"Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans" John Lennon

The above quote from John Lennon sums up the state of my FM16 Grasshopper save.  Whilst I was intricately implementing plans to ensure I met my FM16 challenge every step of the way, the FM Gods had a change of heart.  They now pose the same question as the great Curtis James Jackson III once asked: Get Rich or Die Tryin'?

Grasshopper Club Zurich (GCZ) have been bought by a Consortium headed by real life Udinese Chairman, Franco Soldati.  The club is now super rich and has money to burn.  Prior to this, the whole save has been built on an underlying philosophy of: (1) developing youth and (2) frugality in the transfer market.  I went to great lengths to ensure that a wage budget was maintained (£15k per week per play in the first 3 seasons).  I often missed out on targets by a few thousand pounds (e.g. FC Luzern's Jakob Jantscher).  Some targets were ignored, in favour of promoting from within.  Even if that means said youngster making the  odd mistake or having an abject performance thus influencing a result.

Now the save has been turned upside down.  Soldati has come in and removed the club philosophy: ' Develop players using the club’s youth system'. I have been handed a large transfer (£26m) & wage budget (£240k per week), I get the feeling I am expected to spend.

This now puts me at odds as to how I got about securing my overall goals: Champions League & Club World Cup.  With the money available, I am now able to secure top quality…ensuring that I become competitive in the Champions League.  I do not necessarily have to disregard youth, but should I continue to be prudent with transfer fee and wage caps?

Twitter Poll - closes Friday 29th January 2016 (2030 GMT)

It’s January 2018, what do I do?  Starting from tonight (Monday 25th), I will be running a Twitter poll with the below scenarios.  Please vote, to influence my FM16 save.  There's 3 options:

Spend.  Disregard all transfer/wage caps & youth restrictions. Effectively buying success.

Adapt.  Maintain youth restrictions but sign 1-2 big names (on big wages). Appease Board & Fans. 

Continue.  Maintain transfer/wage caps, continue with youth restirctions.

Note - the 'restrictions' as I call them are all detailed here:  fmgrasshopper.com/my-fm16-challenge

Thanks for reading (and hopefully voting),

FMG