10 of the best teams to manage in FM27 – from Newcastle to South Korea

On 10 November, Football Manager 27 will be released and millions of football geeks around the world – ourselves very much included – will be diving into the database and picking out our first team to guide towards global domination. The only problem is that deciding which team to take charge of can be a pretty overwhelming decision.

To help provide some inspiration, we’ve picked out 10 teams whose circumstances make them especially intriguing teams to manage in FM27. Ranging from ambitious clubs with deep pockets to struggling sides in sore need of a renaissance, we’ve selected five teams from the UK and five teams from the rest of the world who are worth considering for your very first save.

Newcastle & Sunderland among the intriguing options for your first FM27 save

Newcastle United: Players who like having some cash to spend will love Newcastle as a long-term project, but thanks to those pesky PSR rules they don’t have all that much cash to chuck about at the start. What they do have, however, is a very young side with lots of unfulfilled talent and plenty of potential wonderkids.

Spending power and young talent is a combination most FM players can enjoy – but what makes the Magpies such an interesting challenge is the combination of ambition, high expectations, but also the lack of experience and quality in the starting squad. Matthias Jaissle seems to be finding this job quite tricky. Perhaps you can do better.

Sunderland: At the other end of the Tyne & Wear Metro system, Newcastle’s fierce rivals present another intriguing challenge for experienced FM27 players. Sunderland have cash behind them and heightened expectations, but also have quite a few glaring holes in their squad, especially up front.

This is a save which should suit those who enjoy a mid-length challenge and who relish getting into the tactical nitty-gritty, as you’ll need to work hard to get a tune out of a squad which doesn’t have too much Premier League talent but which does have a few wonderkids on the books to make up for it.

Leicester City: The classic reclamation project. You’ll start in League One with a squad which has simultaneously been gutted but which also costs far, far more than every other team in the division. To add to the task, the club’s finances are a bit of a ticking time bomb. Getting out of the third tier shouldn’t be too tricky for most seasoned FM veterans. Winning a second Premier League title, on the other hand…

Hearts of Midlothian: Hearts came so, so close last season, missing out on the Scottish title on the very last day. Then, in the way of these things, they lost their manager and leading goalscorer to Rangers. Can you fill the void and go one better than Derek McIness managed? And then kick on and make a dent in Europe, as neither of the Old Firms side seem able to do any more?

London City Lionesses: The women’s game is back in FM27, of course, and high-flying London City – the only team in the WSL who aren’t affiliated with a Premier League or EFL side – should make for a fascinating save. They’ve splashed out ahead of their second season in the top flight and signed a couple of bona fide superstars in Alexia Putellas and Mary Earps, but they’re banking on big-ticket players the wrong side of 30 as they try to upset the established order. The challenge isn’t just to win the WSL, but to build something sustainable out of the Lionesses’ golden era.

From Italy to South Korea – five of the best overseas saves in FM27

Roma: Serie A is full of sides who could be classed as sleeping giants, and this year marks a quarter of a century since Roma last won the Scudetto – the perfect time, then, to take over a team with some cash (but not too much) to back up a decent squad (but not a great one). Portuguese wonderkid Rodrigo Mora promises to sprinkle some stardust on the side in the future, but the present could be tricky to navigate.

Hertha Berlin: Another classic FM save is the ‘relatively big team who feel like they should be in the top flight but aren’t’ and Hertha BSC are the poster child for that kind of Football Manager experience. There’s money by 2.Bundesliga standards, but not an overwhelming amount, and there’s certainly a sense that the biggest club in Berlin should be doing much better than they are. Can you get back to the Bundesliga and start selling out the cavernous Olympiastadion? With the right management, they could become giants of the German game.

Toulouse: What makes Toulouse so interesting to us? One of the very youngest squads in Europe, that’s what. There are creches with a higher average age. This is a team bursting with talent (Guillaume Restes is one of the best young goalkeepers in the game, for starters) but lacking in experience and which is already maxing out its wage bill. For managers who want to build up a young squad over time and to thrive with limited resources, this could be an absolutely fascinating save.

Red Star Paris: French football already has the ultra-wealthy PSG at the top of the game, and noveau-riche Paris FC trying to challenge them in Ligue 1. The politically-conscious among you might enjoy the challenge of taking over their much poorer, less storied cousin in the second tier, then. Red Star have a strong left-wing tradition but not much cash and few players who are cut out for a promotion battle. Imagine overhauling a state-sponsored local rival with France’s most openly communist club.

Suwon Samsung Bluewings: Our last suggestion comes from way off the beaten track, at least for most European players of the FM series. Suwon Bluewings are historically among the K-League’s best sides and are four times champion of South Korea. Right now, however, they’re also starting their third consecutive season stranded in the second tier. They’ve got the resources to challenge for promotion right away, but this is still a rebuilding job – the challenge is to get back to the top of Korean football and then to challenge the Saudi sides for the AFC Champions League.