[FM21] The People’s Club: Everton

[ShaunG95]

The People’s Club: Everton Football Club

For some time, Everton have been looked upon as the people’s club because of their work in local communities. It has been a club ethos that has been prevalent for as long as I can remember as an Everton fan.

Growing up as an Evertonian, although our on field success may not have set the world alight (aside from maybe our first season in the post-Rooney era - the results rather than some of the performances in that season, might I add), this ethos has resonated with me and I thought it’d be a good project to try and somewhat replicate this in FM. More on that later.

Leighton Baines l would often be a player who would get involved in instances of ‘giving back’ to supporters by making local hospital visits and surprising vulnerable supporters. As a person, it has always filled me with joy that we have representatives who have played for the football club and really understood the importance of these contributions to the local community.

How can I replicate this in FM though? Well, it isn’t necessarily obvious. However, if Baines is used as the basis for the project then I can offer some insight into my objective: he’s classified as a model citizen in-game. With this in mind, the goal will be to collect a myriad of model citizens, failing that, professional and model professional individuals will also fit the bill. Understandably though, some of these players will be in their advancing years. A lot are 30-somethings so how do I get around that? Quite simple really, I buy enough potentially sound youngsters who can be mentored in order to facilitate this cycle as best I can.

Consequently this will mean that individuals in the squad will have to be moved on, either permanently or temporarily. Transfer dealings can be a stumbling block at the beginning of the game because of the replication of real life circumstances but I feel this is still manageable. I may tinker by taking over at clubs with no managers at the start of the game in an attempt to shift some personnel, is this cheating? Possibly. You interpret that as you wish but the objective is different to a usual save game I’d play. I’m technically weakening my playing squad rather than focusing on improving it in the short-term.

The long-term ambitions of the save equate to any save overall, domestic success is the aim, to put an end to the trophy drought that has consumed the blue side of Merseyside since the year of my birth. I don’t anticipate a league title would be feasible until some of the talented youngsters break through so I think a domestic cup will be a priority in the interim.

Edited March 23, 2021 by ShaunG95

[ShaunG95]

Ringing the changes
I decided to kick things off my getting rid of players who I saw as potentially damaging in dynamics. It’s a regular occurrence that younger players can be negatively influenced by players in the squad with poorer personality traits. To minimise this, I decided to get the ball rolling on some sales and temporary departures. Here, I essentially aim to rip up the entire squad, devote Evertonians, you’ll probably despise me for some of these transfers.

Permanent departures

Richarlison - £60m to Bayern

This was unexpected, I loved Richarlison on my first Everton save of the year, he was just incredible in front of goal despite my difficulties in actually being able to improve his attributes as a player. The fact he’s either footed is really handy on the match engine but he was highly influential, therefore he was impacting others around him a bit too much for my liking. I was shocked that Bayern paid this fee but their intentions seemed to be that he was a Kingsley Coman replacement who left for PSG earlier in the window.

 

Fabian Delph - p/ex to Bournemouth

This was a deal that I took into my own hands, I took over at Bournemouth as they are managerless and swapped a few potentially gifted players (Brooks, Mepham and Cook) for Delph. It was a bit much for me to do this but these are players who very rarely develop at Bournemouth and I felt to get rid of Delph’s astronomically high wages and poor personality, it was worthwhile. Besides this, their cumulative wages come in at less than Delph’s alone. Brooks, Mepham and Cook will play with the u23s for a year in a bid to develop their personalities. Is it a realistic transfer? No, but it facilitated the departure of someone who is almost impossible to sell otherwise until his contract expires.

 

Yerry Mina - £15m to Wolves

To me, this transfer makes so much sense when there are equally as good options available at the start of the game for pennies compared to this fee. We shift a high earner and a potentially disruptive influence in the dressing room.

 

Andre Gomes - £10m to Burnley 

Again, another high earner who is quite injury prone. Would have liked more in terms of a fee but it is understandable given the market and lower transfer budgets.

Seamus Coleman - £5m to Leverkusen 

I didn’t particularly want to sell Coleman given his status as the longest-serving player at the club but Jonas Svensson was seen as a better, younger alternative for RB.

 

Muhamed Besic - £7m to Burnley

Burnley did me a favour shifting Gomes and Besic and I think £7m for a fringe player in the last year of his contract was great value for money.

