[FM20][FM21][FM22][FM23] Calcio

[bestbrother]

Going into Season 2 this is how we fare:

GK - Gigi Donns' & Kepa

DR - Wan Bissaka & Calabria

DL - Alphonso Davies

DC - Upamecano, Romagnoli, G. Mancini & Zouma

MID - Cristante, Camavinga, Tielemans, Alli, Isco, Ousmane Dembele, Ansu Fati

ATT - Immobile, Jesus, Vincius Jr, Diogo Jota, Belotti

Trying to bin off Mahrez so he is in the Primavera squad, whilst Alli annoys me and isnt up to scratch so may see if there are suitors for him.

[Muttley84]

3 hours ago, bestbrother said:

Going into Season 2 this is how we fare

So you gathered all those players in a single (first) season with Milan? Just how big was your transfer budget or how did u manage to pull that out?

[bestbrother]

1 minute ago, Muttley84 said:

So you gathered all those players in a single (first) season with Milan? Just how big was your transfer budget or how did u manage to pull that out?

Creative accounting

 

[DarklinkCL]

aka cheating 

Jk, but tbh I could never enjoy playing such an unrealistic save. But everyone plays as he wants, of course.

[bestbrother]

7 minutes ago, DarklinkCL said:

aka cheating 

Jk, but tbh I could never enjoy playing such an unrealistic save. But everyone plays as he wants, of course.

No cheating at all.

Would you call creating your own tactic knowing what the AI is weak at, so you could win.. cheating? Possibly... I dont do anything to tactics, I pick a game default tactic and let it play out, but some people enjoy making tactics, so be it.

When buying players, I use the options available in negotiating transfers and make my deals. No edits, no in game editor, nothing.. I dont even use scouts to get information on players.

I load up deals to pay off the debt later on essentially. It allows you to spend as much as you want to a certain extent. Has it caused me problems? Loads of times, ive been in admin on saves fairly often (more than once with the same team)... FFP failures and pts deductions... FFP bans from Europe, ive done it all, the game punishes me and I deal with it.

Is it unrealisitic? Probably, but the minute you load up the game the realism is lost anyway and you play in your own little world

 

[bestbrother]

Back to on the field matters

A solid season and we should have won the Quad but impressive nonetheless.

Through the season we sold Wan Bissaka, Alli, Tielemans, Diogo Jota and Belotti to free up a few squad spaces as there were improvements to be made.

Cancelo came in, alongside Laporte from Man City. We then added Pogba, finally committing upto 190m on Haaland as our annual spend for 21/22 tops out at 770,000,000 with another 450,000,000 sat in clauses down the line!

So we won the SuperCoppa vs Juve, we added a back to back Coppa Italia success also vs Juve.

In Serie A we were brilliant for ages, then collapsed once we bought in our new January signings ironically. Inter would romp on to win it, we did enough to come 2nd and claim another spot in the Champions League.

Talking of Europe, we excelled and looked like the Milan of old. Topping our group ahead of Man Utd and Dortmund, highlighted by dipping Olympiakos 8-1 on our return to the competition.

In the 16s we edged Valencia, the 8s it was Atletico and the Semis saw us stuff PSG 4-0 at home to deny them a chance for a 3rd straight crown.

A European Cup Final with AC Milan, it just sounds right. We would face Manchester United again, a team we beat 3-0 and 2-0 in the Groups. The Final saw United finally breach us, but their 1 goal was never enough as Haaland would score thrice in our 4-1 win.

Milan are Champions of Europe once more. Our Serbian owners walk into instant success... do I have the hunger to continue!

[JRS192]

Going into Season 2 with my Milan side. Finished 4th in the league, and won the Europa League. 

I started with transfers disabled in the first window, but after quite a significant wobble in January I moved to add three players to the squad. 

Roberto Gagliardini - Inter (£6.25mill)
Midfield warrior Gagliardini crossed the Milan divide to add quality competition to Kessie and Bennacer. Not the most glamorous player, but carried out his function diligently. Averaging a 6.91 rating across 25 starts. 

Andrea Belotti - Torino (£22mill)
Belotti is a player I've admired for some time on Football Manager. A classic poacher, with tremendous mental attributes and very good physicals. I'm looking for him to take on the classic Inzaghi role in my system. I managed to secure him with £6mill up front, with the rest in instalments. Following a good run with Torino (9 goals in 16 games), he followed it up with 8 goals in 17 starts for me and an average rating of 6.87. He routinely popped up with single goals in 1-0 wins which is good enough for me! 

Franco Vazquez - Sevilla (£1mill)
The veteran playmaker was found on the transfer list for a bargain price. Delighted with this one as he could play several different roles in my midfield, while offering an excellent attacking threat. 7 goals in 19 starts for him. Average rating 6.92.

The only significant outgoing was Samu Castillejo (Lyon, £11mill). A decent enough player, but didn't fit in either of my narrow formations (4-3-1-2 or 4-3-2-1).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I believe my business in the transfer market is done, providing no sudden bargains pop up. 

Outgoings first. 

Hakan Calhanoglu - Man City (£47.5mill)
I was gutted to lose Calhanoglu. He was a key player for me over the previous season (10 goals, 9 assists in 33 starts. Average rating 7.22) - however, he wanted to leave and the money was sufficient for me not to stand in his way. A massive loss. 

Ante Rebic - Bournemouth (£24mill)
Never got into the team following his injury at the start of the game. Spent the rest of the season moaning to the press and unsettling other members of the squad.

Ciprian Tatarusano - Club America (£425k)
Great back up goalkeeper. Never moans, and is always reliable when called upon. Thought I'd do the right thing and let him get regular minutes elsewhere. 

Mattia Caldara - Atalanta (£6.5mill)
I have better defenders in the squad, and he wasn't getting minutes at Atalanta on loan anyway. 

Leo Duarte - Gladbach (£6.25mill)
Solid defender, but left to pursue regular football. 

Alexis Saelemaekers - Leipzig (5.5mill)
Wasn't very good when called upon. Moaned a lot. Loaned to Frankfurt in January. Did nothing there. 

Marco Brescianini - Hertha Berlin (£4.8mill)
Decent money for a young player my coaches didn't really rate. 

Several other young players left for nominal fees, but if I was to list them all, I'd be here ages! :')
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Antonio Donnarumma are both still with the club on rolling monthly contracts. 

