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Season 2035/36 Review - The Perfect Season? La Liga - 1st, 102 points Copa Del Rey - Winners Supercopa - Winners UEFA Super Cup - Winners Champions League - Winners Yes oh yes oh yes oh yes! We lost a handful of games during the season (away to Real/Barca in the league), but otherwise we were comfortable this season. I did feel like we lacked a bit of depth off the bench in the forward line (in terms of raw quality), as our youngsters were a bit of a step down from the forward line. Jon Ibanez came back around Christmas time from a 9-10month ACL injury and my goodness was he impressive on his return, notching 15 goals and 10 assists as an inverted winger on support from 18 league games, with equally impressive contributions in Europe. In the Champions League we had a pretty friendly league draw and qualified at a canter, we then beat Leipzig comfortably in the round of 16 6-1 on aggregate, before beating Man City 3-0 on aggregate. We then took on Spurs in the semi final - the first leg at San Mames was comfortable, we took an early 1-0 lead and then they went down to 10 men about 20mins in, and we ended up comfortable 4-0 winners at home. The second leg at their place was a bit different, they really took us apart in probably the only game all season we were outplayed, they won 2-0 and honestly it could have been more, so I was happy to get into the final without a second leg bottle job! In the final we took on domestic rivals Barcelona, who have built a really good team now. A tight game but we didn't give up many chances and created the best one - Gorrotxategi getting the winner. A couple of our youngsters, noteably Inaki Goni and Ismael Lafuente didn't really come on that well this season which contributed to the lack of forward quality off the bench, especially as we lost Aizpurua for large chunks of the season too. To fix this I've spunked 135million GBP on Julen Diez from Stuttgart - he came through the Alaves academy before moving to Man City, I didn't pick him up at the time due to the quality we had coming through at the time, but he barely featured for Man City over 4 years or so before moving on to Stuttgart, where he's become a key player. Now, a resolute personality, super consistent and enjoyer of big matches he's an ideal addition to my forward line. Inaki Iturrino was our other big highlight this season as he performed well off the bench and is improving well, so he sticks around to complete my forward line. So 3 consecutive Champions League titles now is really something - this team is impressive. We still lack top, top players in central defence, goalkeeper and defensive midfield, but the players we have in those positions are pretty effective and our immense forward line just gets the job done.

Some good youngsters @MattyC78! I've not had any poached this year I don't think, maybe 1? Certainly not that many anyway, and interesting they're being poached by smaller clubs. I'm not sure what prompts that happening but maybe someone knows about it

Also Aupa Athletic! I hope everyone was able to catch the Copa final over the weekend. Very stressful but so good in the end.

I can't comment on Vivian in the new DB sadly, I've not explored it with a full save (I started my save during the beta). I certainly don't share your newgen goalkeeper experience haha, you can check previous posts I've made on this thread. I didn't get a single Basque newgen keeper in my entire DB with La Liga level potential for the first 7 or 8 years of my save, but I'm blessed with attacking talent... probably just variance/luck of the draw.

Yeah he's on my save, may have had a boost in the last update potentially. He's pretty good in my save he was on my list of potential options around the 1.5-2* CA, had a really good attribute spread, he's a good suggestion for sure if he has more potential that he showed in my save or in the new db update, or just as a good back up

You can find my save file here: https://filetransfer.io/data-package/KsTiiifp#link The only odd thing I've done in this save is due to the insane lack of goalkeepers who came through, I was beginning to wonder if there was legimately a bug - from the game start through until 31/32 season when Alberto Etxabe came through my youth intake in late March, there wasn't a single newgen Basque goalkeeper who had the ability OR potential to be a decent La Liga keeper. At that point Simon was rapidly declining and other options who start the game such as Remiro etc were all too old also. My only option as a stop gap was Julen Agirrezabala who I resigned for a ludicrous fee just to give me a couple more years of having a playable keeper, he came back in summer 2032. Outside of Agirrezabala there were 1-2 2* CA options and the rest were absolutely miles off. I'd kept an eye on another keeper Jesus Valencia, who had been at Gernika and Lugo and was considered a top Liga 2 keeper, but he moved to a Saudi club the year before in 2031 and was miles off it according to my scouts, I've just re-scouted him and he's a 1.5* player despite looking half decent on the limited knowledge view on this save file). Agirrezabala was by far the better option despite the crazy fee, and Valencia was someone I could think about later if I was desperate. In January 2032 a couple months before Etxabe appeared and I bought Agirrezabala back, I decided to sign a spanish keeper who was 16 who looked decent enough to be first team capable in the future, just as a fall back option in case the situation with keepers continued to decline, with the view I'd only use him if there were no viable other options. Worth noting at this time also Agirrezabala was a key player at Bournemouth and they wouldn't consider selling him under any circumstances. He played in the B team a bit and I gave him a few first team appearances in dead rubber games/off the bench/due to injuries while Julen Agirrezabala was my number 1 to allow him to develop a bit (he was very young and a big step down from Agirrezabala at the time). I didn't want to use him at all but the situation was dire so I wanted to at least give myself an option I could consider down the track. I was basically down to the prospect of 1.5/2* goalkeeper options within a year or so who had hit their peak already. Fortunately Etxabe did appear so now in summer 2035, although Etxabe is my best keeper at 2* CA, I at least have a bit of potential there and a couple options who will be decent longer term. In the end I couldn't stick the idea of breaking my own rules for the sake of having a decent keeper, and Etxabe (although a way off first team level) looked like he would be decent enough in the future, so I sold the keeper for near enough what I paid in summer 2034, committed to my rules and throwing Etxabe in at number 1 despite his 1.5* CA - his name is Jose Angel Blanco and he's at Spurs now not getting any game time, I don't consider him as someone I would ever repurchase so I just ignore him on player search. If you search for Basque keepers now, you have him, Jesus Valencia (previously mentioned above) and then the rest is utter garbage. My situation now at keeper is still pretty bad, Etxabe is number 1, he is 2* current ability, but I also have Carlos Etxeberria who is 2* and consistent with a nice attribute spread (he's improved well but always had low potential), and then Iker Zubillaga is my other back up - he's just had a really positive loan spell and looks set to be a long term squad member. I had a decent looking keeper in my last intake also.

