Key Facts

Round: 9 of 38
Referee: Chris Kavanagh

• Average Reds: 0.10
• Average Yellows: 3.59

Location: Anfield
Time: 1915GMT/UTC+0, 22/11/20
Channels (UK): Sky Sports Main Event/Premier League
(Out / Unlikely / Suspended )

Team News

Leicester:

1. Soyuncu
2. Ndidi
3. Ricardo
4. Castagne
5. Amarety

Liverpool:

1. Salah
2. Firmino
3. Van Dijk
4. Henderson
5. Gomez
6. Oxlade-Chamberlain
7. Fabinho
8. Alexander-Arnold
9. Thiago
10. Tsimikas

Betting Odds

Accurate as of 0823GMT 19/11/20 (Decimal, lower is more likely):
Leicester Win: 3.60
Draw: 4.00
Liverpool Win: 1.90

Fun Facts

• Liverpool are unbeaten in their last nine home league matches against us (W7 D2), having lost three in a row against them at Anfield between 1997 to 2000
• We have won just two of our past 16 league matches with Liverpool (D3 L11), and are without a win in six against them since the 3-1 victory at Filbert Way in February 2017
• Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 63 Premier League home games, their joint-longest such run without defeat at home in the top-flight. Their previous run between February 1978 to December 1980 was eventually ended with defeat to us.
• Liverpool have kept just one clean sheet in their last 13 league games (2-0 at Chelsea), conceding in each of their last six at home in the PL. Indeed, only promoted sides Leeds and West Brom (17 each) have conceded more goals than the reigning champions so far this term (16).
• We have won six our last eight league matches this season (L2), as many as we had in our final 22 games last season (W6 D6 L10). This will be our first Premier League game with us starting the day top of the table since the final game of our 2015/16 title triumph.

As per usual, expect these things to change by the start of the new season, especially if a new forward is signed. As a guide, (?) means that the player is in the Manchester City squad but not in the game and (??) means that the player is a rumored signing for the Sky Blues.
TLDR: De Bruyne and maybe Foden if you are feeling spicy.
Goalkeepers:
Ederson (£6.0): Although the city stopper claimed his first golden glove for the club since Joe Hart, he still returned his lowest amount of FPL points last season. At 6.0, He is still a premium goalkeeper who will likely still face problems getting points unless a player like Koulibaly is signed. Key errors in games such as the Manchester United and Lyon illustrate that Ederson is not 100% trustworthy. However, a more direct approach from Guardiola can benefit Ederson in terms of potential assists.
Verdict: .5 too much, avoid for now but keep an eye out for him
Bravo (£4.5): Not sure why he is still in the game, he's going to be off in the summer
Verdict: Avoid
Steffen (£?): The U.S.A. international is set to return from his loan spell in the Bundesliga. Although he impressed throughout the season, Steffen will surely be #2 to Ederson in the pecking order throughout the season. He will likely be priced at around 4.5 as well but he will only have value if Ederson goes down with an injury
Verdict: Only viable if Ederson gets a long term injury
Defenders:
Walker (£6.0): Oh Kyle Walker. A great footballer in real life but provides questionable value regardless that he scored miles ahead of any other city defender. His spot in the starting 11 should be the most nailed on amongst outfield players next season. If City strengthens their defense, he will provide additional value with his clean sheets. A true lack of contribution in the final third hampers Walker's potential, but he will likely rank amongst the top-scoring defenders at City next season.
Verdict: Too expensive for his value due to his lack of end product. Avoid
Otamendi (£5.0): I bet most Manchester City fans already thought he left the club. Although he was the 2nd highest FPL scoring defender for City last year, expect him to put up a fat 0 points this season.
Verdict: Avoid!!!
Ake (£5.5) After Laporte's less than impressive game against Lyon in the Champions League, Ake has become a more intriguing prospect. That being said, the odds of him beating out the Frenchman to the starting left center-back position is unlikely, especially at the start of the new season. If Laporte happens to go down again with another injury, Ake would be a great player. It is also worth noting that Guardiola may deploy Ake at left-back and defensive midfielder throughout the season, but he will largely only serve a rotational purpose.
Verdict: Avoid for now
Mendy (£6.0): Perhaps one of the most overpriced players in the game. He recently lost his place in the starting 11 to an out of position Joao Cancelo. Mendy will likely only be a rotational left-back this season, splitting time with both Cancelo and Ake. Adding into account his injury risks and lack of consistency just makes this problem worse. Unless Mendy has a true breakout season, 6.0 is far too expensive for the leader of the Shark Team.
Verdict: Mostly likely avoid all season
Laporte (£6.0): The heart of our defense. Although he has a few bad games a season, he is by far the best defender at the club at this moment. An early injury ruled him out for several months and took away the possibility for a great season. This season, however, Laporte could prove to be an effective choice in the Man City backline. This is largely dependent on who will partner him come the start of the new season.
Verdict: Only for those with lots of faith in City's defending.
Fernandinho (£5.5): The ever-present Brazilian in the Manchester City lineup for the past few seasons may be taking a step back this season as additional competition complied with his aging limbs will likely deem Dinho fantasy irrelevant. The same price as Ake, I expect Dinho to play fewer minutes than his new teammate this season, although a greater proportion of them may be in midfield. For FPL, Dinho has never been a viable option. This season, I expect the trend to continue
Verdict: Only a lunatic would pick him.
Zinchenko (£5.5): Things do not look good for the Ukrainian rapper. Not only did he lose his spot to both Mendy and Cancelo, but additional competition in Ake (and in theory Angelino) will only help plummet Zinchenko's stock. As a traditional midfielder, Zinchenko may prove to have value if he gets loaned out to another team should they choose to play him further up the pitch. As for now, I wouldn't place my bets on Zinchenko to have value this season.
Verdict: Look out for a potential loan.
Cancelo (£5.5): Joao Cancelo. The right-back turned left-back that only recently has proven to be trusted by Pep Guardiola. Not trusted enough, however, to avoid extra competition with the signing of Ake. I expect Cancelo to start the season for Manchester City at left-back barring any new left-back signings, but I am skeptical of his ability to put up points for our fantasy teams.
Verdict: Risky and expensive differential
Garcia (£5.0): Before the news broke out that Garcia has desires to go back to Barcelona, I believed that the future looked bright for the young Spaniard. Garcia started in most of Manchester City's games following the resumption of the league and although he had to be babysat by Laporte in those games, he showed enough for me (and Pep) to rate him over Stones, Otamendi, and Dinho at that position. Should City fail to sign another center-back, they will likely refuse to sell him to Barcelona this transfer window. If so, he would have great potential at 5.0.
Verdict: Solid investment if City keep him + Don't buy Koulibaly/Other CB
Stones (£5.0): I won't go too in-depth on this one. Stones' City career is likely coming to an end unless they decide to sell Garcia and keep Stones as their 4th center back. Even so, he wouldn't produce much value. If Stones goes to another top half team in England, he could have some potential. A loan move to Arsenal could be best for both the Gunners and the Sky Blues.
Verdict: Only viable if he gets a move to another top half Prem side.
Angelino (£?): Quick special mention to Angelino, who will likely leave the club this summer.
Verdict: Avoid
Koulibaly (£??): Technically not a City player, but after City's disappointing loss to Lyon, he should surely be a Sky Blue this transfer window. If so, he could provide value along-side Laporte. At 6.0 Koulibaly would stabilize City's defense and probably play more minutes than Laporte next season. As a result, he would likely be one of City's highest-scoring defenders.
Verdict: Depends on transfer and price
Midfielders:
De Bruyne: (£11.5): The first name on my FPL team. De Bruyne scored the most points amongst all players last season and is still priced less than some of them. The Belgian midfielder has been wonderful in his time at the Etihad and his attacking returns should only continue to be magnificent next season. With more determination than ever, and possibly another striker to assist, De Bruyne should offer amazing value next season. If you can only find room for one City player, make it KDB.
Verdict: Immense value, easy pick.
Sterling (£11.5): Sterling, if he could stay consistent, would have been the highest-scoring play in FPL last year. After an amazing start to the season, Sterling lost his form. Now with Sane gone and only a young Ferran Torres in to replace him, Sterling has more responsibility on his shoulders than ever before. His recent form and insane miss against Lyon may raise some red flags about the Englishman, but he should still provide the 2nd move value amongst City midfielders next season.
Verdict: Less value for money than KDB, but keep an eye out for how he starts the season
Mahrez (£8.5): Another player who gets trapped in Pep Roulette. Mahrez played brilliantly last season but with the emergence of Phil Foden (who likes to play out wide) and the signing of Ferran Torres, Mahrez may see another significant cut into his minutes next season. Should he start the season strong, however, he may be able to nail down a spot in Guardiola's team for the first few game weeks.
Verdict: Risky differential
Bernardo (£7.5): After his breakout season in 2018/19, hopes were high for Bernardo Silva. This season, however, he failed to impress and was largely omitted from the starting 11 for the games following the resumption of the league, including crucial Champions League games. With his desire to stay at Manchester City made public, Bernardo can offer amazing value-for-money if he can hit the ground running next season. The absence of David Silva now opens up the possibility of Bernardo playing centrally more often, which can only benefit the Portuguese international.
Verdict: Great potential but Pep doesn't seem to trust him in big games
Rodrigo (£5.5): Defensive midfielders never really provide great value in FPL.
Verdict: Avoid
Foden (£6.5): The English wonderkid that took the Premier League by storm following the resumption of the league looks set to fight for his chance to play consistent minutes. His start in the crucial second leg against Real Madrid further proves that Pep has confidence in the young man. If he can nail down a spot, either centrally or out on the wings, Foden can easily be the best asset to own given his price. Ambitious managers looking for a differential may look Foden's way, but that largely depends on what happens between now and the start of the season.
Verdict: Could be the gem of the season, although he could also largely spend time on the bench.
Gundogan (£5.5): See Rodrigo
Doyle (£4.5): Tommy Doyle is an exciting young prospect but he is a few seasons away from a real impact on the first team.
Verdict: Avoid
Torres (£7.0): Although he has been priced relatively cheaply for a City winger, I would urge caution with it comes to the Spaniard. Guardiola will most likely use the same approach he did when bringing Sane to the squad in that he will only really fully integrate the player after the end of the 2020/2021 season. If there was no redraft every year, Torres would be a good pick, but for this upcoming season, he shouldn't have much value.
Verdict: Wait for 2021/22 season
Braaf (£?): Braaf may be implemented into the game later this season, but he will likely fail to have any value once he is in. Along with Torres and Doyle, Braaf is one to watch out for a few seasons down the line.
Verdict: Wait a few seasons
Forwards:
Jesus (£9.5): A whole million cheaper than Aguero, Jesus offers a potential entryway into the City attack. However, I believe that there are better options given his price tag and his rotational with Aguero (or another striker) will likely hinder any breakout season for the Brazilian. If Jesus can improve on his end product, he will have value. As for now, however, it seems too risky to pick him given all the transfer rumors surrounding a new city striker.
Verdict: Keep an eye on him, but avoid for now.
Aguero (£10.5): Every year, Aguero scores an absurd number of goals given his fitness problems and rotation with Jesus. That being said, Aguero may face additional competition if City sign another forward. With 12 months left on the Argentine's contract, this may be the last season we have the forward in the game. In my opinion, his pricing makes him a huge risk this season, although I'm sure he would love to prove me wrong!
Verdict: Club favorite, but may not be an elite FPL option anymore for that price.
Messi (£??): Just kidding. Unless...
Thanks for taking the time to look at my guide, I will be updating it over time throughout pre-season. I would greatly appreciate it if you could either upvote or leave a comment with some feedback as this is my first ever preseason guide. If you disagree with any of my comments, send me a message as I would love another viewpoint on this.

