The second iteration of the new era of Football Manager is almost upon us, with Football Manager 27 being released on 10 November and a “Launch Preview” – whatever that means – in advance. So now’s the time to begin planning who we want to manage in the game and consider any potential adventures we want to embark on throughout the 12 months of the FM27 game cycle.
We’ll kick off our list of 27 teams to manage on FM27 with men’s clubs across the big eight European leagues, followed by some European clubs and some teams from around the rest of the world. Because I had so many ideas for men’s teams, we’ll also throw in a bonus with some suggested teams to manage from across the world of women’s football – so, in fact, we’re giving you more than 30 new save ideas for FM27!
Teams to Manage from the Top 8 European Leagues
As always in our save guides, we’ll kick off by suggesting one club from each of the top eight European leagues.
AFC Bournemouth (England)
If you’re looking for a save to ease yourself into FM27, Bournemouth could be an intriguing prospect. Bournemouth’s only major honour is the Championship title they won to gain promotion to the Premier League for the first time in 2015. Since returning to the Premier League in 2022, the club has gone from strength to strength, attracting some highly rated youngsters and with plans to expand their stadium in full flow. So your job is to pick up the reins where Andoni Iraola left off, continue snapping up the best young talent in the world and lead Bournemouth to its first major trophy.
Olympique Gymnaste Club de Nice (France)
One of the biggest challenges in FM27 will be usurping the dominant force of PSG in France. Nice won four league titles during the 1950s, but hasn’t added to that tally since. Hopes of a potential challenge to PSG were heightened in 2019, when it was purchased by Jim Ratcliffe, who also owns 29% of Man United, but that has never materialised. Indeed, Nice only avoided relegation last season courtesy of defeating Saint-Étienne in a playoff. So this is a club in extreme need of a rebuild and a new approach – especially in terms of its transfer policy, based on its decision to sign a 37-year-old Axel Witsel in the summer.
Sportvereinigung 07 Elversberg e. V. (Germany)
Potentially the biggest challenge in all the major European leagues will be taking control of tiny village side Elversberg ahead of their first-ever season in Bundesliga. Elversberg is a village with just 7,000 people and no train station in the Saarland region of southwest Germany, which became the smallest location to ever host a Bundesliga match this season. The club will likely have a minuscule budget going into its first Bundesliga campaign, but it has spent around £12m in the summer, including signing American attacker Cole Campbell from Dortmund and loaning two exciting attacking midfielders, Noah Darvich from Stuttgart and Francis Onyeka from Leverkusen. So, if you fancy getting stuck into a tough save, your mission is to help Elversberg survive, then use the lucrative Bundesliga finances to help them thrive and challenge the mighty Bayern to make them the pride of Germany.
Unione Sportiva Lecce (Italy)
I enjoy a relatively nonsensical geographical club recommendation, and Lecce very much fills that void. Lecce, located in Apulia in southeast Italy, faces some massive away trips over the next 12 months, given its nearest Serie A rival is Napoli, some 208 miles northeast in Naples. 14 of the 20 Serie A sides are located in the north of Italy, between Florence (514 miles from Lecce) and up to Turin (711 miles), Milan (639 miles), Atalanta (632 miles ) and Udine (610 miles), and only four are located south of Rome in central-west Italy. While this sounds like it has absolutely nothing to do with football team selection, Cagliari, based on Sardinia, is currently the southernmost club to have won Serie A. Therefore, your mission is to rewrite the history books to help Lecce become the new southernmost champion of Italy.
Sportclub Telstar (Netherlands)
If, for some extremely niche reason, you’ve ever fancied managing a club named after a satellite, then all your dreams have just come true. SC Telstar secured promotion to Eredivisie for the first time in 47 years in the 2025/26 campaign, and did well to avoid relegation by 5 points. The club, named after the communications satellite Telstar 1, now faces the challenge of avoiding second-season syndrome and will likely be among the relegation favourites in the first campaign, so your challenge is to survive and thrive to develop a team that wins Telstar’s first-ever trophy. You may also have seen a recent story about Ronald Koeman Jr, son of the former Barcelona player and Dutch national coach, becoming the first goalkeeper to score two goals in an Eredivisie match when he scored two penalties against Cambuur. So, as an extra unnecessary challenge, how about popping Koeman on set pieces to help him challenge the league’s top goalscorers.
