FM21 | SC Verl: 2021/2022

May 27, 2021

(This blogpost was originally a two part post taken from the old Youth Intake site)

Hello! Welcome back to my second season at SC Verl. Let’s take a look at the 2021/2022 season.

Summer Transfer Window

Compared to any previous saves, this has been one of the busiest transfer windows that I’ve ever done. With no money, we resorted to free transfers and loans. We also had to released and sell players as our finances were not in a great place.

Let’s take a look.

Transfers Out

In total we sold 12 players, 10 from the first team and 2 from Verl II for a total of £150K. Most of the players above did not want to stay at the club due to the lack of playing time. It only felt right for them to move to greener pastures. Julian Stockner, Nico Hecker, and Matthias Haeder were move to Verl II since their abilities had declined. We also released Steffen Lang and Aygün Yildirim.

I treated this massive clear out as a fresh start…

Transfers In

It was the perfect time to rebuild a squad for the future. With room in the wage bill, and barely any players left in the squad, I worked tirelessly with our DoF Bertels and the scouting team. Per our Club Vision, we were told to focus on signing players under the age of 23. Let’s take a look at the 13 players that were able to snatch.

Pre-Contracts:

Florian Krüger joins us from Erzgebie Aue. He will be our new starting forward. (In IRL, he has been putting great numbers for Erzgebie, 8 goals and 5 assists in 17 games so far this (20/21) season. He’s mainly played up top or on the left wing) Makes me happy to have picked him on for free.
Mamadou Doucouré joins us from Borussia Mönchengladbach. He’s a product of the PSG academy. He will slot in at CD(L). He’s highly susceptible to injuries, but solid when able to play.
Kilian Senkbeil joins us from Bayern II. He will partner with Mamadou Doucouré as a BPD(R). He can also cover as RB.
Philipp Sander joins us from Holstein Kiel after showing some decent performances last season. He comes in as a squad player.
Cristian Frydek joins us from Sparta Prague and will be a starter.

Loans

Joe Hodge comes back to us, this time on a year loan from Man City.
Paul Glatzel, joins from Liverpool. He will partner with Florian Kruger when using our 442 and will rotate when needed.
Sidi Sané (Leroy Sané’s little brother) joins from Schalke. He caught my eye last year while on loan at 1860 München.
Angelo Brückner joins from Bayern II. He will start at right back.
Luca Netz joins Hertha Berlin. He will start at left back.
Felix Gebhardt joins from Basel. He will be our first-choice keeper.

Youth

Bahaa Abdelhaim joins our U19 team after being released by Norwegian club øygarden. He will be training as a CWB(A).
Wang Zhijiang joins our U19 team after being released by Spanish side 26 de Febrero. He will be training as a Complete Forward (A).

Squad

Paul Glatzel, Florian Krüger and Zlatko Janjic will lead the line this season, all three are capable of covering in multiple positions when needed. Our wings are looking much better with the arrival of Sidi Sané. If Justin Eilers performs nearly as good as he did last year then we’re in decent place to call up young Billy Jones into the team. Midfield has been strengthen with more depth and quality. We’re missing a center back but we’re hoping to we can register young Ian Robinson once he turns 17yo.

This might be Nico Hecker‘s and Sergej Schmik‘s last season with the first team. I’m trying to move them as backroom staff but no budging. Robin Brüseke will now be our backup keeper. I will be scouting through the first half of the season for some young German keepers to bring in on a pre-contract.

Here’s a look at our first team squad for the season:

Preseason

Something that I have to remind myself is that club reputation works more realistic this season than previous versions of the game. Even though we won the 3. Liga, the bookies see us coming straight back down.

Once again, we have smallest wage budget and smallest fan base. On a positive note, we’ve been able to more than double our season tickets with 1,768 tickets sold, compared to last year’s 580. The chairman also injected 625k, anything helps, thanks Mr. Dieck.

Even with 10 new players coming into the team, we were able to continue our form from last year. We won all 6 of our preseason matches, albeit against lower league teams. I hope these wins help the team bond as we get ready for the season.

I’m looking forward to playing our rivals, Arminia Bielefeld. It will be first time they play a competitive match since the Westphalian Cup semifinal in 2015, which SC Verl won 2-1.