The year is 2017. Top scientists have finally cracked the ability to stop ageing, and the world rejoices. The discovery prompts an immediate FIFA investigation into exactly what this means for world football from now on. How will the careers come and go when every team can just preserve their best stars? How will the next Messi break through? The Qatar FA suggest restricting it to only Qatari players, a motion that's only narrowly defeated. In unrelated news, a bunch of mysterious Qatari bank accounts are seized the day before the vote. Eventually, a compromise is decided upon between. Only those players who’ve proven themselves to be in it for the sport, and their team, can use it. The players who have stuck with their team through thick and thin, who’ve turned down bigger money offers to stay where they are. One-Club Men. However, should their loyalty ever waiver, and they choose to leave, those players will lose their right to an everlasting career, and have to face the advance years once again. Who will remain loyal the longest? Who will ride out the lowest of lows to stay at their lifelong club?
Unfortunately for those of you hoping I’ve found a secret miracle, that’s just the best nonsense I could come up with to frame this scenario. In less dramatic terms, using FM 2017, I'm going to select 50 one-club men from the top 5 leagues and de-age them to around 22. Every 5 years I'll de-age them down to 22 again, unless they abandon their loyalty. I'll also be adjusting everyone's contract to expire in 2020 to make it equal, and undoing international retirements where necessary. Nothing overly complicated, but I’m expecting this one to run a long long time if I’m going to have everyone leave, so I’m good with it not being too complicated.
^{Reddit side note! It's me again. Some may remember my experiments from ages ago. I'm back and writing again, but as you can probably tell, with a new name and website. If you want to see this post with much better formatting, all the images, and everyone's profile at the end, go here to read it in full: link You can stay here if you prefer though!}
So who actually qualifies for this? I've restricted it to players from the Top 5 leagues of England, Italy, Spain, Germany and France, and only included those that have been at their clubs the longest. As well as the genuine candidates like Messi and Totti, loaned out players like Lahm qualify, as do those like Iniesta who haven't left in FM 2017, and even those that have left in-game, but are known for their careers at one club. Buffon is a good example of the latter. I've included a link to an image with all 5 players here: link
With all this loyalty around, I wanted to mix it up a bit by adding in one final player. Someone completely opposite to everyone picked so far, the anti-one-club man, the journeyman of all journeymen. And after some research, I came up with the perfect candidate. Sebastián Abreu, a man who in his career has played at an impressive 29 different teams in 11 different countries, setting a Guinness world record along the way. Abreu will receive the same treatment as the loyal players, except it won’t stop when he moves team. I want him to move around more, spread his wings, see how many teams he can collect over an illustrious career.
That’s enough explaining for now. Should be pretty clear what’s going on, just a bunch of footballers never getting old. Time to get things rolling and see who eliminates themselves. Who can stick it out the longest, who will become THE one-club man?

2016/17

With our younger one club men unleashed on the world, many of them attract instant attention from new clubs. For a while it stays quiet and looks like the first transfer window may pass without incident. Only a few loans crop up... until Javi López because the first man to fall. With Espanyol not meeting his standards, he makes a £2.4M trip down the coast to join Valencia. He proves to be the only summer casualty by the time the window slams shut.
January brings the winter window, and the Premier League clubs start to sniff around, ready to throw bags of cash at unsuspecting players. It doesn’t take long before the next two players are reeled in by money and lose their eternal youth. First Marcel Schmelzer in a £20.5M move to Liverpool, followed by Bruno joining moneybags Man City. By the end of the window, Nacho also heads to the north of England, joining rivals Man United. I’m not sure if any of them have realised how damn cold it is up there. That window swiftly ends, settling the bottom 4 finishers in the competition.
Returning to the world of actual football results briefly, and there aren’t many shocks to be seen. Man City finish 6th, Everton get relegated and Borussia Mönchengladbach reach the Champions League Semi-Finals. A few players see their team relegated, as Werder Bremen, Caen and Freiburg go down, so there could be a few casualties once that disappointment has set in. But all in all, the footballing world has coped just fine.
Loyal Players Remaining: 46
Abreu Club Count: 23 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: None

2017/18

With everyone’s transfer budgets warmed up, it doesn’t take long for the action to get back underway. The previous season has barely finished before Chris Solly trades in his morals for a Premier League move to Norwich. Sergio Álvarez joins him in England, making the slightly odd move to Bournemouth before a big £52M move sees Koke trade loyalty for a big move to Man City. That’s the most surprising move so far, as I expected many of the players at top clubs to stick around. The final two transfers of the window take us to sunny Spain, where both Xabi Prieto and Mario become massive glory hunters, trading in their life long clubs for Atletico Madrid and Barcelona respectively. Javi López, having left Espanyol to join Valencia last year, immediately realises his mistake and rejoins Espanyol. It’s too little too late though, his status as a one-club man is already ruined.
The winter window comes and goes without even a hint of action, so things may already be starting to quieten down. Over in Brazil, Sebastián Abreu has his contract with Bangu come to an end after a good season but fails to attract any new suitors before the European season ends.
Around the world, things keep ticking on relatively normally. Watford take a surprising FA Cup win despite finishing rock bottom of the league, meaning they’ll have European nights alongside their Championship campaign. The loyalty of Seube, Höfler and Bargfrede is rewarded, as Caen, Bremen and Freiburg are immediately promoted back to the top tier. Las Palmas head in the opposite direction, which causes David García to hand in an immediate transfer request. The Spaniard could very well be the next player to go.
Loyal Players Remaining: 41
Abreu Club Count: 23 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Watford (FA Cup)

2018/19

My suggestion that things may be quietening down is immediately disproved by the biggest move so far. Bayern Munich legend Philipp Lahm makes a huge £82M transfer to Manchester City, throwing away all he’d built up at Bayern so far. But it doesn't end there, as 2 more huge transfers are finalised right after. First Claudio Marchisio drops Juventus, clearly not happy with them losing the title to AC Milan, and moves to Real Madrid. Then Daniele De Rossi trades in Roma for Barcelona. Whilst both have moved in real life, I didn’t expect either to fall so early in this, being icons at such huge clubs. A little later, David García makes his predicted move away from relegated Las Palmas, opting to stay in Spain with Osasuna. And then on the final day of the window, one last move. David Zurutuza decides the Premier League is more to his taste and joins Noble at West Ham. Javi López continues his tour of Spain, realising rejoining Espanyol doesn’t earn him back everlasting youth, and so heads to Sevilla instead. Currently, he’s moved around more than the specific journeyman player I chose to actually move around. Talking of, Abreu does find a new contract, heading back to Uruguay to join River Plate Montevideo.
The winter transfer window is again mostly quiet, with very little potential action. There are still some transfers though, as Robin Knoche becomes the 15th person out, heading to Borussia Dortmund. Then a legend moves on, as Iker Casillas decides that barely getting any game time behind Keylor Navas isn’t worth it, and so joins Monaco for a mere £11M. I guess you can't escape the real world after all.
The summer of 2018 means a World Cup, a tournament which regularly creates bizarre results in Football Manager. This year is no exception, as the likes of Italy, Belgium and Argentina fall in the group stages, before South Korea beat both Germany and France in the knockouts. The final between Brazil and Croatia proves 100% less heartbreaking than the real 2018 final for the Croatians, as they become champions of the world. In domestic football, Man United take all the English trophies on offer in a Quadruple, whilst Freiburg find themselves relegated yet again, as do Montpellier.
Loyal Players Remaining: 34
Abreu Club Count: 24 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Croatia (World Cup)

2019/20

Another season, another transfer window, another set of swirling rumours around our one-club men. Borussia Dortmund manage to steal away another of our competitors from a German rival, taking Timo Horn early in the window. Having been relegated yet again last season, Nicolas Höfler decides enough is enough and leaves Freiburg for Hertha Berlin. Over in Italy, and Chievo Legend Sergio Pellissier finally caves, leaving his relegation-threatened lifelong team for European battlers Fiorentina. But that's all the entertainment I can offer, no big signings this time around I’m afraid. Let's go see what Javi López is up to instead. His merry-go-round of clubs continues yet again, moving over to Deportivo de La Coruña in the latest of his ever-decreasing value of transfers.
January retains its typical bleak and dull atmosphere, with no sign of action whatsoever until the final day of the window. Hugo Mallo decides to try and add to his trophy cabinet and heads to Man United. Not the worst career move to throw away eternal life for considering their dominance right now. And with his departure, the total number of players that we've lost hits a nice round 20.
In the Premier League, Man United claim their 4th title in a row, exerting total dominance over everyone. But where one dominance rises, another falls, with Dortmund claiming the Bundesliga to knock Bayern off their perch. The shock of the season comes in the Coupe de France, where 3rd tier LB Châteauroux knock out Lyon, Auxerre and PSG before falling to Caen in the semi-finals. With Monaco having fallen to 4th tier SA Spinalien, Caen beat an easier opposition of RC Lens in the final, leading to Seube lifting the teams first-ever Coupe de France. Not bad for a player I expected to never lift a trophy. On a less joyous note, Höfler having left relegated Freiburg, sees his new team Hertha relegated immediately too. It seems there is no escaping the 2. Bundesliga!
On the record front, Gianluigi Buffon sets a huge benchmark, breaking the 200 cap mark for Italy. With no-one else close to him, he’ll stay the leader for a long time. Messi also breaks a boundary, climbing through 400 league goals during his career at Barcelona. Like Buffon, he’s way clear of any competitor, and unless a miracle happens that sees him abandon Barcelona, I can’t see anyone catching him soon.
Loyal Players Remaining: 30
Abreu Club Count: 24 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Caen (Coupe de France)

2020/21

2020 arrives, and with it, two important points arrive too. Firstly, everyone gets de-aged for the first time in this experiment. The 20 that have left get to watch from a distance thinking about what could have been. Second, the initial contracts are set to expire, so anyone that hasn’t re-signed will out the door. Which is exactly what happens to Víctor Valdés. Having barely appeared for Barcelona since his return, he leaves the club on a free and heads to the southern French coast to join Marseille. A day later and someone else leaves France, as Romain Danzé who decides one de-ageing is enough and moves to Schalke. Tony Hibbert also struggled for games at Everton despite his new youthful look, and so he walks out the door. He opts for Aston Villa, who to my great surprise have sunk to a mid-table League 1 team. Feeling left out, Spain joins in, with Oier Sanjurjo departing Osasuna and moving to Villarreal. The window is then capped by a bizarre final free transfer. Despite appearing regularly, Xavi isn’t offered a new contract by Barcelona. Man City can’t quite believe their luck and snap up the Spanish wizard a few days before the window shuts.
Winter brings with it just one transfer in its usual action-heavy way. Roberto Torres leaves Osasuna, making a £35.5M switch to Atletico. I’m not sure whether Atletico thought they were getting a different de-aged Torres because that can only be described as an overpayment. Either way, that means we've now lost over half the competitors.
Euro 2020 passes, and Croatia prove their World Cup victory was no fluke, becoming both champions of the World, and champions of Europe. On the Continental front, things have been fairly predictable so far, at least until this years Europa League. Hoffenheim escape a tough group and go all the way to win the entire thing. Not bad for a team that barely qualified in the first place. Oh, and Messi wins a little thing called the Ballon d’Or for the 10th time. I think he’s only just getting started.
Loyal Players Remaining: 24
Abreu Club Count: 24 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Hoffenheim (Europa League)

2021/22

The 21/22 season begins with two transfers on the first day. Loïc Perrin makes his way to the Premier League to join Leicester. But that's a minor splash compared to the other move, as after 768 appearances and 302 goals, Francesco Totti leaves Roma. It seems wrong to see it, but he’ll now be wearing a Man United kit. Dortmund continue their run of stealing loyalty, this time bringing Tony Jantschke into the fold. Another contract is run to the end, forcing Álex Bergantiños out of Deportivo without much choice, before being picked up by Cagliari. Mikel González opts to end his time at Real Sociedad, joining Pellissier over at Fiorentina. And as August comes to a close, it looks like Totti may be the only big departure. That is until Gianluigi Buffon decides to call time on his Juventus career. It’s an odd move, with the legend going sorta sideways from a regular starting Juventus spot to Bayern Munich. But there’s no going back now, as his 636 league appearance career with the Italians comes to a close. Two legends down in one window.
No season is complete without a single winter signing to warrant an entire separate paragraph, and this season is no different. Sergi Roberto moves away from Barcelona, in a £24M move to French giants PSG. A good way to guarantee yourself plenty of titles I guess. Abreu also makes a winter move, adding Guarani in the Brasilian second tier to his collection.
Roberto’s decision proves to be a good one, as PSG go on to claim their 10th one in a row. Not many surprises elsewhere, although Real Oviedo get close to pulling off a shock in the Copa del Rey. The second tier team beat Osasuna, Barcelona and Sevilla on the way to the final, but ultimately Real Madrid prove a step too far. Elsewhere everything is won by a team you’d probably expect. Exciting stuff.
Loyal Players Remaining: 17
Abreu Club Count: 25 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: None