Incomings: 

Daniele Rugani - Juventus (free)
Immediate improvement to my defence. Was a key player for Rennes last year, and should be massive for me this year. 

Emiliano Viviano - Fatih Karagümrük (free)
Veteran goalkeeper will serve as back up to Donnarumma this year. Former Italian international. 

Sandro Tonali - Brescia (£13.75mill)
Moved to pay his optional agreed free as soon as my transfer budget was available. Incredible player and the future of my midfield. 

Andrea Papetti - Brescia (£14mill)
82 rating from my scouts. The future of my defence.

Gaetano Castrovilli - Fiorentina (£17mill)
My Calhanoglu replacement. Not as technically brilliant, but looks a good option for the price.  

Jorginho - Chelsea (Loan with option to buy)
Absolutely perfect player for the base of my midfield. Will compete with Tonali, while also allowing me to use Tonali in other roles. 

EDIT

Several deals have happened since posted.

It looks highly likely that Rafael Leao will be moving to Arsenal. They came in with a £74mill offer, and I can't really turn that down! 

I have added Luca Pellegrini (Juventus, £1.4mill) and Samuele Birindelli (Pisa, £2.1mill) as backup full back options. Diego Dalot returned to Man Utd following his loan, so I had planned to have Theo, Calabria and Conti as a three with Calabria switching sides as required - however, Conti appears to be made of glass so that's not an option.
 

Edited December 20, 2020 by JRS192

[Campos]

Sassuolo

I've just started out with Sassuolo so I'll be looking to be more active in this thread and on the forum in general. Looking forward to getting stuck in now work is out the way for the year, I've not really had much of a long term save on this version yet, hoping that this will be the one.

Edited December 22, 2020 by Campos

[Aizo4576]

On 18/12/2020 at 14:16, kevaggel said:

Keep in mind that British are non-EU and you may not be able to register them.
If you want to check some italians then scout:

Gianmarco Cangiano

Felice D'Amico

Vincenzo Millico

Giacomo Raspadori

Brenner (Brazilian with italian passport from Sao Paulo)

I ended up going for Madison, I had space for a non EU player but he actually has Irish second nationality so he counts as EU. He's started the season well, a marked improvement over Mkhitaryan.

 

My other two targets were Richarlison and Cunha, both of whom ended up at Juventus. Hopefully they don't prove me wrong!

 

Going in to season 3 we line up as below (4123 wide)

Edouard

Madison - Zaniolo

Pellegrini - Castrovielli

Tonali

Pellegrini - Mancini - Ahmedhodžić - Mbabu

Ramsdale

[Tullekunstner]

In my second season with Palermo. Won Serie C/C first season and literally spent days on the summer transfer window scouting, having trials and looking for loans. Massively overachieving in Serie B now with 9 wins and 1 draw after 10 matches. Kind of scared of going up again, considering half of my squad are on loan.

 

This is my current team, with Colombo, Montiel, Pobega, Dimarco and Carboni also being on loan. Will probably have to rely quite a bit on loan players for another season or two if we can manage to win promotion again.

 

Having a lot of fun with the save though!

[Weston]

5 hours ago, Tullekunstner said:

In my second season with Palermo. Won Serie C/C first season and literally spent days on the summer transfer window scouting, having trials and looking for loans. Massively overachieving in Serie B now with 9 wins and 1 draw after 10 matches. Kind of scared of going up again, considering half of my squad are on loan.

 

This is my current team, with Colombo, Montiel, Pobega, Dimarco and Carboni also being on loan. Will probably have to rely quite a bit on loan players for another season or two if we can manage to win promotion again.

Don't let it worry you. Just make sure you try to renew their loans before the season ends and the transfer window opens. There will always be other players to bring in on loans next season, too. Eventually you will be able to sign some of them on frees as the clubs get tired of renewing and loaning once they realize they aren't good enough to play for them.

On my journey from Serie C/C to CL finalists we no longer have a single loanee, but at one point we only owned ONE player in the entire first team!

Pro tip: Sometimes if you move the slider so you have more money for transfers than wages the other clubs will ask for less in wage contributions as they think you have less to spend.

[bestbrother]

4 seasons with Milan:

1 Scudetto & 2 Runners Up

4 Coppa Italias

3 SuperCoppa Italias

1 European Cup & 2 Runners Up

1 FIFA Club Cup

1 European Super Cup Runners Up

So close to greatness but just shy with sloppy European Final results and a title blown on H2H. Juve and Inter are machines!

May give it one more shot for a 5th season.

[wicksyFM]

 

Starting a save with Hellas Verona, and ive made Luca Toni the manager. The things we do in FM saves 

[bestbrother]

Back to back Scudettos, a 5th straight Coppa Italia

But we lose in our 3rd straight European Cup Final

In 5 seasons ive only spent £4 billion, whilst raising a whopping £1.1 billion in sales.

[DarklinkCL]

14 hours ago, wicksyFM said:

 

Starting a save with Hellas Verona, and ive made Luca Toni the manager. The things we do in FM saves 

Love this, I always do the former football player thingy too

Currently I'm Tomas Ujfalusi, managing Fiorentina!

[Paulz]

5 hours ago, bestbrother said:

Back to back Scudettos, a 5th straight Coppa Italia

But we lose in our 3rd straight European Cup Final

In 5 seasons ive only spent £4 billion, whilst raising a whopping £1.1 billion in sales.

Is the club not in a lot of debt now with so much spent? You don’t have FFP issues? 

[bestbrother]

3 minutes ago, Paulz said:

Is the club not in a lot of debt now with so much spent? You don’t have FFP issues? 

The club does carry debt, but we are lucky that we have had big sponsorship deals each year.. such as..

[JRS192]

Post season rebuild looking promising with a solid win over CL winners Chelsea in the Super Cup!

EDIT: Came up against Guardiola's Man City in the group stage and did it again! Hakan Calhanoglu didn't play, which is a shame.

Edited December 24, 2020 by JRS192

[pedromanuelpinto]

Hi,

I’m doing well with monza, first in league in January from at first season. 
 

Will need to rebuild the team for the série A. Any suggestion of players?

[JRS192]

45 minutes ago, pedromanuelpinto said:

Hi,

I’m doing well with monza, first in league in January from at first season. 
 

