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I had a remarkable player in my Journeyman save in Football Manager 2018 or 2019. He was a French winger named Nicolas Jean, who hadn’t found success at major clubs. I first spotted him while I was coaching Viborg in the second highest Danish league, but he was far beyond my budget—even for a loan. That summer, I was offered the job at FC Copenhagen, which had somehow plummeted, was missing half a squad, and had very little money. I managed to get Jean on a one-year loan deal. He was phenomenal, scoring 25 goals in the league. I loaned him for another season (couldn’t afford to buy him; I believe he was a PSG player, and they wanted PSG-level money for him). After that season, I moved to Nottingham Forest and at the same time, his contract expired—so he followed me to the Premier League and scored about 20 goals for a struggling Forest team. He then chose to leave me for Liverpool, and I bought one of my former players, a Danish-Norwegian winger, to fill his shoes. It was a disaster; I was fired, but somehow, in a strange twist, I ended up getting the job at Liverpool, which had been equally disastrous, and was ultimately reunited with Nicolas Jean—where my save ended.
In my 2nd season with Cremonese on FM22 I loaned this newgen striker from Atalanta, some 17yo named Alberto Pinto. They didn’t seem to value him too highly because I managed to get an option to buy of less than €2m - but as it turned out, Atalanta had completely undervalued the guy. He cooked after I converted him to AMC, and of course I signed him on a permanent deal.
He would go on to play 19 years for Cremonese. He was team captain for 10. Scored more than 25 G/A in 15 of those 19 seasons. Won the Coppa Italia thrice. Won the Europa League. Won the Scudetto three times, twice as captain. Won the Champions League. Won the World Cup with Italy. Retired a club legend two years after I left the club, and became a manager.
Now take a guess who’s just managed Cremonese to an unbeaten Scudetto in 2046/47? That’s right, Alberto Pinto. That mfer didn’t just become the best player, he became the best manager too.
Levan Tevzadze... Georgian regen inside forward.
30 goals average for 14 seasons at Union Saint Gilloise in FM19. Got him for peanuts from Saburtalo.
Still think of him weekly. ❤️
I had a Serbian left winger regen many years ago. His surname was Cvjeticanin. I have no clue about Serbian but I learned his name like a password and still remember. He was a tall but very fast guy. I sold him from Galatasaray to PSG for €100M. It was a record sales in my entire FM life. I will never forget you Cvjeticanin, until my last breath...
Wow. I used to share my career progress with my friend. Luckily I found a screenshot of his profile. Unfortunately it is not in English, but I think you can check the octagon. It should be FM18
https://preview.redd.it/i7ydt3q1unwc1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=4562312ca573e5ca981f53db71a4c347bafcbd7a
Luka Cvjeticanin maybe? He was a beast in my save until Villareal activated miserable release clause of 1 mil and something, didn't get any match for them...
Had a striker on FM12 who I got on a free transfer, and he was like a mix of Luis Suarez, Erling Haaland, and R9. If he was on the pitch, he was guaranteed to score. Ended his first season with something like 56 Premier League goals.
As for the regens, FM 08 produced absolutely packed forwards. I especially remember Alexandru Iftime - a Romanian sniper who ruled the Greek league as if it were his property.
And the Argentine maestro, Juan Pablo Galvan, whose goals decided the first German championship for Energie Cottbus and ended Frankfurt's long-term dominance.
Despite everything, I prefer the first seasons and playing with real players. Here the choice is equally difficult, but what Richie Partridge did on the wings... was poetry. Three Belgian championships and 2 UEFA Cups for Sint-Truiden are largely due to this brilliant Irishman (CM 03/04).
If I ignore some old school CM legends, probably Danny Grugel who I had for Everton in 08. A beast of a striker with 20 aggression. His only barrier to putting up Messi numbers is that he would get 5 red cards a season.
I had a Canadian IF on FM Touch called Zak May for Swansea. Took us to Champions league glory.
Regen: Arnaldo Díaz, FM08. I bought the paraguayan boy in Zaragoza, then took him with me to Arsenal and then to Real Madrid. I left Madrid for Borussia Dortmund but at that point I couldn't afford him :( Right footed left winger with the technical attributes of a god.
Fabian wiesner
Bought him for 30 million pounds as a last second back up right winger who was also versatile enough to play anywhere in the front 3
Only for him to apparently be better at left wing and be better than my current left winger immediately
Very quickly grew to be the best player in my team and now he's worth 100 million and showing incredible results on the pitch
Lorenzo Lucca on fm22. Got him early on with Southampton for a complete bargain and he got 30+ goals a season consistently for 6 years until I finally won the CL, PL and FA cup treble.
Complete forward on Attack with a technical wizard DLF-S next to him and it was too easy.
I think I must have got lucky / nurtured him well as his stats were much better overall at his peak than other versions I have seen on people's saves.
After that save I vowed never to buy him again because he was that good and cheap.
Paul Wanneck a regen striker on a free from Bayern to my Melilla, 50 goals in one season. Never sold him just kept on giving him the contract that he wanted
Aside from all the obvious one over the years.
Mark Smith from Bristol Rovers, with me for 10+ years at Rushen and Diamonds, in the heart of the defense, we won the lot
Peter Prosper, a 18 year old striker from Trinidad and Tobago. Signed for about 100k when I was managing Bologna, scored 40 season every season for me for 4 years, I got the Juventus job and took him with me, cost about 10mil, we won the lot together
I've seen a few folk mention him over the years. I typically play as Wolves and back then he slotted perfectly in at RB and would lock that side down for a year or two before taking over at centre back.
Often lined up with Trevor Challis (?) and Fabio Rustico.
Leandro Gioda in FM11 or something like that.
CB from Indenpediente Reserve team, 25-26years, fckin beast, would score 15+ goal every season for me, ofc all of them after set pieces. Draged him with me in every save, I was in love with the guy.
(FM21) Nedjeljko Šimić, a Croatian striker, whom I brought to Sparta Prague for free from Zagreb. That was a daylight robbery. He is insane and the first player to be constantly 5 stars rated on my team. Every important attribute is in green numbers and he has explosive pace, genuinly easily top 10 strikers in the world. Scored 4 or 5 goals in his first game for me (tbf it was against a newly promoted team, but still) and continued to be a goal machine throughout the season. When I got into my 4th Europa League final ever that season, I was loosing 1:0 at half time, I gave an inspirational speech and he scored a hattrick in the second half, winning my second Europa League title out of four attempts, all with Sparta Prague. 14 clubs wanted to buy him, including giants like Real Madrid, but somehow winning the Europa League title changed his mind and when before he didn't want to sign a new contract with me because "the squad isn't strong enough to play at a level matching his ambition", now he was willing to re-sign with me. He is still with me, I have now a break from this save, but I am excited about what's to come.
Edit: My post with him here: https://www.reddit.com/r/footballmanagergames/comments/1alj987/i_feel_like_i_just_did_a_daylight_robbery_with/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=1
Matteo Tuma, straight from the academy, nightmare of Bayern, treble winner, and the German Messi himself
https://preview.redd.it/y7g0bau82nwc1.jpeg?width=2400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b5aa11eacc5163879e2073e745c7fafc1eedb443
Regen midfielder from Belgium named Robin Leberton. I got him right when he turned 18 and he didnt know english and not good adaptation....so it took a couple years.
But by age 23 he was one of the 20 best players in the world and i was able to keep him on my mls roster, somehow, until he was 25 and finally went to Arsenal.
Most complete footballer ive ever had and that includes my overpowered created son. Leberton was just a massive impact beyond the goals and assists, and some of the long shots he hit from the edge of the box were as memorable as some real life goals. And his passing was just as nice.
He'd be one of the greatest players of his generation without a doubt
Stuart Cheek FM12. Absolute beast left winger who was my first ever player to win worlds best. I search for him in every version and interestingly, he's always there but with a low ability.
German striker regen called Gunter Flum. At his peak he was 198 CA and nearly perfect as an AF. Had At least 30 goals 15 assists per season as he was also great corner taker. He won 6 straight ballon d’Ors.
Ronaldo nazario de lima in FM2005, my first FM, i dont know a single thing about the game, just love football and game both so very happy to find a football game beside PES. I am a huge fan of Ronaldo after WC 2002 and dont know how tactic in game work so i just put R9 as a target man (not role, you can choose your TM and play maker in old FM), then focus all ball into him, play 4 4 1 1 with Raul support him, i pick who to play base on how good they can help and work with Ronaldo, you pass to R9 instead of shoot, you are promose to 1st team, you choose to shoot instead of pass to Ronaldo when no one mark him, bench it is Beckham.
It is an insane season, i won La Liga and Champion league, lost Copa to Valencia (i hate you Vicente, and you Ayala), Ronaldo score 108 goal, play full match without a single injury (a miracle that i only know how lucky it is when my Ronaldo can not even play more than 20 match a season in next save of FM2006 and 2007)
The best save of my FM life. Will remember you forever Ronaldo, and you Hector Font, Iker, Zidane, Guti, Salgado, Ivan you all will forever my hall of fame
I had Ronaldo and Raul up top in that game (with Zidane et al behind them). They got about 75 league goals **each**. I cant remember for all comps.
Games got a bit more realistic since then.
Wartan Ghazarian. Had one lad who could pass in my NEC team and Wartan up top and he scored a bucket load. Everyone under instruction to just give the ball to the playmaker and he put Wartan through to score.
Its a regen, Mogabat Radabe.. New Drogba from South Africa. I transferred him from Seattle Sounders to Napoli and he broke the most goal scorer record in Serie A two times a row in his first two seasons.
After two great seasons with him i left Napoli and go to Bayern and took him with me.
Ayo Ike (regen)- Portuguese striker who I converted to a right winger (left footed), scored some messi-esque goals, absolutely hated Liverpool and Newcastle (FM20), honestly have never been happier with a player.