2022/23

With the pool of players rapidly decreasing, very few of the crew are even wanted by other clubs anymore. Perhaps deterred by their steadfast loyalty? A few moves do still happen though, so we’re not dead yet. Firstly Anthony Lopes gets fed up of PSG dominating his league and moves to AC Milan for a better shot at a trophy. It’s not long before that story is forgotten, as the biggest transfer fee in the competition so far is dropped. Andrés Iniesta is stolen away from Barcelona, in a huge £86M move to Man United. The midfield maestro fell 2 appearances short of 600 league games for Barcelona, but with his new £300K per-week contract it’s not hard to guess why. That proves to be all the action for the summer window, with no-one willing to top that huge move.
After half a season of hearing their noisy neighbours gloating about their star signing, Man City snap. And if there’s one thing City are good at, it’s splashing the cash. In probably the easiest negotiation over fee Barcelona has ever had, Sergio Busquets makes a £95M move to the sky blues. Yeh, that’ll show United. Once again no-one wants to get in the middle of the awkward Manchester squabble, and the winter transfer closes with a whimper.
The second World Cup of this experiment comes and goes. This time all the giants make it safely through the Group Stages, but it’s Africa that really excels. Morocco make the knockouts, Egypt battle through to the Quarter Finals, but Nigeria come out best. They beat South Korea and Argentina before falling valiantly to France in the Semi-Finals. A 1-0 victory of Italy does see them finish in an impressive 3rd place, becoming the first African team to finish in the top 3 of the World Cup. France win the title on penalties after a deceivingly action-filled 0-0 draw with Spain. The domestic scene follows that with a similar lack of real shocks. In the Carabao Cup, Bournemouth beat Arsenal, Chelsea and Man United on the way to lifting the trophy. But it’s the lesser Cup, so outside of Bournemouth no-one really cares. PSG finally have their grip on the Ligue 1 broken, as Casillas leads Monaco to a fantastic title. Otherwise, all the league titles and cups fall to teams you’d expect them too. Another thrilling year.
Loyal Players Remaining: 14
Abreu Club Count: 25 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Bournemouth (Carabao Cup)

2023/24

Literally nothing happens. Thomas Kessler decides that no team can ignore his existence for 20 seasons in a row and get away with it, leaving Köln to join Trabzonspor. So as I said, literally nothing happens. Even Javi López moving to yet another club would be more interesting than that.
The same applies to the footballing season. Asides from Casillas captaining Monaco to a Champions League title, or Atletico winning the title again, exactly 10 years after their last win, everything is frustratingly normal. And even those two events are hardly shocks.
Before I start to lose hope, there are a few interesting moves over the last few years from the losing group that are worth highlighting. First season mover Bruno didn’t make the impact he hoped and found himself moving to the lovely Stoke. Robin Knoche barely received any playtime at Dortmund and found himself cast out to Dinamo Zagreb. Even in League 1, Tony Hibbert could barely get any game time at Villa and so moved on the Scunthorpe in League 2. But the winner of the oddest move has to be Zurutuza, who somehow manage to pull off a move to Liverpool after West Ham found themselves relegated, only make a few disappointing performances, before being released on a free to join Al-Arabi in Qatar. Not quite the career he was anticipating when joining the Premier League I bet.
Loyal Players Remaining: 13
Abreu Club Count: 25 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: None

2024/25

The summer transfer window arrives for another season, and with it finally comes a huge deal! Javi López has found yet another club! Hooray! As for actual competitors, absolutely no movement whatsoever. Even from Abreu, who’s been at Guarani for 2.5 years now. Manceau, Lewington and Seube complain to their managers about playing time or relegation, but none of them actually make a move anywhere. So our final 13 will add another 5 years onto their career length.
There are some fun statistics from our 51 worth mentioning at this point. Buffon leads the way with both total league appearances (935) and international caps (259). His caps are at a point where they’re too high for the game to display, as the value is stored as an unsigned 8-bit integer, and so has rolled over to just show 3. Most appearances for a single club goes to Dean Lewington however, who thanks to being a regular sits at 857 league appearances for the MK Dons (or 889 if you include Wimbledon). In the goals department, the winner is obvious. With almost 500 league goals, 100 international goals and 14 Ballon d’Or awards, Messi sits on top of everyone. On the international scene, he’s run close by Müller and the fast-approaching Kane, but for league goals, it’s not even close.
2024 brings with it a Euro tournament, which doesn’t provide much in the way of surprises, but brings with it some exciting high scoring matches. All ending in a 4-3 victory for a Thomas Müller led Germany over neighbours Netherlands. Which I’m sure went down very well. The domestic scene decides to spring a few shocks though. In Serie A, Roma claim an impressive title thanks to main striker Iheanacho, their first since 2001. The German and French cups provide surprise winners, in the form of Hertha Berlin and Dijon. Both cap an impressive run by beating their respective league winners, Bayern and Monaco. Even the continental tournaments turn up too. First Monaco cement their place as a top power in football by winning their second Champions League in a row. That coming a week after the best win there could possibly be. Tottenham win the Europa League! Screw the other stuff, that last part is all I need!
Loyal Players Remaining: 13
Abreu Club Count: 25 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Dijon (Coupe de France), Hertha Berlin (DFB Pokal)

At this point though it’s fair to say that the competition results are more interesting than the movements of the players. Which is the perfect signal that things need to speed up a little bit. So from now on, updates will be every 5 years, which lines up perfectly with player age resets, letting us see who has made it to the next checkpoint.

2025-2030

Another round of de-ageing hits, and you’d think that would incite some interest in our final 13. Instead, it’s a ghost town. We do have an immediate dropout though, as Nicolas Seube finally gets fed up with his lack of playtime at Caen and heads for Panionios in Greece. A year later the situation is repeated. I’m not entirely sure what his unhappiness was about, but Iker Muniain decides he’s had enough of Athletic Club and moves to Hamburger SV. At least he left on exactly 100 goals for Athletic though, a nice round number. With 11 left, a standoff to reach the top 10 ensues. For 3 years no-one budges in their show of loyalty, until in 2029… Dean Lewington leaves for Derby County on a free. It’s a huge move, with Lewington becoming the first man to break through 1000 league appearances for a single club before leaving. But he’s moved on now, and it won’t be long before that record is broken. That move means we’re left with our final 10 contestants. Terry, Iraola, Messi, Susaeta, Noble, Jourdren, Müller, Kane, Manceau and Bargfrede have secured a top 10 spot, and now all that’s left to do is fight it out for number 1.
Over in Brazil, our anti-one-club man continues his journey, although it remains in Brazil for the moment. Only 2 clubs are added to his count, with a long stay at Atletico Goianiense followed by a £2M move to top tier Coritiba. I’m kind of hoping he starts to make enough waves in the Brazilian league to move to Europe and add some new countries to his history.
Those that fell before the first de-ageing are retiring, finishing off their magnificent, or in some cases very un-magnificent, careers (as losers). Javi López finishes his fine anti-loyalty tour around Spain with 7 transfers to his name. Schmelzer, Nacho, Solly, Álvarez, Koke, Mario, Prieto, Marchisio, De Rossi, David García, Zurutuza, Knoche, Höfler, Pellissier, Mallo, Horn and Hibbert end their careers. Many, such as Nacho, Horn and De Rossi stay just as committed to their new clubs as they did their old, finishing out their careers after just a single transfer. Of the pensioners, Sergio Pellissier manages to rack up the most career league appearances and goals, at 894 and 246, although that’s largely thanks to a huge head start. De Rossi dominates on the international scene, earning a whopping 197 caps over his 30-year career. Naturally, all those records will be blown out the water once the next group start retiring, but it’s nice to have some benchmarks.
Around the world, plenty has gone on worth hearing about. The Netherlands claim their first-ever World Cup win, beating Brazil in the final, whilst in the Euro’s Germany win their second tournament in a row. The Gold Cup throws up a few interesting results too, as first, the Mexico B team win it, with their A team tied up in the Confederations Cup. Then 4 years later Canada take the title, only the second time in their history. Over in Italy, Lazio find themselves relegated as the league starts to shake itself up a bit. But other than that, domestic football remains relatively unspectacular. Oh except… TOTTENHAM WINNING THE LEAGUE. Didn’t even have to reset it and we won it before Arsenal did. North London is very much Lilywhite now, suck it Gooners!
Loyal Players Remaining: 10
Abreu Club Count: 27 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Tottenham (Premier League)

2030-2035

Another 5 years pass and to start with it looks like the top 10 are going to hold firm. Eventually though, the temptation of money proves too much for one man. That man is Geoffrey Jourdren who trades in his starting slot at Montpellier for a cosy backup contract at PSG. Then comes… dead silence. Not even a rumour, or an unhappy player. No-one even hints at leaving for the next 4 years, which means we end the period with nine players on the books. The real waiting game has begun. Even our journeyman Abreu is moving in a very slow way, as a five year Coritiba stint finishes with a free transfer to Red Bull Brasil. I think my hopes for a European move have died.
At least there are a lot of retirements to run through. Bruno, Lahm, Casillas, Valdés, Danzé, Oier, Xavi, Torres, Perrin, Jantschke, Bergantiños, González, Roberto, Iniesta and Busquets hang up their playing boots. That does leave us without some noted legends, with Lahm, Casillas, Iniesta and Busquets reaching 200 caps for their country. You’d think Spain would have won more with that golden generation. Casillas and Xavi also both hit 1000 league appearances thanks to a strong head start before the experiment. But it’s Andrés Iniesta who is the most loyal of the bunch, racking up nearly 600 appearances for his original club before departing.
Five years leaves plenty of time for interesting results once again. England take a World Cup win, which is always a sign of the apocalypse, only made more bizarre by Scotland making the semi-finals in the same competition. Portugal take the other title in that period, whilst the Euros also see a surprise winner in Switzerland. France provides the biggest shock at club level, as Lille come from nowhere to win Ligue 1, and then immediately revert back to mid-table once again. Otherwise, the time belongs to Manchester City. The oil bar… sky blues take 4 out of 5 titles in both the Premier League and Champions League, with all that cash flinging finally paying off.
Loyal Players Remaining: 9
Abreu Club Count: 28 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: England (World Cup), Lille (Ligue 1)

2035-40

With just nine players left, once again we get a transfer fairly early on in the period. Early as in the first transfer window, which makes me wonder why they waited so long. Anyway, Mark Noble has had his patience tested by West Ham’s yoyoing between the Premier League and Championship a bit too much and finally caves. He makes a £20M move to Burnley, who… are doing the exact same thing. Not sure that was the brightest idea. Like the previous 5 years though, one transfer is all we get. None of the others move, despite some pretty heavy unhappiness from Bargfrede and Manceau. Abreu keeps up his trail, running out his contract with Red Bull Brasil and opting for Chapecoense to reach 29 clubs in his career.
With very few moving recently, that also means less and less are retiring, as just 7 ex-competitors leave the game. Totti, Buffon, Lopes, Kessler, Seube, Muniain and Lewington call time on their football life. The fact they all stuck with it for so long means there’s so impressive stats between them. Totti racked up 1154 league appearances, with 768 at Roma. Dean Lewington, after leaving MK Dons with 1003 appearances finished with a total of 1287. Italian legend Gianluigi Buffon finished with a whopping 1307 league appearances, but perhaps more impressively, 334 international caps. But the single most surprising statistic goes to Thomas Kessler. Despite barely playing in Germany he manages to notch a grand total of 7 goals after his move to Turkey. Maybe if he’d been a striker he’d have actually played at Koln. Oh and Seube ends his career Greek. Because why not.
As per every time, a quick look around the world’s results is needed. Spain win back the World Cup titles, whilst Italy take a Euro win. Argentina, Mexico and Australia claim all their continents international trophies in the window, so no massive surprises there. The domestic world isn’t exactly littered with shocks either. Brescia win a Coppa Italia, and Nîmes Olympique grab 4 top 5 finishes in a row in France, but there’s not really much to shout about. I think it’s best to just get on with the next de-ageing.
Loyal Players Remaining: 8
Abreu Club Count: 29 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Brescia (Coppa Italia)

