[FM22] Parma, reviving the Gialloblu

[KlaaZ]

2027: The defense

All right, after our first double, it's time for a squad assessment. Let's start between the stakes. With the departure of Iversen in January, we only have Soriano as a realistic option here. He joined us in the summer of 2025from Espanol and has been consistent, if not exceptional, ever since. Diogo Figueira made his debut this season, playing in three European games, but he hasn't really progressed since his arrival in the same year. I have a Chinese regen goalkeeper on my shortlist but I can't afford him right now as he came through the ranks of Bayern. This is probably the position where we could do with an upgrade the most.

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At right back, we're okay when it comes to depth, but quality is a bit less obvious. Zortea is our main man and has been doing excellent, but looking at his attributes, I'd only rate him a good Serie A player at most. His backup, Ferrarini, is notably worse in the technical department and will be allowed to leave the club as youngster Orlandi has been impressive this season.

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On the left flank, Zagaritis has been with us right from the start in the Serie B and is showing serious quality. He keeps drawing the interest of big teams, but so far I've been able to keep him around and I'm hoping to keep that up right until he hangs up his boots. We brought in Frabotta as his backup this year and the Italian did well whenever called upon. If necessary, Orlandi can also play this position.

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In central defense, we're very much set for now. I managed to extend Obregon's contract until 2032, without a release clause this time, so I'm hoping to build around him. Valenti also started with us in the Serie B but is entering his final contract year and asking for a lot of money to extend. If we can't reach an agreement, I'm hoping to make a lot of money off him and replace him with a similar quality player. Araujo is a mixed bag. He's a very all round player, but also the one who tends to make the most mistakes at the back. He's currently under a 45M bid from Leeds, an amount for which I'm very much willing to let him go. If that happens, I might bring in Langerbein on a permanent basis. We also have Guerin and Trier here, but they both haven't really made any good progress on loan (especially the latter), so I'm considering selling them if a good offer comes up.

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[KlaaZ]

2027: Central midfield

Central midfield has been a difficult place to fill in in the past. We had players like Seoane, Henrique and Mesa here in the past but although they did well, they lacked consistency. This season has been a lot better. The signing of both Cristante and Pobega, and the standout performances of Mork, were key in this department. It's also the position where we have a lot of upcoming talent. Togni, Bellander and Jair Soto have all been out on loan to get more game time. The latter two will remain there until the winter break. At that point, I'm planning to integrate them into the squad. Soto is a great defensive minded option and Bellander looks like a better version of Mork. That said, it is possible that I'll bring in one more holding midfielder as I've had my eye on someone for over a year now and it's finally time to strike.

 

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[KlaaZ]

2027: Behind the striker

As I've already hinted earlier, I play a narrow 4231, which means three players in the central attacking midfield strata. That also implies a lot of attacking midfielders, so let's get started!

The standout player is Orsolini, who joined us from Sporting a year and a half ago and has been ever present. He's been one of our most decisive players up front, playing on the right side. Whenever he's tired, Rindsem steps up and delivers.

 

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The other positions are a bit more mixed. I'm a big fan of Katsamakas, the young German who joined us for 3M from Bayern, but his technicals sometimes get in the way of his performances. With André Anderson we have another player with a lot of goalscoring potential, and Biuk is also not the worst player. On top of that, we brought in Torre during the winter break, which gives us even more options. And finally, we have young Moreno-Manzanaro in the waiting room, although he'll probably go out on loan again for at least another year.

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[KlaaZ]

2027: Up front

That leaves the striker position. Esposito has been our main man in the first half of the season but with the progress Staelens made, I pulled him back to the AM strata. Staelens has been quite impressive, and he has a lot of growth potential left. His mentals are amazing in any case. Esposito is also only 24, so the future is ours. And to create a bit of a luxury problem, Rojas has been doing very well in the cup and in Europe as a rotation option. He came second in the goalscoring stats in the Europa League and was our main gunner in the Coppa Italia. I still can't believe I picked this kid up on a free.

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And finally, we still have academy product Mele in the waiting room. I'll try loaning him out again, hopefully to a Serie B team.

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[karanhsingh]

Wow, woke up to find not one serie A wins but two

Super stuff with Parma, you've more than restored them to former glories. 

[KlaaZ]

2 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Wow, woke up to find not one serie A wins but two

Super stuff with Parma, you've more than restored them to former glories. 

That would be twice the prize money, right?

The next step is winning something in Europe. I'm 'only' expected to qualify for the CL this season, so I may focus on that front more.