Id say that's a bug to be reported on the bug forum honestly. That message is supposed to be much shorter term

Yep no problem. I'll sort that out next time I'm at my laptop

2034/35 Season Review - Defending European Champions La Liga - 1st, 105 points (new La Liga record) Copa Del Rey - Lost in final to Real Madrid Supercopa - Lost in semi-final (penalties) to Atletico UEFA Super Cup - Winners, beat Juventus in final Champions League - Winners! An excellent season as defending European Champions, firstly taking the Super Cup curtain raiser vs Juventus comfortably. We blitzed La Liga, winning 35 and losing 3 to score 105 points. Our losses game away to Valencia in the penultimate game of the season (heavily rotated team), and losses away to Barca and home to Real Madrid in games which could have gone either way. In the Copa Del Rey we had a superb semi final comeback against Barcelona to set up a final with Real, however superstar Julen Aguirre got himself sent off in the first half and we went on to lose 1-0. We rotated in the Supercopa and although being the better side, eventually lost on penalties in the semi final vs Atletico. The Champions League defence was an impressive one, topping the league phase with 7 wins and 1 draw, the draw being away at Arsenal on the final day when we rotated our team, with wins vs Man City, Juve, PAOK, Rennes, Sporting CP, Club Brugge and Bayern (the latter a 5-1 pasting). Straight into the round of 16 and a draw against Juventus - a 0-0 at their place set us up nicely for the home leg and we saw them away 4-1. We then met Arsenal in the quarter final, a team who have caused us some issues in the past... the first leg at San Mames was comfortable and we scored 5 - unfortunately a late penalty made it 5-2 to give them a sniff at home if things went their way. However we held strong in the second leg despite being the worse team on the night, 0-0 through until the last minute when they got a late consolation goal giving us an overall 5-3 victory. We then moved onto a semi final against Man City - a tough first leg at their ground saw us run back to San Mames with a fortunate 2-3 defeat - it could have been worse so I was very happy to be in touching distance for the home leg. We then took control in the second leg with two first half goals to see us lead on aggregate, only for an equaliser against the run of play meaning we went to extra time. It came down to a bizarre lobbed header from young star Ismael Lafuente to see us take the lead, and the win in extra time. We then had a final against Bayern, meaning we had the odd coincidence of playing every knockout round against a team we'd played against in the league phase. We'd battered them 5-1 at San Mames in that phase, so I was optimistic going into the final, even with a squad plagued by injuries - over the last few months of the season we'd lost our starting keeper for 4 months, star player Jon Ibanez to a cruciate ligament tear for 9 months, Jon Martin (first back up in the forward areas) for a month (return date a few days after the Champions League final) and Unax Urrutia (starting RB) with a similar injury/timeline. We also lost Julen Aguirre, our other star winger on the opposite side to Ibanez, and he was set to return a few days before the final. We'd also lost our backup LB, back up striker for 3-4 weeks in April, and Juan Etxabe our starting striker for a month in April, meaning during the semi finals and league run in we had hardly any options to rotate players. By the time the final rolled around we were still missing Ibanez (out until Christmas), Unax Urrutia and Jon Martin, but we were otherwise mostly healthy... just a couple players still not fully match fit. We kicked off the final to an immediate highlight - Alex Etxebarria our right back running down the line, beating his man and putting in a low cross which was turned in for an own goal 16 seconds into the final! We didn't look back from there and despite them equalising midway through the first half, we went on to win 4-1 and defend our Champions League crown! Squad Building No transfers of significance really, we did let Mikel Guruzeta, Isaac Gomez, Carlos Saenz and Jorge Murillo all leave as they were surplus to requirements - decent money for them but given we have 600million GBP in the bank I don't worry about transfer fees and just try to find good moves for my players now. By far the most significant departure though was on a free transfer - we have said goodbye to Nico Williams who has just turned 33 - he hasn't declined much (he has a bit but he was still a 4* player), however he wanted star player status still on a multi year new deal and he's not a starter anymore due to the insane level of Etxabe, Gorrotxategi, Aguirre and Ibanez - we allowed him to leave on a free after 17 odd years at the club and 452 league appearances. A wonderful servant to the club. That means we now have no real players left at the club - a full team of newgens. Gk - Alberto Etxabe (Academy graduate, from Barakaldo) Iker Zubillaga (Academy graduate, from Vitoria) Carlos Etxeberria (Tenerife academy, from Estella-Lizarra in Navarro) Rb - Unax Urrutia (Academy graduate, from Portugalete) Alex Etxebarria (Academy graduate, from Galdakao) Lb - Eneko Cordoba (Arenas Club graduate, from Getxo) Ander Santos (Academy graduate, from Azpeitia) Cb - Aitor Etxebarria (Academy graduate, from Bilbao) Josu Blasco (Academy graduate, from Leioa) Josu Jimenez (Academy graduate, from Sestao) Sergio Goti (Academy graduate, from Vitoria) Dm - Javi (Academy graduate, from Bilbao) Aitor Aketxe (Academy graduate, from Bilbao) Jon Castro (Academy graduate, from Sestao) Ibon Marin (Academy graduate, from Basauri, also French Basque) Am - Aitor Gorrotxategi (Academy graduate, from Galdakao) Xabi Aizpurua (Academy graduate, from Vitoria) Rw - Jon Ibanez (Academy graduate, from Erandio) Jon Martin (Academy graduate, from Bilbao) Lw - Julen Aguirre (Real Sociedad graduate, from San Sebastian, also French Basque) Ismael Lafuente (Eibar graduate, from Eibar) Cf - Juan Etxabe (Academy graduate, from Ermua) Inaki Goti (Academy graduate, from Bilbao)