2040-45

Down to 8 now, so it’s getting tougher. And a lot slower, so slow in fact that not a single transfer in our group happens in five years. For a moment I was excited to see Manceau at Recreativo de Huelva, but that was just a loan. So I was back to being crushed. On the plus side, Abreu makes some huge steps. He adds not just 1, but 2 new countries to his history! The first is Portugal, in a huge step up to join Braga. As usual, it’s just until his contract ends, before he moves on to Frankfurt in the Bundesliga. He’s hardly setting Europe alight but I don’t care, he’s actually moving!
There’s only one retiree to talk about too, as pretty much everyone has already gone. Geoffrey Jourdren finishes up with 925 total league appearances. It probably could have been a bit more, if he’d not spent 10 years of his career being a backup at PSG and Bayern. On a far more interesting note, Terry breaks through 1500 career league appearances. Kane also hits 256 international goals, which results in the number resetting to 0 just like caps. So the game has him on 96 caps with 11 goals, when the actual numbers are a stunning 352 caps with 267 goals.
Having seen my disappointment last time around, the world decides to liven things up. Denmark become both Champions of the World and Champions of Europe in 2042 and 2040, although they lose the European title to Germany 4 years later. At the continental level, the Champions League stays on track, but the Europa League brings some bizarre winners into the mix. Nîmes Olympique, Real Sociedad, Leicester and Bristol City all win a trophy. It seems Mark Noble finally made a right move transferring to Bristol City, as the club is now a strong top 6 Premier League side. Manceau wins a Coupe de France at Angers, but it’s still Nîmes making waves, forming a big three with PSG and Monaco. It may not be long before either Nîmes or Bristol City win their league, which is not something I expected to be saying.
Loyal Players Remaining: 8
Abreu Club Count: 31 clubs in 12 countries
Odd Winners: Nîmes Olympique/Bristol City (Europa League), Angers (Coupe de France)

2045-50

2045 kicks off and once again Manceau deceives me. This time it’s a loan spell in Denmark with Brøndby that had me thinking he was gone. Well you know what they say, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice… I’m probably gonna fall for it. It looks like there’s going to be no moves whatsoever once again, until June 2047 arrives and I notice a contract is set to expire. Imagine my shock when Lionel Messi is not offered a contract by Barcelona and is let go. It’s made doubly worse by the fact that of all teams to pick him up, it's Atletico Madrid. Apparently, 37 Ballon d’Or awards aren’t good enough for Barcelona anymore. I don’t even care that nothing else happens. That’s enough to stun me.
Over in the retirement home, Mark Noble moves into a room. After an up and down career, the Englishman did manage some silverware with Bristol City and ended his career with 1317 league appearances. He even earned not just 1, but 90 England caps across his 44-year career.
Around the world, interesting results are still cropping up. England grab their third World Cup win beating Colombia, whilst Honduras win their first-ever Gold Cup. Much to my bitter disappointment, Arsenal win 4 of the 5 Champions Leagues on offer, as well as 3 Premier League titles. Chelsea have a period of bottom 10 finishes which deeply upsets Terry, whilst over in France, Chamois Niortais begin to try and join the top 3. Don’t worry I’ve never heard of them either.
Loyal Players Remaining: 7
Abreu Club Count: 32 clubs in 12 countries
Odd Winners: Honduras (Gold Cup)

2050-55

With the world still reeling at the fact the Messi has moved from Barcelona, everyone kinda forgets to make any moves. In fact, Messi is the first person to move yet again, leaving Atletico in a very cheap 34.5M move to Man City. Which is more in line with where I originally expected him to go. Abreu finishes one contract, at Hapoel Be’er Sheva, and moves onto the next, but it’s with Monterrey so doesn’t count. Sebastian, it has to be new clubs. John Terry is starting to get frustrated with a Chelsea team that has really fallen from grace. The Londoners barely survive relegation in 2052/53, so Terry may be the next to go. Or maybe I know nothing and it’s completely random.
No-one retires this year, so let’s take a brief look at some statistics of our remaining 7 + Messi. All our players have now reached 1000 appearances, with Bargfrede in last at 1173. Messi has crossed 1000 league goals, now a full 300 clear of the chasing pack of Abreu and Kane. On the international level, Thomas Müller becomes the first player to need a rollover of caps twice, moving on to a massive 524 international caps. But it’s Kane who still leads the international goal stat, nearly breaking 350, a full 50 ahead of the German.
Müller does, however, grab a World Cup win for Germany so I’m sure he won’t be too upset. At least until they’re deposed by Holland 4 years later. On the continental level, Bristol City win another Europa League title beating previous champions Espanyol. Middlesbrough also nearly earn a trophy, having joined Bristol as a top 6 team. But the winner of the biggest shock, although I did say this might happen, goes to Chamois Niortais, who topple the dominance of PSG and Monaco to capture a miraculous Ligue 1 title in the last season of the period.
Loyal Players Remaining: 7
Abreu Club Count: 32 clubs in 12 countries
Odd Winners: Chamois Niortais (Ligue 1), Bristol City/Espanyol (Europa League)

2055-60

The summer window of 2055 opens and as I warned may happen, there’s an almost immediate transfer. Fed up with Chelsea’s mediocre finishes, John Terry decides to move on. Unfortunately for Chelsea fans, Arsenal is his next club, which I’m sure will cause a few shudders. A year later and another move comes around, once again due to unhappiness over the club’s performance. Surprisingly it's Thomas Müller,who's annoyed by the fact that Bayern haven’t won a Bundesliga title since 2048, and so runs down his contract. Leverkusen almost earn his signature, but eventually its the glory of PSG that proves too much to resist. But we’re not done there! Another player runs down their contract, opting to move to Vitoria de Setubal in Portugal. Vincent Manceau finally makes a real move rather than constantly faking me out. So with another 3 players down, we’re left with our final 4. The race for the top 3 is hotting up now!
We do have a retirement this time thanks to the transfer window livening up. The world's best-ever player, Lionel Messi, retires from football. He ends up on a total of 1858 league appearances, scoring a massive 1068 goals in this time. 1430 appearances and 895 goals of those belonging to his 45-year career at Barcelona. On the international scene, he earned an impressive 505 caps and 276 goals. But it’s the awards where he shines. 279 individual awards, 82 team titles, 22 league titles, 6 Champions League titles, 45 Ballon d’Or awards. What makes it even crazier is 41 of those Ballon d’Or awards were in a row, as he earned every single one from 2015 to 2056. I don’t think I’ll see another player like that crop up in any save, truly the world’s best player.
Looking out on the world, I can say that it’s a Chamois Niortais player that breaks Messi’s streak, as the French team claim another two Ligue 1 titles. It’s hard to say they’re a “surprise winner” at this point. Bristol City finally make the full step up to join the big guns, winning 3 Carabao Cups, 1 FA Cup, 2 Premier League titles and even a Champions League trophy. If any Bristol City fans want this save to give themselves hope over the future, I can send it over. Internationally it's the era of Portugal, as they claim both the Euro and World Cup trophies.
Loyal Players Remaining: 4
Abreu Club Count: 32 clubs in 12 countries
Odd Winners: Bristol City (Premier League/Champions League), Lyon (Relegation)

With so few players left, now is probably a good time to speed it up once again. The final four will be tough to budge, so how about we move to 10-year intervals to try and cut down on dead years. And I'll be moving to the comments, because I've hit reddits character limit.

LIVERPOOL CHELSEA

Matchday 34
14 April 2019
Kick Off: 16:30 GMT Convert to local time
Venue: Anfield
Referee: Michael Oliver Assistants: Stuart Burt, Simon Bennett Fourth official: Craig Pawson
Odds: Liverpool 8/11 Chelsea 18/5 Draw 14/5 (Via SkyBet)
Links
Where to Watch
Pre-Match Conference: Jurgen Klopp
Preview

• Liverpool return to action on Sunday, with Maurizio Sarri's Chelsea visiting Anfield in the Premier League.
  
• The Reds come into the game buoyed from a 2-0 UEFA Champions League win over FC Porto and will be out to maintain their place at the top of the table with victory over the Blues.
  
• Chelsea were also victorious in midweek, as they beat Slavia Prague 1-0 in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday. Sarri's men were not at their best, but the victory was their fourth in a row in all competitions.
  
• Liverpool top the table by two points from Manchester City, although they have played a game more than Pep Guardiola's side and know they can't afford to drop points if they are to be crowned champions.
  
• Chelsea should provide a stiff test and are also in need of all three points as they continue their battle with Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Manchester United for a place in the top four.
  

Statements
Jurgen Klopp:

• "I feel the positive energy. It's a massive change from surprise we are up there to getting used to it and getting more confident.
  
• "The five or 10 seconds after the Tottenham equaliser [at Anfield two weeks ago] was the best reaction in the stadium.
  
• "We really feel as one with the supporters as a whole group. You don't walk alone, you're never alone in these situations.
  
• "We are trying to keep this dream alive and at the moment it's all good."
  

Maurizio Sarri:

• "To face Liverpool is going to be difficult for us but every game now is difficult.
  
• "We know well the risks of this match but we also know that when we are able to play at 100% of our potential, we can gain points anywhere.
  
• "We are in a very good physical and mental condition right now."
  

Match Facts

• Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 37 Premier League games at Anfield - only once in their top-flight history have they had a longer unbeaten home run (63 between Feb 1978-Dec 1980).
  
• Chelsea have lost their last five Premier League away games against fellow 'big six' opponents, including all three this season by an aggregate score of 1-11. However, the Blues have won three of their last four away league games against sides starting the day top, including a 2-0 victory at Anfield in April 2014.
  
• Chelsea have won three Premier League games in a row for the first time since September 2018, when they won their first five matches in the competition under Maurizio Sarri.
  
• Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge netted the equaliser for his side at Stamford Bridge in the reverse fixture back in September; the only player to previously net both home and away against the Blues within the same campaign was Fabio Borini, who did so for Sunderland during the 2015-16 season.
  
• Only three of the last 32 visiting managers have managed to taste victory in their first Premier League trip to Anfield (W3 D5 L24); Louis van Gaal in March 2015, Slaven Bilic in August 2015 and most recently, Paul Clement in January 2017.
  
• Roberto Firmino has scored seven goals in his last six Premier League home games for Liverpool. However, the Brazilian has only faced Manchester United (8) and Everton (7) more often than Chelsea (5) without finding the net in the Premier League.
  
• Chelsea's Eden Hazard has had a hand in more goals than any other Premier League player this season (28 - 16 goals and 12 assists). The only league season in which the Belgian has been involved in more goals was in 2011/12 with Ligue 1 club Lille (36).
  

Head to Head

• Liverpool have not won any of their last six Premier League home games against Chelsea, drawing four and losing two of those - they have never endured a longer winless run against an opponent in the competition.
  
• The Blues have only lost twice in their last 16 meetings with the Reds in all competitions, and both of those defeats came at Stamford Bridge.
  
• Chelsea have already tasted victory at Anfield this season, winning 2-1 in the EFL Cup third round. They have never won twice away to Liverpool in the same season.
  
• Liverpool wins: 77 Draws: 41 Chelsea wins: 63
  

Team News
Liverpool

• Liverpool will welcome back left-back Andrew Robertson from a suspension that ruled him out of the midweek Champions League win over Porto.
  
• Joe Gomez was named on the bench on Tuesday and is in line for a first appearance since early December, though Dejan Lovren performed well at the back against Porto. Gomes is with U23s so definitely out for today's game.
  