[KlaaZ]

Transfer news

Out with the 'old', in with the new. Deminguet was surplus to requirements and wanted to leave, we cash in and let him move to Verona for 5.25M. The same goes for Maldini, who joins Fenerbahce for 14.5M. And finally, Real Madrid came in for Rindsem and because of his lack of progress, I decided to negotiate to see where we could land. In the end, we sold him for 55M and 20% of his next sale. Unfortunately, due to clauses, about 15M of the fee goes to Rosenborg, but fair play to them. 

Four new faces in the incoming front. We bought Andreas Poulsen to strengthen the left back position, Blackburn was willing to let him go for 5.25M which I considered a steal. This also means that Frabotta can go if we receive a good offer. Apart from that, we have little more depth in midfield after signing Nicolo Fagioli from relegated Udinese, transfer fee 8M. He'll provide some competition for Mork in the playmaker slot. 

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Langerbein went back to Dortmund as he wasn't interested in negotiating, so I went shopping at PSG and brought back a young Uruguayan kid to bolster the defense. Meet Fernando Iglesias, for whom I have very high hopes.

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And finally, we signed 18-year old Mathieu Carrupt from Tondela for 5M as a (future?) replacement for Rindsem. 

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We're also in talks with a goalkeeper, but as we face competition from Hertha I'll only reveal him if he actually signs.

[KlaaZ]

Transfer news

Done deal, we have a new goalkeeper! Being the Italian champion has its perks, because we managed to seduce Marco Carnesecchi to join us from Napoli. It comes at a price, for a fee of 25.5M, but it also means that we finally have a high quality goalie who will function as first choice for the next four or five years. 

 

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Edited June 24, 2022 by KlaaZ

[KlaaZ]

Transfer news

A very busy month of August with a lot of deals, let's dive in!

Togni joins Atalanta on loan to get more playing time. I signed him back in 2025 for 18M but his progression has been slow. I'm hoping this move will kickstart his development. Cristante was asking for a ridiculous contract (140k p/w), so I put him up for sale after he started infecting his teammates with complaints. He joins Pachuca in a deal going up to 20M, on a 39k p/w contract, which is actually less than what he was earning here. 

After signing Poulsen, I decided to cash in on Frabotta. He joins Aston Villa for 15M. Haidar Ali Khalim doesn't fit into our system as we don't use wingers, he's shipped to Belgium where he will play for Genk, we get 8.75M. Ferrarini is also not required anymore, he joins Cagliari on loan with a future fee after x games played. And finally, Figueira goes out on loan to get more playing time.

There were also a few 'almost' deals. We accepted a 55M bid for Araujo but the player rejected Aston Villa. The same happened with Rojas, who was under a whopping 93M bid from Bayer Leverkusen but failed to reach an agreement. 

On the incoming side, we sign two more players for the future. Fabio Bartalucci is a young Italian defender who can play both right back and central defense. He'll play another season on loan at his former club, Brescia, before joining us in an 8.5M deal.

 

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Efraim Espirito Santo is only 17, and will need to develop some more first. That said, I have high hopes for this kid. He joins from SLB for 6.25M.

 

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[KlaaZ]

Transfer news

It's January 2nd, and we are happy to announce a few incomings.

First off, we pick up a young Colombian striker at Deportivo Cali. Fer Narro only just turned 18 and despite a very average personality looks like he could be a great player. At a fee of only 1M, this guy is a steal. And even better, he has a second nationality, Spanish, which makes it so he doesn't need to occupy a non-EU slot.

Our second signing is also one for the future. Gennaro Cappiello is a 19-year old Italian midfielder who came through the youth academy of Milan. There's a lot of work on him, but if he fulfills his potential he could go on  to do great things. I also really like his PPM's, which makes him perfect for the DLP position. We may have overpaid for him though, with 8.75M.

Finally, we provide some more depth in the attacking midfield strata by shopping in Scandinavia (where else). Kobenhavn academy product Morten Jensen, 21 years old, joins us for a fee of 11M. Good player already and if he can improve just a little bit, I think we have quite the gem on our hands.

 

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[KlaaZ]

Transfer news

Some more news, both on the incoming and outgoing side. Juan Soriano isn't playing anymore since the arrival of Carnesecchi, he moves on loan to San Roque Lepe. Guerin and Pirola also go out on loan to Cagliari and Sampdoria. And finally, I made a very hard decision to accept a 16.25M offer for Mork. The young Scandinavian has been doing really well in midfield, although his ratings may be skewed because he takes all corners and most indirect free kicks, but his progression has been disappointing and I feel that with both Bellander and Soto returning, plus the signing of young Cappiello for the future, we have plenty of other options in central midfield. He moves to Feyenoord on deadline day, and I genuinely hope he does well there.

