FM14: Real Madrid Club de Futbol

[Kevmcc87]

FM 14 Real Madrid Thread

Welcome to the club thread for Real Madrid in Football Manager 2014.

Club History

The Stadium

The Estadio Santiago Bernabéu is an all-seater football stadium in Madrid, Spain. It was inaugurated on 14 December 1947 and is owned by Real Madrid Club de Fútbol. It has a current capacity of 85,454 spectators.[1]

El Bernabéu, renamed in honour of their former chairman Santiago Bernabéu Yeste, is one of the world's most famous and prestigious football venues. It has hosted the European Cup final on four occasions: in 1957, 1969, 1980, and the UEFA Champions League Final in 2010.[4] The finals for the 1964 European Nations' Cup and the 1982 FIFA World Cup have also been held at the Bernabéu.

The Bernabéu is both the second-largest stadium in Spain and the second-largest stadium home to a top-flight European club, behind only Camp Nou, home to rival Barcelona. Overall, it is the third-largest stadium in Europe, behind Camp Nou and Wembley Stadium. In 2013, the redevelopment project which would increase the capacity from 85,000 to 90,000 was estimated to cost about 400 million €.

Finances

[Kevmcc87]

The Team

Goalkeepers

Ok, no matter what Messrs Mourinho and Ancellotti think, Casillas is the clear first choice here. Keep Lopez happy by giving him cup games and less important league games as he is also an awesome keeper so a great back-up to have. Unlike his more famous name-sake, Jesus aint a miracle worker so avoid having him between the sticks at all costs. This position doesn’t need touched for the foreseeable future but long term targets should be sounded out. Ter Stegen and De Gea spring to mind.

Defenders

The full-back positions are pretty much sorted with Marcelo and Coentrao on the left and Arbeloa and Carvajal on the right. My personal choices for first choice would be Marcelo and Carvajal. It should be noted however, that it is possible to cash in on Marcelo and get Alaba in for less money. Alaba probably is the better choice for long term so it is something to consider. Carvajal looks like he has the potential to be in the first team for years to come so I don’t really think another right back is needed as Arbeloa is a more than able deputy.

Centre-Half looks good with Ramos as your main man and either Varane or Pepe slotting in beside him. I feel Varane is the better choice as Pepe is aging and on high wages so if your looking to get rid of him, now could be the time. Alvarez Balanta and Doria would be good targets for the first window due to the lack of funds and also, they are both beasts. Nacho doesn’t look up to much, but keep him there for emergencies.

Midfielders

In defensive mid we have Xabi Alonso, Illarra and Casemiro. Xabi’s getting on a bit but still oozes class and the other two look to have the potential to take over when he leaves. Illarra especially looks good with good passing, positioning, team-work and work-rate.

Centre mid is a bit bare with only really Modric and Khedira. Look to get at least one decent youngster to rotate with them if you plan on keeping Khedira. Ward-Prowse has bags of potential so he would fit the bill. The other option is selling Khedira and bringing in someone else. Gundogan is a player that would fit in better with his more creative game due to the solid defensive mids we already have.

Attacking Mids

The strongest area of the team, talent wise, but if you get a couple of injuries you could be left short. Look at bringing in a couple of good talented youngsters to provide some depth. Ronaldo, Bale and Isco are my attacking trident with Di Maria, Jese (who has been a revelation in the IF Left role) , Morata and Modric providing cover. Possible signings could include Draxler, Julien Brandt and Maxemillian Meyer.

Attackers

For playing one up front, all that’s really needed here is a good quality U18. Benzema excels in the False 9 position allowing Ronaldo, Bale, Isco and co to run rampant. Look to give Morata and Jese game time too in order to aid their development. Possible signings for here should include Timo Werner, Aleksander Mitrovic and Gabriel Barbosa.

[Kevmcc87]

Tactics

Soooo, Tactics. First of all, let me start by saying that I am no tactical genius when it comes to the world of FM. In the past I've been rather lazy and prefered to download someone elses tactic as opposed to coming up with my own. However, this year I wanted to get into the business of creating and playing with my own and with the wealth of talent at my disposal as Real Madrid manager, here was no better time to do it.

I knew basically what I wanted and that was goals. And lots of them. I also wanted fast-paced attractive football with goals coming from all over the team, not just Ronaldo banging me in 40 or 50 a season. Here's what I cam up with.