Honestly you could go either way with it. I prefer to keep them in the youth team until they turn 17 personally, I don't like them being in the c team. Once they've turned 17 they go into one of 3 pathways: 1) elite talent OR someone who needs mentoring, they go to the first team and are made available for B/c as appropriate 2) good enough for B team but not someone I think will be a future first team player go to the B team 3) the rest go to the c team

I think the researcher has a tendency to give a lot of -7 to -7.5 potential spots, with the odd -8. This isn't necessarily wrong in a literal sense, but it often plays out badly in game. Those -7 to -7.5 guys more often than not hit the lower ends of those potentials when the game is loaded and a precise value is assigned, or they hit the higher end but then it's a dice roll as to whether they get the hidden attributes to achieve the potential (as often they have 0 values for professionalism, amibition etc in the DB), so you end up with a youth academy full of players hitting between 110-135 ish, which is never going to be a viable first team player. If you then get one or two -8 potential players on top, but one of them gets loaded in with poor hidden attributes as well, all of a sudden your pipeline is non-existant. Unai Gomez, Adu Ares, Prados, Paredes are all good examples of players who have historically always been basically useless in an Athletic save on FM, but this year all of them are somewhat significant in the first team squad. Spoiler below contains factual CA/PA info from the 24.3 database (most recent) for the purpose of this discussion thus HEAVY SPOILER WARNING:

Just had a look at the updated DB in game, some nice improvements to Adu Ares, Unai Gomez and Benat Prados (not sure there was enough improvement on Prados to be honest) and some other rebalancing on players elsewhere, but a bit dissapointed that Gorka Guruzeta and Aitor Paredes particularly didn't see much improvement following their performances this season having been starting most weeks

On the plus side usually Basque youth development is quite strong, so hopefully there's plenty of options around for you signings wise

What a name

Yes but honestly not that important in my opinion - if you load all of Spain and the main European leagues you are getting everyone relevant anyway

Obviously a bit dependent on computer speed! I generally run all the top European leagues (the more you have active the more competitive European competition is), with most of them view only below the top division (I shoot for about 8-10 counties) Medium database size, plus I run some south American leagues also. Ultimately the more you can run the better. Id never recommend using a small number of leagues and a large database... Makes the transfer market too quiet

Their personality is really important - they need high professionalism in particular, ambition too and determination also (but professionalism is most important for development). If they don't have the right hidden attributes/personality they will struggle. Mentoring and a good overall squad personality will help improve this. If they have the right personality then you need good facilities and coaching - focus on training until they're legitimately ready for first team football, but from 18 onwards they NEED game time, and the game time needs to be at an appropriate level to challenge them.