On the plus side, this frees up some funds, which in turn also allows us to move on deadline day. There's a lot of interest for both Staelens (City) and Esposito (repeated bids from United). I've talked the former out of leaving but Esposito really wants to go. We agreed on a 97M price tag, and for now the interest has died down, but I'm already preparing for a future without either of them by signing a young Brazilian with a lot of potential from Atlético Mineiro. Marcus Vinicius is a two footed model citizen of only 18 years old, I'm a bit worried about his natural fitness and bravery but apart from that, he has no standout weaknesses.

 

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[KlaaZ]

Another hellish month..

 

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[KlaaZ]

Heroic. Just hoping that Obregon won't face a long suspension as it was a professional foul.

[KlaaZ]

Looks like I'll have to start playing wingers again. What a player.. 

[karanhsingh]

15 hours ago, KlaaZ said:

Looks like I'll have to start playing wingers again. What a player.. 

Oh my word 

[KlaaZ]

4 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Oh my word 

He dropped a little attribute wise though after a month. Considering loaning him out already, had the same thing with my Spanish kid until he went out on loan.

[KlaaZ]

It's tight at the top. I think we can rule out Juve at this stage, but both Inter and ourselves have everything to play for.

[john1]

How are you even finding those excellent hidden gems?! What is your scouting set up is currently like?

[KlaaZ]

2 hours ago, john1 said:

How are you even finding those excellent hidden gems?! What is your scouting set up is currently like?

Some of them come from the top 50 nxGn list. Scouting is set by my chief scout. And I have a list of clubs that I keep a close eye on in Scandinavia, Colombia, Uruguay and Eastern Europe. 

[KlaaZ]

And they're often on my shortlist for some time. I'd been following Staelens for almost two years, Obregon a year and a half. Katsamakas was a lucky optional fee with the loan.

[john1]

15 minutes ago, KlaaZ said:

Some of them come from the top 50 nxGn list. Scouting is set by my chief scout. And I have a list of clubs that I keep a close eye on in Scandinavia, Colombia, Uruguay and Eastern Europe. 

What clubs do you have on your list?   I do tends to keep eye on Envigado, America de Cali and Atletico Nacional from Colombia.

[KlaaZ]

1 hour ago, john1 said:

What clubs do you have on your list?   I do tends to keep eye on Envigado, America de Cali and Atletico Nacional from Colombia.

Atletico Nacional is on my shortlist.  In Colombia, I generally watch Junior too.

Uruguay: Penarol, Defensor Sporting (which often can be chosen as an affiliate club), Nacional
Chile: Colo Colo, Universidad de Chile
Argentina: Boca, River
Norway: Bodo/Glimt, Rosenborg
Denmark: Kobenhavn, Brondby
Portugal: The big ones, mostly
 

For example: Soto came from Atletico Nacional, Rojas from Junior. Fer Narro was a scout suggestion. Staelens was on the NxGn list, Obrégon as well, but I think my scouts spotted him first. Jensen came from Kobenhavn, Bellander from Rosenborg, Rindsem from Rosenborg. Carrupt came from Portuguese TND, which is one of my feeder clubs. Santo from SLB. 

[KlaaZ]

Almost forgot: in Eastern Europe, I tend to keep an eye on Dinamo and Partizan. Both usually teeming with talent. 

[john1]

11 minutes ago, KlaaZ said:

Atletico Nacional is on my shortlist.  In Colombia, I generally watch Junior too.

Uruguay: Penarol, Defensor Sporting (which often can be chosen as an affiliate club), Nacional
Chile: Colo Colo, Universidad de Chile
Argentina: Boca, River
Norway: Bodo/Glimt, Rosenborg
Denmark: Kobenhavn, Brondby
Portugal: The big ones, mostly
 

For example: Soto came from Atletico Nacional, Rojas from Junior. Fer Narro was a scout suggestion. Staelens was on the NxGn list, Obrégon as well, but I think my scouts spotted him first. Jensen came from Kobenhavn, Bellander from Rosenborg, Rindsem from Rosenborg. Carrupt came from Portuguese TND, which is one of my feeder clubs. Santo from SLB. 

 

10 minutes ago, KlaaZ said:

Almost forgot: in Eastern Europe, I tend to keep an eye on Dinamo and Partizan. Both usually teeming with talent. 

Pretty much similar clubs I do tends to look at, normally doesn't look at Kobenhavn as they tends to ask stupid prices. I always look at FC Nordsjælland or FC Midtjylland.

