Plenty of Football Manager players will claim that the only right way to play FM is to pick a team from one of the lowest divisions and lead them to glory with talented youngsters, aging stars, and pinpoint tactics. However, those who are new to the game might get discouraged from playing it altogether if they dive head-first into managing a poor team from the depths of the third and fourth national divisions.
Some of the best choices for rookie players are clubs with large amounts of disposable cash from the very first transfer window in the game. Keep in mind that these aren't always the teams most often associated with big money, such as Manchester City or Juventus, as the amount of money at their disposal depends on the moves they've made in the past seasons.
Updated July 16th, 2021 by Maciej Grzymkowski: With the 2020/21 season finally over and the release of Football Manager 2022 still a fair few months away, now is the perfect time for soccer fans to hop back into FM2021 and carry out their own, alternative version of the intense season that has just ended. At one point of this year, RB Leipzig was close to ending Bayern's dominance in the German Bundesliga — the brilliant Julian Nagelsmann failed to keep them at the top of the table for long enough, but could it have been done differently? The reverse can be said about the Italian first division in 2021 — had they gone for a more experienced manager than Andrea Pirlo, would they have secured the historical tenth Scudetto in a row? FM2021 is the closest players will ever get to turning back time and getting an answer to these pressing questions.
15 Hertha Berlin
Transfer Budget: €24,500,000
Despite being the capital of Germany and one of the largest cities in Europe (population-wise), Berlin was never the footballing center of the country. The first flight of German football, the Bundesliga, hosted two Berlin clubs in the 2020/21 season: Hertha and Union Berlin. Neither of them was successful that season, with Union even getting relegated to the second division.
With a budget of 25 million euros and a roster of talented players at their disposal, such as the Polish star striker Krzysztof Piatek, Hertha makes for a perfectly balanced FM2021 challenge for players wishing to bring the Bundesliga cup back to the capital after almost 90 years of trophy drought. It might take a few seasons and is not the easiest job in the world, but with smart budgeting and the right amount of skill, it can be done.
14 Dinamo Moscow
Transfer Budget: €25,000,000
The Russian league may not be at the pinnacle of European Football, but with a rich club like Dynamo Moscow, it should present itself as a fairly easy challenge, even to inexperienced players. You shouldn't expect to win the European Treble in your first season, though.
With 25 million euros at their disposal, Dinamo can afford to buy some serious talent, but it is advisable to make an initial investment into the youth team and coaching staff. It will prove to be more helpful in winning the Russian Premier League and amassing some capital to challenge for the top European trophies in the long term.
13 RB Leipzig
Transfer Budget: €19,990,000
For the past couple of years, RB Leipzig has been slowly but surely challenging Borussia Dortmund as the second-best footballing force in the German Bundesliga. With one of the youngest managers in the game, Julian Nagelsmann, introducing a new quality and style of play to the Red Bull-sponsored club, not a whole lot of work is required to turn them into proper title challengers.
With a budget of 20 million euros and arguably the best youth academy in Germany, taking over RB Leipzig in an attempt to dethrone Bayern Munich as Bundesliga champions is a feasible challenge, even for the less-experienced FM2021 players.
12 Athletic Bilbao
Transfer Budget: €25,000,000
Since Athletic Bilbao competes in La Liga, one of the top football leagues in Europe, it makes for the perfect club for rookies who want to be able to compete in Europe since the first season but don't want to take the easy route by picking a team with an established record of winning their national leagues and European titles.
There is a catch, though. Bilbao may have a budget of 25 million euros, but their transfer policy dictates that they can only invest that money into players from the Basque region of Spain. This is why, just like in the case of Dinamo Moscow, players should try and develop the youth academy as their utmost priority.
11 Ajax Amsterdam
Transfer Budget: €50,000,000
Ajax is a club with a long history of success in European competitions, not to mention their decades-long dominance of the Dutch Eredivisie. It makes them a great team to pick for players who want to learn the ropes of Football Manager 2021, although it might still take a few seasons to win the Champions League.
One advantage of Ajax over clubs like Dinamo Moscow or Athletic Bilbao is the fact that they already have world-class youth development facilities, so players can get around to spending their 50 million euro budget on talented players right away.
10 Beijing Guoan
Transfer Budget: €52,180,000
Playing as a Chinese club makes for an interesting adventure on its own. Beijing Guoan is the only team outside of Europe on this list, and it presents players with the opportunity to learn more about a league that is not usually in the focus of the majority of football fans.
With 52.18 million euros to spend, Beijing Guoan is the third-richest club in Football Manager 2021. Although it's a sizeable amount of money, convincing top players to play in China, away from the glory of European football, might prove to be a significant challenge for a beginner.
9 Inter Milan
Transfer Budget: €22,800,000
Although they have improved significantly under Antonio Conte, the charismatic (albeit a bit eccentric) Italian coach, Inter Milan still has a lot of work ahead of them if they want to repeat the successes of the 2009/10 season under the leadership of Jose Mourinho.