Chelsea

• Chelsea have the full squad to choose from, except left-back Emerson, who missed Thursday's game, will be assessed before the game.

Predicted Lineups
Liverpool XI:

• Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, Van Dijk, Robertson; Milner, Henderson, Wijnaldum; Salah, Firmino, Mané

Chelsea XI:

• Kepa; Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Luiz, Emerson; Kante, Jorginho, Loftus-Cheek; Hudson-Odoi, Higuain, Hazard

Form

Chelsea	D L W W W
Liverpool	W W W W W

Points Table

POS	CLUB	P	W	D	L	GD	PTS
1	Liverpool	33	25	7	1	55	82
2	Man City	32	26	2	4	62	80
4	Spurs	33	22	1	10	30	67
3	Chelsea	33	20	6	7	23	66
5	Man United	33	19	7	7	19	64

Format Credit: u/YIIZWL

The year is 2017. Top scientists have finally cracked the ability to stop ageing, and the world rejoices. The discovery prompts an immediate FIFA investigation into exactly what this means for world football from now on. How will the careers come and go when every team can just preserve their best stars? How will the next Messi break through? The Qatar FA suggest restricting it to only Qatari players, a motion that's only narrowly defeated. In unrelated news, a bunch of mysterious Qatari bank accounts are seized the day before the vote. Eventually, a compromise is decided upon between. Only those players who’ve proven themselves to be in it for the sport, and their team, can use it. The players who have stuck with their team through thick and thin, who’ve turned down bigger money offers to stay where they are. One-Club Men. However, should their loyalty ever waiver, and they choose to leave, those players will lose their right to an everlasting career, and have to face the advance years once again. Who will remain loyal the longest? Who will ride out the lowest of lows to stay at their lifelong club?
Unfortunately for those of you hoping I’ve found a secret miracle, that’s just the best nonsense I could come up with to frame this scenario. In less dramatic terms, using FM 2017, I'm going to select 50 one-club men from the top 5 leagues and de-age them to around 22. Every 5 years I'll de-age them down to 22 again, unless they abandon their loyalty. I'll also be adjusting everyone's contract to expire in 2020 to make it equal, and undoing international retirements where necessary. Nothing overly complicated, but I’m expecting this one to run a long long time if I’m going to have everyone leave, so I’m good with it not being too complicated.
^{Reddit side note! It's me again. Some may remember my experiments from ages ago. I'm back and writing again, but as you can probably tell, with a new name and website. If you want to see this post with much better formatting, all the images, and everyone's profile at the end, go here to read it in full: link You can stay here if you prefer though!}
So who actually qualifies for this? I've restricted it to players from the Top 5 leagues of England, Italy, Spain, Germany and France, and only included those that have been at their clubs the longest. As well as the genuine candidates like Messi and Totti, loaned out players like Lahm qualify, as do those like Iniesta who haven't left in FM 2017, and even those that have left in-game, but are known for their careers at one club. Buffon is a good example of the latter. I've included a link to an image with all 5 players here: link
With all this loyalty around, I wanted to mix it up a bit by adding in one final player. Someone completely opposite to everyone picked so far, the anti-one-club man, the journeyman of all journeymen. And after some research, I came up with the perfect candidate. Sebastián Abreu, a man who in his career has played at an impressive 29 different teams in 11 different countries, setting a Guinness world record along the way. Abreu will receive the same treatment as the loyal players, except it won’t stop when he moves team. I want him to move around more, spread his wings, see how many teams he can collect over an illustrious career.
That’s enough explaining for now. Should be pretty clear what’s going on, just a bunch of footballers never getting old. Time to get things rolling and see who eliminates themselves. Who can stick it out the longest, who will become THE one-club man?

2016/17

With our younger one club men unleashed on the world, many of them attract instant attention from new clubs. For a while it stays quiet and looks like the first transfer window may pass without incident. Only a few loans crop up... until Javi López because the first man to fall. With Espanyol not meeting his standards, he makes a £2.4M trip down the coast to join Valencia. He proves to be the only summer casualty by the time the window slams shut.
January brings the winter window, and the Premier League clubs start to sniff around, ready to throw bags of cash at unsuspecting players. It doesn’t take long before the next two players are reeled in by money and lose their eternal youth. First Marcel Schmelzer in a £20.5M move to Liverpool, followed by Bruno joining moneybags Man City. By the end of the window, Nacho also heads to the north of England, joining rivals Man United. I’m not sure if any of them have realised how damn cold it is up there. That window swiftly ends, settling the bottom 4 finishers in the competition.
Returning to the world of actual football results briefly, and there aren’t many shocks to be seen. Man City finish 6th, Everton get relegated and Borussia Mönchengladbach reach the Champions League Semi-Finals. A few players see their team relegated, as Werder Bremen, Caen and Freiburg go down, so there could be a few casualties once that disappointment has set in. But all in all, the footballing world has coped just fine.
Loyal Players Remaining: 46
Abreu Club Count: 23 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: None

2017/18

With everyone’s transfer budgets warmed up, it doesn’t take long for the action to get back underway. The previous season has barely finished before Chris Solly trades in his morals for a Premier League move to Norwich. Sergio Álvarez joins him in England, making the slightly odd move to Bournemouth before a big £52M move sees Koke trade loyalty for a big move to Man City. That’s the most surprising move so far, as I expected many of the players at top clubs to stick around. The final two transfers of the window take us to sunny Spain, where both Xabi Prieto and Mario become massive glory hunters, trading in their life long clubs for Atletico Madrid and Barcelona respectively. Javi López, having left Espanyol to join Valencia last year, immediately realises his mistake and rejoins Espanyol. It’s too little too late though, his status as a one-club man is already ruined.
The winter window comes and goes without even a hint of action, so things may already be starting to quieten down. Over in Brazil, Sebastián Abreu has his contract with Bangu come to an end after a good season but fails to attract any new suitors before the European season ends.
Around the world, things keep ticking on relatively normally. Watford take a surprising FA Cup win despite finishing rock bottom of the league, meaning they’ll have European nights alongside their Championship campaign. The loyalty of Seube, Höfler and Bargfrede is rewarded, as Caen, Bremen and Freiburg are immediately promoted back to the top tier. Las Palmas head in the opposite direction, which causes David García to hand in an immediate transfer request. The Spaniard could very well be the next player to go.
Loyal Players Remaining: 41
Abreu Club Count: 23 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Watford (FA Cup)

2018/19

My suggestion that things may be quietening down is immediately disproved by the biggest move so far. Bayern Munich legend Philipp Lahm makes a huge £82M transfer to Manchester City, throwing away all he’d built up at Bayern so far. But it doesn't end there, as 2 more huge transfers are finalised right after. First Claudio Marchisio drops Juventus, clearly not happy with them losing the title to AC Milan, and moves to Real Madrid. Then Daniele De Rossi trades in Roma for Barcelona. Whilst both have moved in real life, I didn’t expect either to fall so early in this, being icons at such huge clubs. A little later, David García makes his predicted move away from relegated Las Palmas, opting to stay in Spain with Osasuna. And then on the final day of the window, one last move. David Zurutuza decides the Premier League is more to his taste and joins Noble at West Ham. Javi López continues his tour of Spain, realising rejoining Espanyol doesn’t earn him back everlasting youth, and so heads to Sevilla instead. Currently, he’s moved around more than the specific journeyman player I chose to actually move around. Talking of, Abreu does find a new contract, heading back to Uruguay to join River Plate Montevideo.
The winter transfer window is again mostly quiet, with very little potential action. There are still some transfers though, as Robin Knoche becomes the 15th person out, heading to Borussia Dortmund. Then a legend moves on, as Iker Casillas decides that barely getting any game time behind Keylor Navas isn’t worth it, and so joins Monaco for a mere £11M. I guess you can't escape the real world after all.
The summer of 2018 means a World Cup, a tournament which regularly creates bizarre results in Football Manager. This year is no exception, as the likes of Italy, Belgium and Argentina fall in the group stages, before South Korea beat both Germany and France in the knockouts. The final between Brazil and Croatia proves 100% less heartbreaking than the real 2018 final for the Croatians, as they become champions of the world. In domestic football, Man United take all the English trophies on offer in a Quadruple, whilst Freiburg find themselves relegated yet again, as do Montpellier.
Loyal Players Remaining: 34
Abreu Club Count: 24 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Croatia (World Cup)

2019/20

Another season, another transfer window, another set of swirling rumours around our one-club men. Borussia Dortmund manage to steal away another of our competitors from a German rival, taking Timo Horn early in the window. Having been relegated yet again last season, Nicolas Höfler decides enough is enough and leaves Freiburg for Hertha Berlin. Over in Italy, and Chievo Legend Sergio Pellissier finally caves, leaving his relegation-threatened lifelong team for European battlers Fiorentina. But that's all the entertainment I can offer, no big signings this time around I’m afraid. Let's go see what Javi López is up to instead. His merry-go-round of clubs continues yet again, moving over to Deportivo de La Coruña in the latest of his ever-decreasing value of transfers.
January retains its typical bleak and dull atmosphere, with no sign of action whatsoever until the final day of the window. Hugo Mallo decides to try and add to his trophy cabinet and heads to Man United. Not the worst career move to throw away eternal life for considering their dominance right now. And with his departure, the total number of players that we've lost hits a nice round 20.
In the Premier League, Man United claim their 4th title in a row, exerting total dominance over everyone. But where one dominance rises, another falls, with Dortmund claiming the Bundesliga to knock Bayern off their perch. The shock of the season comes in the Coupe de France, where 3rd tier LB Châteauroux knock out Lyon, Auxerre and PSG before falling to Caen in the semi-finals. With Monaco having fallen to 4th tier SA Spinalien, Caen beat an easier opposition of RC Lens in the final, leading to Seube lifting the teams first-ever Coupe de France. Not bad for a player I expected to never lift a trophy. On a less joyous note, Höfler having left relegated Freiburg, sees his new team Hertha relegated immediately too. It seems there is no escaping the 2. Bundesliga!
On the record front, Gianluigi Buffon sets a huge benchmark, breaking the 200 cap mark for Italy. With no-one else close to him, he’ll stay the leader for a long time. Messi also breaks a boundary, climbing through 400 league goals during his career at Barcelona. Like Buffon, he’s way clear of any competitor, and unless a miracle happens that sees him abandon Barcelona, I can’t see anyone catching him soon.
Loyal Players Remaining: 30
Abreu Club Count: 24 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Caen (Coupe de France)

2020/21

2020 arrives, and with it, two important points arrive too. Firstly, everyone gets de-aged for the first time in this experiment. The 20 that have left get to watch from a distance thinking about what could have been. Second, the initial contracts are set to expire, so anyone that hasn’t re-signed will out the door. Which is exactly what happens to Víctor Valdés. Having barely appeared for Barcelona since his return, he leaves the club on a free and heads to the southern French coast to join Marseille. A day later and someone else leaves France, as Romain Danzé who decides one de-ageing is enough and moves to Schalke. Tony Hibbert also struggled for games at Everton despite his new youthful look, and so he walks out the door. He opts for Aston Villa, who to my great surprise have sunk to a mid-table League 1 team. Feeling left out, Spain joins in, with Oier Sanjurjo departing Osasuna and moving to Villarreal. The window is then capped by a bizarre final free transfer. Despite appearing regularly, Xavi isn’t offered a new contract by Barcelona. Man City can’t quite believe their luck and snap up the Spanish wizard a few days before the window shuts.
Winter brings with it just one transfer in its usual action-heavy way. Roberto Torres leaves Osasuna, making a £35.5M switch to Atletico. I’m not sure whether Atletico thought they were getting a different de-aged Torres because that can only be described as an overpayment. Either way, that means we've now lost over half the competitors.
Euro 2020 passes, and Croatia prove their World Cup victory was no fluke, becoming both champions of the World, and champions of Europe. On the Continental front, things have been fairly predictable so far, at least until this years Europa League. Hoffenheim escape a tough group and go all the way to win the entire thing. Not bad for a team that barely qualified in the first place. Oh, and Messi wins a little thing called the Ballon d’Or for the 10th time. I think he’s only just getting started.
Loyal Players Remaining: 24
Abreu Club Count: 24 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Hoffenheim (Europa League)