Will need to rebuild the team for the série A. Any suggestion of players?

If you're still a feeder club for Milan, I'd be looking to get Maldini, Colombo and possibly Pogeba on loan? You might even be able to get Gabbia or Hauge?

Edited December 24, 2020 by JRS192

[Ivan787]

Hi guys,

Amy tips on how to pair Lukaku and lautaro to maximize their partnership?

 

[stgahoy]

Started a Juve save with some "twists" to make it more realistic, and a few goals I set to myself

 

- Max spending will be 50M euros - can only be exceeded if I sell someone for a fee of 50M+ and 75% of the transfer fee spent has to come from the selling fee

- Try to bring an Italian core to the team - which might be hard as not many good Italians are there and R Madrid already stole Locatelli

- The old boys will get moved away from the squad, so after the season I'll say goodbye to capitano Chiellini and gonna sell snake Bonucci

- I'll try to rebuild the youth sector of Juventus

- Most likely I'll try to reflect some of real life things happening around Juve, so probably I'll try to sell Dybala in the summer

 

As of the start, I've bought Depay to strengthen my team on the wings as I'll play  4-1-1-2-2 DM-MC AMR AML ST ST. Paid 30M Euro in total which obviously is like 3 times the real life fee, but yeah we're still in the summer in the game, managed to negotiate it to 10M upfront, and 20M in two yearly instalments. Started to re-train McKennie to RB as really really like him IRL and wanted to find a position in which he could play for the team, and have good impact.

 

My current first team looks like this: Szczęsny - Alex Sandro De Ligt  Demiral  Cuadrado - Bentancur - Arthur - Depay - Kulusevski - Ronaldo - Dybala

Main targets: Calafiori, Camavinga, long term Donnaruma   and on the other positions most probably scouting the transfer listed players

[JRS192]

Sounds promising! I always try to keep my games semi-realistic aswell. 

I had looked at Calafiori but Roma wouldn't budge when I made a move - don't sleep on Luca Pellegrini who you'll have out on loan, I brought him in for a pittance and he's rock solid. 
Donnarumma becomes available for free in January if you can poach him. He's an absolute animal in goal. 

Edited December 26, 2020 by JRS192

[stgahoy]

5 hours ago, JRS192 said:

Sounds promising! I always try to keep my games semi-realistic aswell. 

I had looked at Calafiori but Roma wouldn't budge when I made a move - don't sleep on Luca Pellegrini who you'll have out on loan, I brought him in for a pittance and he's rock solid. 
Donnarumma becomes available for free in January if you can poach him. He's an absolute animal in goal. 

Unfortunately Donnaruma extended his deal with Milan at the very start of my save so yeah, not likely I will be able to get him. Experiencing issues with Calafiori the same that you have mentioned that's quite a pity. In fact no interesting players with contracts running out on the market. There's Alaba who I would really like - I could sell Alex Sandro  gain some money into my budgets which arent great, and have a world class LB before Pellegrini/Calafiori could step in, but  despite all my efforts he's not interested in joining Juve, and now considering offers from R Madrid, City, United, Chelsea and PSG. And as of the winter transfer window I have 0 plans as I have 0 Euros available ;). Generally some heavy contracts are really hurting the budgets, should get better in the summer when I will lose Chiellini(end of contract) and after selling Bonucci and hopefully Ramsey.

I'm half way through my first season, and my plans for summer transfer window seem to have changed. The guys I was looking into seem to become too expensive options - Camavinga already has all major clubs sniffing, and it's very unlikely I will be able to match their offers.  And my main interest now is  Szoboszolai from Salzburg, to strengthen my midfield in the summer, and I'll likely need to buy one CB and ST before the next season, and I really started to consider Zaniolo as a possible Dybala replacement.

League so far has been pretty even exciting - before the 14th fixture I was 2nd a point behind Inter, and point even with Milan in 3rd place. I did play Inter in the 14th matchday, I was 1-2 down but then Barella got sent off and I managed to go for a 3-2 comeback which then rose to 4-2 in 92' minute after they went all in and a fast counter attack did the job. Then Atalanta won vs Inter, and Milan scored 2 draws, and now I'm on the top in front of Milan, Atalanta and Inter (after the loss vs me they havent won a single game), but we're still pretty close to each other. In the Champions League I had a rather smooth experience despite the group wasn't that easy with Atletico, Salzburg and Monchengladbach. But 15 points got me a comfortable 1st place, and now I'm off to face Sevilla in the first knockout stage, interestingly they are the current leaders of La Liga in my save, so I'm expecting a hard game.

[JRS192]

Shame about Donnarumma. Szczęsny and Mattia Perin are both still fairly young, and decent options until you can get him. Meret and Gollini are both possible long term Italian Goalkeepers if it comes for it. 

I'm finding similar, Italian clubs don't have much sway compared to the big Spanish/English teams & PSG. Been fun unearthing gems, and semi-moneyballing rather that trying to compete with them. Szoboszolai looks an interesting option. I'd monitor the Tonali situation aswell, if you bid when Milan try to take up the optional fee you may have a chance. For CB, Milenkovic, Romangnoli or Bastoni are good Serie A based options. Maksimovic looks decent with an expiring contract, and you also have Rugani who's been great for me upto now (renew his contact btw!).

I've had my eye on Zaniolo aswell, has perfect attributes for the Shadow Striker role in my team, but he seems to be picking up injuries on the regular at Roma.

Edited December 27, 2020 by JRS192

[phoenixemperor]

This fine chap came through in my first youth intake in my typical starting Juventus save. I think my midfield will be alright in the future.

 

[phoenixemperor]

13 hours ago, stgahoy said:

Unfortunately Donnaruma extended his deal with Milan at the very start of my save so yeah, not likely I will be able to get him. Experiencing issues with Calafiori the same that you have mentioned that's quite a pity. In fact no interesting players with contracts running out on the market. There's Alaba who I would really like - I could sell Alex Sandro  gain some money into my budgets which arent great, and have a world class LB before Pellegrini/Calafiori could step in, but  despite all my efforts he's not interested in joining Juve, and now considering offers from R Madrid, City, United, Chelsea and PSG. And as of the winter transfer window I have 0 plans as I have 0 Euros available ;). Generally some heavy contracts are really hurting the budgets, should get better in the summer when I will lose Chiellini(end of contract) and after selling Bonucci and hopefully Ramsey.