First Half – 21/22

DFB-Pokal

Goals from new boys Christian Frydek & Florian Krüger saw us go pass Bundesliga side Hertha Berlin and into the second round. A 1-0 win in the second round against St. Pauli came in a timely manner after Florian Krüger slotted a goal in the dying minutes of extra time. More on this in a bit…

Bundesliga 2

After our preseason overhaul in which we saw 13 players came in. With the board only asking us to fight bravely against relegation, the only worry I had was whether or not the team would gel. Thankfully, there was nothing to worry about.

A 14-game unbeaten streak helped us make the top of the table our own. I would attribute the great performances to the constant rotation of players, mentoring and social groups. The social groups becomes smaller as the season went on, at the time of writing, we went from having 3 groups to 2, one containing 18 of the 22 players.

Florian Krüger has scored 13 goals in 17 matches (not to mention 3 goals in the DFB-Pokal). Including a hat-trick in a 3-1 win against 1. FCN. A pair of braces against Wolfsburg and Greuther Fürth. He has been more than consistent. Billy Jones made his debut and becoming the youngest player to play for Verl (a record I hope we continue to break).

January Transfer Window

Transfers – Out

Philipp Sander wasn’t getting enough playing time so he was sent to FSV Frankfurt on loan for the rest of the year.
Wang Zhijiang was constantly pursued by Bundesliga teams. On deadline day, RB Leipzig & Hertha Berlin battled it out for his signature as £5m bids were accepted by the board. In the end, he decided to join Hertha Berlin.

Transfers – In

Tobias Leclerc comes as free transfer from League 2 side CS Sedan Ardennes. He will train with the first team and will serve as backup goalkeeper once he’s ready.

Second Half – 21/22

Our monthlong winter break was over and so was our unbeaten run (in all competitions) after losing in the 3rd round of the DFB-Pokal against FC Koln. Luckily, we did not skip a beat in the league. We carried our league form from the first half of the season and took our unbeaten run to 24 games. In the 10 games between January and March, we outscored our opponents 23-3.

A 3-0 win against Erzgebirge Aue helped us secure a playoff spot, our main man Krüger came to haunt his old team with a brace. Six days later we secured promotion to the Bundesliga with a 2-1 win against Wolfsburg. A win against Bochum would have secured the title but a late goal from Tom Weilandt haltered our celebration, we were able to create any chances and the game ended 1-1. The title was within reach and what’s better than to celebrate at “home,” right? Sandhausen came to SchücoArena (more on this later) and gifted us the title. The next three wins against Jahn, Osnabrück, and Greuther Furth helped Florian Kruger and Christian Frydek top the league charts in Goals and Assists, respectively.

We ended 17 points ahead of Bochum and 24 points ahead of 3rd place Wolfsburg. We also had the best defense and offense in the league. We’re received £16.12m for winning the Bundesliga 2. We’ve been given £95K a week, which is more than double our wage this year, plus, £666k to the transfer budget.

Best of the Bunch

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Christian Frydek: He was the creative force in the team, he shinned weather as a mezzala and especially as a SS when playing a 4231. He led the league in assists, key passes and chances created. He finished the season with a 7.18 average rating after scoring 6 goals and providing 14 assists from 32 (1) appereances.

Florian Krüger: Not only was Florian Bundesliga 2 top goalscorer, but he also won Play of the Year. He was a beast all season, joy to watch. He finished the season with a 7.26 average rating. He scored 30 goals and provided 6 assists from 37 appereances.

Luca Netz: Although his numbers may not reflect it he was the most consistent player this year. He made the left-wing his own. He finished with a 7.29 and provided 6 assists from 28 (1) appereances.

Youth

Our two Irish youngsters were a huge surprise. Billy Jones & Ian Robinson coming through our youth intake last year, I was excited to see how this year’s intake would be. To my disappointment, 21/22 was complete blah. Although no one was rated more than 3 stars, I decided to sign all of them. Maybe there’s a hidden gem in there.

Billy Jones was able to contribute 3 assists in 13(5) games to finish the season with a 6.75 avgr. Bahaa Abdelhalim also made his debut this season after turning 17yo in January. He went on to play 8(2) games and finished the season with a 6.86 avgr.

I was not able to register Ian Robinson so we were down a CD throughout the season. Luckily, Samuel Lengle was able to provide cover when needed. I’m not sure if this is a bug or not, but does anyone know what the exact age rule is in Germany? I’ve seen players irl such as Youssoufa Moukoko playing at age 16. It seems FM’s AI has taken the age rule very seriously and does not allow you to register a player unless they are 17 years old.