2021/22

The 21/22 season begins with two transfers on the first day. Loïc Perrin makes his way to the Premier League to join Leicester. But that's a minor splash compared to the other move, as after 768 appearances and 302 goals, Francesco Totti leaves Roma. It seems wrong to see it, but he’ll now be wearing a Man United kit. Dortmund continue their run of stealing loyalty, this time bringing Tony Jantschke into the fold. Another contract is run to the end, forcing Álex Bergantiños out of Deportivo without much choice, before being picked up by Cagliari. Mikel González opts to end his time at Real Sociedad, joining Pellissier over at Fiorentina. And as August comes to a close, it looks like Totti may be the only big departure. That is until Gianluigi Buffon decides to call time on his Juventus career. It’s an odd move, with the legend going sorta sideways from a regular starting Juventus spot to Bayern Munich. But there’s no going back now, as his 636 league appearance career with the Italians comes to a close. Two legends down in one window.
No season is complete without a single winter signing to warrant an entire separate paragraph, and this season is no different. Sergi Roberto moves away from Barcelona, in a £24M move to French giants PSG. A good way to guarantee yourself plenty of titles I guess. Abreu also makes a winter move, adding Guarani in the Brasilian second tier to his collection.
Roberto’s decision proves to be a good one, as PSG go on to claim their 10th one in a row. Not many surprises elsewhere, although Real Oviedo get close to pulling off a shock in the Copa del Rey. The second tier team beat Osasuna, Barcelona and Sevilla on the way to the final, but ultimately Real Madrid prove a step too far. Elsewhere everything is won by a team you’d probably expect. Exciting stuff.
Loyal Players Remaining: 17
Abreu Club Count: 25 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: None

2022/23

With the pool of players rapidly decreasing, very few of the crew are even wanted by other clubs anymore. Perhaps deterred by their steadfast loyalty? A few moves do still happen though, so we’re not dead yet. Firstly Anthony Lopes gets fed up of PSG dominating his league and moves to AC Milan for a better shot at a trophy. It’s not long before that story is forgotten, as the biggest transfer fee in the competition so far is dropped. Andrés Iniesta is stolen away from Barcelona, in a huge £86M move to Man United. The midfield maestro fell 2 appearances short of 600 league games for Barcelona, but with his new £300K per-week contract it’s not hard to guess why. That proves to be all the action for the summer window, with no-one willing to top that huge move.
After half a season of hearing their noisy neighbours gloating about their star signing, Man City snap. And if there’s one thing City are good at, it’s splashing the cash. In probably the easiest negotiation over fee Barcelona has ever had, Sergio Busquets makes a £95M move to the sky blues. Yeh, that’ll show United. Once again no-one wants to get in the middle of the awkward Manchester squabble, and the winter transfer closes with a whimper.
The second World Cup of this experiment comes and goes. This time all the giants make it safely through the Group Stages, but it’s Africa that really excels. Morocco make the knockouts, Egypt battle through to the Quarter Finals, but Nigeria come out best. They beat South Korea and Argentina before falling valiantly to France in the Semi-Finals. A 1-0 victory of Italy does see them finish in an impressive 3rd place, becoming the first African team to finish in the top 3 of the World Cup. France win the title on penalties after a deceivingly action-filled 0-0 draw with Spain. The domestic scene follows that with a similar lack of real shocks. In the Carabao Cup, Bournemouth beat Arsenal, Chelsea and Man United on the way to lifting the trophy. But it’s the lesser Cup, so outside of Bournemouth no-one really cares. PSG finally have their grip on the Ligue 1 broken, as Casillas leads Monaco to a fantastic title. Otherwise, all the league titles and cups fall to teams you’d expect them too. Another thrilling year.
Loyal Players Remaining: 14
Abreu Club Count: 25 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Bournemouth (Carabao Cup)

2023/24

Literally nothing happens. Thomas Kessler decides that no team can ignore his existence for 20 seasons in a row and get away with it, leaving Köln to join Trabzonspor. So as I said, literally nothing happens. Even Javi López moving to yet another club would be more interesting than that.
The same applies to the footballing season. Asides from Casillas captaining Monaco to a Champions League title, or Atletico winning the title again, exactly 10 years after their last win, everything is frustratingly normal. And even those two events are hardly shocks.
Before I start to lose hope, there are a few interesting moves over the last few years from the losing group that are worth highlighting. First season mover Bruno didn’t make the impact he hoped and found himself moving to the lovely Stoke. Robin Knoche barely received any playtime at Dortmund and found himself cast out to Dinamo Zagreb. Even in League 1, Tony Hibbert could barely get any game time at Villa and so moved on the Scunthorpe in League 2. But the winner of the oddest move has to be Zurutuza, who somehow manage to pull off a move to Liverpool after West Ham found themselves relegated, only make a few disappointing performances, before being released on a free to join Al-Arabi in Qatar. Not quite the career he was anticipating when joining the Premier League I bet.
Loyal Players Remaining: 13
Abreu Club Count: 25 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: None

2024/25

The summer transfer window arrives for another season, and with it finally comes a huge deal! Javi López has found yet another club! Hooray! As for actual competitors, absolutely no movement whatsoever. Even from Abreu, who’s been at Guarani for 2.5 years now. Manceau, Lewington and Seube complain to their managers about playing time or relegation, but none of them actually make a move anywhere. So our final 13 will add another 5 years onto their career length.
There are some fun statistics from our 51 worth mentioning at this point. Buffon leads the way with both total league appearances (935) and international caps (259). His caps are at a point where they’re too high for the game to display, as the value is stored as an unsigned 8-bit integer, and so has rolled over to just show 3. Most appearances for a single club goes to Dean Lewington however, who thanks to being a regular sits at 857 league appearances for the MK Dons (or 889 if you include Wimbledon). In the goals department, the winner is obvious. With almost 500 league goals, 100 international goals and 14 Ballon d’Or awards, Messi sits on top of everyone. On the international scene, he’s run close by Müller and the fast-approaching Kane, but for league goals, it’s not even close.
2024 brings with it a Euro tournament, which doesn’t provide much in the way of surprises, but brings with it some exciting high scoring matches. All ending in a 4-3 victory for a Thomas Müller led Germany over neighbours Netherlands. Which I’m sure went down very well. The domestic scene decides to spring a few shocks though. In Serie A, Roma claim an impressive title thanks to main striker Iheanacho, their first since 2001. The German and French cups provide surprise winners, in the form of Hertha Berlin and Dijon. Both cap an impressive run by beating their respective league winners, Bayern and Monaco. Even the continental tournaments turn up too. First Monaco cement their place as a top power in football by winning their second Champions League in a row. That coming a week after the best win there could possibly be. Tottenham win the Europa League! Screw the other stuff, that last part is all I need!
Loyal Players Remaining: 13
Abreu Club Count: 25 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Dijon (Coupe de France), Hertha Berlin (DFB Pokal)

At this point though it’s fair to say that the competition results are more interesting than the movements of the players. Which is the perfect signal that things need to speed up a little bit. So from now on, updates will be every 5 years, which lines up perfectly with player age resets, letting us see who has made it to the next checkpoint.

2025-2030

Another round of de-ageing hits, and you’d think that would incite some interest in our final 13. Instead, it’s a ghost town. We do have an immediate dropout though, as Nicolas Seube finally gets fed up with his lack of playtime at Caen and heads for Panionios in Greece. A year later the situation is repeated. I’m not entirely sure what his unhappiness was about, but Iker Muniain decides he’s had enough of Athletic Club and moves to Hamburger SV. At least he left on exactly 100 goals for Athletic though, a nice round number. With 11 left, a standoff to reach the top 10 ensues. For 3 years no-one budges in their show of loyalty, until in 2029… Dean Lewington leaves for Derby County on a free. It’s a huge move, with Lewington becoming the first man to break through 1000 league appearances for a single club before leaving. But he’s moved on now, and it won’t be long before that record is broken. That move means we’re left with our final 10 contestants. Terry, Iraola, Messi, Susaeta, Noble, Jourdren, Müller, Kane, Manceau and Bargfrede have secured a top 10 spot, and now all that’s left to do is fight it out for number 1.
Over in Brazil, our anti-one-club man continues his journey, although it remains in Brazil for the moment. Only 2 clubs are added to his count, with a long stay at Atletico Goianiense followed by a £2M move to top tier Coritiba. I’m kind of hoping he starts to make enough waves in the Brazilian league to move to Europe and add some new countries to his history.
Those that fell before the first de-ageing are retiring, finishing off their magnificent, or in some cases very un-magnificent, careers (as losers). Javi López finishes his fine anti-loyalty tour around Spain with 7 transfers to his name. Schmelzer, Nacho, Solly, Álvarez, Koke, Mario, Prieto, Marchisio, De Rossi, David García, Zurutuza, Knoche, Höfler, Pellissier, Mallo, Horn and Hibbert end their careers. Many, such as Nacho, Horn and De Rossi stay just as committed to their new clubs as they did their old, finishing out their careers after just a single transfer. Of the pensioners, Sergio Pellissier manages to rack up the most career league appearances and goals, at 894 and 246, although that’s largely thanks to a huge head start. De Rossi dominates on the international scene, earning a whopping 197 caps over his 30-year career. Naturally, all those records will be blown out the water once the next group start retiring, but it’s nice to have some benchmarks.
Around the world, plenty has gone on worth hearing about. The Netherlands claim their first-ever World Cup win, beating Brazil in the final, whilst in the Euro’s Germany win their second tournament in a row. The Gold Cup throws up a few interesting results too, as first, the Mexico B team win it, with their A team tied up in the Confederations Cup. Then 4 years later Canada take the title, only the second time in their history. Over in Italy, Lazio find themselves relegated as the league starts to shake itself up a bit. But other than that, domestic football remains relatively unspectacular. Oh except… TOTTENHAM WINNING THE LEAGUE. Didn’t even have to reset it and we won it before Arsenal did. North London is very much Lilywhite now, suck it Gooners!
Loyal Players Remaining: 10
Abreu Club Count: 27 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Tottenham (Premier League)

2030-2035

Another 5 years pass and to start with it looks like the top 10 are going to hold firm. Eventually though, the temptation of money proves too much for one man. That man is Geoffrey Jourdren who trades in his starting slot at Montpellier for a cosy backup contract at PSG. Then comes… dead silence. Not even a rumour, or an unhappy player. No-one even hints at leaving for the next 4 years, which means we end the period with nine players on the books. The real waiting game has begun. Even our journeyman Abreu is moving in a very slow way, as a five year Coritiba stint finishes with a free transfer to Red Bull Brasil. I think my hopes for a European move have died.
At least there are a lot of retirements to run through. Bruno, Lahm, Casillas, Valdés, Danzé, Oier, Xavi, Torres, Perrin, Jantschke, Bergantiños, González, Roberto, Iniesta and Busquets hang up their playing boots. That does leave us without some noted legends, with Lahm, Casillas, Iniesta and Busquets reaching 200 caps for their country. You’d think Spain would have won more with that golden generation. Casillas and Xavi also both hit 1000 league appearances thanks to a strong head start before the experiment. But it’s Andrés Iniesta who is the most loyal of the bunch, racking up nearly 600 appearances for his original club before departing.
Five years leaves plenty of time for interesting results once again. England take a World Cup win, which is always a sign of the apocalypse, only made more bizarre by Scotland making the semi-finals in the same competition. Portugal take the other title in that period, whilst the Euros also see a surprise winner in Switzerland. France provides the biggest shock at club level, as Lille come from nowhere to win Ligue 1, and then immediately revert back to mid-table once again. Otherwise, the time belongs to Manchester City. The oil bar… sky blues take 4 out of 5 titles in both the Premier League and Champions League, with all that cash flinging finally paying off.
Loyal Players Remaining: 9
Abreu Club Count: 28 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: England (World Cup), Lille (Ligue 1)

