Looking for players to bolster an average Brighton side that overachieved in 2020/21

[gooseta]

I'm managing Brighton and managed to finish 12th with 50 points in the first season with a target of avoiding a relegation battle. Only made a few very small transfers as the starting budget was pitiful, brought in Gasparini, Gagliardini, Steve Cook, Juan Mata, Michal Karbownik, Viktor Fischer, Domagoj Bradaric for around £30m (+Reiss nelson loan) after moving Solly March and Andone and a couple of others for about £20m total. Expected transfer money this season was a woeful 23m but the board have now given me £50m, which can probably be stretched to 70m or so with some sales. Mainly first team players are needed, but my bench has also lacked impact players. Welbeck got 15 goals in 24 for me but got a 6 month injury mid season since which our form has dropped off, I'm mainly looking for a striker who can play either the pressing forward or advanced forward role very well, a ball winning midfielder, one starting CB  and  one backup, and good wingers on either side.

i've attached pictures of my tactic with best xi and squad depth, hope I can get some help, thanks

Edited December 16, 2020 by gooseta

[CaptCanuck]

Ha! I bought Bradaric as well to be my offensively-inclined left WB. But with the crap crossing in the ME right now, I recalled Roberts and use him as my starting L-WB against good sides.

I shifted loads of players (Trossard, March, Propper, Bernardo, some of those loaned guys that will never start...) basically anyone 26+ that could get a decent fee. Unfortunately Gros turned down a deal to play in China that would have gotten me 12m GBP, so he's now loaned out.

TBF, WPs are not that hard to get for decent players, so after initially thinking I needed to load up on UK/Ireland players, I'm not so sure that needs to be the case. That said there are some European based players you should be able to get and to consider: Clint Mola and Ronaldo Vieira in midfield, Arvin Arpiah on the wing come to mind.

After being Brighton in FM20, I'm not allowing myself to buy any of the same players, so definitely need to do more digging. I did buy Arpiah now in FM21 and loaned him out, so we'll see how he develops.

Edit: More poor reading comprehension saw 'british players' in there, when you didn't say that still they are good options.

As genuine improvements, I was able to get Esposito (for next season), Ajer, and Gustavo Assuncao. A lot of the other players are prospects, that I hope turn into stellar players but you never know. I have just finished the Jan transfer window and do like who we have brought in though. And I do think Roberts, Mac Allister, Alzete, Molumby, those two Polish (IIRC) players that were loaned back out, Gyrekos... can all be squad contributors.

When I am off my work laptop I can post a screenshot.

Edited December 16, 2020 by CaptCanuck

[collisonmullan]

1 hour ago, CaptCanuck said:

Ha! I bought Bradaric as well to be my offensively-inclined left WB. But with the crap crossing in the ME right now, I recalled Roberts and use him as my starting L-WB against good sides.

I shifted loads of players (Trossard, March, Propper, Bernardo, some of those loaned guys that will never start...) basically anyone 26+ that could get a decent fee. Unfortunately Gros turned down a deal to play in China that would have gotten me 12m GBP, so he's now loaned out.

TBF, WPs are not that hard to get for decent players, so after initially thinking I needed to load up on UK/Ireland players, I'm not so sure that needs to be the case. That said there are some European based players you should be able to get and to consider: Clint Mola and Ronaldo Vieira in midfield, Arvin Arpiah on the wing come to mind.

After being Brighton in FM20, I'm not allowing myself to buy any of the same players, so definitely need to do more digging. I did buy Arpiah now in FM21 and loaned him out, so we'll see how he develops.

Edit: More poor reading comprehension saw 'british players' in there, when you didn't say that still they are good options.

As genuine improvements, I was able to get Esposito (for next season), Ajer, and Gustavo Assuncao. A lot of the other players are prospects, that I hope turn into stellar players but you never know. I have just finished the Jan transfer window and do like who we have brought in though. And I do think Roberts, Mac Allister, Alzete, Molumby, those two Polish (IIRC) players that were loaned back out, Gyrekos... can all be squad contributors.

When I am off my work laptop I can post a screenshot.

Following this I would also recommend some of the British youngsters abroad. Can be picked up cheaper than home based ones. Have a look at Marcus edwards. Should be interested an should be a starter. 
 

perhaps look at the relegated sides or anyone who didn’t get promoted. Maybe Lewis cook and Lloyd Kelly at Bournemouth 

[Ewan0404]

I always look at who got relegated around Europe's big league and see if I can pick some players up on the cheap. 

[gooseta]

12 hours ago, CaptCanuck said:

Ha! I bought Bradaric as well to be my offensively-inclined left WB. But with the crap crossing in the ME right now, I recalled Roberts and use him as my starting L-WB against good sides.

I shifted loads of players (Trossard, March, Propper, Bernardo, some of those loaned guys that will never start...) basically anyone 26+ that could get a decent fee. Unfortunately Gros turned down a deal to play in China that would have gotten me 12m GBP, so he's now loaned out.