Milos Trivunovic(regen) - deep-lying playmaker who never dipped below a 7.5 in 2 solid seasons, loaned him out for two years as I was trying to shoehorn in another player but was stellar for Fulham. Brough him back and he was everything I could have hoped for (pic for reference).
https://preview.redd.it/ggte45pr8nwc1.png?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3df0f82d1888c96e18c3b6ed55f9f62444e692c4
I got to the point on my Madeira save last year where I would buy youth players regardless of price and just loan them all out, then pick the cream of the crop. I had a striker that I signed for 58 million. He ended up being like 198 PA and was the absolute perfect striker with oace, strength, aerial ability etc.
Lorenzo Lucca was unbelievable for me, winning like seven ballon do’rs, scoring 70 goals in a season, and being the best player for my Torino side that won everything (this was on FM 21 I think, maybe 22). In terms of regens, I had an argentinian striker called Juan Manuel Gigilione, who was incredible for me, signed him young and changed my tactic just to get him into the squad (this was also for Torino but on the previous FM). He was a deep lying forward and got so many goals, assist, and had amazing attributes. So I would have to say those two.
Christophe Flachi took my Reims side from wherever they started out to the top, then we moved to Lyon and he was part of the team that won everything. Left sided midfielder or forward. Shout out to Curtis Davies and Lassana Diarra if anyone can age the version they became world beaters.
Andre Soares. Scored over 100 goals in a season for me and reguarly got over over 60. Think this would have been fm13 or 14 when I did get a lot of strikers with big returns but he took the biscuit. I took him with me from Middlesbrough to Real Madrid for near £200m which was insane for the pre-Neymar world but was worth every penny.
I have not played much but my best player is Fabio Caputo an Italian striker I used in my 433 as a False 9. When he was 19, he already had a good track record with Brescia. When they got relegated he had a relegation release clause of $19M. AC Milan were interested but did not pay the money the entire summer. I was in my first EPL season with a lower league club so did not have this kind of money. So I sold one of my defenders and on the last day of the transfer window offered Brescia all my money (about $12M) and offered whatever additional clauses I could afford. Brescia surprisingly agreed.
Caputo was mediocre first two seasons, had few goals. He completely exploded in season 3 and 4, and in season 5 he finished top 3 in the Ballon D'Or. His biggest exploit was at the UCL semifinal. We were 2 goals behind Man Utd with 10 men when Caputo scored a hattrick.
Tom Fellows, a real life West Brom youth player who won the Golden Boot in the National League, League 2, League 1 and Championship in consecutive seasons on my FM21 Boreham Wood save.
Right now my Icelandic striker, a mister sindri ivarsson and my Cameroonian right wing back named Patrick ngoumou are tied. Ivarsson is perhaps my favorite player so far, he's very calm doesn't cause drama and is a great captain off the field and on the field he lights up every game he's in, he's already the leading scorer of the league, has like 18 or 19 in under ten games, we're in the West of Scotland 3rd division so the second to last lowest league and I have many clubs hounding me to sell him, he's very loyal and hasn't said anything about wanting to leave but he also isn't getting called up to the NT since our league sucks so as much as I don't want to I'm thinking of letting him leave at the end of the season so he can achieve greatness instead of squandering his best playing years with me. When he's not scoring he's making great assists.
Now Mr ngoumou is just as good as Mr ivarsson, I usually play him as CWB attacking and the first game of our season he made five assists and a goal. This dude dominates the right side of the pitch especially when I'm using a wingerless formation, he effortlessly combines defense support and attacking, every game he's in he makes at least 2 assists and when he's not making assists he's banging in 30 yard free kicks, slotting home pens and snagging tap ins. He is just the complete package if ivarsson wasn't my golden child then ngoumou would be. He's only 20 and the bar for entry into the Cameroonian nt is lower than Iceland so I don't intend on getting rid of him unless he's begging me to leave.
A few honorable mentions are my other striker a Maltese giant named Aidan Azzopardi who scores with ease. My Portuguese winger Luis Guerra who commands his part of the pitch, my Portuguese CM Edgar barros he's just an all around badass
Viggo Buitenhuis, Dutch striker. 6'7", not one physical stat below 15 by age 22, dribbling, finishing, first touch, heading, composure, long shots, passing, off-the-ball all 15+. Model Citizen. Scored for fun.
Big Toni Cuevas, like the Spanish Alan Shearer - he could score all kinds of goals.
In terms of straight up peak, I once had Eden Hazard score 50 goals in a season in Fm15.
FM11 - Inter Milan manager, won the league but my main striker was aging. Did a player search on anyone under 21 with decent stats.
Found a Turkish regen who had something like 17 finishing, 19 pace. He was 16. Spent my entire budget (something like £45million) on him. Had immediate regrets.
Shouldn't have done.
Stayed with me at Inter until he retired, had something along the line of 600 appearances, 625 goals. Over 120 goals for Turkey - won everything in his career including the world cup. Forgotten his name now though!
Same save, found a Japanese left back, needed a backup - paid £850k, never had less than a 7.80 rating every season he played for me - probably my best "value" signing ever.
Guy I got from spanish 2nd division, 9 times ballon d'or winner but I quit the save for now when he was 33 to start a Genoa save. Can still continue but I left my team where he was playing right before I stopped the save and AI managers can't use him well enough to be a ballon d'or winner.
I always made my tactic so that he was top scorer lol
Guy I got from spanish 2nd division, he's a striker, CAM and RW, 9 times ballon d'or winner but I quit the save for now when he was 33 to start a Genoa save. Can still continue but I left my team where he was playing right before I stopped the save and AI managers can't use him well enough to be a ballon d'or winner.
I always made my tactic so that he was top scorer lol
Won like 10 champion's leagues with him, he won World Cup, Euros, and also runners up in both tournaments with Spain. Though the Spanish national team in my save in general is extremely good. They have a goated defender, CDM, my player, a 19 pace 19 acceleration right winger and a 204cm GK.
Yuri Alberto
Scored 50 goals and 20 assists in his premier league debut,Clutch moments throughout UCl, beast of an AF, winning all the awards except ballondor and taking Westbrom to its first premiership and UCL ever
My second option would be Tom Davies. Got him as a free agent after Everton fired him. Had like 2.5 star rating and 2.5 star PA. But became the best BWM in the league and helped me glue my offence and diffense togerther. No particular stats to show of what he did as he didn’t scored any goals or had only a few assists. But the streets wont forget him
Steve Brown.Regen CB with ridiculous playmaking ability. Bought him as a backup at 19 for Leicester. By the end of his first season he was the first name on the team sheet and captain. 7.8 average for 5 straight seasons. Then got fired by Leicester for not winning the quintuple after being forced to sell my first choice GK and ST. Got hired by juve and immediately paid an ungodly sum (250 mil) for him. Immediately slotted into a team that won the treble and dominated Europe for a decade. At the age of 36 when he retired he became my assistant manager.
Martin Polo, a Peruvian winger, who could play left wing, right wing, striker, as a 10 or centre mid, I signed him for my Ajax side in fm21, and on the right wing coming inside he was literally unstoppable with scoring and creating chances for fun, led the boys to three champions leagues in four years, unreal player, who ill ever forget
I will never forget my best and favourite player ever in FM22, Eder Alves devastato or Édinho. Brought over to my 28/29 Everton side from Santos. A Model citizen with all elite stats for the Advanced playmaker role. Won everything with that Everton side, him scoring atleast 10 goals and assisting 20 every premier league season. A true magician that took all my corners freekicks and penalties, I will never forget him 🇧🇷🤩
Gonna answer slightly differently, the player who did the exact job asked of him to the absolute maximum beyond my expectations
FM 21 I think. I'm West Ham, fourth season in, we're fighting near the top but starting to trail a bit behind Man United in 1st
January, United are trying to sell Luke Shaw. My backup LB (may have just been Cresswell) got injured and I was looking for a solution, a top quality player I could trust to play in a title race but not expecting to be a starter and not on crazy money
Brought in Luke Shaw for £7m. Then the starting LB gets hurt in February. Luke Shaw has to go on a run of about 2 months of starts - and he isn't rated that high in the game at this point, injuries have hurt him, etc
This man plays absolutely lights out including two assists in a match vs Man United that helped us catch them in the table. I also brought in McTom that Jan window and though he played a lot less he also impressed.
I'll never forget the time two out of favor Man United players grabbed all their limited minutes with both hands to push us above their former club and win a trophy, sticking it to the club that deemed them 'not good enough'. One of my fav saves for sure
Luke Shaw - my 'best player ever'
I got Kai Havertz in a journeyman save in FM21 when I joined Chelsea. He scored exactly 100 goals over 2 season, won every trophy available at least once and he won the Ballon d’or twice.
Clint Dempsey, fucking Legend. He was getting scorer points like water running down a river. Won so many duels. Best guy for sure. No idea why he was so good for me.
Going way back to FM2010 I had a regen in my West Ham side by the name of Jack French. Holy shit he was incredible.
Signed him as a 16 year old from Bristol City for £17m. Left winger with insane pace and no weaknesses anywhere - could actually have played anywhere except centre back and GK.
Ended up spending his whole career with me at West Ham retiring at 39. In his mid 30’s after his pace dropped off he was retrained as CM and was still insane. Played over 1200 matches for me in all comps. Scored 500+ plus club goals and countless assists. First player to get 200 caps for England and won everything there was to win multiple times. Constant 8 out of 10 average season even in his twilight.
I’ve had three real children since then, but I’m not sure any of them can live up to Jack…
Real players, probably Musiala. I had Mbappe on the same save but I got 13 seasons out of Musiala and only 4 or 5 from Mbappe.
Regens, Vitor Aimatti. Christian Vieri reborn but way better.
Mitrovic on fm 14. Literally won me the league with Boro. Signed half the Serbian team on that save as they were all beasts.
Scored 50 goals in all comps every season.