C.F. Estrela da Amadora (Portugal)
Football clubs being owned by former footballers has become a bit of a trend recently. The latest to join this group is Estrela da Amadora, based in the northwest of Lisbon. In August, the club sold 90% of its SAD, the company that runs professional football at Portuguese sides, for €40 million to a German investment group that counts the likes of Mats Hummels, Thomas Muller and Yann Sommer among its ownership. This is the latest chapter in Estrela’s rapid rise, having been in Campeonato de Portugal just six years ago, when chairman Paulo Lopo purchased the club for just £72k, through to four consecutive seasons in Primeira Liga. However, while the club won the Portuguese Cup in 1990, it’s never finished higher than 7th. So your challenge will be to rewrite Estrela history and, if FM27 reflects these financial improvements, use their newfound wealth to take the fight to the big three of Benfica, Porto and Sporting.
Aberdeen FC (Scotland)
I was tempted to recommend St Mirren again for this post, given the team we recommended to manage on FM26 only avoided relegation from the top tier courtesy of a 2-1 aggregate relegation playoff win over Partick Thistle. However, the ongoing underperformance of Aberdeen, who’ve finished 5th, 7th, 5th and then 9th, only avoiding the relegation playoff by 6 points last season, in the last four seasons. After Hearts’ efforts last season, it’s common knowledge that only the Old Firm duo have been champions of Scotland since Aberdeen’s titles in 1984 and 1985. So your challenge is to rebuild a struggling Aberdeen, put an end to the Celtic and Rangers domination and win a second European trophy, after their 1983 Cup Winners’ Cup success.
Real Club Celta de Vigo, S.A.D. (Spain)
Celta were flirting with relegation when manager Claudio Giraldez took charge in March 2024, but he led them to their second-highest finish in 23 years in the last two seasons. However, that side was heavily reliant on ageing stars like Iago Aspas, Borja Iglesias and Marcos Alonso, so this is very much a club in need of a rebuild. Therefore, your mission will be to regenerate an old Celta side and focus on youth to battle the big three of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético and lead the club to its maiden Spanish title.
Other Teams to Manage Around Europe
PFC Septemvri Sofia (Bulgaria)
Septemvri Sofia has a record-high finish of 5th in the Bulgarian First League, while seeing city rivals CSKA (31), Levski (27), Slavia (7) and Lokomotiv (3) share 68 titles between them. Septembri has garnered a reputation for having a strong youth academy, developing players who went on to play for Bulgaria’s elite sides and the national team. So your challenge is to use that academy strength as the basis for building the club towards its maiden title.
Nogometni klub Osijek (Croatia)
NK Osijek is one of only four clubs never to have been relegated from the Croatian top tier, and is also the third-best supported in the country. The club looked to be in a strong position a few years ago, finishing in a record high of 2nd in 2021. However, it’s dropped down the league standings since, flirting with a first-ever relegation by finishing 9th out of 10 teams last season, avoiding relegation by 7 points. So your challenge is to stop the slide and build an Osijek side capable of competing with Dinamo Zagreb, who’ve won 19 of the last 21 titles, and Rijeka, who’ve won the other two, with the goal of claiming the club’s maiden Croatian title.
Magyar Testgyakorlók Köre Budapest Futball Club (Hungary)
Budapest-based MTK has won 23 domestic titles – second only to Ferencváros (36) – and 12 Hungarian Cups, but hasn’t won the league since 2008 or the cup since 2000. The club had plenty of success in the 1950s, when links to the secret police alienated its traditional fanbase. However, in stark contrast to most teams in Hungary, the club’s culture has remained free of far-right or extremist influences since the early 2000s. So this cosmopolitan club represents an intriguing challenge to restore them to their former glory and win a first title in nearly two decades.
Union Brescia (Italy)
Looking for a real challenge with a team that’s very much been on a downward spiral? Enter Union Brescia, which was founded in 2025, when the original Brescia Calcio was dissolved due to financial issues after being relegated to Serie C. As a result, another Serie C Feralpisaló relocated to Brescia to form the new club. How difficult a task this will be remains to be seen, based on the state of the new-look Brescia’s finances but, from experience, managing in the lower Italian leagues can be hard work at the best of times. But your challenge is to lead the phoenix Brescia club back into Serie A and win its first major honours.