 

Tyler Onyango - £4m to Bournemouth 

Sold to their new manager Ilic, 20% of next transfer fee also. Potentially a low level Premier League player according to scout reports so I was happy to facilitate this move.

 

Over £100m received in fees, more than enough to reshape the squad.

 

Temporary Departures

Jordan Pickford - Brighton

He looks as though he’s not as good as he once was on the first patch, personality-wise he also isn’t my bag. Brighton said they’d pay a portion of his wage, I obliged in hope of selling him permanently at the end of his loan.

Mason Holgate - Aston Villa

I’ve always liked Holgate but I think a year of playing every game at Villa alongside Mings would serve him well.

Allan & James Rodriguez - Bayern Munich

New signings, both really quite unprofessional despite their qualities. They had to leave the collective group. Bayern were seemingly quite keen on dealing with us after the Richarlison signing. Do they need them? Probably not but they are of more use to them than us as we look to move them on in 12 months.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin - Bayern Munich 

A long-term injury to Thomas Muller saw them muscle in-front of Arsenal to get him in on loan. They are only paying 20% of his wages but I’m at peace with that as I like him a lot. He’s excellent on this year’s game and it’s a shame his personality isn’t better as I believe it should be. Lewandowski may well pose as a good mentor for him there, who knows as it’s out of my hands. Felt like their feeder club at this point. 

 

Josh King - Burnley

Horrendous personality, shipped him out immediately. Triggered his contract as soon as he joined up with Burnley in a bit to receive a higher transfer fee next summer.

 

Niels Nkounkou - Sheff Wed

Potentially decent but has a poor personality, needs game time - the move just works for everyone.

 

Bernard - Villarreal

Our rival club from the UCL qualifying fixture obliged to take the Brazilian on loan, again, a poor personality. He was reluctant to leave permanently to Newcastle for £12m so I had to fall back on a short-term move. I have every intention to sell next summer.

 

Tom Davies - Werder Bremen

From experience, Tom’s personality can improve a lot in-game but I think there is more value on seeing him receive playing time.

 

Michael Keane - PSG

Pochettino clearly felt like using some of his English connections, strange move as I don’t see him playing much. I was actually quite unsure as to whether I’d rubber stamp this deal as he has a good personality but the model citizen CBs are plentiful, so I wanted to take a chance. He may rejoin the squad next season but for now I’ll settle for a tidy loan fee that covers his wages.

 

These transfers and loans out left me with the following players:

Gylfi Sigurdsson, Lucas Digne, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Alex Iwobi, Ben Godfrey and the forever injured Jean-Philippe Gbamin. Apart from that, Robin Olsen was still on loan here which if I can, I’ll terminate in January.

Sigurdsson and Digne are very good mentors, Doucoure and Iwobi’s personality isn’t too bad overall whereas Ben Godfrey has a good personality and is young enough for that personality to improve even more.

Chances are, only Sigurdsson and Digne will be starters as I look to minimise the influence of Doucoure and Iwobi while Godfrey will play sparingly in order to try and mould him into becoming a professional personality or a model citizen.

 

 

Edited March 5, 2021 by ShaunG95

[ShaunG95]

The new men

Lets face it, I wasn’t left with much to choose from. The moral of the story? The squad’s personality is very far away from the end goal. But that’s fine, that is why I run two Everton saves each year, I play with the usual squad for a year in my first save and play ‘normally’, the second save I run, I make my mark.

 

Goalkeepers

Dominik Livakovic - £2.5m plus add-ons from Dinamo Zagreb

Livakovic has been my go-to keeper for two editions of FM now, consistent, professional and well-rounded attributes. There’s a lot to like about him. The transfer fee rises to around £10m at most should 50 appearances be made by him, which they will no doubt.

Defenders

Jonas Svensson - £2m plus add-ons from AZ

Svensson is someone I managed last year during an AZ save, he’s reliable, similar in ability to Coleman but has a professional personality so I think that bears fruit given my aim of this save.

Christian Maggio - £200k plus add-ones from Benevento 

Maggio is one of the older players we acquired, I don’t anticipate him sticking around for longer than this season, another season may be a stretch but again, very professional and will be a good role model for the youngsters I bring in.

