Previously on Plazas de Soberanía, Ceuta tactically evolved.

Intro

Has this been my favourite blogged FM save? Probably not, but I am ok with that. I cannot always find the most epic save ever or have the greatest in-game moments. Alternatively, this has not been a bad save either. I set out to do a One Club Save back on FM23 release day, and here I am in September 2023 concluding things with excitement building for FM24…AD Ceuta FC have kept the Football Manager flame alight for 10 months of the year. 10 in-game seasons that have held my attention.

The save has largely gone the way I had hoped too: an upward journey from Primera Federación Grupo I to LaLiga. Whilst we did not gain successive promotions, challenge for LaLiga right away or sell a Mauritanian Newgen for €90m…I did the save my way. €3-4m transfer spends on players that suited lowly Ceuta, evolving tactically and constructing a 15,000-seater new stadium in the process. I started out as the 133rd most reputable club in Spain in 2022 and now I finish with Ceuta as the 19th most reputable club in Spain in 2032.

Today’s post recaps on the 10th and final season, whether I met the save’s aims, I share my favourite FM23 player and I then reveal how the save will keeping going without me. Does any of this entice you to read on further?

Oh, and as a reminder…this is our story so far:

1. 2022/23 - Primera Federación Grupo I - 6th

2. 2023/24 - Primera Federación Grupo I - 4th (promoted via Playoffs) 🚀

3. 2024/25 - LaLiga SmartBank - 13th

4. 2025/26 - LaLiga SmartBank - 13th

5. 2026/27 - LaLiga SmartBank - 14th

6. 2027/28 - LaLiga SmartBank - 7th

7. 2028/29 - LaLiga SmartBank - 1st (promoted as champions) 🏆

8. 2029/30 - LaLiga Santander - 15th

9. 2030/31 - LaLiga Santander - 14th

10. 2031/32 - LaLiga Santander - ?

And all the posts so far:

Season 2031/32

The 10th and final season with Ceuta, in my Plazas de Soberanía series has been a blast. I completed the season quicker than I thought I would, mainly because I could see some of the progress we were making and the good football we were playing. I did not sign too many players, but Adonay Marichal is the standout signing as I channelled my inner David Moyes and recruited from the division below. Adonay arrived for €3.5m for Las Palmas and played a mixture of Deep Lying Playmaker and Attacking Midfielder (interchanging with the 🐐, Txus Alba - more on him later).

There was a brief moment where European qualification was a possibility, and part of me believed I could do it. Alas, 15 points at the end of the season was the difference and the line in the sand marked out as the next ceiling for Ceuta to breakdown:

My FM23 Aims - Revisited

The previous save aims are found here. My Ceuta side never once challenged for the LaLiga title, and I never got to hear the Champions League theme. However, I never once got sacked here at Ceuta…and we did move into the new 15,000 ‘Ceuta stadium’:

After signing 14 North Africans in this save, we finally saw one capped internationally for the first time whilst present at the club. I left it late, 2031 Summer signing Amine Mekouar (and the final North African arrival in this save) received a debut for Morocco against Rwanda in which he scored. Phew, achieving 3 out of my 5 aims isn’t bad 😎

My fav FM23 player is…

…Txus Alba. Were you expecting me to write somebody else? Sure, ‘Kevin’ was a monumental signing and I titled three posts around the Ceuta born Nigerian…but Txus Alba was iconic for me in FM23. Txus Alba joined in 2024/25 (my third season in FM), Ceuta’s debut season in LaLiga 2. He so nearly joined on loan a year before that but opted to join league rivals Linares on loan from Barcelona. When his contract was up at La Masia, I swooped in and made him my highest earner on €200k per annum.

Sometimes in FM, you get that one player whose trajectory grows alongside the growth of the club. This is something I see when managing a One-Club save such as this, and something I have experienced with Txus in my side. He’s been almost ever-present in the seven years I have managed him…either as my Deep Lying Playmaker or as one of my Attacking Midfielders. Txus has been my most used player with 330 appearances, 106 appearances more than the 2nd most used player: Luca Zidane.

It’s probably fair to say that both him and Ceuta have hit a ceiling together in mid-table LaLiga. The next step is probably to phase him out of the side and part ways, and that’s another Manager’s immediate job (more on this later). But for now I want to look back at Txus’ service here:

330 Appearances, 38 Goals, 76 Assists, 7.02 Average Rating. Below is his last LaLiga assist (number 33 in Spain’s top league), and probably one of his best:

Other special players in this save are the aforementioned Kevin Carlos (51 goals in a couple of seasons) & Luca Zidane (Club Captain for many years) and Rubén Acuña (my highest goal scorer of 72 goals over four seasons). Perhaps in the tier below is Iker Losada (191 appearances, 39 goals and 38 assists) and Lorenzo Gonzalez (whose 34 goals in a single season [2022/23] was never beaten). I salute these virtual players and I will often think about them.

No El Fin…Announcing Ceuta’s New Manager…

I find that the motivation to leave a legacy wanes a little bit in a One Club Save. It might just be me, but the last few transfer windows in these kind of saves often see me just going through the motions - there’s no real desire to find that next wonderkid or leave the squad looking in a top shape. However, that all changed when CoffeehouseFM’s next top Blogger, José (@YouthIntake), got in contact with me over the Summer, asking if he could continue my save after me by loading up the save file. I was genuinely happy to share, because from that moment I had a greater motivation to conclude things with Ceuta in the best possible way.

The other added benefit for me was being able to share my save file six in-game months in advance of ending with Ceuta, in order to identify targets with José and seeing whether I could add a couple of players. After all, how often do you see new Managers IRL come in and totally disregard players that the club has only just signed? I was determined not to have this with Ceuta. The benefit for José is that he’s privy to the decision making now, meaning it is two positions he won’t have to worry about on arrival and they’ll get 6 months of football before José can come in and use them.

So, José and I got to work and we identified the Full Back positions as a place to recruit towards in January 2032, due to the players being fairly old there. These are the two players we signed:

In my current 4222, the left sided full back is the more attacking one. With Alberto Vega signing this can obviously continue. He has good physicals to get up and down the pitch, and a decent enough cross. He arrives in a cut-price deal (€115k) from Real Madrid due to his expiring contract. The next signing becomes the first non-Spanish or North African in the save so far, but he’s José’s 1st pick for RB…and I can see why. Romario Barta (signing from Cluj at €3.8m) is a solid full back, who will offer good security in the defence.

I am unsure if José will blog his journey with Ceuta (or update us someplace else), but I am happy to know the club is in safe virtual hands. His immediate focus will be to keep the team competitive with the lowest salary cap in the league (circa €29m p/a), and that should not be underestimated considering the club does not generate much in the way of match day revenue. Additionally, now that the club is established in LaLiga, developing youth is something I think José and Ceuta can push forward with too 🙂

AD Ceuta FC, good luck in the future.

Thank you for reading / sharing and caring,

Tony / FM Grasshopper