2033-34 Update - Athletic Club vs Real Madrid For the second edition of FM in a row I have a ludicrous rivalry with Real Madrid. For those who didn't follow, or don't remember, in FM23 my rivalry with Real Madrid got to a point where they didn't lose a league game for 2.5 years, and we still shared the La Liga titles over that period - it was epic. We are heading back that way again this year. Our season started with a tough run of La Liga games: Real Sociedad (A), Barcelona (H), Real Madrid (A) - we beat Real Sociedad but then Barcelona grabbed a 1-1 draw at San Mames (a sign of things to come from them as them embarked on a really strong season), and we then lost our first tie of the season against Real Madrid 2-1. A tough loss after they beat us in the CL final and Club World Cup QF at the tail end of last season. After that we hit our stride - a run of 12 consecutive wins scoring plenty of goals made me very optimistic for the season, however Real Madrid were more than matching us stride for stride - by the time we reached the halfway point of the season Real Madrid had won 17, lost 1. While we were only 2 points behind. We then faced Real in the Supercopa final, a chance to get revenge for the recent final losses.... but no - a 3-1 defeat made me feel pretty down about our chances of overhauling them in any competition this season. We then lost again in La Liga to Barcelona to fall 5 points behind Real and I was fearing the worst. But then things changed, starting with a 5-0 battering of Real Sociedad at San Mames, and a 4-0 beating of Osasuna. January was busy with cup ties - a win over Valencia in the Copa Del Rey quarter final gave us a favourable semi final tie against Valladolid, which we won comfortably. In the other semi final, Real Madrid of course - beating Getafe 15-1 on aggregate (lol) - another final showdown awaited us in April. February and March brought win after win in the league, and a tough draw in the Champions League round of 16 against Arsenal. While we continued to win, so did Real Madrid and the gap at the top of the table remained the same. I noticed also at this stage Barcelona were not going away - having played a few more games, they were still right in the mix although we would go ahead by winning our games in hand. Our match up with Arsenal was a repeat of last seasons CL semi final. We put in a wonderful performance at The Emirates to win 3-2, after being 2-0 down, and then finished the job with a 2-0 victory at San Mames...the 3-2 away was the one that really convinced me we were one of the best teams in Europe, as coming back from 2-0 down away from home against a top side like that is no easy feat. We continued to win in the league throughout March, with a Champions League quarter final vs PSG and Copa Del Rey final in April to look ahead to. This season was either going to be the banishing of a lot of ghosts, or the death of this save for me - having lost to PSG in our first Champions League final a few years ago, drawing them in the QF was a big deal. We played the first leg at home and took a deserved 2-0 lead thanks to a couple of late goals from Nico Williams - one of the biggest strengths we had this season was our quality off the bench. We went to Parc Des Princes and played really well, taking a 2-1 victory and seeing off PSG in wonderful fashion. Next up - a Copa Del Rey final against Madrid. I was conscious that they'd already beaten us in the Supercopa final, we had them here in this one, and they'd also won their Champions League quarter final. Combined with neither team slipping up in the league this felt like it was heading towards a real showdown. We needed to start landing some blows and we did, 2mins into the final Julen Aguirre gave us a 1-0 lead, and we never looked back - in fact we suffocated them. They ended the game with them having 3 shots on goal, 1 on target. A 1-0 win and we were Copa Del Rey champions again. We smelt blood in the water - Real had some fixture congestion and after a first leg win against Napoli in the CL SF, they had to go to Elche two days later with a tired team... they lost 1-0... was this it? Were they about the crumble? Well not in the Champions League anyway as they saw off Napoli to book their place in the final. However that took it's toll, as they then lost away at Valencia in the next game - suddenely we'd gone from 5 points back to being right on them (despite a draw we had vs Alaves, and our next game... Real Madrid at San Mames. Barcelona were still there too - they'd won every league game since the start of Feb, but were still a few points behind due to the unreal form of us and Real. We had also comfortably dispatched Porto in our Champions League semi final too by now - apart from a bit of a scare in the first 30mins of the second leg this felt never in doubt - we won 3-0 at San Mames, but they scored 2mins into the second leg and could/should have scored again in the first 30mins, but we held on and then turned the tide, winning 3-1 and 6-1 on aggregate. Once again we lost Julen Agirrezabala to injury in early May - the Champions League final was 3 weeks away and he was borderline to make it. Our next best keeper? A 2* player in Carlos Etxeberria rated as a 'good Liga 2 player' (albeit with a solid attribute spread and high consistency rating). To be fair, Agirrezabala is only 2.5 stars so it's not much of a downgrade - we're still struggling for keepers. At this stage in the league: Barcelona - P36, won 30, draw 5, lost 1 - 95 points Athletic Club - P34, won 30, draw 2, lost 2 - 92 points Real Madrid - P34, won 30, lost 4 - 90 points Real Madrid at San Mames was our chance to twist the knife, and we did. We really did. A 5-1 BATTERING, and Real Madrid were shook - they also lost Vini Jr and Endrick to injury late in the game. We then beat Betis 6-2, a 1-0 win against Espanyol followed, and a 2-0 win against Valencia on the final day saw us take the title. Barcelona kept winning, and they draw 2-2 with Real on the final day to secure 2nd spot - a big improvement from them this season. That made it Athletic Club 2 (La Liga, Copa Del Rey) - 1 Real Madrid (Supercopa). With a Champions League final to come. A really competitive title race - hard to believe Real Madrid came third with 97 points haha. Carlos Etxeberria did well in goal over that period - he's a reliable back up. The Champions League final, to be played in Kyiv was to be the final showdown, could we put Real Madrid to the sword and comprehensively see them off this season, or would they take another final from us and continue our CL final dissapointments? They were missing Endrick still but Vini Jr was fit enough for the bench, surely this was our chance? Julen Agirrezabala was back in full training the day before the game - aside from some tired legs we were good to go - quite a few of the team were getting jaded, but so were Real. We kick off and there's an early highlight... a corner to Athletic Club - delivered by Jon Ibanez to the back post and Eneko Cordoba is there to head home, 1-0 3 minutes in! Is this going to be another battering?? Sadly not - Real Madrid kept it tight and equalised in the 42nd minute. We had been the better side but this game could definitely go either way, and after losing the previous year final on penalties I was still a bit traumatised. A