Looking ahead to Football Manager 2018, those who want to get a head start in the game should have a number of decent clubs to choose from, with Aston Villa and Middlesbrough likely to have big transfer budgets.
If you’re the type of Football Manager player who likes the challenge of fighting for promotion and rising to the top, but you don’t have the time or patience to start right at the bottom with a club like Braintree Town, picking a Championship club is a good place to start. Looking ahead to Football Manager 2018, those who want to get a head start in the game should have a number of decent clubs to choose from, with Aston Villa and Middlesbrough likely to have big transfer budgets. Although Aston Villa endured a tough campaign after dropping out of the Premier League for the first time ever, they could be set to bounce back this season at the second time of asking. Those who know how to bet on sports will certainly be looking to include the Villans in their match day accumulators with Steve Bruce at the helm and the promise of financial backing this summer. In fact, they could be the Newcastle of last year, and help many people with their bets. As reported by Sportsbet, one lucky punter won an 11-fold bet after correctly backing the Magpies to win away at Wigan last December. The new owner at Villa Park, Tony Xia, has grand plans for the club and plenty of riches to pump into it. In last year’s Football Manager, Norwich City had the highest transfer budget at the start of the game with £10 million and Newcastle United surprisingly had £5 million to spend on players. One would expect Villa’s funds to be somewhere in the middle of those on the new game.
Middlesbrough could also be a decent option to take charge of when the greatest football management game ever returns later this year. In real life, the northeast side are well-placed to mount a promotion challenge and bounce back to the top flight after dropping down this season. Boro will receive £47 million in parachute payments, and the club chairman Steve Gibson has also said that they are in a strong and stable financial situation. In addition to that, they have some Premier League quality players such as Ben Gibson who could be sold to generate transfer funds in the game.
On Football Manager 2017 if you wanted to start as Leeds United you would have had to make do with a meagre £100k starting budget. The West Yorkshire outfit may have a bit more in the kitty this year, though, as in real life the club has just been purchased by Italian businessman Andrea Radrizzani who has pledged to invest in players this summer. Even if the transfer budget isn’t increased too much players who want to play as the Whites should be able to build up funds quite quickly as there are some players in the squad who could fetch large sums on the transfer market. Last season’s top scorer Chris Wood and young talent Ronaldo Vieira are two options to sell on for a quick cash boost.
Of course, you may in fact prefer the challenge of having nothing to begin with, and purely getting by with your outstanding managerial prowess. If that’s the case, Burton Albion started with a mere £150k in the last game and will probably be given a similar budget this year. On the other hand, if you’re all about the glory you can’t go wrong with the usual high rollers like Chelsea and Manchester City.