Hilton - £150k plus add-one from Montpellier 

Honestly, when I checked Hilton out, I completely didn’t realise that he was 43. With that in mind, his attributes are actually really respectable and I think he can do a job in defence for a season.

Martin Skrtel - free

Some of you lot will frown at this, ex-Liverpool player signed? You must be mental. In fairness, he’s got a great personality, very professional and he’d do a job for a couple of seasons in the squad. £20k a week is fine with me, Mina was earning £100k+!

Daniel Congre - £150k plus add-one from Montpellier 

Sorry Montpellier, robbed two of your elderly statesmen - both of which model citizens, they went straight into my basket. But no, in all seriousness, he does a job as cover at left-back too.

Steffen Hagen - £200k from Odds BK

Again, model citizen things, a poorer CB than the rest but offers a lot as a personality in the squad. May be a poor decision as I can’t envisage he will play often but in a mentor group, we will see how long he sticks around.

Willem Janssen - £200k from FC Utrecht

Janssen is likely to rotate amongst Skrtel and Hilton as one of the starting CBs. A very useful model citizen, great leadership too so goes straight up the squad hierarchy.

Midfielders

Lucho Gonzalez - £100k from Athletico Paranaense 

This was a nostalgic purchase, he was a great buy on some of the earlier additions of FM, as a model citizens it felt like a no brainer to go ahead with this. I play a DLP and B2B so it’ll be interesting to see how he does.

Miguel Veloso - £500k from Hellas Verona 

Some might say I brought him in for his football qualities, they’d be wrong. I brought him in for his striking good looks and professional attitude of course. He’s a strong rotation option with Gylfi in midfield.

Robin Lod - £1.5m from Minnesota United

Versatile option, can play as a B2B or an inverted winger or inside forward on the right. Model citizen, young enough to get a 5 year deal out of him, worth it.

Dani Ramirez - £1m from Lech Poznan

He was an interesting case, I’d tried and failed to get him a work permit, trying to sign him in a second season when Brexit has fully kicked in, so I acted fast as again he’s a model citizen and offers versatility.

Maxi Rodriguez - £200k from Newell’s Old Boys 

The irony that he plays for Newell’s ‘Old Boys’, an old boy he is indeed. Another former a Liverpool player but also another very influential model citizen - he fits the bill and he’s really quite good for his ripe old age of 39.

Ibai Gomez - £2.5m from Bilbao

Aside from his decision making, this professional so and so offers us a lot out wide and from set pieces. I’m predicting a good assist haul from him across the season. Can play both wings too.

Pablo Fornals - £15m from West Ham

In theory, this is a like-for-like replacement for Richarlison had I planned to play Richy as a left winger. Fornals has a similar ceiling potentially and also offers versatility, a real gem of a player on the game in my view. Did I mention his model citizen goodness?! Albeit, a fee rising to £45m does reflect how much I adore this guy on the game. Eek.

Strikers

Rodrigo Palacio - £250k from Bologna

A trusty disciple on every save I’ve had with a club who can attract him on FM20 and FM21, he’s a model citizen, he has good traits for a striker that he can pass on to other players, he can play on both flanks. He’s just a worldie squad player even at his age.

Sergio Floccari - £100k from SPAL

Is he as good as Palacio? Maybe not. But he’s a model citizen and very very professional so he comes in as another mentor, alongside Palacio to my young ace who will be revealed in the next post...

You probably think my team is effectively diatribe now, which wouldn’t be far wide of the mark. However, I will profile all of the younger players I’ve brought in next. There’s a plethora of them.

[ShaunG95]

I spent the weekend finishing my first season, look forward to a plethora of updates across the week. The cohort of youngsters I acquired are really quite interesting, some a little obscure than others. Most didn’t play much, this was very deliberate so they don’t gain influence in the squad hierarchy, the idea is that the elder statesmen in the squad aid their personalities.

I had some really good moments in the season as well as spells where I thought to myself, wow I can’t wait to transition away from some of these older players... because some were amazing despite their age whereas others were really poor. I don’t think my go-to hyper offensive system really helped some of the slower defensive players but a few were genuinely really good.

The squad status is classed as ‘highly professional’ now too, so we are moving in the right direction.