positive team talk at half time and we were back in the ascendancy in the second half - and then a penalty! Jon Ibanez steps up to take and hammers it home to restore our 1 goal lead in the 54th minute. We kept Real Madrid largely subdued and managed to see the game out, with one scary moment leading to a great save from Agirrezabala. And we did it, Champions of Europe! After two lost finals, we finally did it! And we deserved it too, the best team in Europe this season. A treble! The trophy cabinet so far: Champions League - 2034 (runners up 2033, 2031) La Liga - 2026, 2029, 2032, 2033, 2034 Copa Del Rey - 2024, 2030, 2034 Supercopa - 2026, 2027, 2029, 2030, 2031 The Players: A few specific shout outs first of all: I've shouted out Juan Etxabe and Aitor Gorrotxategi in recent posts, however these 3 deserve some love - our key players. Squad wise we've trimmed a bit for the 34/35 season. We allowed Mikel Guruzeta (a wonderful servant) to depart for 46 million - with the emergence of Aitor Aketxe in midfield, and a young left back coming through to cover Cordoba at left back we didn't have much need for Guruzeta anymore. I really like this guy, but it was time to allow him to move - he just lacked the height I wanted in midfield. I was happy to keep him as back up to Cordoba and loan out our left back prospect, but he was going to get unsettled and I couldn't be bothered to deal with it. We then let young prospect Jorge Murillo depart - he looked like he could be a key midfielder for us, but he just never kicked on, and a broken leg hampered his progress. A good loan last season nearly convinced me to keep him, but it felt clear he was not going to displace our current midfielders, and he was another short one like Guruzeta - he moved to Napoli on a cut price deal. We then let Isaac Gomez go - he looked a really good prospect, and in any other save he'd be part of the squad, but our ludicrous forward talents meant we didn't need him as back up. He's moved to Aston Villa. Finally we let go of Gaizka Alboniga-Menor for 44million to Tottenham. A another great servant for us, but again just no room for him. I have retrained Jon Castro to play defensive midfield as a DLP to give us another space for young attacking mids in the squad, and he's our first choice in that position. We have Ibon Marin as back up - he has some issues but is just really effective in our system, and younger also, so he stays. The squad (with some embedded screen shots for players not recently featured): GK - Alberto Etxabe, Julen Agirrezabala, Carlos Etxeberria (Iker Zubillaga out on loan) Clearly this is a problem position. My plan this year was to give Julen/Carlos a rotation - Julen is reliable as is Carlos, and Carlos will benefit from the minutes to maximise his potential - I don't think he gets much better at this stage. Alberto would represent the B team and be third choice. However an early season 6 week injury for Julen convinced me to just throw caution to the wind and throw Alberto in - he looks tidy and I hope he improves quickly. I feel like Alberto with Zubillaga and Carlos backing him up is our long term solution. RB - Unax Urrutia, Alex Etxebarria Two fantastic options here, Alex is a bit more defensive in his approach, Unax is a standout wing back (he came through our academy as a winger and I retrained him) CB - Aitor Etxebarria, Josu Blasco, Jose Jimenez, Carlos Saenz (Sergio Goti out on loan) Aitor and Josu are our first choice pairing - weak in the air but strong on the ground. Jose Jimenez and Carlos are better in the air, so we do use them to mitigate teams with big aerial threats as best we can. LB - Eneko Cordoba, Ander Santos Eneko Cordoba is a world class full back and will be our main man for a long time - Ander Santos looks a very capable prospect who will be his back up. DM (DLP (S)) - Jon Castro, Ibon Marin Jon Castro is an AM retrained to play DM. I identified two key issues with our defensive midfield - 1) We needed a superb ball player in there to play out from the back and get a key pass through to the front 4 - when we played two midfielders not so strong on the ball we struggled against top teams who pressed super high. Jon Castro is our man who can pass and dribble through anything to play the ball out from the back successfully. Marin is very good on the ball also and a very tidy DLP. The second issue was height.. DM (DM(D)) - Aitor Aketxe, Javi Aitor Aketxe has become our functional midfield partner for Castro - well rounded and decent on the ball, but TALL. Javi is good defensively but is prone to being caught in possession and doesn't offer much aerial support for defending in the air. AM - Aitor Gorrotxategi, Xabi Aizpurua Not a lot to be said here - Gorrotxategi is quality (no longer inconsistent, yay), and Aizpurua has been an incredibly effective second choice, with room for him to grow. RW (IW) - Jon Ibanez, Ismael Lafuente Ibanez is super important for us - he plays as an IW but with more risky, direct passing selected. He's a creator with an eye for goal also. Ismael Lafuente - see below. LW (IF) - Julen Aguirre, Jon Martin Julen Aguirre is a natural first choice inside forward a world class player. Jon Martin is a top tier player also, and is basically our first off the bench if we need to turn a game around - he's consistent and loves big matches. CF (AF) - Juan Etxabe, Nico Williams (Inaki Goti out on loan) Etxabe leads the line, Nico Williams (a bit like Martin) can fill in multiple positions across the front line. Next season Nico will leave on a free at 33 years old, and Inaki will be a more natural advanced forward back up. We also have to introduce potentially the best prospect we've had - Ismael Lafuente - he's improved a decent amount but he was already a 2* player when he arrived to Eibar on intake day, so he came in with a very high current ability immediately - he's skipped the B team largely and come straight into the first team squad for the most part, albeit he will play a few B team games this season so I can share game time around for our top players. You can find screens of our other new players embedded above. As mentioned previously the big issue we had with this squad came down to: 1) After Simon declined, a lack of goalkeeper quality 2) Centre backs who were good but not great, with limited aerial ability 3) Defensive mids who were good but not great, with limited aerial ability. We couldn't easily resolve 1, but Julen Agirrezabala is at least a very reliable option. For 2 and 3, Josu Blasco and Aitor Etxeberria weren't suddenly going to get a few inches taller, but they have improved as players and offer a very solid centre back pairing. In defensive midfield, this is where we've made the biggest improvement - retraining Jon Castro to be our DLP has been a masterstroke - having that type of ball playing quality working the ball out of defense is so important to our system. We then needed to pair him with someone who has a bit of height, but also decent ball playing abilities - Javi did not progress really at all from about 19 years of age, and he's another small guy. Aitor Aketxe has been a key influence, even if he's not the best overall player - he just has the right attributes for what we needed. I've had a few weeks off work and will be slowing down with the updates now

