Football Manager 2024 was released yesterday, and if you’re already running short of money to fund your next big transfer there’s a “cheat code” that can unlock almost unlimited riches: sell to the Saudis.
Although the Saudi Pro League isn’t a playable league in this year’s version of the football management game, it can still play a pivotal role—especially if you’re playing in one of Europe’s top leagues.
As in real life, Saudi clubs are spending enormous amounts of money on English Premier League and other European players. This summer, for example, Al-Hilal alone spent €90 million ($96m) on a 31-year-old Neymar, €55 million ($59m) on Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves and €53 million ($56m) on Fulham striker Aleksander Mitrovic. And that was just a small sample of the club’s outlay.
That kind of lavish spending is replicated in the game, with players of the beta version receiving outlandish sums for players who are well past their peak.
One player manager English Premier League side Liverpool reports that they sold 32-year-old defender Virgil van Dijk for €270 million ($288m) to a Saudi club, as well as 32-year-old midfielder Thiago for €140 million ($150m) and 31-year-old forward Mohamed Salah for €290 million ($310m). That’s a total transfer kitty of €700 million ($750m) from three ageing players, enough to buy you a handful of replacement wonderkids and dominate the Premier League for years to come!
Financial Doping in FM24
I’ve seen similar, if not quite as extravagant, Saudi transfer sums in my own game as Premier League West Ham. Before the season had even kicked off, I received a bid in excess of £60 million ($73m) for 28-year-old, injury prone defender Kurt Zouma from Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad. Zouma’s a decent defender, but you’d struggle to sell him for anything more than £30-40 million to anywhere other than Saudi Arabia.
It’s no wonder Zouma was keen on the move, either. Al-Ittihad are paying him a weekly wage of £725,000 ($893,000) in the game, around seven times what he was earning with me at West Ham!
Now, as I approach the end of my first season, I have Saudi Pro League clubs interested in buying no fewer than six of my first-team players, many of which are well into their thirties. Assuming those clubs will actually pay the same inflated fees for the players in the summer, it should provide more than enough funds to find the top-level striker West Ham desperately needs, with plenty of funds to spare.
Making FM24 Too Easy?
Although Football Manager 24 is largely only modelling what’s happening in real life, it does raise fears that being able to sell past-their-best players to the Saudis for stupendous sums will make the game too easy. Previously, you’d be lucky to get into the tens of millions for well-known Premier League players who were into their thirties. The Saudi Pro League is turning them into cash cows.
It’s been a hot topic of debate among FM24 players who’ve been running the beta version game for the past fortnight, and it will doubtless continue to rumble as more players jump in for the full release.
In the meantime, if anyone wants to give me $50 million for 33-year-old Aaron Cresswell, you know where to find me.
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