There were no major trophies won this season by either youth team.

Infrastructure

Stadium: We were told that once promoted we would have to move stadiums since our stadium wasn’t not up to Bundesliga standards. With no money in the bank, our only option was to share stadiums with Armenia Bielefeld for the 21/22 season. I’m not sure why the thought of sharing stadiums with another team bothers me so much. I’m hoping for us to survive the Bundesliga so we can make enough money for a new stadium. I will harass whomever our managing director is.

Facilities: With the sale of Wang Zhijiang, we were able to balance our books after being in the red for almost two years. We used some of that money and invested it into our youth and training facilities. We are nowhere near the state-of-the-art facilities that would require us to have the best academy in Germany.

Winning the league year made me feel kind of numb. I can’t help but wish to have stayed a season or two. The only excitement about being promoted is the idea of being relegated or being stuck in a relegation battle.

Promotion to the Bundesliga will have us add all of our transfer budget into the wages, there’s a lot of raises coming this preseason. Let’s see what the next transfer window has in store for us, most of the first-team players are wanted by clubs all over Europe and Asia.

Once again, thank you for sticking around until the end!
Cheers, José.

FM21 | SC Verl: 2020/2021

January 21, 2021

(The following post is a three part series from the old Youth Intake site)

Hello everyone! Welcome to my first season at SC Verl.

We will be taking a look at squad, tactics and how well we fared in our first season back into professional football.

Squad

With the first transfer window disabled, I had to rely on what I was given and wait to see where I needed to reinforce in January. With no transfer budget and 2.7k in wages, there’s not much I’ll be able to do.

As mentioned in my intro, I enjoy having a small first team, and one of the goals of the save is to maintain the first team squad at 22 players who are ready for first team action. The team I inherited had some decent players for the 3. Liga, including a mixture of youth, veterans, and club legends.

Matthias Haeder, Julian Stockner, Robin Bruseke, and Nico Hecker have been at the club for years. They will be the players that I rely on, and if possible, I would like to keep them at the club until they retire, with the idea of adding them to the coaching staff.

The club also brought in a couple of experienced players such as Justin Eilers and Zlatko Janjic. They will be slotting right into the starting lineup and hopefully be able to use their professional personalities to mentor some of the younger players.

They also brought in a great amount of young players such as Berkan Taz, Julian Schwermann, and Lasse Jurgensen. Some of these young players will be sent out on loan if I can't find a place for them as they are not ready for the first team.

Further down, the youth teams have no depth. Our U19s has no players, I will have to wait until April for our youth intake. Verl II (2nd team) has two players, with some decent potential and I will be sending anyone that needs game time here.

With all that said… in terms of natural playing positions, the team itself is not as balanced as I would have liked. A lot of the players are incredibly versatile, every player can able to cover at least 2 or 3 positions. This is probably the most versatile team that I’ve ever managed in FM.

Versatility may be helpful at times, but at the moment we don’t have much depth in a couple of positions. The immediate problem is midfield, with only one natural central midfield player (Philipp Sander, on loan from Holstein Keil), I am currently scouting the free market for a couple of young midfielders, hoping to bring one of two the second the transfer window is over. In the meantime, our DMs will provide cover in the midfield. In extreme circumstances, Berkan Taz & Zlatko Janjic are able to give a bit of cover in midfield if playing a more attacking role. Left-wing isn’t much of an issue since most of our wingers & forwards being able to provide decent cover down both wings.

Below is the first team depth chart based on natural positions in order of current ability and possible starting lineup.

Preseason

With only £99k in the bank at the start of the game, I decided to take a look at the league rules, and of course, I had a rude awakening. There’s no prize money for winning the 3. Liga. Knowing this, I don’t see how we are going to be able to stay in the green this season and possibly next season, depending on how things go. Especially since the club was only able to sell a whopping 580 season tickets for the season, and the only sponsorship money we’re receiving is from a 4-year deal worth a total of £175k.

I can see why the bookies have no faith in us staying up this season, along with our financial difficulties and having the lowest wage budget in the 3. Liga. My focus during the preseason is always to get the players used to our tactic, regardless of results. I typically rotate the team during halftime so that every player has a chance to play in every game. Not only do I rotate players, but I switch the tactics as well.

Because of the virus, we had a short preseason of 4 games. After two back-to-back home defeats against Sassuolo and Groningen, the team began to pick up form with back-to-back wins against lower league teams Bonn & Aachen.