It's a bit gung-ho but after 2 or 3 seasons in the beta and half a season in the full game, this is what I've settled on. The idea behind it is basically we might ship a few goals, but I'm gonna score more than you. It's served me well so far, but I've yet to complete a full season in the full game so more tweaks may be required. I'm hoping to write up a tactical overview in the tactics section once I've tested it further.

[Kevmcc87]

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[Kevmcc87]

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[Kevmcc87]

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[Kevmcc87]

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[Kevmcc87]

Hoping to get this finished over the next couple of days. Will post my first season review tomorrow. I hope there's gonna be a few Madristas posting in here so if your playing with Real, pop in and let me know how your doing

[TAYLORSAFC]

Nice thread i have nearly finished my 1st season with Madrid will post info once completed

[TAYLORSAFC]

finished 1st season was mixed

Came 2nd in the league getting beat by Barca by 1 point champions league was a disaster had a easy group so decided to field weaker team and came third in group with 10 points so qualified for Europa League which ended up winning against fierce rivals Athletico in final so that was quite good

Transfers in 1st season were -

Lewandowski 17m

Doria 8m

Draxler 31 m in Jan

Otemendi 13m in Jan

Transfers out-

Di Maria

Plus loaned a few like Morata and Casmerio

Lewandowski was a sucess scored 28 in all comps Ronaldo was top score in league with 27 Bale was my top Assits but never managed many goals from AMR inside foward will have to try to get more out of him

Just starting 2nd season

So far bought

Balanta 11m

Barbosa 3m

Insigne 25m

Sandro 11m

Out Marcelo for 32m and Pepe for 10m Marcelo was unhappy and Pepe was on high wage for a back up and contract only had a year left

Might sell Benzema for 28m as he was poor in 1st season thinking or bringing Rooney in can get him for under 20m just depends how much wage he wants

[FMnutter89]

Where do you all play Ronaldo im torn with playing him as a winger or as a striker

[TAYLORSAFC]

A play Ronaldo as AML as inside foward he started the season slow for me but then came good 2nd half maby was just getting used to my tatctics

[brento]

Im in January in first season currently 1st in La Liga only by 1 point though. Athletico Madrid in 2nd and Barcelona in 3rd.

Beat Athletico at home 3-0 and beat Barca away 2-1. In first knockout round of Champions League against Bayern Munich.

Cristiano Ronaldo has just won the Ballon D'or and world player of the year.

Only brought in Pedro Obiang from Sampdoria as cover for dm/cm.

Julian Brandt coming in the summer on a free and also Vintinho from CSKA Moskow.

[abhirup]

Guys how much transfer budget did you get in the second season?

And what are your transfers?

[TAYLORSAFC]

Think i had about 80m for 2nd season just starting 3rd now and have 140m its unreal how much money marrid make thru tv deal and stuff

Won league and cup in my 2nd season

Won league easy W30 D6 L2 beat Barca by 14 points also beat them in spanish cup final

got beat of PSG In semi final of Champs League

Current team for start of 3rd season is

GK Casillas / Alves/ Bardi

DR Carvajal / still need to buy backup rotation option

DC Ramos / Otemendi

DC Varane / Doria and Balanta on loan to gain experience as have not got enough room for Non EU Players

DL Sandro / Contreao

DM Bedner / Khedira

DM Modric / Sahin

AMR Bale / Insigne

AMC Isco / Modric

AML Ronaldo / Draxler

FC Suarez / Lewandowski / Barbosa

Still looking to strengthen certain areas of squad

[Tot]

Planning to start a Madrid save really soon so will be keeping a close eye on this thread to see what you guys do to the team.

[abhirup]

Hoping to get this finished over the next couple of days. Will post my first season review tomorrow. I hope there's gonna be a few Madristas posting in here so if your playing with Real, pop in and let me know how your doing

Have you finished your first season?

[eplkewell]

Do you guys do anything special with Ronaldo? I've been playing him as an IF on the left wing in a 4-5-1 and haven't really been able to get him to make an impact.

[gashead235]

Got this striker to come through my ranks and turn into a world beater, how would you guys reccomend i play him and what instructions should I give him?