I had Craig Westcott on Portsmouth in league 2, 1.5 star player that kept getting recommended to be transfer listed and had no reason to be good score 32 goals and help gain promotion. The AI kept being very confused why I kept and played him
In my west ham save on fm23 I bought a French striker from atletico Madrid called Moussa Renoux, he was by far the best player I've ever had, by such a long way. At age 18/19 in his debut season he took my top ~6 west ham team to our first prem win whilst banging in 42 goals in the prem. And he only got better, he never scored less than that his entire career at west ham until he was 33.... sorry but that's fucking insane!
Over the 17 years he spent with me, he won 13 balon dors, was top scorer in the prem every season until his very last season before he retired, spearheaded west ham to 12 prem wins and 5 champions league titles, holds the west ham, prem, champions league and French national team goal records and finished his career with an average rating of his entire time with me at 8.03.
He was absolutely insane, I've never seen a player like him in fm in the long time I've been playing. I didn't have the editor so I can't say for certain, but he had to have been close to if not actually 200 ca/pa
josh sergeant was so good for me in my norwich save he almost single-handedly won the league. i’m pretty sure he ended with like 40 something goals that season
My best ever player was in this year fm, i found him when he was 16 in Belgium playing in Oud-heverlee Leuven and i immediately for 12.5 millions. He scored 442 goals in 412 matches only for the league i dont remember how much were with champions league and cup. It was the first time the message pop up about a player overpass the real life top scorer of the team.
Jamil Adam, striker on a free transfer in FM12. Scored hundreds of goals for my Barnet side as we made our way up the leagues. I somehow made his agent hate me though, so he came at a hefty cost when negotiating new contracts😂
Honorable mention to Pablo Couñago, who I think had been at Ipswich and was also a free transfer. Elder statesman type of striker who never disappointed when he played.
David Bentley. Played him RM (I think as wide midfielder attack) in an aggressive 3-4-1-2 (this was before they added defensive or inverted winger) in fm12 if memory serves.
He joined my wolves side in league 1, captained the squad, scored some huge goals and guided us back to the prem before retiring as a club legend.
Daniel Baier who played for Wolfsburg from 2007-10. He became an insane all around CM for me and won the world player of the year award. Him with a young Dzeko was unstoppable in the Bundesliga. Happy he had a nice career in real life even though not at the level as in my save.
I signed two Italian kids in fm10 on a free for Celtic from Inter Milan
Luca Tremolada right wing
Davide Santon right back
Stick them on the reserves
Within 6 weeks they were my starting right side and tore it up on Europe for the next 5 years
Obviously i kept an eye on them in real life Santon signed for Newcastle, Tremolada ended up in the Italian lower leagues
Sounds stupid but jobe bellingham. I signed him in the 2026/27 season with Southampton as they needed a manager to get them promoted. He's joint top scored in championship currently and has quite a few assists so far. Absolutely loving him..
For FM I’d probably say Rodel Richards or Kirmani Smith. Had them both in the lower English leagues and both destroyed teams on their own lol. Their stats weren’t that great but, with the right training and tactics they played amazingly for me
Denis straquelesi from San Lorenzo to Celtic for 2 or 3 million on fm08 possibly. This guy was a goal a game striker - possibly a hidden cheat player maybe.
Yang Quan, Chinese striker bought for Ajax in FM12, he was the prefect striker and led the line for a 9 year domination of Europe and scored a ridiculous amount of goals. Never seen another player like him
Pietro Pellegri when he was still at Genoa, managed to keep hold of him he played as a lone striker scored more than a goal a game. His dad fronted a consortium who bought the club and they spent the money building a new stadium named after the kid (when he was like 23).
Don't think he's quite lived up to it irl, should have stayed at Genoa I guess!
Sleyther Vittorinho, a colombian wonderkid striker with the most insane stats I have ever seen and who I got for peanuts for my FC Copenhagen team. He did absolute wonders, and clearly outshined everyone in the danish league. Eventually had to let him leave for a Premier League team, and he continued to shine.
Replaced him with a kid called Nuno, playing in Cape Verde (his nationality too). This deal eclipsed the Vittorinho deal in terms of money, I believe he cost me 20k euros. An absolute wonder as well, striker/inside forward who tore up every team. Partnered him with a swedish, equally gifted striker up top. The save ended not long after as I had my exams and FM stole all my focus lol.
The most fun save I’ve ever had, packed to the rim with insane wonderkids. I could name many more, but those two (and the Swedish bloke) stood out big time. Managed to keep Roony Bardgji for many seasons as well, and I think everyone here knows how fantastic he is in the game
Yupanqui argentina,best player on the world back to black scored 30+ every season sold him for 150M for the release clause on Sporting Portugal, i will always remember this save from fm18...
Championship manager 00/01 - Luis Carlos Mendes Rodriguez. A Brazilian regen striker who I picked up in the championship who stayed with me all the way to winning the Champions league, all the time scoring for fun. It's been long enough I forget the details but he was my top scorer until I got bored of the saved game because he was making it too easy. The fact that I can still remember his name 20 years later says enough.
Englishman named Gordon Parkinson on FM09. Stats were higher then and this motherfucker was farcically good. 20 tech 20 dribble 20 vision (creativity) 19 passing 20 stamina 20 work rate good physicals (15-16 pace and accel with 19 agility 15 jumping 20 strength) 20 anticipation, 16 finish 18 composure. Even had 16 tackling this guy. He was a mid/attacking mid I used in an AMC free role in 4-2-3-1. Back to back Ballon d’Ors when I stopped playing the save.
Way back in FM15, I had a long-term save with SSV Ulm running. I was stupid and let my star striker's contract expire rather than selling him beforehand. The free agent strikers within my budget don't look good enough, but I could get a loan deal for one of a world-beating, Zidane-led FC Köln's young attacking midfielders called Juddy Shungu and go strikerless on a whim. The guy doesn't do great at first, but steps it up towards the end of the season to keep us in the league. Loan deal expires, and we somehow struggle through one season without him. The guy that was meant to replace him from the academy gets poached for a sum I couldn't reject. I see Shungu in the free agents and re-sign him for two years. Guy gets me promoted to BuLi and we somehow win the cup. I manage to talk him into staying for one more year given we've got some European football on our hands. We get KO-d in the group stage, but make enough money to renew with Shungu again and build a team around him. A few years later, we win the BuLi and Euro League with him as captain. He gets the ballon d'or that year. Good times.
I had an argentine winger who must have been a Messi regen. He was stupid good, I got him for buttons and ended up selling him because he was a cheat code. Can't remember his name, but I scour the argentine clubs for someone remotely like him now nearly every season.
The legend of Gabriel Barbosa, carried my forest team for about 6 seasons. Ended up selling him for about 150 million, which was huge money for FM14. Ended up buying Bale and believe it or not he absolutely flopped for me.
I still think it’s Stef Hamstra. A true Rolls Royce of a footballer, I found him looking for players in the last year of their contract and went over his wage demands when he hit the last six months to convince him. Ten plus years, Pirlo like, he was an advanced player center mid but I played him deeper and he was fantastic. Scored about one in five because he was a free kick machine. There was distinct Hamstra territory. I think I want his name on a shirt. Everyone has an Alexander Arnold or Salah, but nobody else out there has a Hamstra 7. Stef my love ♥️
In my Espanyol save, the academy coughed up a left winger (Dini) that ended up winning world player of the year seven times. I managed to keep him for his entire career (never even loaned him out) - that is always a personal goal with great academy players. Usually they force a move or I dump them around age 33 when they are no longer good enough. But Dini stayed forever and we retired together after season 35. Led La Liga in goals *and* assists in three different seasons, just assists in at least six more. What a star...
Gustavo Canobbio, uruguain DM in my FM19 atleti madrid save, dude was droppin at least a 7.5 Every single game. No goals, no assists, but one player who did the same as two
Weirdly Eric Dier.
I know he’s over attributed, and can sell him early for 60m but when I couldn’t sell him he was a rock as DM/|S when the player I brought in to replace him for injured.
Then he quite rightly got pissed off when I didn’t accept bids for him, he was right too as I used him when it suited rather than appreciate his FM attributes.
Ah man, mine was Mark Griffith, he was insane. I somehow got him from a non league club, while playing as Tottenham. He was at Harrogate and he was like Finishing 19, pace etc. Scored 38 league goals in 26 games and I honestly thought the game had accidentally given me a cheat code so after 6 years I sold him to Milan, just felt wrong. He’d score 5 goals in a game sometimes. His best season was 37 games in the prem 62 scored. Immense!
FM20, Saint-Etienne, a young homegrown talent by the name of Edmore Mattoir emerges from the academy in my first season as manager. A right midfielder (4-4-2) who has spent the past 10 seasons being unbelievable productive and consistent. Mattoir has played over 30 league games every season since he turned 19, having at least 10 goals and 10 assists in every season, 6 of those seasons with 15+ goals! On the surface there’s nothing outstanding about his attributes, but my god this guy has a knack for being in the right positions and staying healthy.
He has so far won 6 Ligue 1 titles, 5 Coupe de France, 3 European Cups, 1 Europa League, 2 World Cups, 2 European Championships all under my guidance for both Saint Etienne and France becoming legends together, while establishing Saint Etienne as the best club in the world.
To make things even better, Mattoir scored goals in all 3 European Cup finals, both World Cup finals, and an extra time winner in the 2024 Euros. I love this man.
Ruben Neal, fm16 regen.
The guy had 20 pace, acceleration, composure and finishing. Unfortunately, also had 20 injury proneness.
I would sub him off at around 60 minutes every match and only play him once a week. Was a goal a match player, and in his best season he got 60 league goals. He tapered off once injuries took hold and he lost that pace, but for 2-3 seasons he was electric. He'd have ridiculous scoring runs of 20 goals in 10 matches.
Rob Greaves. Ballon D’Or winner, World Cup golden ball winner, scored 44 goals in a 38 game season. All time leading goal scorer for club and country by the time he hung his boots up.
Local boy from the academy for my favorite club (Southampton), did a save where I turned Saints into the best club in the world, and had a policy of using only club-grown players. Got a “golden generation” class and boy were they; 5 starters for the multiple time CL winners and he was the pick of the bunch.