2020/2021 - First Half

September

Ties against 7th place favorite Wiesbaden proved that we could go head to head against some of the bigger teams. The win against Bayern II came from 91′ minute winner banger from veteran defender Julian Stöckner, so much for 9 long shots and 4 finishing.

October

As I mentioned earlier, we were short on natural midfielders. I sent my two scouts on a hunt all of the summer all the way through the end of the transfer market in September. After going through 10’s of options, I gave the instruction to our DoF Raimund Bertels to sign the following young midfielders.

Both midfielders join us on a 1-year contract with a 1-year option to extend at the end of the season. Samuel Lengle will come in straight to first team, although not a natural midfielder, he can do the job as our DLP or BBM when asked. He was the best option that the scouts could find (well… the only one that wanted to join us). Patrick Finger will play for the second team, Verl II. I will keep track on Finger’s development and see if he’s able to join the first team later on in the season.

During the month of October the team started to gel really well. With great performances from Nico Hecker, Matthias Haeder, and Justin Eilers, we were able to take 15/18 points. The defeat against promotion candidates Ingolstadt was disappointing since we dominated most of the game.

November

November saw us carry on some of the work that we did in previous month but no thanks to my stubbornness, I thought to continue developing our 4-3-3 tactic instead of following my gut and switch tactics depending on what formation we faced. We finished the month with back-to-back defeats agains 1860 München & Uerdingen.

December

In December, we turned things around and managed to finish the month undefeated. Eilers, Haeder, and Hecker continued their fine form. These three have truly carried the team so far this season. In the process, Matthias Haeder became our all time leading scorer with 55 league goals to his name.

League Table

12 wins, 2 draws, and only 3 loses. We find ourselves top of the league midway through the season. Only 4 points separate us from 3. Liga favorites Kaiserslautern and 6 points from Ingolstadt.

The team has finally gotten used to our three tactics and I’m confident on how the rest of the season will play out. With no depth in the team, I’ve decided to rotate constantly to avoid any serious injuries. Moral is high, with most players in favor of the coach. A couple of players are moaning for playing time, I might look to either loan or sell whoever doesn’t want to be here. Our finances have only gotten worse and we’re getting closer to -£500k in debt, so selling a player or two may come in handy.

We’re still short in two key positions, midfield and left wing. I will dive into loan market to find some cover during the January window

January Transfer Window

Without wiggle room in our wage budget, I found it extremely challenging to sign any decent German midfielders on loan. The teams in Bundesliga 2 and Bundesliga were demanding high wage percentages and fees, making it difficult for us to bring in the players we wanted. As a result, I had to resort to signing Joe Hodge, a player who was one of my favorites in last year’s game when I managed Eibar.

I had signed Joe Hodge on a free transfer in FM20, and he proved to be a fantastic addition to my team. He perfectly fit into my tactic as a Deep-Lying Playmaker (Defend) and consistently delivered outstanding performances. He ended up playing over 300 games for Eibar before deciding to return to England. If he can replicate anywhere near the level he achieved in FM20, we should be in a good position.

Additionally, we have Philipp Sander set to join us for free next summer. His contract with Holstein Kiel will expire at the end of the season, allowing us to secure his services without any transfer fee. So far this season, Sander has been decent, with a rating of 6.8, and we hope he will continue to contribute positively to the team.

In terms of outgoing transfers, Mehmet Kurt will be going on loan to Duisburg until the end of the year. This loan move will help us financially, as we will receive a loan fee of £1.1k per month. We hope this arrangement will benefit both the player and the club.

2020/2021 - Second Half

January - March

Sad news – Our dear Chairman, Director of Football, and club icon Raimund Bertels decided not to run for re-election. Thankfully, Bertels will now move to full time Director of Football. On the other hand, Mr. Marcel Dieck ended up winning elections so let’s welcome him as our new Chairman. He immediately injected £120k into the club, bringing our balance to around -£420k 🙄. Let’s see how we get along in the next few seasons.

Back to the football. I normally don’t like bringing in key players during January because it can sometimes disrupt the way your team plays. In my case, Joe Hodge came into the team and did exactly what I was hoping for. He went on to score a banger in his debut against Manheim, helping the team win the game 3-2. We managed to win four out of five games.

