My FM16 journey has ended after finishing 10 seasons at Grasshopper Club Zürich (GCZ), I now wait for FM17.  However, after simulating 10 years into the future (to 2035), I have two short blogs to publish: (1) today's Marco & Remo Epilogue and (2) next Friday's Auf Wiedersehen GC Zürich: 10 years without Swartzendruber post.

Since Marco Simon and Remo Mahrer entered my Youth Intake in February 2015, I've been pretty obsessed about charting their progress.  Events in my save meant that the duo parted ways quite early on in my save, but they have reunited: both in the Swiss National Teams and also facing off in against one another in Continental matches.  If you haven't caught up by now, here's your chance:

Part I

Part II - Invincible

Part III - Breakthrough

Part IV - Heartbreak

Part V - Icons

Part VI - Reunion

Part VII - Galácticos

Marco Simon: Legendary Midfielder

Marco Simon, at 35 years old, is the Captain of Real Madrid in what has been a legendary career in the Spanish Capital.  To date, Marco has won 19 Major Trophies at Real Madrid:

• La Liga x5
• Spanish Cup x5
• Spanish Super Cup x5
• Champions League Winner x2
• European Super Cup x2
• Club World Championship Runner Up x2

During the simulation, he received the most treasured of Media Descriptions in 2032:

He has exceeded the predictions I made, back in the 1st ever Marco & Remo diary blog post:

5 Years: GCZ captain at the age of 21?

10 Years: A Champions League winning captain?

15 Years: Swiss captain with over 60 International caps?

A GCZ Captain at 19, Champions League winner in 2029 (slightly longer than 10 years) and a Swiss Captain with 100 International Caps.  Marco has done it all and more!  Bizarrely, Marco Simon chose to cut short his International Career as Swiss Captain in November 2029.  Perhaps he liked the romance of finishing on 100 caps with 24 goals?

Selling Marco to Olympique Lyonnais at the end of Season 5 of my save was heartbreaking, but seeing what he has gone on to achieve has left me proud.  Marco has been recognised for this talents and achievements with several awards:

• Named Players' Swiss Super League Midfielder of the Season Runner Up on two occasions
• Named Swiss National Team Player of the Year on four occasions
• Shortlisted for World Golden Ball on nine occasions
• Best Player in Europe 3rd place
• European Champions League Golden Boot runner-up

"We shall never see his like again....and now his watch is ended".

Remo Mahrer - Loyal Grasshopper

There's only one man I would want to see replace Marco Simon as Captain of the Swiss National team and on 21 November 2029, Remo made that step up from Vice Captain to Captain.  What an incredible achievement for GCZ - providing consecutive Captains to the Swiss National team.

Unlike Marco, Remo has kept himself available for the Swiss National team...despite his advancing years: 

It's difficult to cover all of Remo's story, without spoiling next Friday's blog post: 'Auf Wiedersehen GC Zürich: 10 years without Swartzendruber'.  But all I can say is that Remo Mahrer has stayed incredibly loyal to GCZ.  He now holds both GCZ records for appearances and goals.  Surpassing GCZ legend Mats Gren's record of 427 league appearances and smashing Moussa Konaté's previous record of 153 goals for GCZ.

In total, Remo has played 628 times for GCZ: scoring 266 goals and assisting 145 times.  In 6 of those seasons he was a 20+ goals-a-season man.  His trophy haul does not match Marco Simon's but for individual honours in Switzerland, he is up there with the very best:

• Named Swiss Super League Player of the Season on six occasions
• Swiss Rookiee of the Year on two occasions
• Players' Super League Midfielder of the Season on two occasions
• Swiss National Team Player of the Year on three occasions
• Swiss Super League Top Goalscorer of the Year on six occasions

Remo sadly did not make any of my predictions, but despite this he has carved out a very distinguished career both with GCZ and Switzerland: 

5 Years: Score a Champions League hat-trick before the age of 21 years old? (Like Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney and Gareth Bale before him)

10 Years: Win the European Golden Shoe?

15 Years: Top scorer at a Major International Championship?

In the Summer of 2034, Remo finally said goodbye to GCZ and ended up in Stoke, England for what is the twilight of his career.  For reasons unknown, the GCZ Management had allowed him to run his deal down thus leaving on a Free Transfer.

"We shall never see his like again....and now his watch is ended".

Well, it's been quite an incredible journey with these guys.  I hope you don't mind me shedding a teardrop or two.  I never could have imagined that I would get these two together in a youth intake, it's incredible luck and something which I have enjoyed blogging about.  It's perhaps the crucial aspect of the GCZ save that I have enjoyed the most: youth development.

Once the dust has settled from the conclusions of my FM16 save, I will collate their story into one place on my website.  Both Marco & Remo have become legends in a fictional pixelated Universe, transcending space and time forever.  Thank you for being part of their journey.

"We shall never see their like again....and now their watch has ended".

FMG