Winning the European treble with one of the best teams in Italy won't be the easiest job in the world, but on the other hand, experienced Football Manager players are not going to find it too challenging. With the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Arturo Vidal already within their ranks, 22.8 million euros and some clever tactics should be sufficient to take Inter back to the Mourinho-era glory in a couple of seasons.
8 Arsenal
Transfer Budget: €27,350,000
Arsenal has been going through quite the rough patch in the last couple of seasons. After the sacking of the legendary manager Arsene Wenger and a terrible run of form under Spanish coach Unai Emery, they're beginning to find some stability now with Mikel Arteta, the club's former player at Arsenal's managerial helm. They're still poised for a mid-table finish in the 2020/21 season, though.
In Football Manager, things seem to look much brighter for the London football club. With a budget of 27.35 million euros and a squad filled with talented wunderkinds such as Bukayo Saka or Gabriel Martinelli, even absolute FM rookies should be able to turn things around and take Arsenal right back into the top four of the English Premier League.
7 Chelsea
Transfer Budget: €27,350,000
Although they're not in such a precarious position as Arsenal when it comes to Chelsea's form in recent years, there is quite a bit of work to be done in order for them to be considered true title contenders.
However, with a transfer budget of 27.35 million euros (exactly the same as Arsenal), and loads of upcoming stars like Timo Werner, Kai Havertz, and Edouard Mendy, all of whom have been brought to Chelsea in the summer of 2020, bringing the glory days back to Stamford Bridge (Chelsea's home stadium) should be a fitting challenge for Football Manager rookies.
6 Liverpool
Transfer Budget: €18,600,000
Having won the Premier League title for the first time in 30 years in 2020, Liverpool's spirits were very high riding into the 2020/21 season. Their title-winning team is full of talented individuals, with some of the best footballers in the world gracing their ranks. This makes Liverpool a great team for FM beginners who still want a bit of a challenge due to their limited budget.
With 18 million euros, Liverpool's budget is much slimmer than most of the Premier League's top sides, but then again, one might argue that they do not need any improvements at all, so players can focus on bringing in young talent to build a Liverpool team that will last a decade.
5 Manchester United
Transfer Budget: €40,050,000
This club needs no introduction. With 13 Premier League titles, two Champions League wins, and the title of the only English team to have ever won the European Treble, Manchester United are a club with the greatest history of all teams in the Premier League. However, ever since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013, the Red Devils seem to have abandoned their winning ways.
Bringing them back to their prime might be an incredibly difficult task in real life, but in FM2021, it's actually fairly easy. With a budget of 40.05 million euros, plenty of young talent in the likes of Marcus Rashford, Mason Greenwood, world-class players like Bruno Fernandes, and a state-of-the-art youth academy, nothing should stand in the way of beginners leading the club to their first Premier League title in eight years.
4 Juventus
Transfer Budget: €25,000,000
Having won nine Italian championships in a row, Juventus have finally been stopped in their tracks in 2021 by Inter Milan. Most pundits blamed it on Andrea Pirlo's lack of managerial experience, with some even going as far as saying that not winning the Scudetto was a bigger challenge than winning it with the star-studded Juventus team.
With Cristiano Ronaldo, Matthias De Ligt, and Paolo Dybala being just three of the biggest names on Juventus's teamsheet, even first-time Football Manager players should have a fairly easy time getting the Turin club to the top of the league table.
3 Real Madrid
Transfer Budget: €60,000,000
Within the last decade, Real Madrid has won four UEFA Champions League tournaments, snatching three of those trophies in a row (2016, 2017,2018). No other club has managed to do that in the history of this competition.
With a whopping budget of 60 million euros and a roster filled with experienced football stars, players should not have too many difficulties achieving success with Real Madrid. It is worth keeping in mind, though, that they actually have a wage budget deficit at the start of the game, so one of the first things new managers should do is readjust the finances in order for all players to be paid their (ridiculous) wages.
2 Bayern Munich
Transfer Budget: €60,000,000
Having won the European treble in the 2019/20 season, Bayern Munich is currently considered to be the best football club in the world. With Robert Lewandowski, the most prolific striker in the game, and a roster of up-and-coming talents, there is no reason why new players shouldn't pick the German hegemons to learn the ways of Football Manager 2021.Â
The highest transfer budget in the game (60 million euros) and a ready-made team will ensure that a player's first experience with Football Manager is easy and pleasant. In fact, it will leave players yearning for a challenge in some of the lower divisions.
1 PSG
Transfer Budget: €45,000,000
Using PSG in Football Manager 2021 almost feels like cheating. In Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, they have two of the absolute best players in world football at the moment. If that wasn't enough, the remainder of PSG's squad is also absolute world-class.
45 million euros to spend on transfers should be enough for players to make the upgrades required to finally bring the elusive Champions League trophy to Paris. Should that not be enough, selling Neymar and buying (at least) three wunderkinds with world-class potential in his stead should do the trick.