FM24: Manchester United - Same old problems?

[luka_zg]

Finished 1st season. Quite good season tbh, finished 4th but was in the mix for the title up to the week 36. Won Carabao and FA cup, knocked out in the round of 16 v Porto in the CL.

Looking for 3rd/4th choice CB and maybe replacement for Malacia still. Managed to cash in big for Casemiro and Varane, also sold Mctominay,Dalot,Hannibal,Lindelof. Martial left on a free, Pellistri also one foot out of the door

Team looks like this for next season (if no more arrivals):

[giggsxbr]

10 小时前, sedge11说:

Here is his stats. I can't remember what he was like before, but he looks like its stats are similar to what he was.

His CA/PA is OK(135/160), but the hidden attribute professionalism(5) is awful. I think he cannot reach his full potential.

Edited October 23, 2023 by giggsxbr

[molemenacer]

12 hours ago, sedge11 said:

I know most if not all of you would accept it, but I have decided to keep Varane for now.

It would of been nice to get rid of the wages and get in 60-70 mil which is silly money for Varane really. But the board had only gave me 1 mil to spend in January, so I can't get in who I want to replace him even after selling, plus Varane has been our best defender so far.

If they come in again at the end of the season I will sell, but I just don't like the idea of selling one of my best players half way through the season.

So when anyone else gets to January, if you get the same offers, just know you can negotiate the fee to upwards of 70 mil maybe more. 

I think in Jan it was the correct decision to keep.

You would have to overspend to bring anyone in so would not have been worth it.  I reckon they will be back in the summer

[luka_zg]

You can sell him in the summer easy. I sold him for 92mil which is insane. He was one of the best players for me tbh but still..For that money I bought Inacio and Diomande.

[sedge11]

41 minutes ago, molemenacer said:

I think in Jan it was the correct decision to keep.

You would have to overspend to bring anyone in so would not have been worth it.  I reckon they will be back in the summer

Yeah it’s worked out well as they are still interested. And Antonio Silva, who is one of the players I was thinking of as a replacement, signed a new contract with a cheaper release clause at 45 mil.

[MatthewS17]

Seems like I'm going to be joining you guys again for this one. Only after the Beta, though, so all the unhappiness and squad issues are ironed out. Will also be my first time playing us without licensing, which is, eh.
It's been a while, given I've been sitting on FM22 all this time. It's interesting to see what you guys are doing with the squad and what your ideas are. We look a convoluted mess in terms of team building.

I don't know about some of you, but reflecting my real life opinions on players is something I like to do. And our current squad is a bit iffy to me. Even players I quite like, such as Bruno, Martinez and Rashford, I find myself questioning their long term viability in a team that wants to be the very best. Case has lost his marbles quite a bit, Antony is very meh and so on. So far, the only locked in players I'm looking at to stay are Dalot(not priority) and Hojlund. Maybe Shaw. I'll see when I start playing, but I'm probably gonna completely refresh the squad. Establish a home grown contingent , keep the at least 1 academy player in the team every game(amazingly, we've managed this since forever), and build a team from the ground up.

Obviously, gonna be a little harder since my go-to in Rice is gone to Arsenal and the likes of Maddison in the opposite direction. 

As for Greenwood, well that's what the delete button is for. I'm not bothered to deal with that headache.

Good luck to all. Hopefully we can give ourselves a little bit of that feeling of our old successes. 

[molemenacer]

Apart from Bruno, Hojlund and Rashford everyone else is on the chopping block over the first 2 years.

The main issues are either age or wage, far too many average players on crazy wages starting from Antony on £150k there are 11 other players over that and 6 players on or over £250k.

It might be too easy this year though as Saudi Arabia exists so shipping out old players might be a lot easier

[vrig]

6 hours ago, MatthewS17 said:

Seems like I'm going to be joining you guys again for this one. Only after the Beta, though, so all the unhappiness and squad issues are ironed out. Will also be my first time playing us without licensing, which is, eh.
It's been a while, given I've been sitting on FM22 all this time. It's interesting to see what you guys are doing with the squad and what your ideas are. We look a convoluted mess in terms of team building.

I don't know about some of you, but reflecting my real life opinions on players is something I like to do. And our current squad is a bit iffy to me. Even players I quite like, such as Bruno, Martinez and Rashford, I find myself questioning their long term viability in a team that wants to be the very best. Case has lost his marbles quite a bit, Antony is very meh and so on. So far, the only locked in players I'm looking at to stay are Dalot(not priority) and Hojlund. Maybe Shaw. I'll see when I start playing, but I'm probably gonna completely refresh the squad. Establish a home grown contingent , keep the at least 1 academy player in the team every game(amazingly, we've managed this since forever), and build a team from the ground up.