I'm half way through my first season, and my plans for summer transfer window seem to have changed. The guys I was looking into seem to become too expensive options - Camavinga already has all major clubs sniffing, and it's very unlikely I will be able to match their offers.  And my main interest now is  Szoboszolai from Salzburg, to strengthen my midfield in the summer, and I'll likely need to buy one CB and ST before the next season, and I really started to consider Zaniolo as a possible Dybala replacement.

League so far has been pretty even exciting - before the 14th fixture I was 2nd a point behind Inter, and point even with Milan in 3rd place. I did play Inter in the 14th matchday, I was 1-2 down but then Barella got sent off and I managed to go for a 3-2 comeback which then rose to 4-2 in 92' minute after they went all in and a fast counter attack did the job. Then Atalanta won vs Inter, and Milan scored 2 draws, and now I'm on the top in front of Milan, Atalanta and Inter (after the loss vs me they havent won a single game), but we're still pretty close to each other. In the Champions League I had a rather smooth experience despite the group wasn't that easy with Atletico, Salzburg and Monchengladbach. But 15 points got me a comfortable 1st place, and now I'm off to face Sevilla in the first knockout stage, interestingly they are the current leaders of La Liga in my save, so I'm expecting a hard game.

From getting through my first proper summer window, be prepared to not be able to shift much of the deadweight. I extended the loans where I could  (although weirdly it would only let me do it to the next window, not the whole season), but you might have to just bear with some players at least until contracts expire in 2022. Shame Perin is on so much, otherwise he could hang around as a No.2.

If Madrid are anything like my game, you might be able to snag Asensio on loan cheap. He did a pretty solid job for me, but since I can't shift Bernardeschi I couldn't justify taking on the wages again. Milan might not take up the option on Tonali's loan, so that's one to keep an eye on as well. Eric Garcia might be available to sign on a Bosman if someone hasn't grabbed him.

[stgahoy]

Woah got a crazy looking regen in my youth intake first season end of March 2021

Edited December 27, 2020 by stgahoy

[stgahoy]

Okay so I finished my first season at Juve, the results were quite mixed won Serie A quite comfortably in the end 10 points clear of Milan and 12 off Inter. Won the Coppa Italia in penalties vs Atalanta, in quite dramatic sircumstances - scored the equalizing goal in the over time in 118th minute, and won the penalties 4-3 with Szczęsny saving two and becoming the MVP! The Champions League was a big dissapointment, I played my best game of  the season in the first knockout stage blasting Sevilla 6-0 at home, to go to my worst game of the season in the Quarter finals, I met Inter and after a rather bad 2-2 at home, I've lost 1-5 Away it was like every of their shots just found  the net, and absolutely disgusting showing.

Pre-Season - We've got a new number 10

So I went into the pre-season trying to offload as much deadwood as I can, and gain more classy depth into the team, which we did suffer from last year, the reserves weren't giving as much as I hoped for. So first I have focused on sellings of the players that weren't in my plans for the upcoming season.

- Douglas Costa - €40.5 - to B Munchen

- Aaron Ramsey - €28M - to Man Utd

- Juan Cuadrado - €16.5M - to PSG

- Mattia Perrin - €8M - to Atalanta

- De Sciglio - €5M - to Ajax - have to pay €30k of his wages for one more year

- Pjaca - €3M - to some Arabian club

and the most significant transfer out

- Paulo Dybala - €80M rising to €90M -  I felt the money is good so I did let Paulo go, espescially that he didnt want to renew, and being honest he didnt perform that great for me. After seeing some fees paid on the market I think I could have gotten ~~€15M more but well cant make the time go back.

Transfers In:

The main goal was to replace Dybala, the candidates were Ansu Fati, Pedri, Greenwood, Sancho but money wise I couldnt justify spending around €100M for Fati, or slightly less for the other guys, so welcome santo subito Zaniolo

- Nicola Zaniolo - €35M rising to €55M - I took the risk and decided to make the young Italian my new number 10, hopefully he can recover after the injury and become my main man for years. Have to say he had a rather intriguing debut - a goal, an assist and a red card

- Weston McKennie - €18.5M - after retraining Weston to RB he has become a starter for me there and I was really happy I could use the low release fee clausule

- Emil Audero - €8M rising to €9.25M - Move I really like to do in FMs, Emil is very solid and does the job when needed but whats most important he's home grown so I get more freedom with squad registration

- Sandro Tonali - €15M - Brescia stayed in Serie B, Milan didn't buy him out, and this is one of those occasions you just can't say no

- Takehiro Tomiyasu - €17.5M rising to €22M - After loosing on a free Eric Garcia (he chose Liverpool), I had to find a rotation CB, and I chose the Japanese as he covers more positions in the defence and this is something I just love about many players.

- Georginio Wijnaldum - €0 end of contract - Liverpool didnt extend his deal, I wasnt sure if I need another MC, but after getting good money for Ramsey I decided I will get the experienced Dutch on a 3 year deal to give me more depth in the team, plus I really like him in real life

This was meant to be the end of my transfer window, but just before the first pre-season game I noticed I dont have Morata in the squad, and it was one of those wtf moments when I dont know if the game doesnt give the possibility to extend the loan deal, or I didnt do it any way I felt the game cheated on me haha. But obviously I needed a striker to rotate with Ronaldo. I looked into the options on the market and thought about Alex Isak, Matheus Cunha, and some other guys, but then one of my scouts came with a report about Luca Waldschmidt, who looked solid and he can cover AMR, AMC apart from the ST position. His report stated €50M, but managed to do some magic, he became unhappy and grabbed him for €39M in the end on the last day of the transfer window, still it was €39M I didnt plan to spend.