We dropped points against Rostock & Magdeburg with a couple of last minute goals. Thankfully we went on to win in-style against Insgolstadt(sweet sweet revenge). We continued with four great wins, including three clean sheets. We finished March with a comeback against Lübeck after going down 2-0 in the first half.

April - May

Kaiserslautern have been neck to neck with us through the season. Midseason, they were four points behind us. Fast forward to April, nothing has changed. The Die Roten Teufel were still on our toes. Someone was going to let up, it was make it or break it.

We need to win four out of five games in April to gain promotion to Bundesliga 2. Continuing our nine game winning streak, we followed with five more wins in April, including three clean sheets in three away games. Our 0-4 away win against Halle sent us to Bundesliga 2!!

On the other hand Kaiserslautern tied against Halle 2-2 and lost 0-3 at home against Underhaching, a team they previously beat 5-0 in first half of the season (gotta love FM). This gave us a nine point lead heading to May.

The title race was on. With a possible title defining game at the end of the season we headed into May full of confidence. With promotion secured, we needed two wins to snatch the title from Kaiserslautern. Two games later, it’s MADNESS at the Stadion an der Grünwalder Straße as we managed to beat Türkgücü 0-3 to win the 3. Liga title!!!

Best of the Bunch

After an excellent season, where we broke numerous defensive and offensive records, it comes as no surprise that the 3. Liga Team of the Year features some of our exceptional players.

Joe Hodge and Samuel Lengle were instrumental in the midfield, showcasing their exceptional break-up play and passing range. Their contributions greatly supported our attacking players throughout the campaign. Justin Eilers, our star striker, ended the season as the top goalscorer in the 3. Liga and deservedly won the Player of the Year award. Eilers' ability to link up with Matthias Haeder, Nico Hecker, and Zlatko Janjic was truly remarkable, resulting in some breathtaking goals. The chemistry and understanding between these players were evident, with most of their goals being assisted by one another.

It is also worth mentioning the outstanding performances of Robin Brüseke, Julian Stöckner, and Lars Riska. These three players were phenomenal throughout the entire season, as evidenced by our remarkable achievement of keeping twenty-two clean sheets in thirty-eight games. Their contributions played a crucial role in our defensive solidity and overall success.

Youth

FM can be a silly game. My favorite save last year was MaddFM’s May The Fürth Be With You with Greuther Fürth. In this save, Madd did an Irish takeover of the club, from chairman to coaching staff. One of his aims of the save was to produce an Irish newgen, hoping to groom to them for the Irish national team. Spoiler Alert – If you haven’t read it, Madd doesn’t see an Irishman come through his academy until the last season of his save.

Fast forward to my save with SC Verl and I’m gifted two Irish newgens by the FM Gods. This is almost unfair since our academy is crap. These two were the only players who were decent enough to highlight. At first glance, they seem to have a high enough potential to maybe sneak into the first team, but we all know how these little stars work.

I will monitor the growth and development of not only these two players but also numerous promising youngsters emerging from our youth system. It is important to acknowledge that our academy, at present, falls short of being exceptional, and it will be some time before we witness any truly remarkable talent emerging from its ranks. Nevertheless, I retain hope that once we ascend to the heights of the Bundesliga, our chairman will grant us the financial means to enhance the infrastructure and facilities of our club.

Remarkably, our U-19 squad initially lacked any actual players until the arrival of our latest Youth Intake. The kids were able to help our U-19 team win their division in the last game of the season.

Finances

As we embark on our journey in the 2. Bundesliga, we find ourselves facing a significant financial hurdle. Our bank balance of -£1,627,759 has hinder the wage and transfers budgets, with the chairman providing us with a wage budget of £46.5K per week and a transfer budget of £0.

With such limited resources at our disposal, our primary objective becomes clear: avoiding relegation. If we can secure our position in the 2. Bundesliga and earn additional financial rewards, we will be able to alleviate the strain on our bank balance.

Wish me luck !

If you made it this far, thank you for sticking with me. Next up is a busy summer transfer window and the 2021/2022 season.

Best,
José

FM21 | SC Verl - Introduction

December 30, 2020

Finding the "right" club somehow feels like it may be hardest part of Football Manager...

Here's a little backstory:

Like every FM player, I was excited when FM21 was announced. I had found the perfect team, Elche in La Liga. Elche had been promoted back to La Liga after some years in the 2nd division. They had gone through some rough financial times on top of having one of the smallest budgets in La Liga. They scrambled to find free agents players to be ready for their first game. They hired ex Eibar CEO Patricia Rodríguez Barrios as CEO to oversee this new transition at the club. It had the perfect recipe for a great save. With the game out, I dove straight in and began my save with Elche. Half way through the season I was in 6th place and ended the season at 3rd.