Obviously, gonna be a little harder since my go-to in Rice is gone to Arsenal and the likes of Maddison in the opposite direction. 

As for Greenwood, well that's what the delete button is for. I'm not bothered to deal with that headache.

Good luck to all. Hopefully we can give ourselves a little bit of that feeling of our old successes. 

Me, I'll be stubbornly trying to get the existing squad to work 

On potential homegrown signings, Alex Scott is one I'll be watching for. Only just moved and currently injured, but he tore up the Championship as a teenager last season. Adam Wharton is looking good for 19 at Blackburn this year too.

I don't know how they look in FM24 and they obviously aren't as ready-made as a Rice or Maddison would have been, but they're two players I'll be shortlisting after payday!

[warlock]

I'll say one thing for the game... they've got Onana down to a T. Anything high and he'll tip it over for a corner; anything low and either side of him, he just flops down and watches the ball into the back of the net.

Just played our first game in Europe against Milan and it finished 5-5 - they scored 5 from 7 shots on target and an xG of 0.78. Never seen a GK as poor in FM - and I've played a lot of non-league saves 

I'm so annoyed by him, I'm restarting on 'Your World' and I'll take any other 'keeper in preference. 

[luka_zg]

I'm having Harry Maguire knocking on the doors of the first 11 with four games into the 2nd season.

Seriously considering offering him a new contract.

[Ncfc_king]

16 hours ago, molemenacer said:

Apart from Bruno, Hojlund and Rashford everyone else is on the chopping block over the first 2 years.

The main issues are either age or wage, far too many average players on crazy wages starting from Antony on £150k there are 11 other players over that and 6 players on or over £250k.

It might be too easy this year though as Saudi Arabia exists so shipping out old players might be a lot easier

I have seen people being offered over £200 million for Bruno in the second season by Saudi. 

[Vizzini]

2 hours ago, Ncfc_king said:

I have seen people being offered over £200 million for Bruno in the second season by Saudi. 

Just been offered £195 million for him, feels too good to turn down.

[Ncfc_king]

5 minutes ago, Vizzini said:

Just been offered £195 million for him, feels too good to turn down.

I will defiantly accept anything close but feel like you can probably get a few extra if that was the starting bid. 

FM is full of players who play the Bruno role. 

[Vizzini]

3 minutes ago, Ncfc_king said:

I will defiantly accept anything close but feel like you can probably get a few extra if that was the starting bid. 

FM is full of players who play the Bruno role. 

Negotiated, so will probably accept, can get Pedri, Gavi, Simons or Even De Jong for less money.

[Champ15]

Won the league with 3 games remaining, currently on 97 points and 97 goals with one match left away to Brentford. Lost 2 games all season in the league both at home to Bournemouth & Crystal Palace in the last 10 games denying me a shot at an invincible season. Crashed out of the FA cup to Liverpool in the 3rd round and Arsenal in the QF of the league cup. Also lost to Bayern in the QF of the champions league losing the 1st leg at home 3-0 before winning the return leg 2-1. Sold Varane in January for €75m rising to €97m, Lindelof to Newcastle for €30m, McTominay & Malacia both went on loan with option to buy to Brighton & Newcastle respectively. Incomings were Inacio for €45m and Badashille on loan for cover. I've a LB Barco incoming for €9m. As for summer transfers i'll be looking at moving on Casemiro, Maguire, Eriksen, Van de Beek. & Antony. Looking towards developing youh in my 2nd season with Diallo, Gore & Mainoo coming back from loan and hoping to sign a top quality DM to replace Casemiro, Ashley Phillips for 4th choice CB & 2 strikers to replace Martial and add depth.

Edited October 24, 2023 by Champ15

[sedge11]

Season 1 is over, and it has been a difficult one but a fun one.

So in January I sold Malacia to Newcastle for 19 mil, Donny went to Juventus on loan and Pellistri went to Middlesborough on loan. I didn't sign anyone.

Lets start with the league.

The top 3 were just too good all season and we couldn't keep up after a poor start. Defensively we were just poor, so will be tweaking my tactic slightly and the defence will be the main focus of the summer.

In the champions league we made it difficult for ourselves the whole way through before losing to Bayern in the semi final,

The carabao cup we went out early.

But the FA cup we went and beat Man City on penalties in the final, to win our 1st trophy.

Onana got injured in our 2nd to last league game, which meant Bayindir had to play and he was incredible and the hero. Man City dominated the game, but they couldn't get past Bayindir, he then saved Grealish's penalty in the shootout as well, to win us the fa cup.