Portugal - I keep a close eye on Vizela, as on other saves, they tends to produce few decent regens.

France - Lens and Le Harve

[KlaaZ]

14 minutes ago, john1 said:

 

Pretty much similar clubs I do tends to look at, normally doesn't look at Kobenhavn as they tends to ask stupid prices. I always look at FC Nordsjælland or FC Midtjylland.

Portugal - I keep a close eye on Vizela, as on other saves, they tends to produce few decent regens.

France - Lens and Le Harve

Forgot Midtjylland.  

France has just too many talent producing clubs, same goes for Brazil. Gotta be lucky there.

To be fair, I miss quite a lot as well. For example, I paid 18M for Togni but he hasn't really improved, so that might be money down the drain. Ditto for Trier who looked like a potential amazing defender but hasn't made any real progress, or Guerin. 

[john1]

I agree, but I don't normally trust the scout reports unless I feel that player could replace A or have room to develop.

[KlaaZ]

40 minutes ago, john1 said:

I agree, but I don't normally trust the scout reports unless I feel that player could replace A or have room to develop.

As I said, there's always a risk.  Good scouts help, especially with JPP.

[KlaaZ]

Looks like it's ALL the way to the wire.

[KlaaZ]

15 minutes in. Inter are ahead, and we should have been too, threatening thrice from a corner and Orsolini hitting the bar.

[KlaaZ]

Three minutes later, virtually champions again!

[KlaaZ]

On the hour mark, Katsamakas hits the bar again. We should have been 3-0 up by now, but aren't efficient. Salernitana had one big chance that gave us a scare, but Carnesecchi was there to save the day. Meanwhile, Inter still lead 1-0.

[KlaaZ]

Salternitana down to ten men!

[KlaaZ]

Czene pulls down Orsolini in the area, we get a penalty kick after a VAR intervention. Orsolini puts it into the top corner, I think we can begin the celebrations. 

 

[KlaaZ]

Corner Orsolini, Iglesias heads it home, 3-0!

[KlaaZ]

Four. Orlandi to the byline, cuts back, passes it to Orsolini who puts it into the far corner.

[KlaaZ]

Champions!

[KlaaZ]

2027-2028: Season overview

Serie A

We started off well enough with three wins in a row before getting heavily beaten in Turin by Juve in a hellish month, where we played (in a row) Real, Juve, Lazio, Inter and Bayer Leverkusen. We dropped another two points at home against Lazio because of the inescapable Immobile (just retire already), but bounced back with a 2-0 home win over Inter which would prove crucial at the end of the season.

This was the start of an amazing streak of games, where won nine league games in a row before losing away at Milan. Including CL games, we didn't concede for 10 games in a row. We once again picked up again with a 2-0 win over Napoli, then went on to win the next five games until we lost away at Inter mid February, 2-1. Not surprisingly, this was another very rough line of games with Inter away (cup), inter away (league), Lazio away, Juve home, Man United away (CL). We beat the Romans on their own turf but lost the game against Juve. The good news is that we went on another winning streak afterwards, until drawing at home against rivals Milan in the last game of April. 

As shown above, the league went all the way to the wire. We drew against Torino two games before the end but Inter did the same in their away game against Juve which meant we were equal before the last game. Our direct result against the top team from Milan however put us in first place, and after a resounding 4-0 win over Salternitana, that's where we stayed. Back to back champions!

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All in all, I think Inter would have deserved it more this year but it was tight. They had an amazing goalscoring record, netting 117 times for an xG of 85.42.. It would be nice if we could do the same one day, as we only scored 80 goals from an xG of 81.63.. 

Coppa Italia

A reassuring 3-0 win over Fiorentina, then went outagainst Inter because of fixture congestion, tired legs and the fact that we didn't score despite being the better team. Unlucky really.

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Champions League

A great European season this time. The group stage pitted us against Spanish giants Real Madrid, German surprise package Bayer Leverkusen and Shakhtar Donetsk. We lost our opening game in Madrid but then went on to win the other five games, including two 5-0 victories over the Germans and a very satisfying 3-1 beating of Los Galacticos. 

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Winning the group didn't do us any favours, as we got defending CL and PL champions Manchester United in the first knockout stage. A 2-2 draw at Old Trafford set the stage for an upset as we finished the job at home on penalties (as away goals no longer count). We then eliminated the other team from Madrid after a buzzing 5-1 victory at home. 