2035-40

With just nine players left, once again we get a transfer fairly early on in the period. Early as in the first transfer window, which makes me wonder why they waited so long. Anyway, Mark Noble has had his patience tested by West Ham’s yoyoing between the Premier League and Championship a bit too much and finally caves. He makes a £20M move to Burnley, who… are doing the exact same thing. Not sure that was the brightest idea. Like the previous 5 years though, one transfer is all we get. None of the others move, despite some pretty heavy unhappiness from Bargfrede and Manceau. Abreu keeps up his trail, running out his contract with Red Bull Brasil and opting for Chapecoense to reach 29 clubs in his career.
With very few moving recently, that also means less and less are retiring, as just 7 ex-competitors leave the game. Totti, Buffon, Lopes, Kessler, Seube, Muniain and Lewington call time on their football life. The fact they all stuck with it for so long means there’s so impressive stats between them. Totti racked up 1154 league appearances, with 768 at Roma. Dean Lewington, after leaving MK Dons with 1003 appearances finished with a total of 1287. Italian legend Gianluigi Buffon finished with a whopping 1307 league appearances, but perhaps more impressively, 334 international caps. But the single most surprising statistic goes to Thomas Kessler. Despite barely playing in Germany he manages to notch a grand total of 7 goals after his move to Turkey. Maybe if he’d been a striker he’d have actually played at Koln. Oh and Seube ends his career Greek. Because why not.
As per every time, a quick look around the world’s results is needed. Spain win back the World Cup titles, whilst Italy take a Euro win. Argentina, Mexico and Australia claim all their continents international trophies in the window, so no massive surprises there. The domestic world isn’t exactly littered with shocks either. Brescia win a Coppa Italia, and Nîmes Olympique grab 4 top 5 finishes in a row in France, but there’s not really much to shout about. I think it’s best to just get on with the next de-ageing.
Loyal Players Remaining: 8
Abreu Club Count: 29 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Brescia (Coppa Italia)

2040-45

Down to 8 now, so it’s getting tougher. And a lot slower, so slow in fact that not a single transfer in our group happens in five years. For a moment I was excited to see Manceau at Recreativo de Huelva, but that was just a loan. So I was back to being crushed. On the plus side, Abreu makes some huge steps. He adds not just 1, but 2 new countries to his history! The first is Portugal, in a huge step up to join Braga. As usual, it’s just until his contract ends, before he moves on to Frankfurt in the Bundesliga. He’s hardly setting Europe alight but I don’t care, he’s actually moving!
There’s only one retiree to talk about too, as pretty much everyone has already gone. Geoffrey Jourdren finishes up with 925 total league appearances. It probably could have been a bit more, if he’d not spent 10 years of his career being a backup at PSG and Bayern. On a far more interesting note, Terry breaks through 1500 career league appearances. Kane also hits 256 international goals, which results in the number resetting to 0 just like caps. So the game has him on 96 caps with 11 goals, when the actual numbers are a stunning 352 caps with 267 goals.
Having seen my disappointment last time around, the world decides to liven things up. Denmark become both Champions of the World and Champions of Europe in 2042 and 2040, although they lose the European title to Germany 4 years later. At the continental level, the Champions League stays on track, but the Europa League brings some bizarre winners into the mix. Nîmes Olympique, Real Sociedad, Leicester and Bristol City all win a trophy. It seems Mark Noble finally made a right move transferring to Bristol City, as the club is now a strong top 6 Premier League side. Manceau wins a Coupe de France at Angers, but it’s still Nîmes making waves, forming a big three with PSG and Monaco. It may not be long before either Nîmes or Bristol City win their league, which is not something I expected to be saying.
Loyal Players Remaining: 8
Abreu Club Count: 31 clubs in 12 countries
Odd Winners: Nîmes Olympique/Bristol City (Europa League), Angers (Coupe de France)

2045-50

2045 kicks off and once again Manceau deceives me. This time it’s a loan spell in Denmark with Brøndby that had me thinking he was gone. Well you know what they say, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice… I’m probably gonna fall for it. It looks like there’s going to be no moves whatsoever once again, until June 2047 arrives and I notice a contract is set to expire. Imagine my shock when Lionel Messi is not offered a contract by Barcelona and is let go. It’s made doubly worse by the fact that of all teams to pick him up, it's Atletico Madrid. Apparently, 37 Ballon d’Or awards aren’t good enough for Barcelona anymore. I don’t even care that nothing else happens. That’s enough to stun me.
Over in the retirement home, Mark Noble moves into a room. After an up and down career, the Englishman did manage some silverware with Bristol City and ended his career with 1317 league appearances. He even earned not just 1, but 90 England caps across his 44-year career.
Around the world, interesting results are still cropping up. England grab their third World Cup win beating Colombia, whilst Honduras win their first-ever Gold Cup. Much to my bitter disappointment, Arsenal win 4 of the 5 Champions Leagues on offer, as well as 3 Premier League titles. Chelsea have a period of bottom 10 finishes which deeply upsets Terry, whilst over in France, Chamois Niortais begin to try and join the top 3. Don’t worry I’ve never heard of them either.
Loyal Players Remaining: 7
Abreu Club Count: 32 clubs in 12 countries
Odd Winners: Honduras (Gold Cup)

2050-55

With the world still reeling at the fact the Messi has moved from Barcelona, everyone kinda forgets to make any moves. In fact, Messi is the first person to move yet again, leaving Atletico in a very cheap 34.5M move to Man City. Which is more in line with where I originally expected him to go. Abreu finishes one contract, at Hapoel Be’er Sheva, and moves onto the next, but it’s with Monterrey so doesn’t count. Sebastian, it has to be new clubs. John Terry is starting to get frustrated with a Chelsea team that has really fallen from grace. The Londoners barely survive relegation in 2052/53, so Terry may be the next to go. Or maybe I know nothing and it’s completely random.
No-one retires this year, so let’s take a brief look at some statistics of our remaining 7 + Messi. All our players have now reached 1000 appearances, with Bargfrede in last at 1173. Messi has crossed 1000 league goals, now a full 300 clear of the chasing pack of Abreu and Kane. On the international level, Thomas Müller becomes the first player to need a rollover of caps twice, moving on to a massive 524 international caps. But it’s Kane who still leads the international goal stat, nearly breaking 350, a full 50 ahead of the German.
Müller does, however, grab a World Cup win for Germany so I’m sure he won’t be too upset. At least until they’re deposed by Holland 4 years later. On the continental level, Bristol City win another Europa League title beating previous champions Espanyol. Middlesbrough also nearly earn a trophy, having joined Bristol as a top 6 team. But the winner of the biggest shock, although I did say this might happen, goes to Chamois Niortais, who topple the dominance of PSG and Monaco to capture a miraculous Ligue 1 title in the last season of the period.
Loyal Players Remaining: 7
Abreu Club Count: 32 clubs in 12 countries
Odd Winners: Chamois Niortais (Ligue 1), Bristol City/Espanyol (Europa League)

2055-60

The summer window of 2055 opens and as I warned may happen, there’s an almost immediate transfer. Fed up with Chelsea’s mediocre finishes, John Terry decides to move on. Unfortunately for Chelsea fans, Arsenal is his next club, which I’m sure will cause a few shudders. A year later and another move comes around, once again due to unhappiness over the club’s performance. Surprisingly it's Thomas Müller,who's annoyed by the fact that Bayern haven’t won a Bundesliga title since 2048, and so runs down his contract. Leverkusen almost earn his signature, but eventually its the glory of PSG that proves too much to resist. But we’re not done there! Another player runs down their contract, opting to move to Vitoria de Setubal in Portugal. Vincent Manceau finally makes a real move rather than constantly faking me out. So with another 3 players down, we’re left with our final 4. The race for the top 3 is hotting up now!
We do have a retirement this time thanks to the transfer window livening up. The world's best-ever player, Lionel Messi, retires from football. He ends up on a total of 1858 league appearances, scoring a massive 1068 goals in this time. 1430 appearances and 895 goals of those belonging to his 45-year career at Barcelona. On the international scene, he earned an impressive 505 caps and 276 goals. But it’s the awards where he shines. 279 individual awards, 82 team titles, 22 league titles, 6 Champions League titles, 45 Ballon d’Or awards. What makes it even crazier is 41 of those Ballon d’Or awards were in a row, as he earned every single one from 2015 to 2056. I don’t think I’ll see another player like that crop up in any save, truly the world’s best player.
Looking out on the world, I can say that it’s a Chamois Niortais player that breaks Messi’s streak, as the French team claim another two Ligue 1 titles. It’s hard to say they’re a “surprise winner” at this point. Bristol City finally make the full step up to join the big guns, winning 3 Carabao Cups, 1 FA Cup, 2 Premier League titles and even a Champions League trophy. If any Bristol City fans want this save to give themselves hope over the future, I can send it over. Internationally it's the era of Portugal, as they claim both the Euro and World Cup trophies.
Loyal Players Remaining: 4
Abreu Club Count: 32 clubs in 12 countries
Odd Winners: Bristol City (Premier League/Champions League), Lyon (Relegation)

With so few players left, now is probably a good time to speed it up once again. The final four will be tough to budge, so how about we move to 10-year intervals to try and cut down on dead years. And I'll be moving to the comments, because I've hit reddits character limit.

Hey Everyone! This is the Matchups and Arguments for all of the AAFL Matchups. This is where the teams will argue to you why they should win against their opponent. Voting will open at 9pm Tonight!
Here is the hub post to the Florida Gators Tournament.

AAFL Matchups

DOS VS Allie Laforced Herself On Me

1. Team - DOS

Offense Depth Chart
Defense Depth Chart

2. Why We Will Win

Hall of game defensive end and two other first round picks on the defensive line and our defensive backs core is composed of all sec players at every position. Meanwhile our linebackers all went in the first or second round except for James Bates, who is still one of our best linebackers ever, and David Reese, who hasn’t declared for the draft. Hard hitting group that’ll complement the Defensive backs and Defensive ends nicely. This defense just gets even nastier when you add Dan Quinn to the fold, who coordinated our vicious 2012 defense and later coached the Atlanta Falcons to the super bowl. I’ve looked through the other teams’ roster and I don’t think anybody has a better defense than us.
On Offense we start off with our first ever Heisman in Steve Spurrier and one of the most important gators in history. At wide receiver, we have probably our best WR ever (and one of our fastest) in Carlos Alvarez, in addition to another All-Pro Wide Receiver in Collinsworth and an up and coming WR is Van Jefferson, who is an elite route runner and will probably be the best wide receiver on the team next year, which is saying something since we are going to be great there.
It’s not just the passing game where we’ll dominate though. If we ever wanted to switch it up not only do we have multi time pro bowler and a National Champion in Fred Taylor but we also have Olympic Silver medalist* Jeff Demps (one of, if not the fastest gator in history) at FLEX ready to provide game breaking speed.
Blocking for all these guys is our Oline, filled with consistent NFL starters, high draft picks, and national champions.