We had an easy run in the fa cup, and didn't concede a single goal.

Here were the player stats for season 1.

Garnacho and Mainoo making the most of the opportunities I gave them with good average ratings, and in Garnacho was the best average rating of the team. Amad did well after his injury, and will definitely get more game time in season 2.

Hojlund took a little while to get going but once he did, he did well and am happy with 27 goals for his first season. His average rating was poor as he had quite a few games at 6.1 or 6.2.

So now onto the summer.

They gave me 60 mil to spend, so will definitely need to sell.

Varane, Casemiro and Bruno all have interest from Saudi so will see what offers come in, though I wouldn't want to sell all 3 as I believe experience does count for something. The Saudi offers do seem abit ridiculous and silly, I reckon that will be adjusted for main release.

I am also going to listen to offers for Lindelof, Mctominay and Sancho. While Martial will leave on a free.

[Zeonflux]

Just got to the January transfer window in my first season, going to sell Varane to Saudi for £60m and bring in Antonio Silva from Benfica to join Martinez and Scalvini at the back.

Also brought in 17 year old Shaqueel Van Persie from Feyenoord for £14.5m, he’s currently 2* rated but also got a 5* potential in my save 

[Stevmon]

On 23/10/2023 at 08:01, luka_zg said:

Finished 1st season. Quite good season tbh, finished 4th but was in the mix for the title up to the week 36. Won Carabao and FA cup, knocked out in the round of 16 v Porto in the CL.

Looking for 3rd/4th choice CB and maybe replacement for Malacia still. Managed to cash in big for Casemiro and Varane, also sold Mctominay,Dalot,Hannibal,Lindelof. Martial left on a free, Pellistri also one foot out of the door

Team looks like this for next season (if no more arrivals):

Interesting! How’s Inacio and Diomande doing?

[VDB34]

Amrabat any good? Worth keeping?

[molemenacer]

3 hours ago, sedge11 said:

Season 1 is over, and it has been a difficult one but a fun one.

So in January I sold Malacia to Newcastle for 19 mil, Donny went to Juventus on loan and Pellistri went to Middlesborough on loan. I didn't sign anyone.

Lets start with the league.

The top 3 were just too good all season and we couldn't keep up after a poor start. Defensively we were just poor, so will be tweaking my tactic slightly and the defence will be the main focus of the summer.

In the champions league we made it difficult for ourselves the whole way through before losing to Bayern in the semi final,

The carabao cup we went out early.

But the FA cup we went and beat Man City on penalties in the final, to win our 1st trophy.

Onana got injured in our 2nd to last league game, which meant Bayindir had to play and he was incredible and the hero. Man City dominated the game, but they couldn't get past Bayindir, he then saved Grealish's penalty in the shootout as well, to win us the fa cup.

We had an easy run in the fa cup, and didn't concede a single goal.

Here were the player stats for season 1.

Garnacho and Mainoo making the most of the opportunities I gave them with good average ratings, and in Garnacho was the best average rating of the team. Amad did well after his injury, and will definitely get more game time in season 2.

Hojlund took a little while to get going but once he did, he did well and am happy with 27 goals for his first season. His average rating was poor as he had quite a few games at 6.1 or 6.2.

So now onto the summer.

They gave me 60 mil to spend, so will definitely need to sell.

Varane, Casemiro and Bruno all have interest from Saudi so will see what offers come in, though I wouldn't want to sell all 3 as I believe experience does count for something. The Saudi offers do seem abit ridiculous and silly, I reckon that will be adjusted for main release.

I am also going to listen to offers for Lindelof, Mctominay and Sancho. While Martial will leave on a free.

That is a pretty good first season.  

I have just hit January of Season 1 and Amad has just come back from injury and in his 4 games so far has impressed a lot.  Not sure about loaning him out for the rest of the season to make sure he gets game time

[molemenacer]

15 minutes ago, VDB34 said:

Amrabat any good? Worth keeping?

Half way through season 1 and he has been a good under study for Casimero.  He has just go off to the African Nations so for that reason i will not be bothering.\

That is why i tend to stay away from African players it really bugs me that in a really busy period they disappear off for a month

[MichaelNevo]

I did a quick run through with a tactic that I was using from last years edition, however I took advantage of the changes that have been made and tweaked that tactic, making use of the Libero and inverted full back.

I holidayed the majority of the season and I didn't set up my friendlies how I would normally, whilst no training schedules were set up either. I think if I had at least done these two things, the season might have gone even better. The only player I brought in was Claudio Echeverri for £5.75mil, arriving on January 2nd, although I tied him up during the summer, I think he couldn't come because of his age?

