Santos FC's first-ever taste of the second tier of Brazilian football only lasted for one season as Robinho Lazaró spearheaded the club to its maiden Série B title at the first time of asking. The big task now was for Lazaró to prepare an understrength side to try and stay in Série A.
One of my main saves in Football Manager 2025 was going to be a youth-focused save with a Brazilian club. But, with the ongoing delay to the game, I'm not sure whether that save will come to fruition, so I decided to head to Brazil for a new FM24 challenge.
AZ Alkmaar celebrated a fifth successive Eredivisie title in the summer of 2033, but their homegrown stars were still some way off competing with Europe's elite.
AZ Alkmaar were well and truly dominating in the Netherlands, but Lazaró's aim to become European Champions with a fully-homegrown squad was proving much more problematic.
AZ Alkmaar wrapped up three successive Eredivise titles to become the fifth most successive club in Dutch football history, behind the big three of Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord and the HVV, an amateur side that won 10 titles by 1915.
The dreaded financial glitch affecting Eredivisie on Football Manager 2024 means this could well be the end to our second attempt at the Wonderkid Factory challenge. It comes at an annoying time, considering Robinho Lazaró was establishing AZ Alkmaar as a dominant force in the Netherlands, with three titles in four years, and taking on Europe's elite.
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.
The exciting crop of youngsters at AZ Alkmaar outperformed even their loftiest expectations as they usurped the big three to become champions of the Netherlands for the third time in 2027. The challenge now was for Robinho Lazaró and his young squad to build on that success.
The wonderkid factory project at AZ Alkmaar was progressing very nicely as Robinho Lazaró led the club to two 2nd-place finishes in three seasons. He'd also reduced the AZ squad to just five players who didn't come through the club's academy heading into the summer of 2026.
Footballing overachievement is seemingly always accompanied by the threat of your best players being poached by bigger clubs. And Robinho Lazaró found that out in the summer of 2025 as his AZ Alkmaar's 2nd place finish in Eredivisie saw big teams across Europe raise interest in his top performers.
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