1) ensure release clause is insanely high 2) reject offers 3) in the resolution chat with the player, tell them how influential they are and hope they are happy with that. If unhappy, dismiss them/tell them it's not happening. Alternatively tell them a fee that's acceptable if you think it could be unachievable for the buyer but it's more risk. 4) continue rejecting offers 5) if squad come to you backing up the player, or team leaders, tell them you don't want to weaken the team. If they disagree, then you agree to disagree and end the conversation. 6) wait for transfer window to close and interest to subside. 7) once interest is gone, if required/possible renew contract. Don't let contract go within 24 months of expiry

Yeah newgan facepack

I can't speak on the wider database, but I have Volker Kersting... model citizen with good stats. Personality is super important, and I think their preferred formation can impact too, alongside their stats

Yeah so much talent in the forward areas, and wing backs are good but all the key defensive areas are awful haha

2032/33 Update - Another Champions League Final La Liga - Winners! 99 points, Real Madrid on 97 Copa Del Rey - Lost in final to Barcelona Supercopa - Lost in final to Real Madrid Champions League - See below.... Club World Cup - Lost in QF to Real Madrid So this team is finally starting to come together - we have some balance issues in terms of a lack of true world class quality at GK, CB and DM, however there's other stuff starting to come through for us. For years this team has suffered from two main areas - 1) A lack of height and size/strength in the air and 2) Inconsistency and a fear of big matches. We've been able to flat track bully La Liga and win a good number of cups, but especially in the Champions League eventually our inconsistency hits us and we take a battering off someone at a key moment. I'm starting to see some of these areas sort themselves out now. Juan Etxabe is now the main man leading the line - he is a god as far as I'm concerned, one of those rare FM players that is just remarkably effective. In Juan Etxabe we have an incredibly consistent advanced forward who can score every type of goal... 18 off the ball and 18 finishing, 16 pace/acceleration, 16 flair, 16 jumping reach... whereever you put the ball for this guy, to feet, the head etc, he can score, and does... frequently. He's ultra consistent and enjoys big matches. Prior to this we had Aitor Gorrotxategi leading the line. Now I love Aitor Gorrotxategi... he is a wonderful man who does a lot of charity work. Unfortunately he's always been inconsistent (per attribute, you can see above). However his consistency that used to be really terrible has improved a bit with age and he is now only fairly inconsistent... he's also developed a love for big matches which is handy. Now he is a physical monster but in a slightly different way to Etxabe - he lacks in height and can't lead the line in such a complete way as Etxabe does, but he does have great vision and good passing instead. When he was up front, too often he would drop 6.2-6.4 ratings and miss chances when I really needed him to come up big for the team. In our system now, I've been able to deploy him as an AM(A) offset from Etxabe, this allows Gorrotxategi to use his physical abilities and rounded game to influence, without being the main person required to score goals. His improvements in consistency are showing and he is getting better and better. Alongside them up front, we have Julen Aguirre, a world class inside forward, and Jon Ibanez who is a bit slower and plays more of a creator role, with some great back ups to boot. Etxabe is the key though, an aerial presence we so desperately needed. Behind them we lack the quality - a range of CB and DM options who are good La Liga players - mainly good on the ground but poor in the air (our starting CBs have 11 and 13 jumping reach). We need some size badly - a big physical CB would be the dream, but alas we do not have this at the moment, so we go with what we have. To win the Champions League with our team over the last 5 years or so I'd say would have been difficult, requiring a bit of luck. We had one season where we reached the final but got pumped by PSG, but otherwise always dropped a stinker at some point. We had too many young players who were inconsistent, or older players who disliked big matches. This is changing now - our initial newgen options are now 25 years old, and with that comes improved consistency. Our newer newgens coming through like Etxabe are mentally stronger and more consistent, and I finally feel like we're getting to a place where we should be thinking about a Champions League each season as the goal. That brings us to this season. A La Liga win (just) over Real Madrid was a great reward, however they beat us in the Supercopa final and we lost the Copa Del Rey final to Barcelona. This meant