Here were the results... (Bruno was an absolute warrior)

[molemenacer]

So it has happened, they came in with a tiny bid and i negotiated to a ridiculous fee that i thought they might walk away on but they came back and we settled on this

I had no intention of selling in January at all but £99 mill all up front i don't think i can say no.  He also desperate to join them and will kick off if i reject it.

I am stopping now anyway so going to save and wait for a bit.

What do you guys think?

[MichaelNevo]

3 minutes ago, molemenacer said:

So it has happened, they came in with a tiny bid and i negotiated to a ridiculous fee that i thought they might walk away on but they came back and we settled on this

I had no intention of selling in January at all but £99 mill all up front i don't think i can say no.  He also desperate to join them and will kick off if i reject it.

I am stopping now anyway so going to save and wait for a bit.

What do you guys think?

Its mad for a 30 year old defender to be fair, you can easily look to the future with that money.

[Stevmon]

3 minutes ago, molemenacer said:

So it has happened, they came in with a tiny bid and i negotiated to a ridiculous fee that i thought they might walk away on but they came back and we settled on this

I had no intention of selling in January at all but £99 mill all up front i don't think i can say no.  He also desperate to join them and will kick off if i reject it.

I am stopping now anyway so going to save and wait for a bit.

What do you guys think?

No brainer. With all considered I’d just do it. You should be able to get Todibo for around 40 as a replacement?

[sedge11]

11 minutes ago, molemenacer said:

So it has happened, they came in with a tiny bid and i negotiated to a ridiculous fee that i thought they might walk away on but they came back and we settled on this

I had no intention of selling in January at all but £99 mill all up front i don't think i can say no.  He also desperate to join them and will kick off if i reject it.

I am stopping now anyway so going to save and wait for a bit.

What do you guys think?

It depends who you want to replace him with I suppose as to how much they will cost in January.

He was desperate to join on mine as well, but didn’t kick up a fuss when I rejected. Now in the summer and a Saudi team has come back in for him for 60-70 mil, and I can get the defenders I want in to replace him, cheaper than in January.

[Ncfc_king]

I have just sold Casemiro and Bruno for £290 million. 

Casemiro- £100m 

Bruno- £190m 

Saudi money is ridiculous.

[Stevmon]

It’s clear United need a real rebuild. We know that we need new owners but we also need new players.

Im going to put an emphasis on player mentality with my transfers, any recommendations on that aspect?

[Vizzini]

Won the league and the league-cup first season. Varane was off during the jan. window, replaced by Geertruida. Also added Valentin Barco and Tammy Abraham to the side.

Clearout in the summer, sold: Heaton (released), AWB, Maguire, Lindelöf, Evans (released), Malacia, Casemiro,, Ambrabat (loan ended) Van de Beek, McTominay, Bruno, Sancho (loan with obligation to buy) and Martial (released).

In came: Fresneda, Antonio Silva, Marc Guehi, Lucas Gourna-Douath, Gabriel Moscardo, Pedri, Khepren Thuram and Savio.

Squad 24/25

SWK-A/S: Onane, Bayindir

IWB-S: Dalot, Fresneda

BPDR: Geertruida, Guehi

BDPL: Silva, Martinez

FB-S: Shaw, Barco

DM-D: Gourna-Douath, Moscardo

CM-A: Mount, Thuram

AP-S: Pedri, Eriksen

W-S: Antony, Savio 

IF-A: Rashford, Garnacho

CF-S: Høylund, Abraham

Crazy turnover, but just a fun beta-save.

[Chetsfmfan]

Similar to the above, league and cup double in the first season. Started on purely original settings. Been a crazy beta save so for!

23/24 first window 

Outs:

Varane £83m, Maguire £7.5m, AWB £17m, Antony Loan (£40m future fee), DVB loan (£7m future fee), Lindelof loan (£9m), McTom £12m, Heaton £500k, Martial (free in Jan), Evans £900k

Ins: Antonio Silva £65m, Sucic £12m, Raphinha £14m, Mazraoui £22m, Esteve £15m, Ahmedhodzic £14m, Toney £35m (in Jan)

 

24/25 
 

Outs:

Casemiro £45m, Licha £59m, Mazraoui £40m, Sancho £50m, Hannibal £15m Bayindr £4.5m, Antony/Lindelof/DVB as above.

Looking to shift Pellistri and Diallo soon too.