[ShaunG95]

The Young Lads

Fasten your seat belts, this may be a longer one. Chris Mochrie arrived from Dundee (£300k), an absolute steal - potentially a top class Premier League player and under the mentoring of Gylfi Sigurdsson, similarly Kacper Kozlowski (£600k) and Harvey Vale (£400k) were purchased to be under Gylfi's wing; they came in from Pogon and Chelsea respectively. Dennis Lutke-Frie from Dortmund (£450k) was another prospect who was thrown into the Icelandic's lair of tutelage. Daniel Nachev from Levski (£750k) was a player I'd never heard of but the scouts seemed to have pulled up a new gem there. I have an eastern European bias so he looks a shout as a future squad player, much like Gylfi at Everton.

Mateja Milovanovic was an interesting one from Ajax (£450k), as a player with Serbian second nationality, I thought he'd be a good shout as a player who changes his allegiance as he is listed as Dutch. He arrived alongside Rav van den Berg from PEC Zwolle (350k) as a future CB pairing, I am going to cling onto this too idea too as they are very talented players. Skrtel is in charge of marshaling their mindsets. 

Lucas Digne committed his future to Everton recently and the Frenchman will be rewarded with loyalty from me, he will serve as the lead mentor for new boys Lukas Brix from Wolfsburg (£550k), Tayo Adaramola from Crystal Palace (£350k) as well as Thierry Small who is currently at the club. As I play inverted wing-backs, I've opted to train Tayo as a RB too for squad coverage. Matteo Ruggeri was also brought in from Atalanta (£1.2m), as he already has a decent personality, I thought he'd serve as a good secondary mentor in the group for the younger lads.

Rodrigo Gomes was somewhat of a limbo signing from Braga, the scouts suggested he could be the next Vitor Paneira which quite honestly didn't mean a great deal to me but given the interest in him, I thought his signing was vindicated (£350k). He won't be part of a mentoring group but will mingle with the squad generally to improve his demeanor. Aurelio Oehlers from FC Utrecht (£550k) was a similar buy, we didn't agree terms with Utrecht until later in the window despite a prior agreement - he finds himself left in the wilderness without a proper mentor but the general vibe of the squad should impact his attitude, there is potential for Robin Lod to mentor him once he's had more gametime. Sivert Mannsverk from Sogndal was a similar signing, I saw Spurs were in for him and he looked very competent as a squad player already so I added the Norwegian to my ranks (£1.8m). Mannsverk went into a mentoring group with Lucho Gonzalez and Veloso.

Armindo Sieb (£750k) is a romantic signing for me, signed him on my first Everton save of the year and he develops extremely well, an either footed shadow striker or advanced forward, there's a lot to like for the former Bayern youngster. Under Ibai Gomez's guidance, I'm sure Sieb can become a more professional individual.

Tim Ronning (£2.2m) from IF Elfsborg is a must buy this year for me, already a model citizen with a fair bit of potential to grow into - a no brainer. Tim arrived alongside Rome-Jayden Owuso-Oduro from AZ (£600k), at 16 his qualities aren't quite as impressive as Ronning but he'll become homegrown and slot straight into a mentoring group with Ronning and Livakovic.

Andre Papetti (£1.9m) from Brescia, almost seems a bit like cheating getting this lad for this fee at the beginning, he's really talented and with amazing physical attributes already. I really had to pay through my nose for him in terms of weekly wage to get him to sign but I believe he'll be worth it in the long-term, he goes in a mentoring group with Hilton and Steffen Hagen in order to improve his professionalism.

Former Nottingham Forest starlet Anel Ahmedhodzic (£3.5m) also came in after lengthy negotiations with Malmo, he slotted straight into a mentoring group with Congre and Janssen. It is debatable whether I'll be able to improve his personality given that he is 21 but stranger things have happened. Either way, he has huge resale value and is also home-grown.

Before the end of the transfer window, I managed to acquire Khvicha Kvaratskhelia from Rubin (£8m) after tirelessly making bids for him in order to unsettle him, they finally settled for £8m which I think was extremely kind to us. New captain Pablo Fornals will serve as his mentor. Karim Adeyemi was also signed on loan from Bayern transferring to them for £20m, likewise he'd be under Fornal's watchful eye.

Emanuel Emegha from Sparta (£8m), Sergio Dacal from Sporting Gijon (£750k) and Joseph Addo Tetteh (£40k) from Mighty Jets were also brought in. The latter goes out on loan to APOEL in order to try and get him a work permit but the other two look like promising players. Emegha and Dacal, like Gomes and Oehlers will be among the squad but won't be mentored.