 

Plans for the next season: Most probably replacing Ronaldo - Haaland will be my main goal most likely, but I may choose to extend Cris for one more year.  Probably AML as Depay is starting to get annoying crying about Barcelona, and stuff so probably I will look into this, getting rid of Danilo after a season where he was mainly my backup he's complaining about a new contract, and tbh if I would scouted Calabria earlier, I would probably try to offload Danilo and buy Calabria who apparently is available for €30M. Donnaruma is unhappy at Milan and is looking for a way out to join a bigger club. So maybe Haaland will need to wait as some tempting options will be too good to pass on them. Had some great offers for Rabiot €50M rising to €63M from Tottenham but I didnt want a revolution with changing half of the team so I also agreed that I will let him go for an offer of €70M but this never came, but maybe next window he will be the one financing the mercato ;). Also a lot of top clubs are sniffing around Demiral, and I might actually sell him if I get a crazy offer, Im using ball playing defenders and as fat as Demiral is an awesome classic defender he lacks the technique and passing to shine in this role, Bastoni would be the perfect replacement but its very unlikely I would be able to sign him, so I dont  know maybe Romagnoli

Current team:

Szczęsny - McKennie Demiral De Ligt Alex Sandro - Arthur Bentancur - Kulusevski Zaniolo Depay - Ronaldo  -- Audero Danilo Bonucci Tomiyasu Pellegrini Tonali Rabiot Wijnaldum Chiesa Bernardeschi Waldschmidt 

Have to say I'm happy with the team for this years campaign, a lot of flexibility in positions and a lot of quality on the bench, so the expectations are high with the new season.

 

Around the world

Giving a mention to what happened in my save, so top transfers.

Real Madrid after a very bad season getting eliminated in first knockout stage of CL went for a splash - €90M rising to €148M for Mo Salah, and €76M rising to €116M for Bernardo Silva without selling anynoe pretty much - absolutely sleeping on money.

Liverpool grabbed Lautaro from Inter for €74M as Salah replacement - as always in FM Italian clubs just selling their best players for cheap

Inter brought Moussa Dembele as a replacement paying €39M, and they also brought Azpilicueta for €34M, Raphael Guerreiro €42M, Hector Herrera €12M, and Abdou Diallo for €24M, and apart from Lautaro they have sold De Vrij to PSG for €22.5M (this is just absurd.... 29 year old CB, who was a main starter for them €20M, and AI buys and old Azpilicueta for €34M as a replacement..)

Milan sold Leao to Chelsea for €56M in the last hours of the transfer window, and they have brought Bellotti as a replacement for €31,5M and that's all they did in the transfer window.

Napoli generally did nothing,  Atalanta sold Goliini for €14M to Chelsea (absurd), and they have brought Yangel Herrera, Leo Dubois, Keita Balde, Gonzalo Montiel and Stanciu - at least they were active. So yeah I'm guessing this years Serie A will be easier than the year before, as Inter and Milan dont even care in FM. And the other Serie A teams don't have enought money to become great.

 

 

[JRS192]

Some great signings there! I've started trying to unsettle Zaniolo as Roma were awful last year, nearly getting relegated. Let me know how he does!

Great to see you got Tonali aswell - no brainer at that price! Gini's another great midfield option, he was available on loan at the start of my save - nuts for a player of his quality. I like the look of Tomiyasu. He looks a bit lightweight in the air, but as a versatile squad player he looks the part. Might have to check him out! 

For your targets, Calabria's been excellent for me - I believe his original contract expires at the end of the second season, may be worth checking. Donnarumma's obviously excellent. Your forward line'll be interesting as you look to replace Ronaldo and Depay. Is Edouard available? Could be a young/cheap alternative to Haaland? Could even get a bit fruity and retrain Zaniolo as a striker, and bring in another 10 (Castrovilli's a good one? SMS is an other if you can afford him).

Edited December 28, 2020 by JRS192

[stgahoy]

1 hour ago, JRS192 said:

Some great signings there! I've started trying to unsettle Zaniolo as Roma were awful last year, nearly getting relegated. Let me know how he does!

Great to see you got Tonali aswell - no brainer at that price! Gini's another great midfield option, he was available on loan at the start of my save - nuts for a player of his quality. I like the look of Tomiyasu. He looks a bit lightweight in the air, but as a versatile squad player he looks the part. Might have to check him out! 

For your targets, Calabria's been excellent for me - I believe his original contract expires at the end of the second season, may be worth checking. Donnarumma's obviously excellent. Your forward line'll be interesting as you look to replace Ronaldo and Depay. Is Edouard available? Could be a young/cheap alternative to Haaland? Could even get a bit fruity and retrain Zaniolo as a striker, and bring in another 10 (Castrovilli's a good one? SMS is an other if you can afford him).

In mine Roma finished 3points clears off relegation, and the negotiations over Zaniolo went rather smooth, on the other hand when I approached Calafiori, the terms were rather bad and probably I'll have another go next summer.

[JRS192]

3 hours ago, stgahoy said:

In mine Roma finished 3points clears off relegation

Similar, 5 points off relegation - 15th place. They were bottom three in January, but Daniele De Rossi came in and steadied the ship. They've made a good start this year, with plenty of good players returning from loans so I have a limited window to try and unsettle Zaniolo. My Director of Football is currently on the case, and has had a £33mill bid accepted.

I'm nearing the end of October and we've made a fairly solid start. Currently in 1st, but Juventus and Atalanta have games in hand on me. We're playing some great football, demolishing Torino and Chaleroi 6-0 each, and getting a great 4-0 win over Roma. We've also proved we're capable of grinding out results against stronger teams (see Man City and Chelsea above). 

Daniel Maldini is oddly my top goalscorer, with 6 goals in 12 games. He's not flash attribute-wise, but he's playing incredibly well for me. When him, Castrovilli and Belotti click, they're something to behold. I'm feeling that my rotation options are impacting our output slightly though, as Zlatan and Vazquez both move at a glacial pace and really bog down the attack. I think Vazquez' future lies deeper in midfield as a Bennacer back up, while I'm not quite sure what to do with Zlatan. Speaking of goalscorers, Lorenzo Colombo is currently the Serie A top scorer with 6 goals in 8 appearances out on loan at Monzo. Him and Pogeba are doing great things there. 

I've managed to agree a £5mill fee for 76 rated starlet Nicolo Rovella (relegation release clause :D), so hopefully he'll be joining in January. Likely to take Rade Krunic or Jorginho's place in the squad. 

PSG sniffing around Donnarumma so need to try and hold them off.

[JRS192]

Maldini's only gone and done it! They were turning down £80mill+ bids from me, so don't know how that's worked...