Ins:

Tchouameni £65m, Scalvini £70m, Fresneda £52m, Olise £35m, Gunn £5m, Gourna-Douath £15m

 

Onana/Gunn

Fresneda/Dalot

A Silva/Ahmedhodzic

Scalvini/Esteve

Shaw/Malacia

Tchouameni/GD

Mount/Sucic

Bruno/Eriksen

Rashford/Garnacho

Raphinha/Olise

Hojlund/Toney

[luka_zg]

16 hours ago, Stevmon said:

Interesting! How’s Inacio and Diomande doing?

Diomande is brilliant. I'm mostly playing him as a IWB. Inacio is also good, but didn't start as well although I have no fear he will come good. Hojlund and Abraham are firing on all cilinders, Hojlund with 12 goals and Abraham 10 goals this far, entering the month of November.

[molemenacer]

16 hours ago, MichaelNevo said:

Its mad for a 30 year old defender to be fair, you can easily look to the future with that money.

 

16 hours ago, Stevmon said:

No brainer. With all considered I’d just do it. You should be able to get Todibo for around 40 as a replacement?

 

16 hours ago, sedge11 said:

It depends who you want to replace him with I suppose as to how much they will cost in January.

He was desperate to join on mine as well, but didn’t kick up a fuss when I rejected. Now in the summer and a Saudi team has come back in for him for 60-70 mil, and I can get the defenders I want in to replace him, cheaper than in January.

Thanks guys, I have already been scouting center backs a lot because i knew i would need 2/3 new ones anyway so my shortlist is extensive

There are 2 players i was going to get at the end of the year anyway and if i was going for them then it would cost

Antonio Silva - all round great with a Model Citizen personality (Wages £72k-£97k) - Fee high £40mill area
Giorgio Scalvini - Potential to be one of the best in the world and has a Professional personality (Wages - £68k-£92k) - Fee mid-high £70mill area

For both i am looking at about £110mill - £120mill, so for £20 mill more than i am getting and a huge drop in wage spending it makes sense really

Having spoken to the agents it is going to cost me an extra £15-£20 mill more each to get them now.

 

Other options

Goncalo Inacio - Decent and would be third choice behind the other 2
Todibo - The most expensive so far and the most wages

 

Most preferred option

Eder Militao - Currently injured for 3 to 5 months with a cruciate injury so maybe available in the summer.  Decent fee but high wages

 

I think i am going to sell, it is too much to turn down.  I can get Goncalo Inacio now for his release clause of £38.5 mill and then in the summer get 2 more, which was always the plan anyway

[molemenacer]

So he went and is now being paid £1.1 mill a week until 2026

[saware]

Do any of these big fees have any impact on the club debt? Would be nice if some of that could be paid off to make more room for spending on the stadium or training/youth facilities.

[molemenacer]

1 hour ago, saware said:

Do any of these big fees have any impact on the club debt? Would be nice if some of that could be paid off to make more room for spending on the stadium or training/youth facilities.

Not that i saw, everything goes into the transfer budget as i was getting 100% of transfer revenue

I don't think i have ever seen on any FM that they pay any of the debt of ever with transfer money

[trekman]

On 21/10/2023 at 20:08, sedge11 said:

Similar to a couple of you guys, I have had a tough start.

Hojlund is finding his feet and starting to score a few, but defensively we have been poor.

In my game both Hojland and Rashford have formed a good partnership. They've scored 16 goals each going into the transfer window. One thing I've noticed that I dont especially like is that Rashford is always moaning. Its got to the point that i'm considering selling him. The only thing thats stopping me is the fact it would probably cause a riot in the dressing room and the board would probably block it. 

Edited October 25, 2023 by trekman
typo

[molemenacer]

January Transfer window over and it escalated very quickly

First off players out:

Eriksen - had only played 1 game and got stroppy in December so spoke to his agent and he wanted to go to Newcastle so he went for a cut price £21.5 mill.  Saving his wages was a good thing as well
Varane - As you all know £99 mill far too good to turn down so out he went
Evans - Again not played at all and wanted to go, with his contract running out getting some money was surprising
Malacia - Was injured all first half of the season, came back and then kicked off for not playing, again Newcastle wanted him so he went as well
Diallo - He came back from injury and played well but Rangers came in and wanted him on loan so first team football meant he went
Pellistri - Same as Diallo
Lindelof - Was all set after the Varane deal and was going to wait until the summer but Inter showed interest and we wanted to go on deadline line so we agreed it and then had to go and get a replacement

Players In:

Inacio - Replacement for Varana good deal for his release clause
Leonardo - I wanted another player up front as a backup for Hojlund and for £16 mill he was a great deal
Barco - A great young player that can play anywhere down the left and as i play with a WB(A) at left back suits that role perfectly so will be backup to Shaw
Ribeiro - Scouts found him and he looks a great young striker for a really small fee
Silva - Deadline day deal to replace Lindelof.  £86 mill is his release clause and was a summer target so i don't think i have overpaid as we probably would have paid that in the summer

Overall I think i have a massive upgrade in the CB position and a decent backup striker now.