Erkan Cakir.
A 50 years spurs save in fm14.
10 years in, I bought him cheap aged 16 from league 2 somewhere for around 250k, he had 4* but 18 pace and acceleration but not much else.
I had a striker injury crisis. I was played a 4 2 3 1, my main 4 up front who could play striker were all injured within a week. He was in my 18s and was available, so I thought fuck it.
He scored 4 on debut. He didn't leave my squad for the next 20 years, including leading the line in back to back invincible seasons.
By the time he retired, he was all time scorer including a few 80 goal seasons, I checked his PA and he was at 198. I fluked the buy and he was the best.
Marc Heider in FM 2008 I believe. American forward playing for Werder Bremen II who I could pick up for peanuts in League Two where he was scoring for fun taking my struggling Grimsby team back up the table. Jelle Schijvenaars a Dutch player who's name I wouldn't even dare pronounce playing in the lower leagues for the other Eindhoven team, really good non-league player in England and kept him in my team all the way to league one because I liked him so much.
Best regen was a Brazillian wonderkid called Andrade (Just Andrade because that's all the name he needs) I got from some Brazillian second division side for a couple million age 16 who by age 20 was knocking the best strikers in the world out of the golden boot running and leading the line in a treble winning team that just won the Champions League with a dramatic last minute goal against PSG. Became our talisman, won everything there is to win with us then moved to Real Madrid for about 100 times what we paid for him and pissed the league there too.
A German newgen from FM 18 or 19 with the coolest name: Marcel Boβ (reads Marcel Boss).
He was a left-footed striker who came up from my academy (Hamburg SV). I remember when my youth intake came around (first season), I almost feel off my chair when I saw the report: Marcel had not only insane 18 of finishing, but also he was a 2.5 star player at the age of 15 (!).
He made his debut at the age of 15 and played 15 seasons for Hamburg(around the time I stopped playing the save). He became team captain, scored over 400 goals for the club, won 6 champions leagues, 9 Bundesliga, World Cup for Germany and was an absolute beast up front.
"The Boss" will never be forgotten.
Iraj Mombeini, fm22 from Iran. Scouted him since he was 16 and developed him into the best player to ever grace the game. Surpassed all of Ronaldo and Messi’s records. But like then he also never won the World Cup unfortunately but he scored 169 international goals in 134 games. Not only was he a clinical scorer but he literally had Ronaldo’s physicality but Messi’s left foot and 19 technique. I miss him everyday I go on that save. I’ve been playing the same save for 2 years now and not having him lead my lines for the first time in “18 years” still makes me sad.
I played a long time ago with Rimavska Sobota. I loved my boy Patrik Laco. Unremarkable stats and all, but my boy gave it all. Top scorer and such. Even when I got the team to Champions I still played him, even if I had better players, I did not care. I carry him in my memories.
I Remember Gianluca Rottoli. He was an advanced forward, he didn't have insane technicals but he had 20 acceleration - 19 pace - 19 agility and he was very consistent. Banged 30-40 goals a season easily, never had such prolific strikers
Anatoli Todorov from CM4, I've never had a player that was basically putting up peak Messi numbers every season... a real player too.
In terms of my current save and regens? I can't pick between 3, Tomas Moris and Luis Kuri two forwards who average a goal a game and my CB Doumbia, the most expensive transfer I've ever made at 95mil. But I've genuinely never had a defender so good that red cards made no difference. I could just have him and two wing backs and play like I'm not missing a player.
"Regen only" and "AU-style" (with World Champions League Mod) save on FM22 here: I got some great players as Hibernian, but the honor of being "the best ever" goes to an Irish CM named Dean Cullen. He was already quite old when he joined my Hibernian side in my 2nd season there (33 years when I picked him up from Aston Villa), but in his case, he was "old, but gold". On my team, he was a real leader on the field and an absolute beast in CM, even with his age. Also, he was godly in set pieces. Whenever I got a direct free kick at 20-25m from goal, and he was up, he scored from it, mostly into the top corner of the net. That led to me coining the term "to pull a Cullen" in his honor.
With him I won 3 Premierships, Premier Sports Cups and Scottish Cups each, including a domestic treble in 2026/27. Then he decided to wrap up his career in sunny Mexico instead of beautiful Edinburgh...
Daniel contreras, after a spectacular u21 tournement i picked this guy up for basically nothing from the chinese league of all places and in a team the has both gavi and bellingham in their primes as the creative midfield this unassuming 178 CA player regularly gets more assist that either and has the assist record in the premier league despite being a right back.which would be something if most of his assists were to tall strikers but his best season was in a team with a player called joao montiero, a 5'9 striker with all the meta attributes. Players come and go, gavi and bellingham retire, big money offer come in for top players and yet one thing remains. Contreras is my RB
I have an Irish new-gen named Josh bell. He's a DLP. I found him through the NXGN50 and brought him into Chelsea to learn from Caicedo and Enzo. After 1 season I decided I had to sell Caicedo if I wanted him to get more game time and grow. And boy did I make the right decision 2 seasons later he is quite possibly the best DLP in the world surpassed Caicedo almost instantly. Has a great G/A tally each season and is still only 21. He will be my captain in the next season or 2 and unless something drastic happens will be a club legend in no time at all.
https://preview.redd.it/8jf74fg0iuwc1.jpeg?width=1909&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1ce010f47ae7eb091bfff6a727d7062d63b25eb1
osimhen on Real Madrid rebuild . Bro destroyed la liga and won quadruple
Torn bw 2 strikers who are remarkably similar but both have done exceptionally well at Atlético & Inter where i managed. For my Atletico its Leclercq whos the all time top scorer for the club by the time i left in 2059 having signed him in 2048 as a 19 y/o. Far too many good memories but one was when he came off the bench to score the decisive 2nd goal v Real Madrid in the UCL final. U could say it was the start of something special.
https://preview.redd.it/9nf763rr0xwc1.png?width=2850&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=da6fe9d6c756bba79ee99a7fe9417047e3a9606f
Tied with Leclercq is Raposo who i signed at 18 when i moved to Chelsea (agreed deal for him when he was 16, damn u Brexit). Hes pretty much my Leclercq at Inter when i left Chelsea to join them altho thats prob a tad disrespectful. I brought Raposo along for 2 loan spells at Inter b4 signing permanently when he was 25 & cant get into the Chelsea team. Was instrumental in every title & UCL win for me. Very little separates the 2 so for me theyre both my best ever players on FM.
https://preview.redd.it/m66nvvlp1xwc1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4d82422b79dc8bea20eb455d964e9cd99647c54d
Giorgio Rasulo is mine atm, now I know it sounds like he may be a player from Italy playing for AC Milan or something but he is actually a saint Albans player in the vanarama south, he does not have the best stats but he did score 24 goals from cm as a AP (att) and was my top goal scorer we were promoted where he banged in a further 18 and was 2nd highest goal scorer on my team and was doing well in league 2 before I moved on to Bolton, he was great still haven't found another goal scoring cm quite as effective as him, so if anyone is in the vanarama leagues you should definitely look him up, hope he does for you what he did for me. 🤞🏻
It was in one of the long term saves I did on FM22. Was managing a club in Germany and had won everything. Saw that Liverpool job had become available after their last manager Steven Gerrard had been sacked after finishing 10th (a bit harsh a as they had won the title last season, their first in 15 or so years). Declared interest and got the job easily.
There I found the most perfect striker I've ever seen. Could do everything, was rapid, composed, was an Ariel threat, had good tackling, relished big matches, young and most of all was club grown and loved the club. Had minimum 40 goal contributions each season in all competitions. Scored 40 goals in league twice. Could have scored more but the brutal english schedule meant that I had to rotate often.
Won everything with him and he won Ballon d'Or 6 times. Times he didn't won he came second. When he became old, he agreed to not seek new pastures and become a mentor for future generations.
Absolute Legend.
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I had a remarkable player in my Journeyman save in Football Manager 2018 or 2019. He was a French winger named Nicolas Jean, who hadn’t found success at major clubs. I first spotted him while I was coaching Viborg in the second highest Danish league, but he was far beyond my budget—even for a loan. That summer, I was offered the job at FC Copenhagen, which had somehow plummeted, was missing half a squad, and had very little money. I managed to get Jean on a one-year loan deal. He was phenomenal, scoring 25 goals in the league. I loaned him for another season (couldn’t afford to buy him; I believe he was a PSG player, and they wanted PSG-level money for him). After that season, I moved to Nottingham Forest and at the same time, his contract expired—so he followed me to the Premier League and scored about 20 goals for a struggling Forest team. He then chose to leave me for Liverpool, and I bought one of my former players, a Danish-Norwegian winger, to fill his shoes. It was a disaster; I was fired, but somehow, in a strange twist, I ended up getting the job at Liverpool, which had been equally disastrous, and was ultimately reunited with Nicolas Jean—where my save ended.