 

The Superstar Wonderkids

Yusuf Demir came in from Rapid Wien (£10m). This lad is phenomenal on the guy, I can't stress how good he can become on the game so I thought it'd be shrewd to pay up now rather than wait. Plus, before Floccari and Palacio retire, Demir goes straight into their mentoring group as I have every intention of making him a striker. It's worth noting I'm paying an extra £20m for him over the next three years.

Youssoufa Moukoko from Dortmund (£12.5m) is pending a work-permit until January 1st. As he isn't even 16 yet, it was inevitable I'd have to wait. Everyone knows how good he is based on countless YouTube simulations and I thought it'd be great to get him involved in this save. Moukoko will also cost an additional £20m over the next three years just like Demir.

 

Most if not all of these transfers do have additional clauses which require me to pay out even more money to their previous clubs, which I'm completely fine with. It is a long-term project and the idea is that any player I've brought in that is under 18 will become home-grown at the club and if some are deemed inadequate as the years go by then they will provide really good resale value. I have no intention of loaning out most of these players as I will upgrade the facilities as I play through the seasons. Loans can be great for accelerated development due to exposure to first-term action but loans can also impact a player's personality, lesser teams tend to have a wide mix of personalities, I want all of these players to progress as best as possible and this means that their personalities need to be as professional as possible.

[ShaunG95]

We found ourselves in the top four in January, home games were a breeze, didn't drop any points at home whatsoever although we rode our luck against Liverpool before veteran Floccari saved the day. Away from home I found that we got exposed by our high line, the lack of pace across the team was an issue against any quick front men. The 6-5 against Arsenal was very dramatic, we were actually lost 5-4 but managed to turn it around with a 'demand more' shout bearing fruit. 

The Palacio and Floccari partnership was something behold, the 38-year-old and 39-year-old respectively doing the business. Palacio had 14 goals before the New Year while Floccari had 10 to his name.

[ShaunG95]

January Buys

Moukoko arrived as mentioned earlier. Jakub Kaminski came from Lech Poznan (£5m) but couldn't get a work-permit so I looked to send him out on loan to gain one. Luis Carbonell from Real Zaragoza (£3.3m) was also brought in but I had the same issue with him. Borja Valero was someone I looked to as another mentor, we approached to sign him on a pre-contract, he agreed to join and we bought him earlier (£130k). Nico Williams from Bilbao (£300k) was also a pre-contract signing who arrived earlier that intended as Bilbao wanted him off their books. Thomas Basila and Eduard Dutu from Nantes (£575k) and Fiorentina (£25k) respectively were similar deals, I had every intention of loaning these out to make profit in the long-term.

January Outgoings

Abdoulaye Doucoure went out on loan to Wolves after whinging about a lack of game time.

[gcoard]

23 minutes ago, ShaunG95 said:

Youssoufa Moukoko from Dortmund (£12.5m)

How???

[ShaunG95]

We almost got our first trophy since 1995 but Man Utd dispatched us with relative ease in the EFL Cup Final, it was unfortunate but the run up to the final was pretty comfortable. Moukoko certainly made his mark in the FA Cup games that he featured in which was great to see. The 9-5 away game against Wolves was frankly ridiculous, it was such an open affair that I think I witnessed around 30 highlights in that game. 

We did exceptionally well all things considered, our form tailed off as season drew to a close but to finish 3rd with an aging squad and using the younger players sparingly, this could possibly be one of the best league finishes I've had on an Everton save given the circumstances.

 

Sergio Floccari

Rodrigo Palacio

The pair of these delivered outstanding output considering their age. Floccari's four goals against Fulham and back to back hat-tricks against West Ham and West Brom particularly bolstered his numbers. You can deduce that from Floccari's lower average rating, Palacio was more consistent overall but did have a couple of injuries across the season.

[ShaunG95]

3 minutes ago, gcoard said:

How???

£12.5m plus £20m in annual installments across the next three seasons. £32.5m total - try offering that the start of the game, works on most new saves. You might even get him cheaper depending on the time in the transfer window, I wrapped this transfer up as soon as I had sanctioned sales of Richarlison etc.