TBF, WPs are not that hard to get for decent players, so after initially thinking I needed to load up on UK/Ireland players, I'm not so sure that needs to be the case. That said there are some European based players you should be able to get and to consider: Clint Mola and Ronaldo Vieira in midfield, Arvin Arpiah on the wing come to mind.

After being Brighton in FM20, I'm not allowing myself to buy any of the same players, so definitely need to do more digging. I did buy Arpiah now in FM21 and loaned him out, so we'll see how he develops.

Edit: More poor reading comprehension saw 'british players' in there, when you didn't say that still they are good options.

As genuine improvements, I was able to get Esposito (for next season), Ajer, and Gustavo Assuncao. A lot of the other players are prospects, that I hope turn into stellar players but you never know. I have just finished the Jan transfer window and do like who we have brought in though. And I do think Roberts, Mac Allister, Alzete, Molumby, those two Polish (IIRC) players that were loaned back out, Gyrekos... can all be squad contributors.

When I am off my work laptop I can post a screenshot.

Thanks for the suggestions! Yeah, it's definitely hard to offload the deadwood at brighton. Pretty much every player can be sold for like 1/3rd of their value or less which sucks. I'm definitely going to try and get rid of Propper, Gross, Trossard, Bernardo this window

Edited December 17, 2020 by gooseta

[CaptCanuck]

8 hours ago, gooseta said:

Thanks for the suggestions! Yeah, it's definitely hard to offload the deadwood at brighton. Pretty much every player can be sold for like 1/3rd of their value or less which sucks. I'm definitely going to try and get rid of Propper, Gross, Trossard, Bernardo this window

Ya I managed to get 20m for Propper to Roma, Trossard and March went for their valuation, but ya once they get 29+ (like Gros) it's more just to clear the wages and hopefully get enough of a fee to spend it on a prospect. I just finally (Feb '21) offloaded Matt Clarke for 3.1m - but again that's enough for a promising prospect.

Guys that were never going to touch the senior squad - Izquierdo, Jahanbaskh, Andone, Gwargis or on loan like Tau, Arce, Locadia, Baluta, Duffy, selling them is like a bonus, so as long as the buying club doesn't want a salary contribution and it's not a total peetake, I'm happy to be rid of them.

IIRC for the 20/21 season I think we're 18th in wages? Which is promising considering who we still have to punt and that only Esposito and a CM we got on a free are yet to come in.

One positive, when it comes to sorting out immediate replacements, with FM21 is Ryan is overrated - he's pretty much played himself out of the starter's role this season and Sanchez doesn't look too bad iRL, but in FM Ryan is still a decent mid-table keeper we can probably squeeze 2 or 3 seasons out of if needed.

Edited December 17, 2020 by CaptCanuck

[Deanu]

There's a few who performed very well for me in the Prem for my Derby side after just going up

Striker - Michael Krmencik. Can't say I'd heard of him but for 4M from Brugge he gets goals. I wanted a cheap, similar player to Calvert-Lewin. He came up, he's not the youngest but 16 goals in 23 starts for a backup is a great return. He does score a lot of offside goals though which does frustrate but I find that the case with most strikers on this game. Later sold him on for a profit to West Brom for 11M after having the money to eventually upgrade

Centre back -  Riccieli. Plays for Familicao in Portugal, I bought him for 3.8M. He's in his early 20's, lots of room to improve and is a very good centre back who you could make good money on. He was the player with the highest pass success rate so can play out from the back

Winger - Andre Almeida. Portugal U21 from Vitoria Guimaraes, only cost me 1.5M. He's plays as a left sided inverted winger who likes to cut in on his right foot but he can also play centre mid and is nice as a deep playing playmaker too

Goalkeeper - Ethan Horvath. American keeper from Brugge. This guy is amazing for 2.2M. Much better than Farinez who I later brought in.

The best value for money in my opinion is a player called Nicolas Fernandez who plays for San Lorenzo he cost 3.7M. Plays inverted winger from the left, pressing forward, advanced forward at the same level and he has lots of years in him as he's only mid 20's

[CaptCanuck]

^Good shouts. Belgium and Portugal and definitely two great places to mine young affordable talent.

[samdiatmh]

because of how the fixtures constantly keep piling up, I'd just recommend signing depth players

my first team hasn't changed much over 3 years, but you can really see some developments when your backup changes from Wilshere/Gauld->Vera->Gagliardini->Maddison

 

in terms of specific players
ST - Ali Akman - he was released on a free (at end of season 1), and didn't renew his contract
Didn't get a WP though, so had to loan him out for ~6 months (just got constant gametime), but kinda excels as a 2nd choice ST

DC - Diego Costa - he plays for SEP, and can cover a DM role pretty well too (
seems fairly obscure, but can cover the roles pretty competently, and doesn't complain too much with a "squad player" contract