[DanBeats90]

Hi all. Looking for new save inspiration and something is drawing me towards Italy. Was having a look at a few teams and Bologna and Lecce stood out for me for some reason. Anyone got any suggestions or perhaps tried one of these teams and had a load of fun with it? Thanks.

[JRS192]

11 minutes ago, DanBeats90 said:

Hi all. Looking for new save inspiration and something is drawing me towards Italy. Was having a look at a few teams and Bologna and Lecce stood out for me for some reason. Anyone got any suggestions or perhaps tried one of these teams and had a load of fun with it? Thanks.

I can't really speak for Lecce as I'm not familiar with their current squad, but Bologna have some interesting young players - Hickey, Orsolini, Skov Olsen, Tomiyasu and Vignato are all good prospects. Have a soft spot for Rodrigo Palacio aswell, workhorse of a forward, and excellent tutor who could easily get you goals if you supply him right. 

[stgahoy]

Well got a headache now... feels way too good to refuse

[JRS192]

That's a tough one, he's an animal of a defender. Are there other defenders you could bring in? Do you still have Rugani?

 

[stgahoy]

Well I accepted and kinda regret it now, but there's no way an offer so high would get ever rejected IRL - on a good side I got Bastoni unhappy now! They rejected a 70M offer for him, maybe I will loan Todibo from Barca as a rotation and cover the CB with 34 year old Bonucci till the end of the season, and go full attack for Bastoni in the summer. Another option is Gvardiol, but well its super hard to get someone in the winter, so yeah kinda regret accepting the Demiral offer now

Edited December 28, 2020 by stgahoy

[phoenixemperor]

6 hours ago, stgahoy said:

Well I accepted and kinda regret it now, but there's no way an offer so high would get ever rejected IRL - on a good side I got Bastoni unhappy now! They rejected a 70M offer for him, maybe I will loan Todibo from Barca as a rotation and cover the CB with 34 year old Bonucci till the end of the season, and go full attack for Bastoni in the summer. Another option is Gvardiol, but well its super hard to get someone in the winter, so yeah kinda regret accepting the Demiral offer now

115m is a no brainer imo, you can get someone else to fill that spot easily and it clears a non-EU spot in the squad as well

[stgahoy]

Have to say this has been the craziest winter transfer window I ever had in FM.

Transfers Out:

• Demiral - €115M to Barcelona - as mentioned before felt its just too much, I regret it a little that I didnt wait till summer but yeah Merih is out

And just when I thought thats enough of departures on 29th January, City started to declare interests in Depay as their number 1 target, I was like well okay but in the summer not now, and then on 30th January Fati got transfer listed as a request - he was unhappy since the start of the season as he wanted a better contract, and he got listed for €111M and I was okay, so the plan for summer would be sell Depay and get Fati for maybe a lower fee till the summer months. But then the deadline day  came and City offered me €75M straight for Depay, and I counter their bid with €80M + €15M after 20 games for City, thinking they would reject their bid. But they didnt they just threw the money at me, so I said to myself okay let's get crazy, and move my star player transfer from summer to winter. 

• Memphis Depay - €80M rising to €95M - to City

Transfers In:

• Ansu Fati - €111M - as mentioned he was transfer listed, and the fee was extremely high, but I've decided to break the clubs transfer record and got a long term star player for the AML position, and I'm super happy how fast he did get along with the team 1 first team game, and 2 from the bench and he started with 2 goals and 2 assists - super happy!
• Simon Kjaer - €0M loan - I tried to look for a replacement for Demiral, but not many clubs wanted to talk to me about possible acquisitions. I've approached Bastoni, with offers as crazy as €80M(while he's valued at €11M) but Inter didnt want to talk. I've also approached Kimpembe and Laporte as ready to go options, but no luck, also looked at Gvardiol from Red Bull who looks like an option but in this case he would need some time to get to the world class level. Time passed and by 30th January I was still there without a CB either a starter or a reserve player. And I've come to a conclusion I will not find a starter CB. So I've went for a cheap option a loan of Kjaer from Milan, he was transfer listed so they accepted, and Im just paying his wages for half of the season. Obviously he's not the level of a player I would want to have, but he will do the job as the 4th CB. And now I'm kinda happy I didnt part ways with Bonucci as I planned, because he's back in action. What's good is that I got Bastoni unhappy by making the approach on him and Inter declining. So now Bastoni got announced as the number one target, and I'm trying to get him transfer listed.

I've also had an offer from City for Bentancur a crazy €112M but decided to keep him, and that's way too much in one window, plus he's doing really really well for me, and Chelsea came in or Kulusevski with some crazy starting bid of around €100M, but Kulu is staying with me and I'm willing to make him one of the main guys in the team. After the transfer of Fati, I've extended Ronaldo for one more year as I wont be paying crazy millions for Haaland. Looking at some home-grown players I could bring and thinink about Spinazzola as a backup RB/LB. But we'll see what happens.

[JRS192]

Simon Kjaer's been rock solid for me tbf, you could have done a lot worse!

[JRS192]

What a way to win our Champions League Group!

[stgahoy]

Ummmm okay lol

Edited December 29, 2020 by stgahoy

[CRN711]

A crazy Champions League group with a crazy outcome for us! 

 

[JRS192]

3 hours ago, stgahoy said:

Ummmm okay lol

What're you thinking? Obviously stupid money, but you've already lost a fair few big players this window?

25 minutes ago, CRN711 said:

A crazy Champions League group with a crazy outcome for us! 

That's class! Incredible to see both Madrid and Bayern fall out!
Looks like you've only added CBs and GK? Great job.

[stgahoy]

2 hours ago, JRS192 said:

What're you thinking? Obviously stupid money, but you've already lost a fair few big players this window?

That's summer transfer window already, and I decided to take the money Gonna post a more detailed update on my season and transfer window tomorrow

[JRS192]

Made it through the January transfer window. It was certainly busier than I'd have liked.

The Christmas period opened with a 3-2 victory over Juventus. This was a tight one as we were 3-0 up at the hour mark. We then played out an incredible 5-3 win over Inter. We were 3-2 down following a Lukaku hat trick, only for Andrea Belotti to go super saiyan and bang in a hat trick of his own (scored 4 in total!). Other highlights include an Italian Cup Quarter Final win over our bogey team Verona, though it took penalties to do it, along with an incredible 1-0 win over Bologna where we played the second half with 9 men. Belotti bagging the winner in the 88th minute!

