Our Sir Alex Ferguson Challenge went well beyond what I expected as we ended up staying at Nottingham Forest for 26 years to play out the career of the great Luís Pereira to its conclusion. In that time, we firmly established Forest as the best team in the world, lifting an absolute armoury of trophies.
In 9,341 days at Forest, we won 20 league titles and an outrageous 51 cup trophies with 9 Champions Leagues, 8 FA Cups, 6 Carabao Cups, 1 Europa League, 9 UEFA Super Cups, 2 Club World Cups and 16 Community Shields. That saw us nearly double SAF’s Hall of Fame points, with 10,436 to 5,501.
Forest Best XI
The Forest Best XI is packed with superstars, one of which was with us in the very first season. The best XI is as follows:
GK – Elia Caprile: One of the best goalkeepers on FM23, Caprile was outstanding in 13 years at Forest, conceding 384 in 428 league games and playing 592 games in all competitions. He left us in 2035 to move to UAE and retired aged 36.
RB – Vinícius: There’s no denying Vinícius was a great player, with absolutely outstanding attributes. However, his performances often disappointed me at both right-back and holding midfield, only managing 35 assists and 4 goals (3 of which were in one season) in 400 league games over 13 seasons. Nevertheless, he played 589 games in total before moving on to Man UFC for £50m in our final season.
CB – Luca Fernández: An absolute rock at the heart of our defence for 16 years, Fernández scored 50 in 473 league games and 71 i 676 in all competitions. He was a colusses ever since arriving for £6m in 2032, but was about to leave the club as he was close to turning 34.
CB – Rozemiro: This is a controversial one as, despite playing 467 games, Rozemiro never really delivered the quality his attributes suggested. We sold him to Arsenal for £48m after 10 years at the club in 2040, he largely disappointed and moved to Saudi after 5 years and is now a bad head of youth dev.
LB – Salvador Ortiz: Another dubious choice, Ortiz never really messed me despite his huge talent. We signed him for £4.5m in 2025 and sold him to Madrid for £70m in 2034, where he was actually very good before joining Liverpool and Cagliari. He’s now a 40-year-old unemployed manager.
DM – Danilo: A true great who was at the club when we joined and stayed with us for 10 years, when he joined Man UFC on a free. He was a rock in holding midfield, playing 338 league games and 456 in all competitions. He went to Vasco in 2036 and retired aged 36.
CM – Luís Pereira: Sometimes, FM is stupid, and this is one of those times, as we never played Pereira in midfield, but the game always considered him one! Arguably the greatest player that Football Manager has ever produced, Pereira scored a record-smashing 572 goals in 642 league games for Forest and 780 in 943 games in all competitions. He originally joined us as a raw right-winger for £47m from Benfica in 2028, but swiftly turned into the deadliest striker of all time. After his first season, he scored more than 20 league goals in all but one season (18 in 45/46), and scored 29 in his final season as a 40-year-old. Pereira also won World Player of the Year 9 times, Footballer of the Year 8 times and 6 consecutive Ballon d’Or. What an absolute phenom, but somehow the fans only consider him an “icon.” FM is stupid.
RW – Milo Bedini: Bedini was a wonderful player for several seasons, but I’d argue some of the current players would easily overtake him in a few years. He joined for £42m from Madrid in 2031 and scored 63 with 98 assists in 308 league games and scored . But he moved on to Spurs for £27m after younger players usurped him. Now 35, he’s retiring in the summer after 80 goals in 128 caps for England, just 6 short of Harry Kane’s goals record. Strangely, he’s the only player to be considered a club legend in the fans’ eyes.
LW – Filip Post: We’ll talk more about Post later, but he’s been a magnificent servant for Forest and, if it hadn’t been for Pereira, he’d be a true great. The winger joined for £10.25m from Kobenhavn in 2030 and went on to score 169 goals with 235 assists in 563 league games, plus 242 goals in 802 in all competitions. He’d be leaving the club in the summer, turning 36 in the summer with the likes of Spurs still interested in his services.