[roussos]

3 hours ago, molemenacer said:

January Transfer window over and it escalated very quickly

First off players out:

Eriksen - had only played 1 game and got stroppy in December so spoke to his agent and he wanted to go to Newcastle so he went for a cut price £21.5 mill.  Saving his wages was a good thing as well
Varane - As you all know £99 mill far too good to turn down so out he went
Evans - Again not played at all and wanted to go, with his contract running out getting some money was surprising
Malacia - Was injured all first half of the season, came back and then kicked off for not playing, again Newcastle wanted him so he went as well
Diallo - He came back from injury and played well but Rangers came in and wanted him on loan so first team football meant he went
Pellistri - Same as Diallo
Lindelof - Was all set after the Varane deal and was going to wait until the summer but Inter showed interest and we wanted to go on deadline line so we agreed it and then had to go and get a replacement

Players In:

Inacio - Replacement for Varana good deal for his release clause
Leonardo - I wanted another player up front as a backup for Hojlund and for £16 mill he was a great deal
Barco - A great young player that can play anywhere down the left and as i play with a WB(A) at left back suits that role perfectly so will be backup to Shaw
Ribeiro - Scouts found him and he looks a great young striker for a really small fee
Silva - Deadline day deal to replace Lindelof.  £86 mill is his release clause and was a summer target so i don't think i have overpaid as we probably would have paid that in the summer

Overall I think i have a massive upgrade in the CB position and a decent backup striker now.

I would like to see how Ribeiro developed. Silva sounds good too.

[Champ15]

Summer transfers in;

Archie Gray (Leeds) - €25m - young 5* potential to develop

Tomori (Milan) - €20m - 3rd choice CB

Ashley Phillips (Spurs) - €36.5m - 4th choice CB to develop into starter in a couple of seasons

Evan Ferguson - €54m - Brighton were relegated so got him way cheaper than he would have been - will fight it out with Hoijlund for starting CF

Ugarte - (PSG) -  €184m - Signed as Casemiro replacement using DOF so i may have overspent 

 

Transfers Out

Eriksen (Leicester) €13.5m rising to €17m in installments

Martial (Fenerbache) - €17,5m rising to €20.5m in installments

Van de Beek {Sociedad) - €19m

Casemiro (Al Hilal) - €93m

Maguire (Spurs) - €25m

Trying to sell Antony but nobody willing to pay his fee & wages. Bayern offered €4.9m for him and were swiftly told where to go. Looking to develop youth this season after winning the league last season hoping . Spent way more on Ugarte then i wanted but DM's are hard come by and expensive and i wanted someone world class to replace Casemiro whilst Mainoo develops. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tummyowl]

Started my beta save...

Top of the League after Boxing day.

Playing 4-3-3

Settled first team is fairly obvious; Onana; Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Martinez, Shaw; Casemiro, Fernandes, Mount; Anthony, Højlund, Rashford.

Side has come together well. Everyone is happy and the side/squad is functioning well. Usurpingly Rashford has been largely excellent along with Højlund. Fernandes, Mount, McTominay, Van de Beek, Varane, Dalot, Shaw are having a really good season. Almost everyone is on at least a 7 average rating (except Onana, who is not far off).

Away to RB Leipzig in the first round of 16 in the Champions League, Home versus Birmingham City in the third round of the FA Cup, Semi Final First leg against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup. Feeling confident of silverware in addition the league.

Unsure about who I want to move on/cash in as nobody has annoyed me, or played badly... however saying that everyone except Rashford/Højlund are probably free to a good home if the offer is right.

Ideally would look to bring in someone like Guéhi and move out Varane (as it looks like you can get some serious money for him) along side Maguire (as 200k a week is too much for a squad centre back), but also thinking about Silva.

Ideally would look to upgrade on McTominay, but he is having such a good season... but PSG are very interested . Van de Beek, Eriksen are both free to good homes (again, have been squad players but 310k per week is silly). In previous years I would look to Bellingham and Rice and Scott (sigh), but now I have got my eye on Veloso and Gore/Hannibal seeing me until the end of the season along with holding on to Amrabat.