the domestic trophies were shared between the big 3 - no real complaints here - Real Madrid in particular are so strong. In the Champions League a superb group stage saw us finish 2nd and qualify straight into the last 16. We then had chance to exact revenge against Napoli who knocked us out last year - a first leg away saw us go down 1-0 thanks to a Khvaraskelia worldie - neither team created much in that one. We then battered them at San Mames but struggled to score, Alboniga-Menor opened the scoring just after half time to level the tie, and in the 87th minute Jon Martin scored the winner to avoid extra time. Following that we were drawn against Milan in the last 8 - a 3-1 victory at home in the first leg made me feel fairly comfortable going into the second leg, however we got absolutely battered at their place - we lost 1-0 to sneak through 3-2 on aggregate but honestly it should have been more... we could have lost this game badly. We then took on Arsenal in the semi final, again at home in the first leg. We won 1-0 at home thanks to Etxabe, and it could have been more, but ultimately I was happy to take a lead into the second leg. At The Emirates we took a very early lead thanks to a banger from Gorrotxategi in the 2nd minute, from there it was a fairly even game, but they came back into it with a goal on the stroke of half time to make it 1-1 on the night, they then added a second in the 77th minute to level the tie. Extra time was back and forth, unfortunately Julen Agirrezabala went off with a season ending injury in the 90th minute, leaving us with 18 year old third choice keeper Iker Zubillaga in goal as our other option was also injured already). We stayed strong and took the game to penalities. Up step Iker Zubillaga - the 18 year old is our least exciting of 3 young goalkeeper prospects I desperately need to develop, but that didn't stop him from saving 4 penalities in a row to win the shootout! Unreal! The final was vs our domestic rivals Real Madrid - they're an unbelievable team...usually neutral grounds they get the better of us, but we beat them at San Mames, so while having a familiar foe was somewhat comforting, I also know how difficult it is to beat them in cup finals at neutral grounds. We start the game really well and take an early lead via an Etxabe header - however the were the better side generally in the game and got an equaliser only 10minutes later via a long range effort. While they did have the slight edge on us in the game it wasn't one sided, and we hit the post in the 115th minute, and then had one blocked on the line 2 minutes later! They also had their chances but just couldn't convert...it went to penalities. The hero of the semi final Zubillaga was not in goal for this one, and in hindsight I wish I'd brought him on - we sadly lost the penalty shootout 4-3... absolutely gutted. While it was a very dissapointing season in that we lost 3 cup finals, we did at least pip Real Madrid to the league title. Overall I'm far more optimistic about this team, I feel like the transition to our newgens has now fully completed and we are mostly through the inconsistency phase. We have a solid group of players who can win stuff now, hopefully that Champions League title isn't far away as this is the longest it's taken me in an Athletic save for sure. In transfer news, this season we said goodbye to: Oihan Sancet - 400 league appearances What a legend! Sad to say goodbye to Oihan but it was time, I think next season may be the last for Nico Williams potentially. We welcome a few new newgens also to the team - Aitor Etxabe, Xabi Aizpurua, Alex Etxeberria and Carlos Etxeberria (I won't picture Carlos as he's a 2* back up keeper). GK - Julen Agirrezabala, Carlos Etxeberria, Iker Zubillaga RB - Unax Urrutia, Alex Etxeberria LB - Eneko Cordoba, Mikel Guruzeta CB - Aitor Etxeberria, Josu Blasco, Jose Jimenez, Carlos Saenz DM - Gaizka Alboniga-Menor, Ibon Marin, Aitor Etxabe, Javi RW - Jon Ibanez, Jon Castro LW - Julen Aguirre, Jon Martin AM - Aitor Gorrotxategi, Xabi Aizpurua CF - Juan Etxabe, Nico Williams In reality the front 4 are fairly interchangeable when rotating, Nico Williams for example fills in everywhere and Gorrotxategi would go into CF if Etxabe was injured. Now, those new newgens: His heading is poor, but with 15 jumping reach he offers something we really lack - a bit of height. I can see him being quite important for us in a DM role. Xabi Aizpurua looks to have a lot of potential, and has done well in his first team appearances this season. He lacks a bit physically but that could improve. Alex Etxeberria has come on leaps and bounds and is now a great back up for Urrutia at right back, allowing Nico Williams to move further up the pitch again. Goalkeeper wise, we're hanging on with Julen Agirrezabala, but I have a great prospect in the youth team playing for the B team this season. Hopefully next year he'll be ready.

