One of the main things FM players consider when a new edition of Football Manager is released is who they will manage on their first save. With the announcement that FM26 will be released sometime in Autumn 2026, we thought we would look at five teams that would be challenging to do for the first save on FM26.
Athletic Club
Los Leones have always been a challenging club to manage, as Athletic are only allowed to sign players from the Basque Country or those with a heritage from the region.
This can be a massive challenge, as it means that FM players rely on good coaching and also developing players through a highly effective youth system. This is not always easy.
However, despite the challenge of only being able to bring in Basque players, Athletic starts the game with quality players such as Unai Simón, Oihan Sancet, Inaki Williams, and, of course, Nico Williams.
Guiding Athletic to the Spanish top-flight ahead of giants Barcelona and Real Madrid would be a significant achievement.
Everton
As regular readers of our site will know, Everton is my team and I usually start with the Toffees. It usually takes a couple of seasons to get the Blues back amongst the elite, but it’s not overly complicated.
However, starting FM26 with Everton may well be more difficult, as the Toffees are short on numbers after a raft of players, such as Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Ashley Young and Abdoulaye Doucoure, all left the club on free transfers.
Despite the signings of Mark Travers, Adam Aznou, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Jack Grealish and Tierno Barry, the squad lacks depth.
The transfer budget will dictate how challenging it is to return the Toffees to their former glories. If a decent budget is available, it could be a good opportunity to rebuild a quality squad. If there isn’t much of a budget, then it will be a bigger challenge.
Hamburg
For FM24, I decided to undertake a challenge of getting Hamburg back into the Bundesliga, as they had been in the German top flight in 2018. We managed to get Die Rothosen back into the Bundesliga at the first time of asking.
However, in real life, it took them seven years to win promotion back to the German big time, as they earned promotion in May. They had come close to promotion before, but never quite got over the line.
The challenge for Hamburg is to ensure that they don’t suffer relegation back to the German second tier. A couple of notable summer signings were Nicolas Capaldo and the experienced Yussuf Poulsen, who has immense experience in the Bundesliga with RB Leipzig.
No doubt you will need to strengthen the squad to stay in the Bundesliga, although once again, the transfer budget will play a big role in how much you can strengthen the team.
Bordeaux
Once a giant of French football, Bordeaux were relegated to the fourth tier of French football in July 2023 due to financial issues. The club were declared bankrupt before their demotion to the fourth tier, and had to surrender their professional licence.
The former French champions failed to win promotion in their first season in the Championnat National 2. It would be a massive challenge to return Bordeaux to Ligue 1 and to compete at the top table of French football.
Your budget is likely to be limited, but that is part of the charm of possibly the most formidable challenge you could face on FM26.
Sunderland
The Black Cats won promotion back to the Premier League after an eight-year absence from the English top-flight last season.
The club from the north east has invested heavily in their squad this summer, including bringing in former Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Granit Xhaka and highly rated midfielder Habib Diarra.
They made a winning return to the Premier League with a 3-0 victory over West Ham at the Stadium of Light, which demonstrated that they have the quality to compete in the English top flight.
The first priority on a Sunderland save would be to guide the Black Cats, and then take the north east side to glory, winning the Premier League and the Champions League.
Who will you be managing in your first FM26 save?