Crusaders Football Club (Northern Ireland)
North Belfast side Crusaders has 7 titles to its name (across the Irish League and NIFL Premiership), most recently with 3 successive titles between 2015 and 2017. However, the club only survived relegation to Northern Ireland’s second tier on penalties against Annagh United in last season’s relegation playoff. Your challenge is a sizeable one, to usurp rivals Cliftonville, who finished 5th last season, fellow Belfast sides Glentoran and Linfield (2nd and 4th) and current champions Larne, who’ve won their first titles in 3 of the last 4 seasons.
Gornik Zabrze Spółka Akcyjna (Poland)
The 14-time Polish champions are without a national title since 1988, but lifted the Polish Cup last season. Intruguingly, that success was led by Germany legend Lukas Podolski, who returned to his boyhood club five years ago to fulfil a promise he made to his grandmother to finish his career at Gornik. Podolski led Gornik, which remains the only Polish side to have reached a European Final, to its first cup win in 54 years before retiring and duly becoming its owner. So your mission is to work with Podolski to win that elusive 15th title, reach a second European Final and become the first Polish side to win a European trophy.
MŠK Žilina (Slovakia)
We recommended taking control of Žilina back in our second FM22 guide, when we identified them as a fun youth project. However, four years later, the club hasn’t gone on to enjoy the fruits of those labours, finishing in a relatively lowly 4th position last season, 16 points back from champions Slovan Bratislava. In fact, the 7-time Slovak champions haven’t won the title since 2017, which is their only success in the last 14 years. Therefore, your challenge is to use the club’s decent youth facilities to develop an all-conquering young Žilina side.
Nogometni klub Maribor (Slovenia)
NK Maribor established themselves as perennial Slovenian champions as they collected 16 titles in 25 years between 1997 and 2022. However, the club hasn’t won the league again since, finishing 3rd, 2nd and 2nd before slipping to 5th place last season, finishing a huge 21 points behind champions Celje. Adding an intriguing twist to this is the fact that Maribor is the only Slovenian side ever to have reached the Champions League group stage. So the mission here is to restore Maribor as the nation’s dominant force, but also become the Slovenian team to reach the Champions League knockouts and really aim high to try and become the first one to win it.
Trabzonspor Kulübü (Turkey)
The Turkish Süper Lig has gone wild this summer, with the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Orkan Kokcu, Leandro Trossard and Mason Greenwood moving east. But the eye-catching transfer business has been Trabzonspor surprisingly snapping up Mohamed Salah, along with his former Liverpool teammate Fabinho. Trabzonspor last won the title in 2022, which was their only success since 1984. So your challenge is to work with their expensively assembled squad and reclaim a first title for five years – although I expect their wage bill will be pretty hefty, so you could have a tricky financial management job on your hands!
LNZ Cherkasy (Ukraine)
Ukrainian football has always been dominated by Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk, with the big two winning every title since its Premier League was formed in 1992. However, central Ukrainian side LNZ Cherkasy, who were playing amateur football in the Ukrainian fourth tier as recently as 2021, threatened to finally end that 34-year stranglehold last season, topping the league going into the winter break. But just two wins from their final eight games saw that threat fall away dramatically, eventually finishing 12 points behind champions Shakhtar. So your challenge is to continue the club’s remarkable rise by leading another Cherkasy challenge that finally ends the Kyiv and Donetsk domination.
Teams to Manage from the Rest of the World
Moving on from Europe, below are a few teams from around the rest of the footballing world that could be an exciting challenge in FM27.
Club Atlético Aldosivi (Argentina)
Imagine not winning a match all season, yet not finishing bottom of the league. That was the case for Aldosivi, based in Mar del Plata in the Buenos Aires Province, who failed to win any of their 16 games in Argentina’s Apertura Zone B. Yet their 8 draws helped them finish above Estudiantes RC, who won once and drew twice. The club’s biggest claim to fame thus far is two second-tier titles, in 2017 and 2024, so your challenge is to develop a conveyor belt of homegrown talents to help Aldosivi take on Argentina’s elite and win the club’s first major honours.
Associação Atlética Ponte Preta (Brazil)
Ponte Preta is Brazil’s second-oldest club, founded just one month after Sport Club Rio Grande in August 1900. It was also one of the first Brazilian clubs to have black players, leading to the very dubious nickname “Macaca” (monkey), and the team against whom Pelé played his final match in Brazil in 1974. However, this historical club has never won a major honour, only lifting the third-tier Série C in 2025. In real life, the club has only amassed 13 points from 31 games in Série B and is doomed to return back to Série C, making this a significant challenge for FM27. So your mission is to change Ponte Preta’s fortunes and help this historic club become champions of Brazil for the first time.