Up top Anthony, Martial, and Sancho are all free to good homes... (675k per week) Pellistri/Garnacho have done well this season (Diallo is back from injury and doing 'ok') but Olise looks ok for the right hand side. 

I've done a depressingly small amount of scouting actually. I want to bring more youth into the side, while reducing wages, and ideally generate some profit. Douglas Luiz, Ebere Eze, Manuel Locatelli, Giorgio Scalvini, Kaoru Mitoma, Jamal Musiala (currently uhappy) look good too. Struggling to decide on options up top.

[studley84]

Just messing about with a beta save.

First window;

Out - 

Pellistri - West Ham £10m, AWB - Chelsea loan to buy £28m, Lindelof - Spurs £14m.

In - 

Marcos Leonardo - £14m, Diomonde - £50m, João Neves - £54.

I was going well and top of the league come January and still in all comps. Got rid of a few who I won't be using and brought in three I was looking forward to using this year.

Leonardo has been okay, Hojlund has been far better though so far. Diomonde and Neves are both class.

Retrained Mount to play as my IWB on the right and he's doing really well there.

My first eleven has been;

SK(s) - Onana

IWB(a) - Mount

IFB(d) - Martinez

CB(d) - Varane

BPD(d) - Diomonde

DM(d) - Casemiro

AP(s) - Fernandes

MEZ(a) - Neves

W(a) - Garnacho

IW(a) - Rashford

AF(a) - Hojlund

Jan window;

Out - 

Varane - Al-Hilal £120m, Malacia - Dortmund £18m, Antony - RSS £20m

In -

Scalvini - £130m, Andre - £14m, Konate - £24m, Olise - £35m.

Silly money for Varane and replaced him with Scalvini, Malacia isn't needed and Antony was being an idiot and upsetting everyone else so I cut my losses.

Andre to provide better backup to Casemiro and towards the end of the season he was playing better so was starting. Konate was someone I was also keen to see so when I saw he was going fairly cheap I took a punt. Olise just to replace Antony as backup on the left.

Won the League and Champions League in the end. Garnacho was immense the second half of the season and won the CL final on his own.

Summer Window;

Out - 

Casemiro - Al-Ahli - £100m, Diallo - RSS £5m, Donny - Everton £6m, Eriksen - Newcastle £27m, Konate - Arsenal £140m

In - 

Zaire-Emery - £50m, Bellingham - £300m, Vitor Roque - £50m (loan to buy)

Silly money again for Casemiro, cleared a few off the wage budget and Arsenal gave me crazy money for Konate out of nowhere - it's about half upfront and various add-ons.

Zaire-Emery was an impulse purchase when I saw they were willing to sell and takes Casemiro's spot. Bellingham is crazy money but wanted to test him out so just gave them big installments.

Vitor Roque was available on loan and I just wanted to try him out.

Starting eleven this season (trying most of the new players out more than anything);

SK(s) - Onana

IWB(a) - Mount

IFB(d) - Martinez

CB(d) - Scalvini 

BPD(d) - Diomonde

DM(d) - Andre

AP(s) - Neves

MEZ(a) - Bellingham 

W(a) - Garnacho

IW(a) - Rashford

AF(a) - Vitor Roque

 

Out of the signings so far Diomonde and Neves are must-buys, Leonardo is good cover for the price and can cover two positions decently. Andre is great value and was out-performing Casemiro from the final third of the first season.

Scalvini is okay but not worth that much, don't think I'd spend that on him again. Konate is widely inconsistent but made me a big profit and Olise is just a bit meh.

Bellingham is obviously disgusting but stupid money, he's also on £500k pw so not a realistic one when I start properly.

Vitor Roque has look really good and has 9 goals in his first 6 games. Zaire-Emery hasn't played enough to comment at this point.

Enjoying the game this year and looking forward to starting properly at release.

 

[Stevmon]

On 21/10/2023 at 11:58, Stevmon said:

I’m using the Beta to browse and plan before I start the save after full release.

I’m planning on changing the staff a bit since I’m dreaming positively of a future with Ratclife and without the Glazers (eventually).

I’m going to sack McLaren and Mr Gaag for realism. Who are you bringing in as Assistant? I want to go the romantic route and get either Phelan or Solksjaer. Ruud and Jordi Criuyff both look great but neither want to join.

Also would love to get Paul Mitchell instead of Murtough, but he doesn’t want to come.

None of the Salford guys are possible to offer contracts to, I’m guessing since they’re also on the board?

Still interested to hear what you have been doing with the staff 👀

I got Phelan as an Assistant, Solksjaer as a coach and Zlatan as a U18 coach. Want to bring in staff with a United connection and high rates on determination and discipline, through the different levels.