We met Real Madrid again in the semis in this time, our luck ran out. We were the better team in Italy but failed to put the ball behind Courtois and got punished for it in Bernabeu, losing 2-1 in a very even game which could have gone either way. Despite the elimination, I'm very happy with the progress we've made and I feel like we're getting closer to the final.

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Finances and facilities

Thanks to the good performances in the league and Europe, we're quite stable financially with 48M in the bank. We're in the top six of wage bills now, which shows how far we've come. We finally managed to max out the youth setup, and the plans to build a new stadium have been set into motion! The Nevio Scala Stadium will host rougly 37k seats, with a roof and undersoil heating, and will cost a whopping 138M. We'll be able to move in another three years, which gives me some incentive to carry on the save.  

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On players and performances

Standout performers this year were Orsolini, Obrégon, Zagaritis and newcomer Torre who contributed immensely with 10 goals and 16 assists. Youngster Orlandi also did very, very well as an inverted wing back on the right and will remain first choice next season. To be fair, I think everyone did very well this year, with no real underperformers.

When it comes to contract, we managed to seduce Staelens to sign a new deal that will keep him at the club until the summer of 2032. Obrégon was willing to sign a new deal but he wanted 500k p/w, which is way outside of my budget. Luckily, there's no interest for him and he's signed until 2032 as well. Orsolini's contract ran out next year, but he also signed an extension until 2032. 

All of this means that if anyone leaves, it will be for big, big money. 

[KlaaZ]

Transfer news

Not a big transfer kitty this season, but our squad is pretty well set. We currently signed one player, a young 17-year old Italian central defender who looks very promising! Matteo Ibba joins us from Roma for roughly 14M. 

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[karanhsingh]

10 hours ago, KlaaZ said:

Champions!

Wow 96 points to become champion is insane! Is Italy also on head to head results like Portugal?

[KlaaZ]

1 minute ago, karanhsingh said:

Wow 96 points to become champion is insane! Is Italy also on head to head results like Portugal?

Luckily, yes. We wouldn't have stood a chance with the goalscoring record of Inter otherwise.

[KlaaZ]

Transfer news

Araujo has been wanting to move to a bigger club for a while now, and we agreed that he could leave when a team would bid 46.5M. Tottenham came in and went even further, upping their offer to 51M. Unfortunately, about 14M of this goes to Benficia because they had a 30% on profit clause. We accepted and off he goes. This means Ibba may be promoted to the first team as a rotation option straight away. If not, we'll dive into the transfer market to strengthen the squad. 

[DavidBeckham]

1 hour ago, KlaaZ said:

Transfer news

Araujo has been wanting to move to a bigger club for a while now, and we agreed that he could leave when a team would bid 46.5M. Tottenham came in and went even further, upping their offer to 51M. Unfortunately, about 14M of this goes to Benficia because they had a 30% on profit clause. We accepted and off he goes. This means Ibba may be promoted to the first team as a rotation option straight away. If not, we'll dive into the transfer market to strengthen the squad. 

No player is bigger than the club. The money is more than enough to get in a replacement! Agree with what you did!

[KlaaZ]

49 minutes ago, DavidBeckham said:

No player is bigger than the club. The money is more than enough to get in a replacement! Agree with what you did!

Exactly my thoughts. We've used the money to bring in a few high potentials, and will use Bartalucci, who returned from loan at Brescia, as a rotation option instead. 

[KlaaZ]

Transfer news

A few more outgoings after Araujo. Soriano was unhappy with his playing time and moves to Monaco for 10M. Ferrarini joins Cagliari for 3.5M, and Pirola went to Sampdoria for 1.9M. There was also serious interest for Katsamakas, mainly by Inter, but if we let him go to another title contender they'll have to improve their bids. I'm not opposed to letting him go per se, as his technicals are not good enough and with the upcoming of Moreno-Manzanaro, he'll be reduntant sooner or later.

Two more incoming signings. We found a potential 16-year old central defender in the Serie B at Catanzaro, Alessandro Crippa joins us for a mere 2.5M. And we also shop in Denmark at Brondby, where we pick up one of their more gifted youngsters in an 8M deal. 

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[KlaaZ]

That's a LOT of A's.

[KlaaZ]

On 02/07/2022 at 11:27, KlaaZ said:

That's a LOT of A's.

Boy oh boy.

[KlaaZ]

Although this has been fun, I'll probably shelve this as I've had my fill of FM for a bit again. We're currently on our way to an unbeaten season in the league and are in both the CL and cup final, so the challenge seems a bit gone as well.

[karanhsingh]

Very well done on this save. Would have been good to see how Pirrone developed. 

[KlaaZ]

We go out with the Orsolini show.