Big Update! September 2032 My last update was the 29/30 season, so I've since done two further seasons and a summer transfer window, sitting now in September 2032. 30/31 Competitions: La Liga - 2nd, 86 points (Real Madrid winners) Copa Del Rey - Lost in QF to Real Betis Supercopa - Winners! Champions League - Lost in final to PSG Ahh our first Champions League final, and we sadly lost 3-1 to PSG. I said previously we probably needed a favourable draw to get to the final, and we did have one this one, however couldn't beat PSG in the final. It's a shame as we've played PSG previously and done really well, so I had high hopes, but we simply weren't good enough. A Supercopa win kept the trophy count rising though. 31/32 Competions: La Liga - 1st, 98 points Copa Del Rey - Lost in QF to Real Madrid Supercopa - Lost in SF to Real Madid Champions League - Lost in QF to Napoli Back on top of the league, but Real had the better of us in the cups. A really disappointing QF lost to Napoli, in the first leg at their stadium in the first half we managed to concede 3 goals and 2 penalties (both saved), and they still only racked up 1.85xG haha. We battered them in the second leg but only scored 2, and missed chances in the first leg also. We really should have made the semi Looking ahead in September 2032: We've had some squad turnover this summer with some legends leaving the club... I'd like to applaud: Unai Simon - 548 league appearances Dani Vivian - 442 league appearances Hugo Guillamon - 250 league appearances Aimar - 220 league appearances This summer really felt like the end of an era. Unai Simon at 35, I was hoping would manage another year or two but he had declined pretty badly, he was still ok but his performances in the second half of last season showed some signs of decline. I elected to take the opportunity to bring back Julen Agirrezabala as a stop gap while I brought a couple youth prospects through. I said previously we had an issue with GK's in my save - we finally have 2 semi decent newgens who I think are going to be good La Liga level in the future, one is my back up this season (probably the worst of the two, but at 18 he's closer to stepping in), while the other is only 16 and is in the U19s still. Agirrezabala was always very capable when he was with us before, so was a no brainer. I had to pay over the odds to get him back, but at this point in my save money is no object. I still have Sancet, but again decline is setting in, this may well be his last season with us and is now a squad rotation option. We nearly lost Nico Williams, but after some haggling I was able to renew his contract with 9 months to spare. Current Squad: GK - Julen Agirrezabala, Iker Alvarez, Iker Zubillaga RB - Nico Williams, Unax Urrutia LB - Eneko Cordoba, Mikel Guruzeta CB - Josu Blasco, Aitor Etxebarria, Jose Jimenez, Carlos Saenz DM - Alboniga-Menor, Javi, Jorge Murillo, Iban Marin RW - Jon Martin, Isaac Gomez LW - Julen Aguirre, Jon Ibanez AM - Jon Castro, Oihan Sancet CF - Aitor Gorrotxategi, Juan Etxabe *The three highlighted players were academy products of (all others are either original squad members or our academy players): Cordoba - Arenas Club Carlos Saenz - Osasuna Julen Aguirre - Real Sociedad Julen Aguirre and Cordoba are standout first XI players of course, but Carlos Saenz is fourth choice and may well be replaced like for like with a player from our academy later this season, so only 2 players purchased from outside the club. This is both a real positive for our academy production, but also shows our poor Osasuna and Sociedad intakes have been! *A note attached to a player denotes either a lack of consistency or issue with big matches, usually not both (I think one player has both). Consistency is always an issue with academy players, but it does improve over time, so just gotta give those kids time! As you can see, Eneko Cordoba is an absolute monster, and Julen Aguirre who I originally brought in thinking he would be a rotation option has just bloomed so well. Juan Etxabe is one I am very excited about, he's coming on leaps and bounds and could be the type of striker to fire us to Champions League glory. We are however a little lop-sided in terms of all of our strength being up front, wings and full backs - the core spine of the team (GK, CB, DM) is perhaps serviceable at best. Josu Blasco is a solid centre back, as is Alboniga-Menor in a DLP role, but we don't have a world class option in that defensive spine in any of the positions. I think going bold with our 4-2-4 is the best play, just to try to utilise our attacking players as best we can. I think next season with Sancet's likely departure, we will see Nico Williams moved back up into the attacking midfield area, as I have a good young RB ready to come in as deputy, and Unax Urrutia is ready to be first choice. Jon Martin will shift into the AM role when needed as a result, allowing Nico to play on the right wing, but my front 4 all rotate positions fairly regularly depending on need. The Trophy Cabinet so far: La Liga - 2026, 2029, 2032 Copa Del Rey - 2024, 2030 Supercopa - 2026, 2027, 2029, 2030, 2031 Overall I'm pleased with this. It's perhaps one of the weaker records I've had over the years at this stage of my Athletic saves, however given how ridiculous Real Madrid are I feel like it's a pretty respectable record. I really want that European trophy, but we've not had the quality just yet to do it.

Hey @Daveincid, firstly hope you're feeling better! I wanted to see if you had any thoughts on the games implementation of the profit and sustainability rules within the Premier League? Is this something you've tweaked with your financial changes? With the Jan transfer window so quiet due to teams supposedly running so tight on profit and sustainability rules, do you feel the game accurately represents this?