Want to change Murtough, but since I do all transfer deals and most contracts myself (I feel it usually results in bad contacts when I don’t do it myself) is there really a need for a DoF?

[Zeonflux]

Well after a difficult 1st half of the 1st season i eventually settled on a tactic and ended finishing 6th.

Made lots of changes to the squad as going forward the squad will be built around Hojlund, Rashford, Garnacho and Fernandes.

Outgoing:

Maguire - £15m = Tottenham, Lindelof - £15.75m Real Madrid, Varane - £60m - Al-Hilal, Eriksen - £22m - Newcastle, Malacia - £8.5m (rising to £10.25m) - Ajax, Casemiro - £85m - Al-Ahli. Still got a few more i want to move on specifically Sancho and Wan Bissaka.

Incoming:

Scalvini - £75m (£90m total), Shaqueel Van Persie - £14.5m, Joáo Neves - £60m (£65m total), Antonio Silva - £80m, Jesus Vazquez - £19m, Dionande - £44m (£49m total), Fresneda - £23m, Jorrel Hato - £24m (£26.5m total).

Almost all of those brought in are improvements or long term replacements for what we have or what we've sold, Vazquez being the exception as the squad got pissy after i sold Malacia about squad depth at LB and Hato wouldn't join at that time. He will probably be sold soon. Also looking to bring in a young GK as backup to Onana and will more than likely sell Altay as hes not really done that well when called upon.

Squad:

We've called up some of the youth players to the first team to bulk the squad out for the coming 2nd season.

SKa - Onana, Bayindir, Seimen (incoming from Stuttgart)

WBs - Dalot, Fresneda

BPDd - Diomande, Scalvini

BPDd - Martinez, Silva

WBa - Shaw, Hato

APs - Mount, Mainoo, Gore

BWMd - Nevez (need to get a backup)

Wa - Antony, Diallo, Pellistri

AMa - Bruno, Hannibal, Hansen-Aaroen

IFs - Rashford, Garnacho

Pa - Hojlund, Van Persie

[sedge11]

It's taken a few days but the summer is done and season 2 is started.

So Varane went to Saudi as they came back in for him. Lindelof and Mctominay barely played for me and were easy sales. Martial left on a free.

Sancho was an absolute pain to sell, he rejected Spurs, Newcastle, AC Milan and one or 2 other teams, before finally leaving to Atletico, in which he will join permanently for 29 mil in total.

So on the ins, I was all set to sign Antonio Silva, but after seeing alot of you buying him, it kind of put me off him and I wanted to be different so in comes Tapsoba.

Toney comes in as a back up to Hojlund, Tchouameni was a great steal from Real, as they barely played him in the first season, and the future of our midfield will be him and Mainoo. Van Persie and Kayode both straight back out on loan, Kayode went back to Fiorentina as part of the transfer.

Now Eric Garcia was signed because Rashford was whinging about the lack of depth at CB, so I signed him and Rashford still wasn't happy even though we have 4 CB's plus I kept Evans around due to being a model citizen, so that will see him on the bench for a little while. 

I spent more than I planned too, but the 2 youngsters were a no brainer, Kayode will be my 1st choice RB when he returns, and Tchouameni wasn't an expected signing.

Unlike season 1 we have had a good start.

That's 2 Wembley victories in a row against Man City without conceding.

Our champs league run looks like this.

[jonnyfresh]

is any one else making massive losses each year?

[davehanson]

What is the situation with the board/takeover? Do the Glazers stay in charge or do Utd get a takeover fairly quickly?

[Stevmon]

1 hour ago, davehanson said:

What is the situation with the board/takeover? Do the Glazers stay in charge or do Utd get a takeover fairly quickly?

Hopefully the purchase goes through quickly! Would be a great bonus if it was done before full release 👀 

But winter update is much more likely.

[davehanson]

2 hours ago, Stevmon said:

Hopefully the purchase goes through quickly! Would be a great bonus if it was done before full release 👀 

But winter update is much more likely.

No, I mean in game.

Is the club up for sale in game, do they get taken over, or are the Glazers happy to keep the club

 

[Stevmon]

1 hour ago, davehanson said:

No, I mean in game.

Is the club up for sale in game, do they get taken over, or are the Glazers happy to keep the club

 

Gotcha…had a takeover 3-4 years into my FM23 save with United, guessing that will only increase in fm24.

[sedge11]

2 hours ago, davehanson said:

No, I mean in game.

Is the club up for sale in game, do they get taken over, or are the Glazers happy to keep the club

 

So far in the 2nd season, no mention of a takeover.