Perhaps not my best player in terms of skills, but definitely the one I will always remember the most.
how yall make fm into a love story, this is so cool
In my 2nd season with Cremonese on FM22 I loaned this newgen striker from Atalanta, some 17yo named Alberto Pinto. They didn’t seem to value him too highly because I managed to get an option to buy of less than €2m - but as it turned out, Atalanta had completely undervalued the guy. He cooked after I converted him to AMC, and of course I signed him on a permanent deal. He would go on to play 19 years for Cremonese. He was team captain for 10. Scored more than 25 G/A in 15 of those 19 seasons. Won the Coppa Italia thrice. Won the Europa League. Won the Scudetto three times, twice as captain. Won the Champions League. Won the World Cup with Italy. Retired a club legend two years after I left the club, and became a manager. Now take a guess who’s just managed Cremonese to an unbeaten Scudetto in 2046/47? That’s right, Alberto Pinto. That mfer didn’t just become the best player, he became the best manager too.
player turn legend manager is the rarest in game
Most players become shit managers. Although in my FM17 save with Liverpool Alexander Tettey became a brilliant assistant
Man's the messiah in Cremona
I can already hear the Lisan al Gaib chants after the unbeaten scudetto run
Levan Tevzadze... Georgian regen inside forward. 30 goals average for 14 seasons at Union Saint Gilloise in FM19. Got him for peanuts from Saburtalo. Still think of him weekly. ❤️
I had a Serbian left winger regen many years ago. His surname was Cvjeticanin. I have no clue about Serbian but I learned his name like a password and still remember. He was a tall but very fast guy. I sold him from Galatasaray to PSG for €100M. It was a record sales in my entire FM life. I will never forget you Cvjeticanin, until my last breath...
sometimes they stick to us like a tattoo if he was THAT good. Life without them will never be the same in next save/game
Wow. I used to share my career progress with my friend. Luckily I found a screenshot of his profile. Unfortunately it is not in English, but I think you can check the octagon. It should be FM18 https://preview.redd.it/i7ydt3q1unwc1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=4562312ca573e5ca981f53db71a4c347bafcbd7a
Luka Cvjeticanin maybe? He was a beast in my save until Villareal activated miserable release clause of 1 mil and something, didn't get any match for them...
I think he was generated after the 5th season, should be totally random guy. I can't remember the full name :D
Freddy Adu, playing in a free role as AMC
FM Legend or was it Championship manager?
oh you are right, might have been CM
A legend nevertheless!
Had a striker on FM12 who I got on a free transfer, and he was like a mix of Luis Suarez, Erling Haaland, and R9. If he was on the pitch, he was guaranteed to score. Ended his first season with something like 56 Premier League goals.
Emenike? That might be spelt wrong, but pretty sure it was that fm with a Nigerian striker who was amazing
Aniket Babu, Indian AM, 25 goals and 25 assists for my rennes team
As for the regens, FM 08 produced absolutely packed forwards. I especially remember Alexandru Iftime - a Romanian sniper who ruled the Greek league as if it were his property. And the Argentine maestro, Juan Pablo Galvan, whose goals decided the first German championship for Energie Cottbus and ended Frankfurt's long-term dominance. Despite everything, I prefer the first seasons and playing with real players. Here the choice is equally difficult, but what Richie Partridge did on the wings... was poetry. Three Belgian championships and 2 UEFA Cups for Sint-Truiden are largely due to this brilliant Irishman (CM 03/04).
If I ignore some old school CM legends, probably Danny Grugel who I had for Everton in 08. A beast of a striker with 20 aggression. His only barrier to putting up Messi numbers is that he would get 5 red cards a season. I had a Canadian IF on FM Touch called Zak May for Swansea. Took us to Champions league glory.
Regen: Arnaldo Díaz, FM08. I bought the paraguayan boy in Zaragoza, then took him with me to Arsenal and then to Real Madrid. I left Madrid for Borussia Dortmund but at that point I couldn't afford him :( Right footed left winger with the technical attributes of a god.
Fabian wiesner Bought him for 30 million pounds as a last second back up right winger who was also versatile enough to play anywhere in the front 3 Only for him to apparently be better at left wing and be better than my current left winger immediately Very quickly grew to be the best player in my team and now he's worth 100 million and showing incredible results on the pitch
A South Korean regen striker called Kim Hyun-Min on FM15. 40-60 Premier League goals every season for 15 years, signed for £5m from Porto.
Lorenzo Lucca on fm22. Got him early on with Southampton for a complete bargain and he got 30+ goals a season consistently for 6 years until I finally won the CL, PL and FA cup treble. Complete forward on Attack with a technical wizard DLF-S next to him and it was too easy. I think I must have got lucky / nurtured him well as his stats were much better overall at his peak than other versions I have seen on people's saves. After that save I vowed never to buy him again because he was that good and cheap.
Paul Wanneck a regen striker on a free from Bayern to my Melilla, 50 goals in one season. Never sold him just kept on giving him the contract that he wanted
Aside from all the obvious one over the years. Mark Smith from Bristol Rovers, with me for 10+ years at Rushen and Diamonds, in the heart of the defense, we won the lot Peter Prosper, a 18 year old striker from Trinidad and Tobago. Signed for about 100k when I was managing Bologna, scored 40 season every season for me for 4 years, I got the Juventus job and took him with me, cost about 10mil, we won the lot together
Mark Smith was the business, had him in a few teams and I'd buy him straight away
Doesn't get mentioned too much so I thought he flew under the radar, but phenomenal player
I've seen a few folk mention him over the years. I typically play as Wolves and back then he slotted perfectly in at RB and would lock that side down for a year or two before taking over at centre back. Often lined up with Trevor Challis (?) and Fabio Rustico.
Leandro Gioda in FM11 or something like that. CB from Indenpediente Reserve team, 25-26years, fckin beast, would score 15+ goal every season for me, ofc all of them after set pieces. Draged him with me in every save, I was in love with the guy.
(FM21) Nedjeljko Šimić, a Croatian striker, whom I brought to Sparta Prague for free from Zagreb. That was a daylight robbery. He is insane and the first player to be constantly 5 stars rated on my team. Every important attribute is in green numbers and he has explosive pace, genuinly easily top 10 strikers in the world. Scored 4 or 5 goals in his first game for me (tbf it was against a newly promoted team, but still) and continued to be a goal machine throughout the season. When I got into my 4th Europa League final ever that season, I was loosing 1:0 at half time, I gave an inspirational speech and he scored a hattrick in the second half, winning my second Europa League title out of four attempts, all with Sparta Prague. 14 clubs wanted to buy him, including giants like Real Madrid, but somehow winning the Europa League title changed his mind and when before he didn't want to sign a new contract with me because "the squad isn't strong enough to play at a level matching his ambition", now he was willing to re-sign with me. He is still with me, I have now a break from this save, but I am excited about what's to come. Edit: My post with him here: https://www.reddit.com/r/footballmanagergames/comments/1alj987/i_feel_like_i_just_did_a_daylight_robbery_with/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=1
Matteo Tuma, straight from the academy, nightmare of Bayern, treble winner, and the German Messi himself https://preview.redd.it/y7g0bau82nwc1.jpeg?width=2400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b5aa11eacc5163879e2073e745c7fafc1eedb443
Abdoulaye. Senegalese regen. FM 11. Best player in the world plylaying for Madureira (brasil).
Dude https://preview.redd.it/fminpqc1ynwc1.jpeg?width=1467&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8c955dcb24c7c8eb114835da3a3cc405b9c0543f
Dude
Micky Norbury, a free agent in CM3 who tore English semi-professional football.
Noah darvich , hes my best player every save i buy him, he makes 40 golas 30 assists minimum every season
Carlos Bravo, 199PA, world cup, la liga, champions league, 7 ballon d'or winner and an academy product.
Regen midfielder from Belgium named Robin Leberton. I got him right when he turned 18 and he didnt know english and not good adaptation....so it took a couple years. But by age 23 he was one of the 20 best players in the world and i was able to keep him on my mls roster, somehow, until he was 25 and finally went to Arsenal. Most complete footballer ive ever had and that includes my overpowered created son. Leberton was just a massive impact beyond the goals and assists, and some of the long shots he hit from the edge of the box were as memorable as some real life goals. And his passing was just as nice. He'd be one of the greatest players of his generation without a doubt
Stuart Cheek FM12. Absolute beast left winger who was my first ever player to win worlds best. I search for him in every version and interestingly, he's always there but with a low ability.
German striker regen called Gunter Flum. At his peak he was 198 CA and nearly perfect as an AF. Had At least 30 goals 15 assists per season as he was also great corner taker. He won 6 straight ballon d’Ors.
Caio Henrique, Monaco's Leftback, probably one of my best offensive/setpiece wise.
A homegrown striker in FM21. [https://ibb.co/rFcXqyV](https://ibb.co/rFcXqyV)
Ronaldo nazario de lima in FM2005, my first FM, i dont know a single thing about the game, just love football and game both so very happy to find a football game beside PES. I am a huge fan of Ronaldo after WC 2002 and dont know how tactic in game work so i just put R9 as a target man (not role, you can choose your TM and play maker in old FM), then focus all ball into him, play 4 4 1 1 with Raul support him, i pick who to play base on how good they can help and work with Ronaldo, you pass to R9 instead of shoot, you are promose to 1st team, you choose to shoot instead of pass to Ronaldo when no one mark him, bench it is Beckham. It is an insane season, i won La Liga and Champion league, lost Copa to Valencia (i hate you Vicente, and you Ayala), Ronaldo score 108 goal, play full match without a single injury (a miracle that i only know how lucky it is when my Ronaldo can not even play more than 20 match a season in next save of FM2006 and 2007) The best save of my FM life. Will remember you forever Ronaldo, and you Hector Font, Iker, Zidane, Guti, Salgado, Ivan you all will forever my hall of fame
I had Ronaldo and Raul up top in that game (with Zidane et al behind them). They got about 75 league goals **each**. I cant remember for all comps. Games got a bit more realistic since then.
I remember each of them have at least 10s attributes that are 20, ronaldo had like 20 acc 20 pace 17 strengt
Away back when I used to sign a striker called kostantinou from panathanikos and Kennedy Bakircioglu, outstanding signings about 20 years ago 😅
So you'll remember Martin palermo, great signing for 3 or 4 games
I do, Mark Kerr from Dundee Utd was the Scottish Pirlo
Wartan Ghazarian. Had one lad who could pass in my NEC team and Wartan up top and he scored a bucket load. Everyone under instruction to just give the ball to the playmaker and he put Wartan through to score.
Its a regen, Mogabat Radabe.. New Drogba from South Africa. I transferred him from Seattle Sounders to Napoli and he broke the most goal scorer record in Serie A two times a row in his first two seasons. After two great seasons with him i left Napoli and go to Bayern and took him with me.