As per last season, it's been a tricky month. We've had Kessie and Bennacer disappear off to the African Cup of Nations. Cold and Flu has spread around the squad meaning I keep having to send players home (topical!). Musacchio has decided he wants to leave, and I've fell out with both Zlatan (accepted a squad role, then moaned that I've gave him a squad role the next day), and Simon Kjaer (wanted first team football despite being one of my starting centre backs...). Man City did their best to unsettle Bennacer, and threw £80+mill offers at me, but neither he nor I were interested.

In terms of transfers - Outgoings first:

Andrea Conti (Villarreal - £1mill)
Conti had been decent for me this season, but he can't play a game without getting injured so I was reasonably happy to let him leave when he agreed a Bosman signing with Villarreal. He was then one of the two who got sent off in the Bologna game, and had the gall to get injured (must've been when he walked off the pitch!) so I pushed through a deal for Villarreal to take him early. 

Mateo Musacchio (Napoli - Loan with option to buy for £6.5mill)
Musacchio was class for me in the first season, but the addition of Rugani, and my commitment to develop Papetti meant he saw limited minutes. Didn't moan, just asked to leave. Can't complain. 

Simon Kjaer (Verona - £4.8mill)
I can complain here though. Kjaer came to me at the start of the window complaining that he wasn't getting regular minutes. It was true that I was rotating him with Rugani so committed to playing him regularly, which I did. He comes to me near the end of the window complaining that I went back on my promise and called me incompetent. Nah, get in the bin. 

Now incomings, this got a bit mental.

Nicolo Zaniolo (Roma - £33mill)
Zaniolo was barely playing for Roma and wasn't happy about them nearly getting relegated the season prior. I was looking for a rotation option for my attacking midfield and he fit the bill perfectly. I'm thinking of training him as a centre forward long term for a bit of versatility. He's been fantastic when he's played, but I am slightly concerned that he's a bit injury prone. Will have to be managed carefully. 

Nicolo Rovella (Genoa - £5mill)
The second Nicolo to join the club is slightly younger and cheaper. Very promising, and has played well in his opening games. If I can develop his passing, he should be a good option across all three of my midfield slots. 

Nikola Milenkovic (Fiorentina - £22mill)
The third Nicolo Nikola serves as Kjaer's replacement, but is younger, quicker, happier to be a squad player, while still being imposing in the air. While I had initially gone for Mancini (who turned me down for Chelsea), Milenkovic represents one of the better Serie A defenders, so happy to pick him up. 

Takehiro Tomiyasu (Bologna - £22mill)
Competent at both Right Back, and Centre Back, Tomiyasu serves as my Conti/Musacchio replacement. May train him at LB for a even more versatility. 

I've also agreed deals for two regens (Franco Lodico, Independiente and Spasoje Andrejevic, Zlatibor) who'll join in 2024. 

Current Squad
(Noticed I've left the CM as 'Goalkeeper' - oops!)

 

Edited December 30, 2020 by JRS192

[Tullekunstner]

Have gotten my serie a start underway with Palermo, so far it's looking good! Currently sitting at 4th tied with Lazio after 7 games played, 4 wins, 2 draws 1 loss.

Didn't get much of a transfer budget which meant I had to be stingy with contracts and transfers and make the most out of installments, but in the end I got a transfer window I'm quite pleased with

Dimarco, Sahraoui and Carboni are all joining permanently after helping me get promoted while on loan last season. I've also extended Lorenzo Colombo's loan for another season while the rest of the loan army are gone. All 4 of them are either first XI signings or close to it. I'm now focusing on building a team for the long term, and most of my signings are youngsters who I'm hoping to develop, while a few (Bisoli, Segre, Lyngbø) are first team players with personalities and traits suitable for mentoring. Diogo Nascimento and Batista Meier are pretty much first XI quality as well, while the rest are all bench players/backups/rotation options.

My best signing is without a doubt Gisle Bogsveen who I think is as close to a guaranteed future star as you can come when buying regens.

 

Other newgens I've bought in:

Spoiler

 

[stgahoy]

Season 2 Update

Serie A - It was a perfect season, absolutely perfect. We went unbeaten beating the league point record with 104pts - 33 wins 5 loses, and an incredible defensive record just 16 goals lost, which I was extremely happy about. Inter came in in 2nd with 89pts - which to be fair is a great result too, and I they were so close to beat me to my perfect season, we scored in the 84th minute to draw the game 1-1. Napoli came to life with Pochettino and they finished 3rd and Milan closed the CL spots coming 4th.

Lukaku won the cappocanoniere reward with 29 goals, Caputo got 2nd with 27 goals and Ronaldo was 3rd with 25 league goals.

Champions League - came to the season with an expectation to get at least to the semis. And it started fairly easy, as I got a lucky group draw with - Lyon, Monchengladbach and Ajax - and we went for a perfect score. Won all 6 games, and I could prepare for the first knockstage draw, and we were lucky again, as we drew Shakhtar Donetsk,  an easy win 5-0 away pretty much secured us the quarter-final, and the lose 0-1 at home couldnt hold us back.

Quarter Final is where our draw luck ended and I met Real Madrid, who have an incredible team on my save. First game at home we conceded an early goal from Varane, but we did manage to come back, and goals by Ronaldo, Kulusevski and Fati got us a 3-1 win. The 2nd game couldnt start worse as Ramos fired Real into the lead in the very 1st minute of the game, despite chances on both sides of the pitch nobody scored, and a 0-1 lose got us through to the semis! Another tough team to beat in the semifinal was Man City, the defending champions wanted to taste the glory once again. First game away did end up 0-0, putting us in a tricky spot, as each goal lost at home would be problematic. The tie went back to Turin where the fans witnessed one of the best 30 minutes of their lives, as Ronaldo scored a hat-trick respectively hitting the opposition in 12', 26' and 30' minute, Kulusevski did add one more in the 24th minute, and even the goal by former fan favourite Dybala scored in the 29' couldnt take the smile off us. Rodri scored a 2nd goal for City in the 60th minute, but Cristiano was hungry for more, and when City went all in, he managed to score his 4th of the night in the 91st minute. We were in the final! The second semi was Lyon vs Barcelona, and as Barcelona won the 1st game 3-0, I was preparing for a clash with the Catalonyan giants. But suprisingly Lyon did won 3-0 at home, getting the game into the over-time and they've won 5-0 in the end, a crazy result by the French side. Therefore I was expecting an easy final game. The Final vs Lyon - stadium in Petersburg was ready for the final clash. And we started in the worst possible way, conceding a goal in the 4th minute of the game, Demarai Gray did put Lyon in front, but not for long, we equilized in the 9th minute with Denayer conceding an own goal, and a quick brace by Cristiano - 15' and 21' did end the first half with a great result 3-1. We continued the great show in the 2nd half - Fati in the 52', de Ligt in 58' and Cristiano completing his hattrick in the 67' closed the game, a crazy 6-1 win in the final, did allow De Ligt to raise the cup! With Cristiano equilizing his own goal record - 17 goals in the CL, crazy and I did rest him in some of the group stage games, and in the 2nd leg bs Shakhtar, so we can say I robbed him off beating the record :D.

