I’ve always enjoyed a West Ham save, going all the way back to the 2003 side that was ‘too good to go down’ on LMA Manager! Add in the fact that my girlfriend and her family are all fans, and I feel I need to get in there and do a good job! After a really impressive season last year and a good transfer window, they’re in a strong position to kick on, plus they’ve got a European adventure to go on for the first time since 2016. I’m starting to really enjoy an industrious double pivot, and the pairing of Declan Rice and Tomáš Souček is one I’m keen to use and keep together, while Michail Antonio is exactly the kind of quick and powerful forward I like to have spearheading my attack. Add in new signings with the calibre of Kurt Zouma and Nikola Vlasic and there’s some genuine quality in the squad, with the infrastructure and money to become a force.

It may only be a short BETA save, but I’m excited to get stuck in and see what the new game, and the Hammers, have to offer.

My first ‘main’ save will be with Anderlecht.  They are a club I have always had a soft spot for, particularly after visiting their ground on a trip around Europe in 2016.  They are a club I have dabbled with in the past, but the save has never really kicked on for various reasons.  This time I will be attempting to make the club entirely homegrown, and its at this point that I need to doth my proverbial cap to MaddFM and his fabulous homegrown save with Angers on FM21 – the idea for my save came directly from this.

Anderlecht have been underachieving of late, having not won the league since 2016/17, and whilst they are still one of the most powerful clubs in Belgium I’m hoping that the homegrown element will bring that extra challenge to the save as we attempt domestic domination as well as hopefully making some sort of impact on Europe. Initially I had planned to do this save with Gent (another club I visited in 2019), but their squad is miles away from being homegrown, Anderlecht on the other hand have such FM20/21 wonderkids such as Marco Kana and Yari Verschaeren to build a team around, as well as what I hope will be a conveyor belt of young talent coming through the academy, which will have to be a massive focus.  Finally, I have never managed in Belgium and I’m looking forward to what is a slight different league structure from most of Europe.

I had a really enjoyable save at CD Tenerife in FM19 – managing in Spain is always a really enjoyable challenge with the quality and style of football combined with the challenge of competing against the dominance of the Madrid teams and of course Barcelona, irrespective of their recent IRL downfall. One team that has caught my eye this season is RCD Mallorca, with the islanders having just recently been promoted back to La Liga after finishing 2nd in the Segunda Division last season. Not only have they the infrastructure (23,000 seater stadium which usually fills for big games) and the historical footballing pedigree (notable alumni include Miguel Angel Nadal, Samuel Eto’o, Marco Asensio and Pablo Mari) – they have had a highly impressive transfer window since gaining promotion particularly in the loan market wherein they have signed Pablo Maffeo (Stuttgart), Takefusa Kubo (Real Madrid) and Rodrigo Battaglia (Sporting) as well as completing two massive coups through the permanent signings of Lee Kang-In (Valencia – Free) and Matthew Hoppe (Schalke  – €3.5m). Keeping them up will be the first challenge however with that squad there is huge potential to avoid relegation and make a rapid push up the La Liga table within a couple of seasons; who knows – you might even be able to convince your other half that a holiday to Majorca would be the perfect getaway while you secretly make plans for a stadium visit or even a La Liga game if you play your cards right! You know it makes sense.