Deportivo Independiente Medellín (Colombia)
Sticking with a similar them, DIM is the second-oldest club in Colombia, founded the year after Deportivo Cali in 1913, and has six league titles to its name (in addition to 15 amateur titles pre-1945). Last season, DIM finished in a lowly 11th place in the Apertura, 14 points behind city rivals Atlético Nacional, and it hasn’t finished above 8th in the last two seasons. Your challenge is to use Colombia’s prodigious youth development capabilities to hone a side that claims DIM’s first league title since 2016 and competes with the big boys of Argentina and Brazil for continental honours.
Asyut Petroleum (Egypt)
Al Ahly SC and Zamalek SC have claimed 60 of the 67 iterations of the Egyptian Premier League, making it one of the most monopolised leagues in world football. Furthermore, only clubs from five cities – Cairo, Giza, Ismailia, El Mahalla El Kubra and Alexandria – have won the title. Therefore, your challenge is to take control of a top-tier club from outside those five cities and help them become their city’s first Egyptian champion. You have plenty of options, but our selection is Asyut Petroleum, given it’s the club located furthest away from the Greater Cairo cluster. Asyut gained promotion to the top tier for the first time in 16 years last season, giving you a sizeable challenge to avoid the league’s four relegation places in the first season.
Mito HollyHock (Japan)
In 2025, Mito HollyHock, based in the Ibaraki Prefecture to the northeast of Tokyo, secured the first trophy in the club’s 36-year history as they won J2 League. That ended a 25-year stay in Japan’s second tier, taking them into J1 League for the first time. So your mission is to continue the rise of Mito by helping it claim a first Japanese title and take the fight to the Saudi sides in the Asian Champions League.
Star City Football Club (Malaysia)
The most difficult team to overcome in FM27 may well be Malaysia’s Johor Darul Ta’zim. The club, from Johor Bahru, close to the Singapore border, set a new world record for the most games unbeaten in August, setting a new record of 109 having not lost a league game since April 2021. Johor only won the Malaysian Super League for the first time in 2014, but has gone to win the league every season since, taking it to 12 successive titles. Therefore, your challenge is to take control of Star City, or any other club of your choosing in Malaysia, in a bid to end Johor’s total domination. Star City only gained promotion to the Super League for the first time last season, but finished 6th at the first attempt, making them an intriguing club to develop into the nation’s new force.
Club Sporting Cristal (Peru)
As we’ve pointed out in previous club recommendations, Peru’s big three have won more than twice as many titles as the rest of their competitors combined (now 74 v 35). However, one of those big three really struggled last season as Sporting Cristal sat in a lowly 12th in the Apertura campaign, winning 5 of their 17 games and finishing 21 points behind winners Alianza Lima. In fact, Cristal haven’t added to their 20 titles – only bettered by Universitario’s 29 and Alianza’s 25 – since 2020. So your mission is to tap some life into los Cerveceros (the Brewers) and usurp their Lima rivals to win that 21st title.
Hougang United FC (Singapore)
Like in Malaysia, near-neighbour Singapore has a dominant force in Lion City Sailors, who’ve won the last two titles without losing a match. There are a few options for you to take the fight to Lion City, but our pick would be Hougang United, who’ve never finished higher than 3rd in the Singapore Premier League and have a fantastic badge (see the image above). The club was first formed by Newcastle United fans in Singapore’s Marine Parade area back in 1988, under the name Marine Castle United Football Club. Through various name changes, the club didn’t finish higher than 6th in the Singapore league, before 3rd-place finishes in 2019 and 2021.
Montevideo City Torque (Uruguay)
If you can look beyond the fact that Torque is owned by the extremely questionable City Football Group, then: 1) you’re a bigger person than this writer and 2) you could have an intriguing save on your hands. Torque recently defeated Argentina’s Tigre and Peru’s Cienciano to reach the semi finals of Copa Sudamericana and look to be very much a club on the upward trajectory in Uruguay. The club was only founded in 2007 before being purchased by the very loose-with-the-finances Abu Dhabi group a decade later, which resulted in Torque building one of South America’s most advanced academy complexes in March 2021. Therefore, your mission is to use those facilities to develop a team of exciting Uruguayan players and usurp their giant city rivals Nacional and Peñarol, who share 102 titles between them, to win Torque’s first major honour.
