50% wage wise inked into their deal.

We need Champions League football or a sugar daddy to resolve this

[Jogo Bonito]

Haha, crazy spending. You really need to be challenging PSG with that much thrown in to it. A new and interesting challenge for sure.

[Bkftw]

you are not going all in on Lafont being your first choice goalie for the next couple of decades??? wauw, don't understand that all

I sold him in the first season. All of Europe's heavy weights were after him and I got sick of being pestered!

[Bkftw]

17/18

Preseason

Transfers

Outgoing were some big names like Braithwaite and Kiyotake resulting in 14.1 million in sales. Alot of this was used to offset the wage budget to allow me to work the free agent market.

Both my rotation left backs were sold leaving me weak in that position but they were both not getting any better and keen for more playing time.

Kana Biyik just up and left for no real reason, just said he wont be signing on.

A whopping 1.5 million was spent but the squad received quite an overhaul!

Wingers Arnautovic and Lozano came in for free allowing the departure of Braithwaite.

Celtic hard man Johansen will play as my CM/D to give Didot a break and rotate for the rest of his career.

Mcnair and Rolin were brought in as CD rotation/cover. Neither look spectacular but will do a job domestically. Defence is looking really poor so another European massacre is on the cards if I can't strengthen it.

Henrique is an exciting Brazilian wonderkid whom I hadnt heard about until his agent came knocking. Played well in pre season but being young will work him in slowly with Dost remaining the head striker for now.

Ducksch was brought in as a budget offensive outlet who will play behind Dost.

Filip and Kulakov round out the signing as full backs. Filip will jump ahead of Sylla on the left and Kulakov will be 3rd choice behind and ageing Ninkov on the right.

Friendlies

So here's hoping for another good season in Ligue 1!

[bestbrother]

2nd season and we improve to finish 3rd, which is a decent return. PSG are still miles better than all of us, winning the title by 16pts, but we ended up on 73, a 14pt improvement on last year, plus we reduced defeats from 15 to 7.

What that means is Champions League football, so we need to take advantage of that as financially we are in a desperate situation. The board sold our youth facilities, so we rent them now... the chairman has stumped in his 3rd loan, so we owe him in excess of £60m, whilst the clubs overall debt stands at £110m, £40m of which still owed in transfers.

Our biggest problem this season will be the 50% wage increases again, Fellaini will go up to 75k per week, Remy around 90k per week, Breel Embolo will be on over 100k per week, all in I expect the teams wage bill to be close to 1m per week... its not sustainable and my chances of bringing in new faces will be limited.

[bestbrother]

Another rebuild then for season 3, its a case of sell to survive for us and as such the first deal concluded was that of Vrsaljko to Man City for 20m + extras. Keeper Berisha goes to Milan for 10m, then sadly it was Breel Embolo, but we had to take the 30m on the table from Spurs for him.

To be continued....

EDIT - Its an absolute mess atm, im scrambling about to try scrape so funds together. We have had to sell players I didnt want to in order to bring in more.... Fellaini has gone to Man City for 10m and Loic Remy back to England for 7.5m with Leeds.

In have come Achraf Lazaar from United, Begovic from Chelsea and Fernando and Bony from City, for a total of 750,000

But now everything has been muddied by a takeover and deals to sign Elneny, Promes, Abate and more have all hit the skids until this is resolved.

EDIT2 - Takeover collapses, but im not fussed tbh as it wasnt a Tycoon, so off I go again to spend.

Out goes Mehdi Carcela for 10m to West Ham, probably the last deal for a player leaving... maybe Joel Campbell or Nicola Sansone should the money be right.

Coming in; Javi Manquillo from Atletico, Christian Benteke (Liverpool), Charles Aranguiz (Leverkusen), Jese ex-Real (Bayern), Ignacio Abate (Milan) & Ladislav Krejci (Wolfsburg)... the total cost to the club... £300,000

We have spent just over 1m on all those players, in contrast to bringing in £93m in sales...

Im not done, but deals to get Javier Pastore and a goalkeeper are proving difficult to finalise.

EDIT3

OK, so im not done. League regulations restrict our Non EU quota to 4, that left Lincoln and Joel Campbell on the outside looking in. Solution? Sell the pair for 22m and recruit to fill the void..

So we sign Fabian Delph for 700k (granted he is another with a 200m 50 league app. clause) but its a bargain. Whilst Barcelona' Aleix Vidal joins our revolution for 400k, with a bit to come if he plays 50 games.

Then as im typing and in the process of starting up the 3rd season, Milan come in for Lucas. Im tempted at 20m, so he is off and we are back in the market again with a little bit more cash to play with.

Fist pump time, Mateo Kovacic comes in from Real for a big fat ZERO - forget the clauses im in deep for, he is a big time signing for us. However it backs up our midfield and as such, Tony Trinidad is offered out... Leicester bite and although he has been fantastic for us, ill take the 15m and see what else we can do before August closes.

[bestbrother]

CAMPEONE!

Came down to the 37th fixture, home to PSG. They were 3pts behind but with a better goal difference, a draw would have put us in pole position for the final weekend. However Christian Benteke stepped up to the plate and notched a hat trick as we romped past the 'rich boys' 4-0 and secured the clubs first title in over 50 years.

We can add to that in the Coupe de France as we face Lille in the Final, as we go for the domestic double, a feat last earned by the club in 1958.

In Europe we were unlucky, we came 3rd in a group with Juve/Chelsea and Galatasaray. We picked up 10pts, but so did Chelsea and they advanced on the H2H record. In the Europa League we beat Bilbao, before losing on penalties to Man City in the last 16.

We have managed to secure the signings of Jack Wilshere, Kwadwo Asamoah, Sebastien Rode and Steven Jovetic on free transfers for next year, but the big kick in the teeth was the collapse of a Tycoon takeover, that had promised us a 182m transfer kitty! Our chairman refuted the advances and we roll on, hemorrhaging money on a weekly basis.

EDIT

Le Double

We beat Lille on penalties, made it harder than we needed to as Funes Mori saw red. But we stuck to it and made sure we have 2 pieces of tin to show off at the end of the year.