CF – Markus Grimm: With Pereira in midfield, two great strikers get some attention. Grimm was the perfect foil to Pereira for 9 years, scoring 160 in 277 league games after joining for £58m from Dortmnd in 2029. He moved to Hertha for £64m in 2038 and played there for 7 years before retiring aged 35 after 85 goals in 137 caps for Germany.
CF – Lautaro Arias: Grimm departed thanks to the emergence of Arias as the perfect Pereira strike partner. He joined for £14.5m from Lanús in 2032, initially as a winger, but started scoring goals for fun from 2039 onwards. He scored 211 with 105 assists in 403 league games and 351 in 588 in all competitions with a 7.63 average rating – better even than Pereira. Indeed, Arias was so good that he won the Ballon d’Or and World Footballer of the Year 3 times and World Player of the Year 4 times.
Substitutes
GK – Tom Ritzy Gilcher: The perfect replacement for Caprile was Gilcher, who played 463 games i all competitions but, despite having great attributes, was often pretty dodgy. And we eventually sold him to Man UFC for £60m and replaced him with a homegrown keeper.
CB – Jorge Pavas: Pavas is very unlucky not to be in the first 11, having amassed 598 games after joining for £4.5m from América de Cali in 2027. He was a rock anywhere in the defence and only got an average rating under 7.00 three times in 14 seasons. He joined West Ham then went to Qatar before retiring in 2046 aged 37.
CM – Aymeric Vandendriessche: Another player who should be in the first 11, Vandendriessche was integral to our success playing 328 league games and 477 in all competitions after joining for £36m from Club Brugge in 2032. After 13 years, he joined Spurs then Marseille and retired at 35 last season.
CM – Johnny O’Hanlon: The ultimate utility man, O’Hanlon came through our first season youth intake. He was competent as a left-winger, striker or midfielder and racked up 406 league appearances and scored 106 in 455 in all competitions. Arguably his greatest moment was scoring the winning goal to lift our first trophy at the club, winning us the Carabao Cup in 2024. He moved on to Middlesbrough in 2039 playing 135 league games before joining Granada and retiring aged 37 in 2044. He also scored 19 in 107 caps for Ireland.
CF – Michael Roper: His lack of games comparatively see him on the bench, but 28-year-old Roper would undoubtedly be up front in the best 11 in a few seasons. Another homegrown talent, Roper has 142 goals in 287 games and is considered England’s key player with 20 goals in 54 caps.
DM – Dário Essugo: Signed from Sporting for £24.5m in 2025, Essugo was the lynchpin of our early growth, playing 309 league games and 456 in all competitions in 9 years at the club. He joined Inter for £20m in 2034, played there for 6 years and retired at Napoli aged 37.
CF – Benjamin Byrvang: Byrvang was one of my great hopes early on, but I find his inclusion here a little surprising. He scored 113 in 239 games over 8 years at the club, but moved to Spurs for £45m in 2036. He then had a strange career at Fulham, Barcelona and Salento before retiring aged 34 in 2044.
Current Forest Crop
Many of the current team as we bring the save to an end might consider themselves a little unlucky not to be in that best 11. Below we’ll give you an introduction to the team of 2047/48.
GK – Myles Chakki: Chakki came through our 2042 youth intake and only stepped up to the first team two seasons ago but has proven himself more than competent. He just equalled Caprile’s Premier League record of 24 clean sheets but strangely hasn’t been capped by England yet.
RB – Julinho Vaz: The rapid Vaz usurped Vinícius in the season before last after a few years as a backup and has established himself as arguably the best right-back in the world. This season he averaged 7.16, but could do with adding assists to his game.
CB – Giovanni Cannas: Our current centre-back is arguably our best-ever, with an impressive 7.31 average rating this season. He joined for £23.5m from Udinese in 2031, took a little while to settle in, but has since played 218 league games and is still improving.
CB – Luca Fernández: The aforementioned Fernández remains a beast at 33, with a 7.29 average rating in 35 league games this season. He’s also won 101 caps for Argentina.
LB – Harry Wilson: Homegrown Wilson has been arguably our greatest youth product, with outstanding attributes and 38 caps for England aged just 24. He already has 223 league appearances for Forest since making his debut in 2039, so could have pushed that Pereira record.