[Dark Demon]

Complete Forward, the guy is great at everything, just let him do whatever he wants.

[lennon67]

How does Jose Rodriguez develop? I managed to sign him for £750k in January 1st season with Villarreal. I have tried to get him tutored a few times but nobody wants to work with him for some reason lol.

[Tommy_Styles]

How come this thread is so unpopular this year? I am considering to do a Galacticos save, but it's a shame there are not that many active managers here..

[Pato_Liam]

I've started with RM. Gonna go the Barcelona route and use players form La Fabrica

[Pato_Liam]

My record against Barcelona is atrocious. Won 1, Lost 7.

[xabiorbaiz]

Just started a game. Playing 4-2-3-1 Attacking, Balanced, Run at Defence, Pass into Space, Direct, Explot Flanks, High Tempo, Swap Positions...

GK: Casillas

RB: Carvajal

LB: Marcelo

CB: Varane

CB: Ramos

MC: Alonso / Modric (MC D)

MC: Illaramendi (MC D)

RW: Bale / Jese (Winger A)

LW: Ronaldo (Inside Forward A)

AMC: Isco (Treq)

CF: Morata (Advanced Forward)

Played 3 won 3 including win over Barca. Plan to use mostly Spanish players and focus on bringing through youth. Gunna ship out Benzema / Di Maria / Khedira / Contreao / Marcelo and replace with Spanish players in January.

[Tommy_Styles]

I've sold Arbeloa and brought in Alvarez Balanta (and brought Jese Rodriguez back from Castilla). Other than that it's the original team.

Any tips on which Spanish talents to go for? Especially interested in a creative CM and back-up for Carvajal.

[xabiorbaiz]

Gotta be Iniago Martinez and Pardo at Sociedad and Moreno at Sevilla... Muniain and Herrera at Athletic but personally i don't sign Basques from Athletic because I support them...

[Tommy_Styles]

Thanks! Pardo seems like he might be the right player for the job, or then Herrera if I can afford him.

[Pato_Liam]

3rd season in and we are very below par, not playing well but grinding out results but I want us to be dominating teams!! I'm only gonna sign players from La Fabrica I think.

[Tommy_Styles]

Finally managed to complete the first half of Season 1. We've been playing great and especially defense is rock solid, only conceding 8 in 17 league games. All matches combined, we've only conceded 1 in the past 14 games. Only concern so far is that Benzema is just not hitting the target and I am seriously considering selling him. Luckily C. Ronaldo has been on fire and Jese is only 3 goals behind.

Qualified with easy for the next round of CL (Unfortunately drew Juventus next..) and also progressed in the cup. In the league we are 2 points behind Barcelona (drew 0-0 away against them) and 12 points clear of 3rd spot.

Now I have 52 million to spend plus whatever I receive if I decide to sell Benzema, Di Maria and/or Diego Lopez. Seriously considering splashing out on a world class midfielder to take our game to the next level.

[FMnutter89]

What formation and team instructions would you recommend for madrid

[enders357]

Just taken over Madrid in November 2016 are three successful years with Tottenham. I walked in to a squad of extremely unhappy players and had to shift out Isco, Marcelo and a few others and build my own team in January. Luckily they had a huge budget and already signed a couple of top players (Sergio Aguero and Christian Eriksen - which, ironically, I'd been pretty unhappy about a few months earlier!). I brought in Juan Bernat, Matthias Ginter, Koko, Bentaleb, Dorian Rotariu and Lucas Ocampos - some for the first 11 and some to flesh out an ageing squad.

Anyway, this is my team - which has gone on to storm the league and reach the CL and Copa Del Rey final...

GK Casillas (SK - S)

RB Carvajal (CWB -A)

CB Ramos/Ginter (CD - D)

CB Varane/Zouma (CD-D)

LB Bernat (CWB-A)

DM Illarmendi (RGA - S)

CM Eriksen (AP -A)

CM Modric/Koke (BBM - S)

RW Bale (IF-A)

LW Ronaldo (IF-A)

St Aguero (CF-S)

I play control, fluid with instructions more direct passing, hassle opponents, tighter marking, higher tempo, play out of defence and overlap.

[gholliday87]

Looking forward to starting a RM game...I think I'll be playing a flat back 4, 2 DM, 3 AM and a lone striker. Hopefully I can tweak my tactics pre-season to get me free-flowing!