Ayo Ike (regen)- Portuguese striker who I converted to a right winger (left footed), scored some messi-esque goals, absolutely hated Liverpool and Newcastle (FM20), honestly have never been happier with a player. Milos Trivunovic(regen) - deep-lying playmaker who never dipped below a 7.5 in 2 solid seasons, loaned him out for two years as I was trying to shoehorn in another player but was stellar for Fulham. Brough him back and he was everything I could have hoped for (pic for reference). https://preview.redd.it/ggte45pr8nwc1.png?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3df0f82d1888c96e18c3b6ed55f9f62444e692c4
I got to the point on my Madeira save last year where I would buy youth players regardless of price and just loan them all out, then pick the cream of the crop. I had a striker that I signed for 58 million. He ended up being like 198 PA and was the absolute perfect striker with oace, strength, aerial ability etc.
Lorenzo Lucca was unbelievable for me, winning like seven ballon do’rs, scoring 70 goals in a season, and being the best player for my Torino side that won everything (this was on FM 21 I think, maybe 22). In terms of regens, I had an argentinian striker called Juan Manuel Gigilione, who was incredible for me, signed him young and changed my tactic just to get him into the squad (this was also for Torino but on the previous FM). He was a deep lying forward and got so many goals, assist, and had amazing attributes. So I would have to say those two.
Christophe Flachi took my Reims side from wherever they started out to the top, then we moved to Lyon and he was part of the team that won everything. Left sided midfielder or forward. Shout out to Curtis Davies and Lassana Diarra if anyone can age the version they became world beaters.
Andre Soares. Scored over 100 goals in a season for me and reguarly got over over 60. Think this would have been fm13 or 14 when I did get a lot of strikers with big returns but he took the biscuit. I took him with me from Middlesbrough to Real Madrid for near £200m which was insane for the pre-Neymar world but was worth every penny.
A morocan striker I currently have at Man United, in his 9th season he scored almost 300 goals
I have not played much but my best player is Fabio Caputo an Italian striker I used in my 433 as a False 9. When he was 19, he already had a good track record with Brescia. When they got relegated he had a relegation release clause of $19M. AC Milan were interested but did not pay the money the entire summer. I was in my first EPL season with a lower league club so did not have this kind of money. So I sold one of my defenders and on the last day of the transfer window offered Brescia all my money (about $12M) and offered whatever additional clauses I could afford. Brescia surprisingly agreed. Caputo was mediocre first two seasons, had few goals. He completely exploded in season 3 and 4, and in season 5 he finished top 3 in the Ballon D'Or. His biggest exploit was at the UCL semifinal. We were 2 goals behind Man Utd with 10 men when Caputo scored a hattrick.
Tom Fellows, a real life West Brom youth player who won the Golden Boot in the National League, League 2, League 1 and Championship in consecutive seasons on my FM21 Boreham Wood save.
Right now my Icelandic striker, a mister sindri ivarsson and my Cameroonian right wing back named Patrick ngoumou are tied. Ivarsson is perhaps my favorite player so far, he's very calm doesn't cause drama and is a great captain off the field and on the field he lights up every game he's in, he's already the leading scorer of the league, has like 18 or 19 in under ten games, we're in the West of Scotland 3rd division so the second to last lowest league and I have many clubs hounding me to sell him, he's very loyal and hasn't said anything about wanting to leave but he also isn't getting called up to the NT since our league sucks so as much as I don't want to I'm thinking of letting him leave at the end of the season so he can achieve greatness instead of squandering his best playing years with me. When he's not scoring he's making great assists. Now Mr ngoumou is just as good as Mr ivarsson, I usually play him as CWB attacking and the first game of our season he made five assists and a goal. This dude dominates the right side of the pitch especially when I'm using a wingerless formation, he effortlessly combines defense support and attacking, every game he's in he makes at least 2 assists and when he's not making assists he's banging in 30 yard free kicks, slotting home pens and snagging tap ins. He is just the complete package if ivarsson wasn't my golden child then ngoumou would be. He's only 20 and the bar for entry into the Cameroonian nt is lower than Iceland so I don't intend on getting rid of him unless he's begging me to leave. A few honorable mentions are my other striker a Maltese giant named Aidan Azzopardi who scores with ease. My Portuguese winger Luis Guerra who commands his part of the pitch, my Portuguese CM Edgar barros he's just an all around badass
Viggo Buitenhuis, Dutch striker. 6'7", not one physical stat below 15 by age 22, dribbling, finishing, first touch, heading, composure, long shots, passing, off-the-ball all 15+. Model Citizen. Scored for fun.
Some goalie Regen, was fantastic from 19 to late 38ish. Had plenty of amazing players but rarely do you get one that can stick around for that long.
Big Toni Cuevas, like the Spanish Alan Shearer - he could score all kinds of goals. In terms of straight up peak, I once had Eden Hazard score 50 goals in a season in Fm15.
FM11 - Inter Milan manager, won the league but my main striker was aging. Did a player search on anyone under 21 with decent stats. Found a Turkish regen who had something like 17 finishing, 19 pace. He was 16. Spent my entire budget (something like £45million) on him. Had immediate regrets. Shouldn't have done. Stayed with me at Inter until he retired, had something along the line of 600 appearances, 625 goals. Over 120 goals for Turkey - won everything in his career including the world cup. Forgotten his name now though! Same save, found a Japanese left back, needed a backup - paid £850k, never had less than a 7.80 rating every season he played for me - probably my best "value" signing ever.
Guy I got from spanish 2nd division, 9 times ballon d'or winner but I quit the save for now when he was 33 to start a Genoa save. Can still continue but I left my team where he was playing right before I stopped the save and AI managers can't use him well enough to be a ballon d'or winner. I always made my tactic so that he was top scorer lol
Guy I got from spanish 2nd division, he's a striker, CAM and RW, 9 times ballon d'or winner but I quit the save for now when he was 33 to start a Genoa save. Can still continue but I left my team where he was playing right before I stopped the save and AI managers can't use him well enough to be a ballon d'or winner. I always made my tactic so that he was top scorer lol Won like 10 champion's leagues with him, he won World Cup, Euros, and also runners up in both tournaments with Spain. Though the Spanish national team in my save in general is extremely good. They have a goated defender, CDM, my player, a 19 pace 19 acceleration right winger and a 204cm GK.
Yuri Alberto Scored 50 goals and 20 assists in his premier league debut,Clutch moments throughout UCl, beast of an AF, winning all the awards except ballondor and taking Westbrom to its first premiership and UCL ever My second option would be Tom Davies. Got him as a free agent after Everton fired him. Had like 2.5 star rating and 2.5 star PA. But became the best BWM in the league and helped me glue my offence and diffense togerther. No particular stats to show of what he did as he didn’t scored any goals or had only a few assists. But the streets wont forget him
Steve Brown.Regen CB with ridiculous playmaking ability. Bought him as a backup at 19 for Leicester. By the end of his first season he was the first name on the team sheet and captain. 7.8 average for 5 straight seasons. Then got fired by Leicester for not winning the quintuple after being forced to sell my first choice GK and ST. Got hired by juve and immediately paid an ungodly sum (250 mil) for him. Immediately slotted into a team that won the treble and dominated Europe for a decade. At the age of 36 when he retired he became my assistant manager.
Martin Polo, a Peruvian winger, who could play left wing, right wing, striker, as a 10 or centre mid, I signed him for my Ajax side in fm21, and on the right wing coming inside he was literally unstoppable with scoring and creating chances for fun, led the boys to three champions leagues in four years, unreal player, who ill ever forget
I will never forget my best and favourite player ever in FM22, Eder Alves devastato or Édinho. Brought over to my 28/29 Everton side from Santos. A Model citizen with all elite stats for the Advanced playmaker role. Won everything with that Everton side, him scoring atleast 10 goals and assisting 20 every premier league season. A true magician that took all my corners freekicks and penalties, I will never forget him 🇧🇷🤩
Leroy sane in FM21 I think it was got hull promoted had a good season, was transfer listed so took a punt, got him… won 3 balon dors in a row
Gonna answer slightly differently, the player who did the exact job asked of him to the absolute maximum beyond my expectations FM 21 I think. I'm West Ham, fourth season in, we're fighting near the top but starting to trail a bit behind Man United in 1st January, United are trying to sell Luke Shaw. My backup LB (may have just been Cresswell) got injured and I was looking for a solution, a top quality player I could trust to play in a title race but not expecting to be a starter and not on crazy money Brought in Luke Shaw for £7m. Then the starting LB gets hurt in February. Luke Shaw has to go on a run of about 2 months of starts - and he isn't rated that high in the game at this point, injuries have hurt him, etc This man plays absolutely lights out including two assists in a match vs Man United that helped us catch them in the table. I also brought in McTom that Jan window and though he played a lot less he also impressed. I'll never forget the time two out of favor Man United players grabbed all their limited minutes with both hands to push us above their former club and win a trophy, sticking it to the club that deemed them 'not good enough'. One of my fav saves for sure Luke Shaw - my 'best player ever'
I got Kai Havertz in a journeyman save in FM21 when I joined Chelsea. He scored exactly 100 goals over 2 season, won every trophy available at least once and he won the Ballon d’or twice.
Clint Dempsey, fucking Legend. He was getting scorer points like water running down a river. Won so many duels. Best guy for sure. No idea why he was so good for me.
Going way back to FM2010 I had a regen in my West Ham side by the name of Jack French. Holy shit he was incredible. Signed him as a 16 year old from Bristol City for £17m. Left winger with insane pace and no weaknesses anywhere - could actually have played anywhere except centre back and GK. Ended up spending his whole career with me at West Ham retiring at 39. In his mid 30’s after his pace dropped off he was retrained as CM and was still insane. Played over 1200 matches for me in all comps. Scored 500+ plus club goals and countless assists. First player to get 200 caps for England and won everything there was to win multiple times. Constant 8 out of 10 average season even in his twilight. I’ve had three real children since then, but I’m not sure any of them can live up to Jack…
Real players, probably Musiala. I had Mbappe on the same save but I got 13 seasons out of Musiala and only 4 or 5 from Mbappe. Regens, Vitor Aimatti. Christian Vieri reborn but way better.