 

Coppa Italia We also won the cup completing the triple crown, beating Chievo 3-2, Napoli 4-0,  Inter in the semis 2-0 and 2-1, and Milan 3-1 in the final. Well no big story here it just went really well, which of course made me happy to score the triple.

 

Transfer window

Transfer Outs:

This years FM seems pretty crazy, as AI seem to target some players no matter the costs, and I got some enormous offers,

• Dejan Kulusevski - €200M to PSG - Well Kulu was performing really well, but there is life after Dejan, and some great options to replace him were available, so I decided to take the money as I thought is way too much to decilne
• Adrien Rabiot - €65M to Barcelona - Didnt really want to part ways with the Frenchman as he was a very very solid rotation player, who didnt complain to be the reserve player, I've approached to extend his contract which would run out at the end of 3rd season, and he demanded a Star role in the team, which I couldnt give him, so I decided to part ways with him. Barcelona offered decent money, and the deal went through
• Danilo - €44M to Barcelona - Danilo was approached in the winter and he wanted to leave, but I gave him a promise to sell him in the summer, and so I fulfiled the players will. Barcelona offered way too much for such an old player, but eh I wont complain
• Cristian Romero - €8.5M to Porto - originally I was thinking about using him, but well I already had Mancini locked for the team, and I still was to splash money for a start player for CB position, thought I would get more as he looks solid, but nobody really offered more, so I decided to accept.
• Gianluca Frabotta - €8M to RB Salzburg - Frabotta looks solid, but I have Alex Sandro and Pellegrini to cover the LB position, he's not homegrown, so having all that in mind I did grab some decent money on him.

Transfers In:

• Milinkovic-Savic - €72M from Lazio - I've considered many options as Kulusevski replacement, and for either AMC or AMR positions, as I have Zaniolo who can cover both of those, in the end moved Zaniolo to AMR and went fo Sergej for the AMC, so far so good, very happy to have him.
• Gianluca Mancini - €23M from Roma - He was transfer listed and is looking really solid, I even thought about making him my starter CB, in the end he's covering the position, but in the next season his role should be more significant, after Bonuccis departure.
• Gianluigi Donnaruma - €67M from Milan - Most likely a not needed transfer as Szczęsny is still class, but couldnt let this option go, as he was available for very very decent money.
• Virgil Van Dijk - €84M - I wanted to get Bastoni as replacement for Demiral who departed in the winter, but I think this transfer is impossible to do, Inter just wont sell anyone to me, two options which did interest me the most Bastoni and Skriniar were both at Inter. I've also approached Laporte and some other options but got quoted €100M from everyone, and yeah I thought to myself, if I'm to spend so much I want the best from the best - and went full fantasy mode with this one. Never had him in any of my saves, so I'm pretty excited, and he seems pretty damn crazy not only defending but scoring 2 goals in his debut
• Rodrigo De Paul - €32M - All the departures left me without a rotation player who would be the next Rabiot for my team. Had two options either brind a MC, or an AMC player and move Wijnaldum to MC. Tried to approach Castrovilli, but he was not interested to join Juve. so I went with De Paul, who also accepted the contract in a rotation role, which is even more awesome.

 

My young team got some great experienced players who they will be able to learn from. Currently the team looks  like following:

GK: Donnaruma, Szczęsny, Audero

RB: MCKennie, Tomiyasu

CB: De Ligt, Mancini

CB: Van Dijk, Bonucci

LB: Alex Sandro, Luca Pellegrini

MC: Bentancur, Tonali

MC: Arthur, Wijnaldum

AMC: Milinkovic Savic, De Paul

AML: Ansu Fati, Chiesa

AMR: Zaniolo, Bernardeschi

ST: Ronaldo, Waldschmidt, Alejandro Marques

 

Pretty much I think the team looks very complete, and is a perfect mix of youth and more experienced players. After the season I'm bidding farewell to Cristiano, and Bonucci, and obviously Szczęsny who is not really needed. But as he's one of the team leaders I dont want to transfer list him, as the whole teams  morale will drop, so I'll just wait till he requests the transfer on his own, as of replacements - Bonucci will get replacement by one of the home grown products - Albian Hajdari, who looks really solid and my staff predicts he will be a 3,5* CB, currently loaned out to Sampdoria and he's a starter CB for them in the Serie A by the age of 19, awesome! And Cristiano will get replaced by Haaland most likely. I've also agreed a deal on Calafiori €32.5M rising to possible €42M, but I did leave him at Roma for one more year, and the transfer will  be done at the end of the season. And probably Chiesa will be unhappy requesting a transfer soon, as the game sets his role the highest possible to "Star Player", and obviously he's not a star player for my team, not even a starter.

Probably got to a point now where my team will be overpowered for the AI, but we'll see excited to see how good will Fati and Zaniolo grow, as they are still not at their full potential.

[JRS192]

1 hour ago, Tullekunstner said:

My best signing is without a doubt Gisle Bogsveen who I think is as close to a guaranteed future star as you can come when buying regens

He looks an animal, good luck in Serie A!

4 minutes ago, stgahoy said:

Season 2 Update

Donnarumma \o/ He's just won World Goalkeeper of the year for me. You won't regret that one! 
Funny that you got Mancini but couldn't get Castrovilli when I had the opposite. - otherwise we'd start having eerily similar teams! 

Van Dijk's a tremendous buy at that price.