[Elwood]

Just finished my first FMC season with Real Madrid.

Transfers

To keep it realistic, I usually don't do transfers in my first season. The only thing I did was to accept a loan offer for Jesus, whom I already demoted to Castilla anyway. Might need him back for next season though, Diego Lopez is starting to get unsettled from a lack of games, and I agree that a player of his ability should be playing regularly. Just not in my team unfortunately.

Tactics

Kept it fairly simple with my tactics, the whole team is designed to get the goal scoring best out of Ronaldo. Balanced philosophy and an attack duty for Ronaldo gives him the highest mentality relative to the rest of the team, Benzema as DLF (S) regularly drops deep to pull defenders out of position before playing a through pass or a chipped pass for Ronaldo to break the opposition's defense line, Modric as my advanced playmaker plays close to Ronaldo to do the same from a deeper position, Bale from the opposite flank starts from a deeper position cuts in and runs at the opposition's defense before playing a splitting slide rule pass or shooting.

I do make many tactical changes depending on the situation, i.e. away to an extremely strong opponent, desperately chasing a goal, desperately preventing a goal, injuries/red cards that reduce my team to 10/9 men, conserving energy in a won game, but I won't list them all unless someone is interested. One interesting thing to note is that I actually started the season with no team instructions, but because I kept using these same few shouts in matches I just used them in the starting tactic. Also Arbeloa was my first choice right-back, but a combination of his slight decline due to age I'm guessing, and Carvajal improving he played his way into the first team. His more offensive characteristics fits the right-back role in my tactic better anyway.

La Liga

Ended the season with 93 points and in 2nd place, a position I was stuck at since match day 7. Barcelona was just un-catchable, Messi scored 37 goals in 35 league matches, while Neymar had an incredible 25 league assists. Ronaldo had 29 goals in 35 league matches, which is great for any other player in the world except Messi, but since he is Ronaldo it could've been better. Other notable is Benzema with 19 goals and 15 assists in 29(4) league apps, my tactics are working well. Well played, Barca, and worthy champions. But prepare for a title challenge of your lives next season. What about El Clasico, you ask? Well...

First game was pretty straight-forward.

The second game was soul-crushing. 4-0 did not flatter Barcelona at all. I was so embarrassed and depressed that I actually had half a mind to quit my game. But I was determined not to be a quitter. It was a blow my league form never recovered from, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Greater glory in the form of La Decima.

I'll carry on the rest in a second post.

[XxBowmanxX]

1st season finished

Signed

Sinan Kurt - 825k (Loaned out in Jan to Alcorcon)

Niklas Sule - £12.75m (Loaned out in Jan to Everton)

Donis Avdijaj - £1.1m (Loaned out in Jan to Levante)

Jonathan Tah - £11m Pl-24(10) 3 goals 2 assists Avg 7.15

Raheem Sterling - £13.5m Pl-41(6) 19 goals 18 assits Avg 7.32

Timo Werner - £6.5m (loaned to Arsenal in Jan) (went on to score 11 goals for them)

John Flanagan - £5.5m Pl 24(7) 0 goals 4 assits Avg 7.19

Youri Tielemans - £9m

Also had to loan nani to cover injuries in jan only played 3 games

The youngsters out on loan all featured at points for the first team as well

Sold

Arbeloa - £7.5m

Nacho - £7.5m

League - Winners

Pl 38 W 35 D 2 L 1 For 111 Ag 83 GD +83 Pts 107 (Won the first 28 in a row somehow, finished 23 points ahead of barca,sevilla got relegated as well)

Spanish Cup - Semi finals

Lost 3-1 on agg to Atletico Madrid

Champions League - Winners

2-1 against Man City (bale last minute winner)

[Come_On_You_Spurs]

Started a game today as I've been wanting to manage Bale. I'm in the middle of October and he's played a grand total of 15 mins. He got taken out of his first start with what turned out to be a 2 week groin injury. Then just when he's about to play again, he goes down for 6 weeks on international duty. Right now it looks like I won't have him until the end of November at the earliest.

Of course on the positive side, we've won every match. Ronaldo, Di Maria and Benzema have been excellent. I sold Khedira and Pepe, while bringing in Phil Jones, Doria and Jack Wilshere. Playing a 4-2-3-1.