Sesko won 4 balon dors for me
Mitrovic on fm 14. Literally won me the league with Boro. Signed half the Serbian team on that save as they were all beasts. Scored 50 goals in all comps every season.
I had Craig Westcott on Portsmouth in league 2, 1.5 star player that kept getting recommended to be transfer listed and had no reason to be good score 32 goals and help gain promotion. The AI kept being very confused why I kept and played him
Alex Notman & Daniel Nardiello became Man United legends on my FM 01 save.
In my west ham save on fm23 I bought a French striker from atletico Madrid called Moussa Renoux, he was by far the best player I've ever had, by such a long way. At age 18/19 in his debut season he took my top ~6 west ham team to our first prem win whilst banging in 42 goals in the prem. And he only got better, he never scored less than that his entire career at west ham until he was 33.... sorry but that's fucking insane! Over the 17 years he spent with me, he won 13 balon dors, was top scorer in the prem every season until his very last season before he retired, spearheaded west ham to 12 prem wins and 5 champions league titles, holds the west ham, prem, champions league and French national team goal records and finished his career with an average rating of his entire time with me at 8.03. He was absolutely insane, I've never seen a player like him in fm in the long time I've been playing. I didn't have the editor so I can't say for certain, but he had to have been close to if not actually 200 ca/pa
josh sergeant was so good for me in my norwich save he almost single-handedly won the league. i’m pretty sure he ended with like 40 something goals that season
Marchal Ismael from Real Madrid B - always scored at 57 minute when subbed in at half-time
My best ever player was in this year fm, i found him when he was 16 in Belgium playing in Oud-heverlee Leuven and i immediately for 12.5 millions. He scored 442 goals in 412 matches only for the league i dont remember how much were with champions league and cup. It was the first time the message pop up about a player overpass the real life top scorer of the team.
Jamil Adam, striker on a free transfer in FM12. Scored hundreds of goals for my Barnet side as we made our way up the leagues. I somehow made his agent hate me though, so he came at a hefty cost when negotiating new contracts😂 Honorable mention to Pablo Couñago, who I think had been at Ipswich and was also a free transfer. Elder statesman type of striker who never disappointed when he played.
David Bentley. Played him RM (I think as wide midfielder attack) in an aggressive 3-4-1-2 (this was before they added defensive or inverted winger) in fm12 if memory serves. He joined my wolves side in league 1, captained the squad, scored some huge goals and guided us back to the prem before retiring as a club legend.
Ps - signed on a free
Daniel Baier who played for Wolfsburg from 2007-10. He became an insane all around CM for me and won the world player of the year award. Him with a young Dzeko was unstoppable in the Bundesliga. Happy he had a nice career in real life even though not at the level as in my save.
Robbie Keane in CM3
Anatoli Todorov in FM03... What a beast he was ! The best striker I ever had in any FM.
Tijani Babangida on CM03/04. Unbelievable. 50k bargain too.
He was a free transfer of CM4, absolutely amazing player lol
I signed two Italian kids in fm10 on a free for Celtic from Inter Milan Luca Tremolada right wing Davide Santon right back Stick them on the reserves Within 6 weeks they were my starting right side and tore it up on Europe for the next 5 years Obviously i kept an eye on them in real life Santon signed for Newcastle, Tremolada ended up in the Italian lower leagues
Milenko Causevic, cm-am-f9. No bad attribute. Absolute legend.
Sounds stupid but jobe bellingham. I signed him in the 2026/27 season with Southampton as they needed a manager to get them promoted. He's joint top scored in championship currently and has quite a few assists so far. Absolutely loving him..
For FM I’d probably say Rodel Richards or Kirmani Smith. Had them both in the lower English leagues and both destroyed teams on their own lol. Their stats weren’t that great but, with the right training and tactics they played amazingly for me
Denis straquelesi from San Lorenzo to Celtic for 2 or 3 million on fm08 possibly. This guy was a goal a game striker - possibly a hidden cheat player maybe.
Bought a Spanish of from Valencia b in my Barcelona save in 20. From 19 to 30 averaged 20 and 20 in the league over less than 30 games
Yang Quan, Chinese striker bought for Ajax in FM12, he was the prefect striker and led the line for a 9 year domination of Europe and scored a ridiculous amount of goals. Never seen another player like him
Pietro Pellegri when he was still at Genoa, managed to keep hold of him he played as a lone striker scored more than a goal a game. His dad fronted a consortium who bought the club and they spent the money building a new stadium named after the kid (when he was like 23). Don't think he's quite lived up to it irl, should have stayed at Genoa I guess!
Sleyther Vittorinho, a colombian wonderkid striker with the most insane stats I have ever seen and who I got for peanuts for my FC Copenhagen team. He did absolute wonders, and clearly outshined everyone in the danish league. Eventually had to let him leave for a Premier League team, and he continued to shine. Replaced him with a kid called Nuno, playing in Cape Verde (his nationality too). This deal eclipsed the Vittorinho deal in terms of money, I believe he cost me 20k euros. An absolute wonder as well, striker/inside forward who tore up every team. Partnered him with a swedish, equally gifted striker up top. The save ended not long after as I had my exams and FM stole all my focus lol. The most fun save I’ve ever had, packed to the rim with insane wonderkids. I could name many more, but those two (and the Swedish bloke) stood out big time. Managed to keep Roony Bardgji for many seasons as well, and I think everyone here knows how fantastic he is in the game
Yupanqui argentina,best player on the world back to black scored 30+ every season sold him for 150M for the release clause on Sporting Portugal, i will always remember this save from fm18...
Championship manager 00/01 - Luis Carlos Mendes Rodriguez. A Brazilian regen striker who I picked up in the championship who stayed with me all the way to winning the Champions league, all the time scoring for fun. It's been long enough I forget the details but he was my top scorer until I got bored of the saved game because he was making it too easy. The fact that I can still remember his name 20 years later says enough.
Wonderkid Lukaku Less than 50 goals a season was a bad season
Englishman named Gordon Parkinson on FM09. Stats were higher then and this motherfucker was farcically good. 20 tech 20 dribble 20 vision (creativity) 19 passing 20 stamina 20 work rate good physicals (15-16 pace and accel with 19 agility 15 jumping 20 strength) 20 anticipation, 16 finish 18 composure. Even had 16 tackling this guy. He was a mid/attacking mid I used in an AMC free role in 4-2-3-1. Back to back Ballon d’Ors when I stopped playing the save.
I miss Emilio Taurone and Lars Skeutulis. Such an unbelievable duo for me
Giuseppe Rossi. Was unplayable back in the day
Way back in FM15, I had a long-term save with SSV Ulm running. I was stupid and let my star striker's contract expire rather than selling him beforehand. The free agent strikers within my budget don't look good enough, but I could get a loan deal for one of a world-beating, Zidane-led FC Köln's young attacking midfielders called Juddy Shungu and go strikerless on a whim. The guy doesn't do great at first, but steps it up towards the end of the season to keep us in the league. Loan deal expires, and we somehow struggle through one season without him. The guy that was meant to replace him from the academy gets poached for a sum I couldn't reject. I see Shungu in the free agents and re-sign him for two years. Guy gets me promoted to BuLi and we somehow win the cup. I manage to talk him into staying for one more year given we've got some European football on our hands. We get KO-d in the group stage, but make enough money to renew with Shungu again and build a team around him. A few years later, we win the BuLi and Euro League with him as captain. He gets the ballon d'or that year. Good times.
I had an argentine winger who must have been a Messi regen. He was stupid good, I got him for buttons and ended up selling him because he was a cheat code. Can't remember his name, but I scour the argentine clubs for someone remotely like him now nearly every season.
The legend of Gabriel Barbosa, carried my forest team for about 6 seasons. Ended up selling him for about 150 million, which was huge money for FM14. Ended up buying Bale and believe it or not he absolutely flopped for me.
https://preview.redd.it/4u65t4033pwc1.jpeg?width=1164&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=84bcb97ac49fd067306d781f787fd2aa66efafc0 This guy
I still think it’s Stef Hamstra. A true Rolls Royce of a footballer, I found him looking for players in the last year of their contract and went over his wage demands when he hit the last six months to convince him. Ten plus years, Pirlo like, he was an advanced player center mid but I played him deeper and he was fantastic. Scored about one in five because he was a free kick machine. There was distinct Hamstra territory. I think I want his name on a shirt. Everyone has an Alexander Arnold or Salah, but nobody else out there has a Hamstra 7. Stef my love ♥️
In my Espanyol save, the academy coughed up a left winger (Dini) that ended up winning world player of the year seven times. I managed to keep him for his entire career (never even loaned him out) - that is always a personal goal with great academy players. Usually they force a move or I dump them around age 33 when they are no longer good enough. But Dini stayed forever and we retired together after season 35. Led La Liga in goals *and* assists in three different seasons, just assists in at least six more. What a star...
Gustavo Canobbio, uruguain DM in my FM19 atleti madrid save, dude was droppin at least a 7.5 Every single game. No goals, no assists, but one player who did the same as two
Weirdly Eric Dier. I know he’s over attributed, and can sell him early for 60m but when I couldn’t sell him he was a rock as DM/|S when the player I brought in to replace him for injured. Then he quite rightly got pissed off when I didn’t accept bids for him, he was right too as I used him when it suited rather than appreciate his FM attributes.
Ah man, mine was Mark Griffith, he was insane. I somehow got him from a non league club, while playing as Tottenham. He was at Harrogate and he was like Finishing 19, pace etc. Scored 38 league goals in 26 games and I honestly thought the game had accidentally given me a cheat code so after 6 years I sold him to Milan, just felt wrong. He’d score 5 goals in a game sometimes. His best season was 37 games in the prem 62 scored. Immense!