DM – Ludger Schade: A key cog in our team since arriving in 2037, Schade should absolutely be in our best 11. He’s easily the best holding midfielder in the world and averaged 7.36 in the league this season, but his lack of assists (only 28 in 300 league games) given his attributes is slightly disappointing.
CM – Jack Gorman: Gorman might have something to say about Wilson’s claim to our best youth academy product. He came through our 2038 intake and has become a world-class midfielder, who can also fill in up front if needed. He’s played 214 league games since properly emerging in 2041 and scored 17 in 69 caps for Ireland. And he’s probably the first name on the teamsheet for me.
RW – Marcello Tronchin: Tronchin will undoubtedly go on to become the best player in the world and his attributes are frightening. He’s delivered 36 goals and 58 assists since arriving for £64m from Atalanta in 2042 and is already considered the best player at the club.
LW – Régis Ilunga: The second-best player at the club is the equally frightening Ilunga, who joined for £30m from Club Brugge in 2043. The winger usurped Post as a starter this season and delivered 15 league assists with a 7.41 average rating abd scared 8 in 10 Champions League games.
CF – Michael Roper: Another youth product talent, Roper was never really fancied by our coaches but four loan moved saw him really improve. He stepped up to our first team in 2041 and hasn’t looked back, scoring double figures in the last 6 league seasons and 20 goals in the last 2. This season, he scored 11 in 12 Champions League games and was named the competition’s best player.
CF – Luís Pereira: The great one is still the best striker in the Premier League at the ago of 40, scoring 29 goals in 38 league games this season. And he scored 34 in 44 with a 7.34 average rating in all competitions. There are no words left to describe how good this guy is!
Substitutes
GK – Anderson Rodrigues: There’s an absolute wealth of talent supporting the first 11, including Rodrigues who, despite being our backup, is Brazil’s number 1. He’s already considered a world-class keeper so should become phenomenally good.
CB – Ton Martin Aretun: Aretun provides solid cover at centre-back and left-back, playing 93 league games over the last 3 seasons. And that’s not bad considering he arrived for free from Lillestrom in 2042.
CM – Jayme: Wilson was sold to Juventus for £85m in January, so I’m picking new arrival Jayme in his place. Jayme will go on to be a superstar and has already impressed with a 7.20 average rating in 8 games since arriving for £12.5m from Fluminense in January.
CB – Tillman Nabrotzki: Speaking of future stars, Nabrotzki, who arrived for £21.5m from Feyenoord in 2044, is certainly another. He’s largely played at DM for us so far, impressing with a 7.29 average rating in 12 Champions League games, but I was lining him up to replace Fernández next season.
CF – Ebrima Njie: The perfect replacement for Pereira would have been the explosive Njie, who scored in 10 in 13 Champions League games this season. He arrived for £18m from QPR in 2044, scored 4 in 4 then impressed on loan at Norwich, and was all set to become first-choice next season.
LB – Markus Valderhaug: I’m not convinced about this guy and probably would have sold him for big money in the summer, but he’s offered decent support for Wilson at left-back.
RW – Brooklyn Ellender: Putrino was sold to Lyon in the summer as a big injury held his progression back. but his place in this squad should have gone to the creative Ellender, who’s racked up 82 assists in 262 league games since coming through our 2038 youth intake. He’s now England’s vice-captain with 52 caps for his country.
LW – Filip Post: A special mention also has to go to Post, who leaves the club as our long-serving vice-captain and a deadly performer over 18 years at Forest.
There’s even more talent coming through the ranks, including homegrown left-back/winger Ryan Amos and striker Sam Burniston, who are considered to have the greatest potential at the club. While I really like the look of centre-back Deale Howl and midfielder Elliot Roman, who just arrived for £16m from Montpellier.
This save has massively exceeded my expectations – although it did go back on my promise to myself not to manage in England in FM23, which I’m hoping to do in FM24 instead. All in all, we leave Forest in a strong position, with nearly £1 billion in the bank and easily the best squad in the world.
But to conclude, here’s a little light reading about Luís Pereira after he retired from football and duly became my under 18s fitness coach.
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