AML - Roberto Alvarado - plays in Mexico for CruzAzul
Fairly cheap, and is pretty competent as an AML for a Europe-pushing side (I tend to play a winger-support, although have customised that role a bit)

personally I'd also potentially look at the youth options - I tend to trawl through the national youth teams, and just find players playing for non-top sides (I found a decent Scottish DR prospect playing for Aberdeen, and a decent English DM playing for TNS)

Edited December 17, 2020 by samdiatmh

[gooseta]

On 17/12/2020 at 19:24, Deanu said:

There's a few who performed very well for me in the Prem for my Derby side after just going up

Striker - Michael Krmencik. Can't say I'd heard of him but for 4M from Brugge he gets goals. I wanted a cheap, similar player to Calvert-Lewin. He came up, he's not the youngest but 16 goals in 23 starts for a backup is a great return. He does score a lot of offside goals though which does frustrate but I find that the case with most strikers on this game. Later sold him on for a profit to West Brom for 11M after having the money to eventually upgrade

Centre back -  Riccieli. Plays for Familicao in Portugal, I bought him for 3.8M. He's in his early 20's, lots of room to improve and is a very good centre back who you could make good money on. He was the player with the highest pass success rate so can play out from the back

Winger - Andre Almeida. Portugal U21 from Vitoria Guimaraes, only cost me 1.5M. He's plays as a left sided inverted winger who likes to cut in on his right foot but he can also play centre mid and is nice as a deep playing playmaker too

Goalkeeper - Ethan Horvath. American keeper from Brugge. This guy is amazing for 2.2M. Much better than Farinez who I later brought in.

The best value for money in my opinion is a player called Nicolas Fernandez who plays for San Lorenzo he cost 3.7M. Plays inverted winger from the left, pressing forward, advanced forward at the same level and he has lots of years in him as he's only mid 20's

thanks for the suggestions, will give these a try soon

[DominicForza]

On 17/12/2020 at 01:36, Ewan0404 said:

I always look at who got relegated around Europe's big league and see if I can pick some players up on the cheap. 

Checking the big clubs transfer/loan listed players is another way to get quality players cheap.  The big clubs always have a glut of of players and are desperate to unload a few.  

[dubby151]

Good work! 

I know I'm late to the party and you're probably into season 3 now but just want to throw in a few shouts.

I'm managing Norwich in 2021/22 in Prem. Cant recommend Brenner highly enough as your Advanced Forward - Paid 16m from SPO but he's on 22 in 24 so far in the league. Valued now at 39.5m in Feb 22.

My 3 centre backs are Ajer, Ahmedhodzic and Papetti - signed Ahmedhodzic first season but have saw you can usually still get him sub 4m in the second season if he's still at Malmo. Papetti unfortunately went straight to Spurs first season but got him on loan and is by far my best performer at CB. Spurs want 45m to make it permanent which i might have too!

Cant say I've used a Ball winner yet in this save, but Allan Campbell from Motherwell has all the right stats.

Wingers have been my issue on this FM so far, haven't found many that do it consistantly. For big wages and fee's over installments I have got Calvin Stengs - decent but paid 32m over installments and hes on 70k a week. Marcus Edwards always turns out quality so far, RW for Vit. Guimaraes but does go quickly i've found. Pepe from Gremio has great stats and relatively cheap. He's my next target.

 

All definitely worth a look

[kopfan1977]

MC - Frank Onyeka - Paid £8m + £1.6m in clauses. Box to box mid, High energy pressing,  high pace, acceleration, determination and work rate. Needs work permit but easily got (Despite telling me would be upon appeal it went through first time)

Lw/Rw - Harry Wilson - Always sold by Liverpool on saves i have played. May cost you about £16-25m but worth every penny.

Back up wingers - Demarai Gray/Bright Osayi Samuel - Gray usually ends up on a free end of first season, Osayi Samuel usually sells for around £5.5m Both decent for impact.

Strikers - Someone suggested Brenner - I'll second that. He had a release clause, And I had just sold my main striker to Sevilla for £26m after just over a season.. in came Brenner - 29 in 24 games so far. In a partnership with a lad from Valencia - Andres Garcia (18 years old) - 19 in 29 - managed to barter valencia down to £9.25m from what they asked. Plus £2.8 in various clauses.

[essien_5]

Might be worth you looking at Hudson-Odoi's situation at Chelsea.

On my Chelsea save he ended up playing himself into my team a lot in the first season (not started second yet). 

26 starts and 19 sub appearances, he got 15 goals and 8 assists and his output seemed consistent across both wide positions.

His wages are big, but you may be able to pick him up on a loan if he's struggling for game time at Chelsea.

It's worth looking at Chelsea in general, there's a quite ridiculous amount of players at the club as so many start on loan. They can't all play so you might be able to pick something up from here. I haven't used him yet, but plan to bring Malang Sarr in as a backup for me second season, he's a centre back that may fill your requirements for Brighton.

Edited December 23, 2020 by essien_5

[tiotom92]

Two words: Alfredo Morelos.