[XxBowmanxX]

2nd Season transfers

Sold;

Di Maria - Man City £45m (Sterling Is 1st choice AMR and Ronaldo AML, was pretty average for me as well when he played)

Marcelo - Man City £40m (had a 7.52 avg only sold him because he was moaning about a contract)

Benzema - Chelsea £50m (10 up front the rest over 48 months, wasnt that great for me)

Coentrao - Monaco £20m

Mascarell - Wolfsburg £2.5m

Sahin - Dortmund £5m (wanted a season out of him, he accepted a contract then dortmund bid again)

Borja - Granada £3.5m

Cheryshev - HSV £5.5m

Pepe - Loan to Man Utd (no one would bid for him, they are paying 100% wages)

Few youngsters out on loan for first team experience

Signed;

Luke Shaw - £25m

Alex Sandro - £21m

Diego Costa - £32m

Ross Barkley -£24m

Ter-Stegen - £7m (wanted to wait till he became available for a free, but barcelona had a bid accepted)

4.5* regen rb from stuttgart £2.8m

5* regen AMC from gladbach £7m

[gholliday87]

How do you guys play Ronaldo to get the best out of him? I've seen most people use him as an IF(A) from the left, but do you give him specific instructions? How do would you play Benzima as a lone striker to help get the best out of Ronaldo?

[XxBowmanxX]

2nd Season Finished

Spanish Super Cup - Real Madrid 5 - Barcelona 2

Uefa Super Cup - Real Madrid 2 - Bordeaux 0

La Liga - 1st Pts 98 G.D +97 (scored 134)

Club World Championship - Real Madrid 3 - Velez 0

Spanish Cup Final - Real Madrid 2 - Athletic Bilbao 1

Champions League Final - Real Madrid 5 - PSG 3

Clean sweep of trophies this season!

Top Scorers

Ronaldo - Pl 59 Gls 41 Assists 17 - Aml

Diego Costa - Pl 47 Gls 29 Assists 12 - Stc

Bale - Pl 49 Gls 26 Assists 28 - Amr/Amc

Sterling - Pl 54 (18 off the bench) Gls 22 Assists 17 - Amr/Aml

Also signed balanta in January

[XxBowmanxX]

Season 3 finished

Spanish Super Cup - Real Madrid 5 - Athletic Bilbao 3

Uefa Super Cup - Real Madrid 1 - Sporting Lisbon 0

La Liga - 1st 104 pts G.D +112 (scored 141)

Club World Championship - Real Madrid 3 - Sao Paulo 0

Spanish Cup Final - Real Madrid 1 - Villarreal 0

Champions League Final - Real Madrid 3 - Man City 1

Another clean sweep of trophies

In the league i also beat Sevilla 9-0 at home and Barcelona 6-1 at home

I play Ronaldo AML (roam from position, sometimes dribble more as well)

Season 1 49(2) Apps 40 Gls 14 Asts

Season 2 56(3) Apps 41 Gls 17 Asts

Season 3 53(3) Apps 49 Gls 19 Asts

[c4ter]

What tactic do you typically use?

[XxBowmanxX]

4-2-3-1 attacking very fluid

[Chewy2006]

Hi All,

Finally although later than usual getting round to playing a fm game with Real Madrid on new lfc update since the transfer window has finished and wanted a fun last game to play before FM15 comes out.

I've already decided who I will try and sell and I think first things first I'm going to get rid of all of the defence apart from Varane simply because I don't think they are good enough for a club of Real Madrid's reputation both in fm or irl especially ramos or pepe who always seem a shambles at the back and are either getting sent off or giving strikers easy chances week in week out.

Also although don't really want to get rid but lfc seems to of downgraded iker casillas a lot in the update probs because he had a bad world cup but imo he is still one of the best keepers in the world and a player I've always rated but with the downgrade in his stats it just seems pointless keeping him around with him being one of the highest earners on 170k a week and with better options out there I could really use a steady keeper in goal.

Other players I'm going to try and get rid of are - Modric, Benzema, Khedira and a lot of the b and c teams mainly again the 3 first team players I don't really rate and with them being on big wages I can again if I can get rid use the money I sell them for on better replacements.

