Every Football Manager edition is great just because of one thing - I always learn something new. Or I try to improve some of my habits at least. If I was guilty of something in the past, it has to be the fact that I was so conservative in terms of selling players. And it usually resulted in the fact that I played with a lot of players from the original squad because I was reluctant to sell them. Not only when they were wanted elsewhere. But also in terms of deciding it’s the right time to sell.

It’s usually connected to several factors and I’m sure most of us playing video games like Football Manager, but also FIFA for example, have it the same.

• Nostalgia - too many possible examples from the past when I rejected all offers for some of my players just because I would miss them too much and I keep them around despite they are not good enough already. Almost the whole FM17 save with Reading FC is the best example.

• What if… - Will I be able to replace them? Will I be able to find a better player? I don’t want to lose the position I built in the previous years. I will rather keep them, even if they will be unhappy.

• Not too long saves - this is connected mainly to the FM20 and FM21. My saves are not that long (15+ years) same as in the past where I was able to reach 2030 and far. That’s also the reason why I didn’t like to sell my favourite players. This will be probably the most often reason why I don’t sell players and I’m sure it will be even worse in the future.

But as I wrote at the beginning, I’m trying to learn every year. And my FM21 save with GAIS is no different. The 2027 season surely is the groundbreaking one in terms of selling players because they don’t want to be in the club.

The reasons why some players don’t want to be in our club are very simple - the club/nation reputation, the player’s ambitions etc. You can be the Europa League winner but your best 18-year-old newgens will jump on the first offer by Bayern München immediately.

You can be the multiple domestic league & cup winners but you can’t offer €200k per month to a central defender in his best years same as some Chinese clubs. Or maybe you can but if you are the same as me, you won’t do it.

Firstly, I still have some players from the original squad despite all the transfers. They belong to the Nostalgia group for sure - the captain Anton Snibb, another wing-back Victor Blixt and central midfielder Nuha Jatta. The first one would be great in the second tier, the other two are still my first choices for WB(S) and CM(A) roles. And yes, I count Oscar Aga here too, despite I bought him before the second season.

*Self reminder - give them a new contract.

I think it already started in the previous calendar year when 19-year-old Haris Hakansson moved to PSG just one year with us to rather play for their U19s team than to be the key player here. The transfer of midfielder Peter Magnusson to Shandong Luneng for up to €27.5M was easier to accept due to the money involved. But this was extreme.

When I saw that my 18-year-old midfielder “is incredibly interested in speaking to Milan” and he wasn’t able to accept the fact that I want more than €3M for him, his training rating went below 5.5 and he looked like he had a great party every night since the transfer was rejected, I gave up.

And I decided it’s the best time to finally move over this “but I like him, he can develop into a great player and I want to follow his development”.

It resulted in €30.5M income from the outgoing transfers in 2026. And €36M from outgoing transfers in 2027 before the end of August.

There were 20 outgoing transfers this calendar year - permanent and loan together. The permanent transfers should be probably divided into groups named “Oh, no, another offer from China” and “Perfect, Bayern needs another youngster in the U19s team”.

I’m learning how to accept the fact that my key central midfielder who was in the starting XI in the Europa League final is happy to be part of the Bayern U19s team. But yes, it’s about the nation/league where I play and I have to accept it.

The Chinese group consisted of 5 very big transfers in January 2027. Strikers Nikolaj Möller, Isak Bjerkebo and Rasmus Cronvall, midfielder Dennis Collander and the central defender Anton Skipper all left the club within 10 days.

The money we received is absolutely great for the Swedish club and we can’t compete with the salary. For example, Anton Skipper went from €18k p/m to €274k p/m. Bjerkebo and Möller both had around €20k p/m with us and they €265k p/m and €283k p/m respectively.

All of them were part of the starting XI so the decision to sell them because of “is incredibly interested in speaking to Guangzhou/Shanghai/Jiangsu etc.”.

I replaced them with youngsters and other backup players. And we won the Europa League so it wasn’t a bad decision probably.

I think it’s the groundbreaking season mainly because of the second group when players went to other European countries and I didn’t block it.

So, other players went to Bayern, Aston Villa, Newcastle or Fulham. Some of the transfer fees are not in the area where I would like to see them in the past. I’m sure I would never accept €4.3M for our key left central defender who is also a member of the national team.

I would never accept €1.2M for one of the most talented and one of the best developing young players in the squad. But he wanted to go. Whenever I tried to talk with these players about their possible stay in the club, their immediate response was “there is nothing that you can do to keep me here”.

Alright, let’s go…

The result of these transfers was that I promoted some players from our U19s team, I recalled one player from the loan but sent him for another loan again because he would not be enough to stay.

This is exactly that moment when I’m glad both reserve and U19s teams are using the same tactical system as the first team. It allows you to take any player and you can be sure he will be alright with the system.

That’s why I have no problem with player 16-year-old newgen Robin Ahlström (click to the name to see his profile) as CM(S) when it’s needed. And the age absolutely doesn’t matter. I need to enjoy it until he will “be incredibly interested in speaking to XY” :)

That’s why I signed Axel Larsson for free from Brondby with a view to being the best cover for Oscar Aga in the Advanced Forward role. And yes, he scored a hat trick in his debut in the domestic cup while we played the rotation squad. Great Finishing/Composure combination with a very solid Acceleration and Pace.

That’s why the second-best goalscorer of the 2027 calendar year was 18-year-old newgen Lars Olsson. He just got his opportunity after training with the first team and playing for reserves and U19s.

I trust my system. One loss, like 0:5 against Manchester United in the UEFA Super Cup or 0:1 against Malmö in the league as it was the first defeat after 45 matches, can’t destroy the good feeling from the save and from the way how I’m playing it.

Three more players were attracted by Bayern during summer 2027. Two of them, both 18-year-old midfielders, wanted to go immediately. The transfers were cancelled just because Bayern didn’t finish the paperwork at the right time. So, it’s obvious there will be more and more outgoing transfers. I can’t compete with it. But I’m enjoying it and I’m already looking to use players from the youth intake in autumn 2027.

• The 2nd part of the 2027 summary

I’m very happy with the outcome from the 2027 season and how we did in the 2nd part of the campaign. There were some issues mainly during the tight schedule, injured & fatigued players and also a couple of defeats. If your players are used to win most of the time, it can affect the morale within the current version of the game (that’s not a complaint, just a normal thing).

But we won the Allsvenskan ahead of Malmö and we finished 3rd in the Champions League group with Chelsea, Seville FC and Hajduk after beating the Croatian side twice and drew with Seville in the last match.

It was already during the time when Victor Blixt (shared his profile earlier in this post) sprained his knee ligaments and he is out for up to 9 months. He is also one of the leaders and vice-captain so it affected our game somehow for sure.

There is a screen with 24 players as these players were in the squad at the end of the 2027 season and they all have at least 1 appearance. The average age of these players is 22,6 years.

I’m currently not sure how many players will leave but I’m sure about one thing - our playing style will remain the same.

Just a couple of days after clicking continue to enter the new season…

If you read about this save continuously, you will maybe be interested in Oscar Aga and the possibility he breaks the club record in terms of goals scored in the league. The current record holder is Karl-Alfred Jacobson, the only club legend at the beginning of the save. He scored 145 goals for GAIS in the league.

Oscar Aga scored his 145th league goal for the club in the last match of the 2027 season against Hammarby. It means we have to play more…

His numbers are perfect so far: 243 goals in 287 appearances in all competitive matches. More to come hopefully.

Thanks for reading and take care.