Edited March 11, 2021 by ShaunG95

[gcoard]

2 minutes ago, ShaunG95 said:

£12.5m plus £20m in annual installments across the next three seasons.

Ahh, so £72.5m?  That seems **more** realistic

[ShaunG95]

2 minutes ago, gcoard said:

Ahh, so £72.5m?  That seems **more** realistic

No, £32.5m in total. It may be because of the Covid-market but BVB go for that. When I made my initial bid, they asked for £44m-ish upfront and I managed to whittle them down to that, believe it or not you can do this with most players.

[gcoard]

4 hours ago, ShaunG95 said:

No, £32.5m in total. It may be because of the Covid-market but BVB go for that. When I made my initial bid, they asked for £44m-ish upfront and I managed to whittle them down to that, believe it or not you can do this with most players.

Interesting.  I've been running an Everton save an am told that he's "not interested under any circumstances."  Nice for you though!

[ShaunG95]

16 minutes ago, gcoard said:

Interesting.  I've been running an Everton save an am told that he's "not interested under any circumstances."  Nice for you though!

When I asked scouted him, my scout fed that back to me too - his agent said the same also. I declared interest in him and he was keen to join.

[ShaunG95]

A summer of ins and outs

The first season was a success, we performed above expectations on the whole and secured Champions League football. With that in mind, we moved to secure the signatures of some of the best model citizens on the game.

Brobbey, Paulo and Tavares' personalities are a bit meh but they come with high potential and certainly a lot of resale value. Germain, Mata, Lulic and Pedro aren't model citizens but are all highly professional, having these around the club and having influence on the younger players will certainly help to develop the overall professionalism of the collective group. Luis, Villar, Parolo and Mancini are all model citizens and all offer great qualities to the team. Luis and Villar will potentially serve as the midfield pairing for years to come while Parolo and Mancini arrive as potential captains.

Carbonell looked to gain a work-permit by joining up with Barcelona's B setup. Meanwhile, Calvert-Lewin impressed on loan at Bayern, finishing as joint top-scorer with strike partner Lewandowski. His stock rose massively and consequently Bayern paid an inflated fee for him due to his superb form. Allan and James' loan deals were also made permanent, both surprisingly got a lot of game time while at Bayern. James somehow managed to keep himself fit which resulted in a larger fee that expected for him. Fringe players Bernard, Keane, Gibson, King, Tosun and Gbamin were all sold. All of these sales paved the pay for the transfer splurge above. I'm not really going to say much about the loanees as most were loaned out with a view to making profit on them later down the line. 

[ShaunG95]

We found ourselves unbeaten in the league up until January, a great achievement with an ageing eleven. 21 goals to Palacio's name at this point too was particular pleasing while Floccari was undergoing a sharp physical decline that resulted in a colossal dip in his form. We also qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League quite convincingly with PSG while Man City defeated us on penalties in the EFL Cup Quarters.

[ShaunG95]

Am I assembling a Man Utd reject eleven? Maybe. McTominay received a slight buff on the latest patch, he has a professional personality which I've seen turn into model citizen on previous saves, so I'm hoping for the same result. Former Utd teammate Chris Smalling is also a model citizen - there's a lot to like here. Bryan Gil was a pre-contract agreement turned 'buy now' hence the cheap fee, he's another player who is potentially very good despite the wealth of left-footed RWs I now have. It was more of an impulsive buy rather than one I'd necessarily thought through. 

Not a lot to say here, most if not all were young players in my U23s who would never get game-time so I moved them on. Tavares and Paulo were shifted out the door for first-team experience with a view to selling them on later down the line.

[ShaunG95]

We actually finished the Premier League season unbeaten believe it or not! I think with Smalling and Mancini at the back, I managed to steady the ship defensively compared to season one which resulted in less goals being conceded. Man Utd put us out of the FA Cup while our first crack at Champions League football was a successful one, eventually surrendering to Bayern on away goals. Bayern went on to beat Real Madrid in the final so I can't really gripe at that. However, one bizarre thing about this season was that Calvert-Lewin won the Ballon d'Or. As an Everton fan, that did make me quite happy too.

Edited March 23, 2021 by ShaunG95

[ShaunG95]

How many of my players have become model citizens?

Yusuf Demir

Chris Mepham

Andrea Papetti