I'm not sure what I did right but I didn't enjoy it at all, it seemed way too easy. I decided to scrap the save and went on a hunt to find another team with a great underdog story.

A week or so later, I came across Sportclub Verl, aka SC Verl or Verl, in Germany's 3rd tier, 3. Liga

Founded in 1924, SC Verl has mainly operated in the amateur leagues in Germany throughout most of their history. Here's a lil' insight into their recent history, per wikipedia:

"Having played at least fourth tier level since 1970, with 17 consecutive seasons in the third tier, makes SC Verl one of the most consistent top teams of Germany's amateur football. One of the smallest cities to field a fourth-tier football team, and together with neighbouring club SC Wiedenbrück one of only two clubs in the Regionalliga West working under amateur conditions (both players and coaches have day-time jobs), the club is without any liabilities – a direct result of a continued policy of "no credit financing".

The club achieved mid-table finishes for their first eleven seasons in the Regionalliga West after 2008. In the truncated 2019–20 season, they finished second on the points-per-game rule, but advanced to the promotion play-offs after first-placed SV Rödinghausen declined to apply for a licence to play in the 3. Liga. Verl then beat Lokomotive Leipzig on away goals to win promotion to the 3. Liga for the first time."

What caught my eye while doing research on Verl was their idea of being a financially sustainable club and promoting from within. This is something that I want to maintain as part of the "club culture." In the last 15 years, ex-players such as current Chairman/Director of Football Raimund Bertels, former manager Andreas Golombek and manager Guerino Capretti (plus Assistant Manager/player Sergej Schmik) have become a pivotal part of their rise though the leagues.

Chairman/Director of Football, Raimund Bertels played for the club between '92-'95 then left the club for SPVGG Beckum. In 2001, he came back to Verl as Manager of Verl II (2nd team). In 2008, he was promoted to first team Assistant Manager to Mario Ermisch. Following the departure of Ermisch in 2009, Bertels was promoted to manager, a position he held until 2013. In June 2013, Bertels became chairman and director of football.

Current 1st team Manager Guerino Capretti had a 5 year spell with the club between 2010-2015. In 2017, he came as first team manager.

Sergej Schmik signed with Verl in the summer of 2018. In January 2020, Capretti appointed Schmik as his assistant manager. I'm not sure if the fact that they were youth players at SC Paderborn has anything to do with it. Maybe it's just a coincidence.

Former Manager Andreas Golombek was in charge of Verl from 2013 until 2017. During his time as manager Golombek maintained a mid table standing. Golombek had a two year spell as a player in 1994-1996.

SC Verl have had a dream start to professional football. In the moment of writing they sit 7th in 3. Liga. Let's hope their success continues.

This brings me to some rules and objectives to make the game a bit more challenging and hopefully interesting:

Rules:

Continue to promote/sign ex-players to the backroom staff.
- As mentioned above, I want this to be part of my club culture.
If possible, only sign players with a German passport via free transfers or loan.
- I like the idea of using only homegrown players, so for the first five years in charge I will do my best to only sign players with a German passport, be it German born or naturalized.
Only use players developed at the club after June, 2025.
- Since the club's academy isn't the best, I'll need a few years of investment to be able to get the academy up to standards. Once the appropriate investment has been made then I shall see some decent youth players come through our academy.
Self imposed "transfer embargo" after 2025.
- No players will be signed under any circumstance after June, 2025.

Objectives:

Promotion to Bundesliga by 2025.
Become Bundesliga champions.
Surpass Bayern's commercial revenue.
- One of the toughest things to achieve in FM, whether you're in La Liga, Ligue 1, Premier League or Serie A, is to surpass the top club's commercial revenue.
Have the best academy in Germany by 2030.
- Depending on the chairman/s in these next years this should not be impossible to achieve. Let's hope we get some nice chairmans voted in.
Win the Champion's League with a starting 11 that was developed at the club.
- My ultimate dream, haha, we shall see!

I'm excited to see how this save turns out and hope you enjoy the journey. I'm hoping to have to do at least one weekly update per season, depending on how much I don't digress when writing.

Let me know your thoughts! Feel free to comment below or give me a shout on Twitter.

Best,
José