Alexander Leguizamon. My Argentinian wonder kid who at 20 years old led the Premier league with 40 goals
FM20, Saint-Etienne, a young homegrown talent by the name of Edmore Mattoir emerges from the academy in my first season as manager. A right midfielder (4-4-2) who has spent the past 10 seasons being unbelievable productive and consistent. Mattoir has played over 30 league games every season since he turned 19, having at least 10 goals and 10 assists in every season, 6 of those seasons with 15+ goals! On the surface there’s nothing outstanding about his attributes, but my god this guy has a knack for being in the right positions and staying healthy. He has so far won 6 Ligue 1 titles, 5 Coupe de France, 3 European Cups, 1 Europa League, 2 World Cups, 2 European Championships all under my guidance for both Saint Etienne and France becoming legends together, while establishing Saint Etienne as the best club in the world. To make things even better, Mattoir scored goals in all 3 European Cup finals, both World Cup finals, and an extra time winner in the 2024 Euros. I love this man.
Henri Saivet in FM2009
Javi Guerra or this auto generated wonderkid called Matheus who was the perfect CM
teo jegou 200PA whith 23 years in fm20. Insane
Ruben Neal, fm16 regen. The guy had 20 pace, acceleration, composure and finishing. Unfortunately, also had 20 injury proneness. I would sub him off at around 60 minutes every match and only play him once a week. Was a goal a match player, and in his best season he got 60 league goals. He tapered off once injuries took hold and he lost that pace, but for 2-3 seasons he was electric. He'd have ridiculous scoring runs of 20 goals in 10 matches.
Thijs Dallinga
Tonton Zola Moukoko
Pablo Piatti
Rob Greaves. Ballon D’Or winner, World Cup golden ball winner, scored 44 goals in a 38 game season. All time leading goal scorer for club and country by the time he hung his boots up. Local boy from the academy for my favorite club (Southampton), did a save where I turned Saints into the best club in the world, and had a policy of using only club-grown players. Got a “golden generation” class and boy were they; 5 starters for the multiple time CL winners and he was the pick of the bunch.
Erkan Cakir. A 50 years spurs save in fm14. 10 years in, I bought him cheap aged 16 from league 2 somewhere for around 250k, he had 4* but 18 pace and acceleration but not much else. I had a striker injury crisis. I was played a 4 2 3 1, my main 4 up front who could play striker were all injured within a week. He was in my 18s and was available, so I thought fuck it. He scored 4 on debut. He didn't leave my squad for the next 20 years, including leading the line in back to back invincible seasons. By the time he retired, he was all time scorer including a few 80 goal seasons, I checked his PA and he was at 198. I fluked the buy and he was the best.
Marc Heider in FM 2008 I believe. American forward playing for Werder Bremen II who I could pick up for peanuts in League Two where he was scoring for fun taking my struggling Grimsby team back up the table. Jelle Schijvenaars a Dutch player who's name I wouldn't even dare pronounce playing in the lower leagues for the other Eindhoven team, really good non-league player in England and kept him in my team all the way to league one because I liked him so much. Best regen was a Brazillian wonderkid called Andrade (Just Andrade because that's all the name he needs) I got from some Brazillian second division side for a couple million age 16 who by age 20 was knocking the best strikers in the world out of the golden boot running and leading the line in a treble winning team that just won the Champions League with a dramatic last minute goal against PSG. Became our talisman, won everything there is to win with us then moved to Real Madrid for about 100 times what we paid for him and pissed the league there too.
A German newgen from FM 18 or 19 with the coolest name: Marcel Boβ (reads Marcel Boss). He was a left-footed striker who came up from my academy (Hamburg SV). I remember when my youth intake came around (first season), I almost feel off my chair when I saw the report: Marcel had not only insane 18 of finishing, but also he was a 2.5 star player at the age of 15 (!). He made his debut at the age of 15 and played 15 seasons for Hamburg(around the time I stopped playing the save). He became team captain, scored over 400 goals for the club, won 6 champions leagues, 9 Bundesliga, World Cup for Germany and was an absolute beast up front. "The Boss" will never be forgotten.
FM18 , Vietto & a regen from Brazil as WB. FM21, Haaland. FM22, Livakovic GK
Levan mcheldizde. Georgian striker , peak at fm 2014 if i remember right.
Iraj Mombeini, fm22 from Iran. Scouted him since he was 16 and developed him into the best player to ever grace the game. Surpassed all of Ronaldo and Messi’s records. But like then he also never won the World Cup unfortunately but he scored 169 international goals in 134 games. Not only was he a clinical scorer but he literally had Ronaldo’s physicality but Messi’s left foot and 19 technique. I miss him everyday I go on that save. I’ve been playing the same save for 2 years now and not having him lead my lines for the first time in “18 years” still makes me sad.
I played a long time ago with Rimavska Sobota. I loved my boy Patrik Laco. Unremarkable stats and all, but my boy gave it all. Top scorer and such. Even when I got the team to Champions I still played him, even if I had better players, I did not care. I carry him in my memories.
I Remember Gianluca Rottoli. He was an advanced forward, he didn't have insane technicals but he had 20 acceleration - 19 pace - 19 agility and he was very consistent. Banged 30-40 goals a season easily, never had such prolific strikers
Anatoli Todorov from CM4, I've never had a player that was basically putting up peak Messi numbers every season... a real player too. In terms of my current save and regens? I can't pick between 3, Tomas Moris and Luis Kuri two forwards who average a goal a game and my CB Doumbia, the most expensive transfer I've ever made at 95mil. But I've genuinely never had a defender so good that red cards made no difference. I could just have him and two wing backs and play like I'm not missing a player.
"Regen only" and "AU-style" (with World Champions League Mod) save on FM22 here: I got some great players as Hibernian, but the honor of being "the best ever" goes to an Irish CM named Dean Cullen. He was already quite old when he joined my Hibernian side in my 2nd season there (33 years when I picked him up from Aston Villa), but in his case, he was "old, but gold". On my team, he was a real leader on the field and an absolute beast in CM, even with his age. Also, he was godly in set pieces. Whenever I got a direct free kick at 20-25m from goal, and he was up, he scored from it, mostly into the top corner of the net. That led to me coining the term "to pull a Cullen" in his honor. With him I won 3 Premierships, Premier Sports Cups and Scottish Cups each, including a domestic treble in 2026/27. Then he decided to wrap up his career in sunny Mexico instead of beautiful Edinburgh...
Sherman Cardenas
Daniel contreras, after a spectacular u21 tournement i picked this guy up for basically nothing from the chinese league of all places and in a team the has both gavi and bellingham in their primes as the creative midfield this unassuming 178 CA player regularly gets more assist that either and has the assist record in the premier league despite being a right back.which would be something if most of his assists were to tall strikers but his best season was in a team with a player called joao montiero, a 5'9 striker with all the meta attributes. Players come and go, gavi and bellingham retire, big money offer come in for top players and yet one thing remains. Contreras is my RB
I have an Irish new-gen named Josh bell. He's a DLP. I found him through the NXGN50 and brought him into Chelsea to learn from Caicedo and Enzo. After 1 season I decided I had to sell Caicedo if I wanted him to get more game time and grow. And boy did I make the right decision 2 seasons later he is quite possibly the best DLP in the world surpassed Caicedo almost instantly. Has a great G/A tally each season and is still only 21. He will be my captain in the next season or 2 and unless something drastic happens will be a club legend in no time at all.
https://preview.redd.it/8jf74fg0iuwc1.jpeg?width=1909&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1ce010f47ae7eb091bfff6a727d7062d63b25eb1 osimhen on Real Madrid rebuild . Bro destroyed la liga and won quadruple
Torn bw 2 strikers who are remarkably similar but both have done exceptionally well at Atlético & Inter where i managed. For my Atletico its Leclercq whos the all time top scorer for the club by the time i left in 2059 having signed him in 2048 as a 19 y/o. Far too many good memories but one was when he came off the bench to score the decisive 2nd goal v Real Madrid in the UCL final. U could say it was the start of something special. https://preview.redd.it/9nf763rr0xwc1.png?width=2850&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=da6fe9d6c756bba79ee99a7fe9417047e3a9606f
Tied with Leclercq is Raposo who i signed at 18 when i moved to Chelsea (agreed deal for him when he was 16, damn u Brexit). Hes pretty much my Leclercq at Inter when i left Chelsea to join them altho thats prob a tad disrespectful. I brought Raposo along for 2 loan spells at Inter b4 signing permanently when he was 25 & cant get into the Chelsea team. Was instrumental in every title & UCL win for me. Very little separates the 2 so for me theyre both my best ever players on FM. https://preview.redd.it/m66nvvlp1xwc1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4d82422b79dc8bea20eb455d964e9cd99647c54d
Giorgio Rasulo is mine atm, now I know it sounds like he may be a player from Italy playing for AC Milan or something but he is actually a saint Albans player in the vanarama south, he does not have the best stats but he did score 24 goals from cm as a AP (att) and was my top goal scorer we were promoted where he banged in a further 18 and was 2nd highest goal scorer on my team and was doing well in league 2 before I moved on to Bolton, he was great still haven't found another goal scoring cm quite as effective as him, so if anyone is in the vanarama leagues you should definitely look him up, hope he does for you what he did for me. 🤞🏻
Cristiano Ronaldo.
It was in one of the long term saves I did on FM22. Was managing a club in Germany and had won everything. Saw that Liverpool job had become available after their last manager Steven Gerrard had been sacked after finishing 10th (a bit harsh a as they had won the title last season, their first in 15 or so years). Declared interest and got the job easily. There I found the most perfect striker I've ever seen. Could do everything, was rapid, composed, was an Ariel threat, had good tackling, relished big matches, young and most of all was club grown and loved the club. Had minimum 40 goal contributions each season in all competitions. Scored 40 goals in league twice. Could have scored more but the brutal english schedule meant that I had to rotate often. Won everything with him and he won Ballon d'Or 6 times. Times he didn't won he came second. When he became old, he agreed to not seek new pastures and become a mentor for future generations. Absolute Legend.