Anyways i'll let you all know how I get on "HALAMADRID"

[Swills417]

Hi All,

Finally although later than usual getting round to playing a fm game with Real Madrid on new lfc update since the transfer window has finished and wanted a fun last game to play before FM15 comes out.

I've already decided who I will try and sell and I think first things first I'm going to get rid of all of the defence apart from Varane simply because I don't think they are good enough for a club of Real Madrid's reputation both in fm or irl especially ramos or pepe who always seem a shambles at the back and are either getting sent off or giving strikers easy chances week in week out.

Also although don't really want to get rid but lfc seems to of downgraded iker casillas a lot in the update probs because he had a bad world cup but imo he is still one of the best keepers in the world and a player I've always rated but with the downgrade in his stats it just seems pointless keeping him around with him being one of the highest earners on 170k a week and with better options out there I could really use a steady keeper in goal.

Other players I'm going to try and get rid of are - Modric, Benzema, Khedira and a lot of the b and c teams mainly again the 3 first team players I don't really rate and with them being on big wages I can again if I can get rid use the money I sell them for on better replacements.

Anyways i'll let you all know how I get on "HALAMADRID"

Can't get rid of Modric!

[gholliday87]

I ended up taking a massive hit on Modric and the fans hated it...I'd personally keep Benzema, he's been a very good backup for me (never complains about not been first choice)

On a happier note, I'm proud to say that my (fictional) son has been drafted into the Youth team!

[Tha Real behanger]

How long do you guys play Ronaldo? I am now in 2024 and he is still a valuable backup. I am playing him as a MR.

[gholliday87]

How long do you guys play Ronaldo? I am now in 2024 and he is still a valuable backup. I am playing him as a MR.

I play him AML IF(A), don't really give him any specific player instructions...he does the business for me. Not at the level as IRL, but still one of the top players in the league

[gholliday87]

Manchester City have met the min release clause for Balanta at €41mil...I'm more than a little annoyed as I forgot he had such a small release fee...I've justed checked and Emre Can has a release fee of €38.5mil and he's worth €32mil! Think some people are going to need new contracts

[dudge7]

Thought this thread would be much more active!

I've just started my 2nd season with Real Madrid. First season was good but could have been better, we won the league easily but got battered 5-2 in the Champions League semi final (against Chelsea, Willian scored all 5 goals ffs) so that was disappointing.

Domestically we were phenomenal though, ended up breaking the league record for goals scored and had 8 players score at least 10 goals in the season. Ronaldo was the stop scorer with 49 but Isco, Bale, Jese all hit at least 20 goals too. Benzema, James (signed in January), Varane and di Maria also hit double figures. I mostly lined up like this:

Casillas

Carvajal

Ramos

Varane

Marcelo

Modric

Khedira/Illaramendi

Bale

Isco

Jese

Ronaldo

Obviously there was a lot of rotation with that front 4 with the likes of Di Maria, Benzema, Morata and, later, James Rodriguez who signed in January. In the first transfer window I signed Alberto Cerri and Luciano Vietto (who has just damaged his cruciates and is out for 9 months) but they played in Castilla. In January I made a couple of changes, with Khedira being sold for £25million after a very good half season which gave Illara a chance in the first team. I also brought in James for £38million (his release clause) who has been brilliant so far.

So now at the start of the second season the first team is slightly different. Pepe was let go on a free, Benzema was sold for just over £30million after a fairly disappointing season for him. In came Vidic on a free, Mikel for £10m and Cavani for around £55m so the team now looks like:

Casillas

Carvajal

Ramos

Vidic(/Varane)

Marcelo

Modric

Mikel

Bale

James

Ronaldo

Cavani

It's a frightening first eleven and has ripped several teams apart already. Cavani gives us so much more than Benzema did and he has 13 in his first 7 games, Ronaldo has 7 in 7. James has also chipped in with 7 or 8 goals. With Modric and Mikel sitting in there they give the team a very good balance to allow the front 4 to wreak havoc. I'll probably play this save until FM15 so hopefully I can get a few seasons in.

[Gizmo7]

Hmmm, just finished my first season and decided I'm going to splash out on a new galactico striker, narrowed it down to either Falcao or Cavani, both available for £70m (I have £90m budget).

Thoughts?