Zambian manager Trebor Mahtal had built a 40-year career around bringing promising talents to Europe's less fancied leagues and taking on the continent's elite. Now aged 78, it was only natural for Mahtal to have set his sights on retirement but he cast those thoughts to one side and began dreaming of challenging Europe's elite with Baník Ostrava.
An impressive first season in Croatia saw Trebor Mahtal focus on youth and lead HNK Rijeka to 2nd place in the Croatian First League. And that meant an unexpected return to the Champions League - in which they stood absolutely no chance.
An intriguing option sees Trebor Mahtal join a relatively unfancied club that just missed out on its national title and technically leave the European mainland.
After two seasons of dominating Czechia with Slavia Praha, Trebor Mahtal yet again resigned from his role and went in search of a new opportunity in May 2049. Now aged 65, and with FM25 around the corner, Mahtal was well aware that time was running out on his Football Manager career but he still had plenty more to achieve.
A love affair with Europe's third club trophy continued as Trebor Mahtal's FC Zürich lifted his fourth Europa Conference League in 2046. Mahtal now wanted to build on that success by improving the Swiss side's domestic fortunes.
Trebor Mahtal departed the 12th club on his EuroTrip adventure as he stood down as manager of Norway's Molde FK having wrapped up the Eliteserien title. That meant the Zambian manager had now won titles in Greece, Ukraine, Serbia, Slovakia, Sweden and Norway as he went in search of a new challenge at the start of 2045.
Trebor Mahtal continued his unexpected European success by leading Molde FK to an unlikely Europa Conference League success in 2043. However, the Norwegian title remained elusive, leading him to stay in the Scandinavian nation for a third season.
An exciting first season had seen Trebor Mahtal lead Crvena zvezda to a Serbian league and cup double and only miss out on Europa League glory via a penalty shootout. But the Zambian manager had his eyes set on a rebuild over the summer of 2034.
Twelve months on from becoming Champions of the Netherlands, AZ Alkmaar were reflecting on a solid if unspectacular campaign. Manager Robinho Lazaró had done an impressive job of promoting homegrown youth while keeping his promising AZ side competitive.
AZ Alkmaar made a promising start to life under Robinho Lazaró, who'd been impressed with his side's efforts to finish 4th in Eredivisie in 2023/24. However, these early seasons don't really matter too much in our bid to become national and European champions with a team of academy products.
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