Teams to Manage in Women’s Football
If you’re looking to delve into the world of women’s football, which offers a very different challenge to the men’s game, in FM27, then below are a few interesting suggestions. For more insight into the women’s game and even more team suggestions, check out our guide to women’s football created for FM26.
Durham Women Football Club (England)
Our first women’s save idea is a fun challenge that I’m tempted to try in FM27. Durham Women have competed in England’s second tier since it was formed in 2014, with a record-high finish of 3rd in 2020. Your primary objective is to go one better and lead Durham into WSL for the first time, then overcome the likes of Man City, Arsenal and Chelsea to win the club’s maiden title. However, the save should not be judged solely on your trophy haul. A secondary objective is to transform Durham into England’s primary Wonderkid Factory, focusing on homegrown talent by imposing rules like a minimum of three academy products in every starting 11 and five academy products in every matchday squad. And the ultimate aim is to get as many Durham academy stars in the England squad as possible.
London City Lionesses (England)
London City Lionesses have made some statement signings in their ambitious bid to become the fifth club to win the Women’s Super League since it was founded in 2011 – taking on Arsenal (3), Liverpool (2), Manchester City (1) and Chelsea (8). The Lionesses, only founded in 2019 and backed by American owner Michele Kang, who also owns Washington Spirit and OL Lyonnes, signed Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas, former England goalkeeper Mary Earps and France international striker Kadidiatou Diani over the summer as they look to challenge English women’s football elite. Your challenge is to build a team around Putellas and claim their maiden WSL title.
Union Sportive Saint-Malo Féminines (France)
Saint-Malo women’s team was founded in 1994 and competed in the lower reaches of French football before reaching Division 2 in 2014. It was relegated back to the third tier after nine years, but a recent renaissance culminated in the club gaining promotion to the top-tier Premiére Ligue for the first time last season. Your mission is to help Saint Malo stay in the top tier at the first time of asking, then build a team capable of competing with France’s completely dominant force OL Lyonnes, who’ve won 19 of the last 20 French titles and, at the time of writing, lead the league with four wins from four and scoring 27 goals!
AC Milan or Inter Milan (Italy)
We’ve got two clubs in one suggestion here as, unlike their male compatriots who have a combined 40 Serie A titles, AC Milan and Inter Milan’s women’s sides have never been champions of Italy. In fact, Inter Women only had youth sides until 2018/19, when they won promotion to Serie A in their first season, and AC Milan Women, who were managed by Champ Man AC legend Maurizio Ganz until 2023, were only founded in 2018 and have a best finish of runner-up in 2021. So, unlike the dominant men’s teams, AC and Inter offer you an opportunity to build a legacy at relatively new clubs.
AC Nagano Parceiro Ladies (Japan)
Japan’s WE League was only founded in 2020, and only three clubs – INAC Kobe Leonessa, Tokyo Verdy Beleza and Urawa Red Diamonds – have won it since. So if you’re after a challenge in Japan, where there is no relegation, we recommend taking on Nagano Parceiro, who finished 12th out of 12 in the 2025/26 campaign.
Umeå Idrottsklubb (Sweden)
If you’re looking for a fallen giant challenge in women’s football on FM27, your best bet may be Sweden’s Umeå IK. The club was one of women’s football’s leading forces in the early 2000s, winning 7 Swedish titles and 2 Champions Leagues with the likes of Brazilian legend Marta amongst their ranks. However, Umeå was relegated for the second time in three seasons in 2020 and remains in Sweden’s second tier Elitettan. So your mission is to get Umeå promoted back to Damallsvenskan en route to re-establishing it at the top of not only Swedish but European football.
Boston Legacy (United States)
The National Women’s Soccer League expanded to 16 teams this season with new franchises Boston Legacy FC and Denver Summit FC joining for the 2026 season. Of the two, our pick would be Boston Legacy as they’ve had the slower start to life in their first season. So your challenge is to build a squad capable of taking on the best in the US and win the new franchise’s first domestic title.
So there you have it, not just 27 but 35 teams for you to take to glory on FM27, with varying degrees of difficulty. Do any of these clubs float your boat?
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