Team - Allie Laforced Herself On Me

Offense Depth Chart
Defense Depth Chart

2. Why We Will Win

1- Allie Offense vs Dos Defense
Rick Casares is arguably one of the toughest backs to ever play at UF. The 2x1st team All-Pro, 2x 2nd Team All-Pro, 5x Pro Bowl, is an ABSOLUTE UNIT at 6’2” and ~230lbs. He lead the NFL in rushing yards and touchdowns in ’56 and likely would’ve done it again if it weren’t for a man named Jim Brown. If he’s not running up the gut against the three man front behind Lomas Brown, he’s a stalwart in pass protection, giving us 6 men behind the line to block, only outmatched if you’re willing to blitz that many… Which brings me to my next point; Percy Harvin, first of his name, Super Bowl Champion, Pro Bowler, 2009 NFL Rookie of the Year, 2x National Champion, 2x SEC Champion, First-team All-American, the breaker of ankles.
Percy was an absolute freak athlete with elite playmaking ability. I would argue that nobody on Dos’ secondary can matchup 1 on 1, but would need to in order cover the flood concept on the other side of the field attacking David Reese,CGJ, and Quincy Wilson vs Trey Burton, Willie Jackson, and Riley Cooper. Trey takes the flats and will outrun Reese. If Wilson bites down, Jackson is Wide Open on an Out Route. IF CGJ somehow rotates over to cover Jackson’s out route, Cooper beats the secondary for a TD. If they put Lito on an island with Percy, I’ll take that matchup all day on slants, working Percy in motion and on jet sweeps again attacking David Reese’s side of the field with Dos’ linebacker core simply not able to match the speed of Percy running behind a pulling Lomas Brown.
2- Allie Defense vs Dos Offense
With two corners who can and like to live on an island and are capable of doing that at the NFL level, and NFL speed at the BUCK and OLB positions, the task of slowing down the high-powered Dos offense begins to simplify a little bit. Up the middle, we can stuff the run with Ralph Ortega (6’2” 220lbs, 1st Team AA), and Jelani Jenkins (6’ 240lb, 2010 Freshman AA). Allie’s Defensive Front is led by Carlos Dunlap at 6’6” 280lb and an absolutely freak athlete, the athleticism of which simply won’t be matched by Dos’ front 5. On the edges, he’s supported by 2 different 1st Team All-American Defensive Ends, Jarvis Moss and Lynn Matthews, who help the BUCK and OLB to maintain the edge against a speedy Jeff Demps. Keanu Neal and Will Hill are both heat(football)-seeking missiles, shared help over the top and middle of the defense.
This defensive powerhouse allows me to always drop at least 1 LB into coverage and still get to the QB unless both the FLEX and RB stay to block, neither of whom would be able to stop the blitzing linebacker core, leaving 3WR vs those 4 DB’s and a LB over the middle.
As much as it pains me to say this, the player Steve Spurrier, while a Heisman winner, was great for his time. The QB Position which he coached is even drastically different in terms of volume and production. In Spurrier’s 3 years at QB, he totaled 4848 YDS, at 56.6 pct, 31 TDs, 31 INTs for an average of 7.0 Y/A. In comparison, Rex Grossman (Allie’s QB) totaled 9164 YDS, at 61.0 pct, 77 TDs, 36 INTs, for an average of 8.3 yards. Rex’s QB Rating was 23 full points higher, 146.7 to 123.7. The numbers are not even close, and shows that while great for his time, he would not be capable of defeating modern NFL corners like Dawson or Tabor especially if under pressure by the likes of Fowler, Siler, or either of those All-American Defensive Ends.
3- Coaching
Dan Quinn uses a 4-3 defense. Dos will suffer in defensive alignment, matchup switching, and halftime adjustments as Quinn cannot spearhead his defense properly with the wrong personnel. We’ve all seen exactly what happens when coaches try to fit players to the system instead of a system to take advantage of your players strengths. Not pretty. Quinn lacks the level of experience of someone like Broyles who’s got the experience running the show, with 20 years as HC and 33 years AD of Arkansas. Quinn on the other hand has been consistently a defensive coach and has been HC < 5 years, with his success built at its core around his base 4-3 under scheme, which is simply not how Dos is lined up. Wrong players for the scheme.
bonus points for easily having the better team name.

Gatorade VS Sisterhood of the Traveling Jorts

1. Team - Gatorade

Offense - Depth Chart
Defense - Depth Chart

2. Why We Will Win

OFFENSE

It is almost impossible to overstate the impact of Cam Newton. In case you forgot how unfair it was to have him on your team, check out these highlights. He can run straight through LBs; juke half of the defense; makes everyone in the open field, including his own blockers, look foolish; or drop a dime down the field with a defender hanging off of him. Opposing defenses need to decide ahead of time that they will stop the run or the pass, but they can’t do both. Of course, the QB can’t be your only weapon though. Allow me to highlight a few key factors.
Does everyone remember the offense we ran in 2008? Remember how important Hernandez was to the offense? He commands space. He catches everything within approximately a 20 yard radius. Remember how it was for the Pats when they had Hernandez and Gronk? I sure as shit do. Now consider how team Gatorade built an offense around this with Hernandez and Reed. Gatorade has two additional phenomenal blockers that can get loose and cause horrible match up problems for the defense. Name a single Dline player that you think can cover either TE. I’ll wait, but we all know that does not exist. Oh and Kearse on the other team. He would destroy a pro style offense every day of the week. But Kearse can’t do much against Cam running the power option, with either TE chipping Kearse and then sneaking out for a short pass. You may be thinking, “But u/blacktiebuttplug, a safety like Matt Elam can help out!” I agree, but then what happens?
Jabar motherfucking Gaffney. Raise your hand if that was a favorite player of yours during the Spurrier days? Listen, we all love CJ Hendo and Marco Wilson. Hendo may be the best CB in the SEC right now. But I want you to consider this, who would you place your hard earned cash on in a bet, Jabar Gaffney or CJ Henderson? This isn’t some rhetorical question. If the Jorts defense expects to stop the Newton/Hernandez/Reed trio in the short and mid game, Henderson and Wilson are sitting on islands. I’m not sure it’s even worth posing the same betting question between Reche Caldwell and Marco “I’m probably great but you’ve only seen me rotate in as a freshman” Wilson.
Listen, I need to save space for the defensive argument. But I leave you with this. Can you imagine the red zone efficiency with the combo of Cam Newton, Aaron Hernandez, Jordan Reed, both WRs, and even Mike “I was the entire offense for Muschamp” Gillelsie.

DEFENSE

Jorts has the best receiving group in the league. It would be absurd of me to discount them. And Danny Wuerffel is arguably the best pocket passer in Gator history. This is Spurriers bread and butter. Too bad their coach is Mullen. Mullen could do so much more with the Gatorade offense, but what’s done is done.
Jorts pulled the worst defense for their offense. Gatorade runs a 3-3-5 with arguably the best DB group in the league. Reggie Nelson, Jarvis Williams and Louis Oliver should strike fear in the WRs, TEs, RBs, QBs, and any unsuspecting Oline player that happens to pick up a fumble. These three hit like fire trucks that have been re-engineered for the world of Mad Max. Steve Tannen, also lesser known, is likely a top 5 CB in Gator history with 11 college interceptions and is chilling in the HoF and All American history books.
Sharrif Floyd, Caleb Brantley, and Ellis Johnson. I’m gonna take a leap of faith and bet that there is no need to explain why Brantley and Floyd are monsters. But I need you all to recognize that Ellis Johnson is arguably better than both Floyd and Brantley, receiving Defensive Player of the Year. Good luck running against them. And if you do, good luck running past the torpedo that is Jarrad Davis or either of the other two All American and Gator HoF LBs that you probably have not heard of, like David Little, who owns the title for the most tackles in Gator history.
Jorts will put up points for sure. It is literally impossible to stop that offense every time. However, team Gatorade is their kryptonite. Not only is the defense set up explicitly to stop the pass and force the run (effectively eliminating the best aspect of Jorts), but the Gatorade offense can control the time of possession. That offense can go slow and low, picking up 4-5 yards at will. What’s better than having a top tier defense? Not letting the opposing offense have the ball at all.

COACH

Gatorade went out and got Mike Shanahan out of retirement. You know, the same Shanahan that won back to back Super Bowls with the Broncos. The only better coach for the Gatorade offense is Mullen, who is on a team built for a completely different style of offense (such a waste).

CLOSE OUT

I wish I could see this game in real life, because it would be amazing. Jorts is an extremely good offensive team. But the Gatorade secondary will turn that explosive passing game into more of a “those little popper things you throw on the ground” passing game. And all the jorts memes in the world won’t change that. Don’t waste your vote. Vote Gatorade. Side with the champions and revel in victory with us.

TL;DR

Cam Newton allows Gatorade to run an unstoppable power option offense where the TEs (Hernandez and Reed) can chip the opposing D rushers (Kearse specifically) and pick up yards at ease. If the Jorts D commits to stopping this, they leave two solid, but ultimately inexperienced, CBs on islands against two of UFs greatest WRs.
The Gatorade defense is the worst matchup for the Jorts offense out of the entire league. The 3-3-5 is designed to force the run, which eliminates the biggest strength of the Jorts offense. The Dline/LBs are disgusting and will stifle most attempts at running.
Mullen is wasted genius on the Jorts team. Just imagine what he would have done with the Gatorade roster.

1. Team - Sisterhood of the Traveling Jorts

Offense - Depth Chart
Defense - Depth Chart

2. Why We Will Win

SotTJ Offense vs. Gatorade Defense

Coached by the premier offensive genius, Dan Mullen. Dan bleeds Orange and Blue. Other than Spurrier, there’s not another coach out there who I’d rather lead the Sisterhood of Traveling Jorts. Dan learned to not let up from Urban Meyer who, as if you need reminding, won us two National Titles. Giving Dan an All-American team like we’ve assembled is dangerous. Not even 1995 Nebraska has a shot.
On offense we have Wuerffel throwing darts to Ike Hilliard – what more do you need? Let’s take a closer look at the QB situation. We all know Tebow. His time at UF was magical, to say the least. We haven’t seen someone like him as a player and as a person since. But you know what? Wuerffel was the original Tebow. That’s right, before kneeling and thanking God for that touchdown was popular, Wueffel was pointing to the sky after every big play. The SotTJ has one of the only three University of Florida Heisman winners leading our team. He has a statue outside, which automatically gives us +3 to start any match.
I’ll admit that the Gatorade team has a solid defensive line. Caleb Brantley, Sharrif Floyd, and Ellis Johnson all getting after Wuerffel could be a nightmare for most offensive lines. Most. Not the Sisterhood of the Traveling Jorts’ offensive line though. Our line is headlined by the Bill Carr: All-American football player and ballin’ Athletics Director at UF. And don’t forget that we’re anchored by two-time Super Bowl champion Max Starks. Not to mention Cooper Carlilse – who blocked for Wuerffel in real life – along with Mike Degory and Dennis Murphy. The Gatorade defensive line may get some pressure here and there, but our OL is All-American status and provides Wuerffel with a clean pocket all day long.
The Gatorade team does have a stacked secondary highlighted by Lito Sheppard and Reggie Nelson. Ahmad Black, Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, and Quincy Wilson were great players at the college level and make passing on the Gatorade team a bit more challenging.
Remember that clean pocket for ole’ Danny boy? What does Wuerffel do with a clean pocket? Whatever he wants. That’s what. Danny has one of the best wide receivers to ever suit up in the orange and blue to catch his passes. Last time they played together, Ike went for over 1,000 yards and won a National Title in 1996. It’s not a stretch to think every pass thrown Ike’s way ends up in the endzone. But we have to give the Gatorade team a fighting chance. So let’s say Lito is on Ike all game long, the odds have evened out.
Remember that Mullen loves to spread the ball around though, and we have a ton of weapons to spread the wealth to. When Ike isn’t walking 50-yard touchdown bombs into the endzone, Andre “Bubba” Caldwell is shaking DBs out of their cleats. At TE, the SotTJ can rely on Cornelius Ingram to keep the Gatorade defense on their toes.
We’ve seen what Mullen can do by spreading the ball to offensive playmakers, but don’t forget that Mullen is a run first offensive coach. Who better to run the ball (other than Emmitt Smith) than Earnest Graham? Graham was a freshman All-SEC back and had a steady solid career at Florida; breaking the 1,000-yard rushing mark his senior season. Graham can catch the ball out of the backfield which provides another threat. The Gatorade LB group is headlined by All-American David Little, with Glenn Cameron and Jarrad Davis shoring up the outside. While this is a good lineup for the Gatorade squad, Earnest Graham’s speed and shiftiness allow give him the upper hand. If Graham can break past the DL (and he will, as we’ve established our OL is superior to the Gatorade DL), he’s poised for a big game. Given Gatorade went with the lighter 3-3-5 defense, it makes running on this team feel like a breeze.

SotTJ Defense vs. Gatorade Offense

On the other side of the ball, the Sisterhood of the Traveling Jorts has some of the best defensive players to wear the Gator Logo.
The Gatorade Team is coached by Mike Shanahan, whose ties to the University of Florida are weak and we suspect his ear is already to the ground for NFL coaching jobs. His botched coaching job of RGIII does not bode well for the QB situation of the Gatorade squad.
Speaking of which, the Gatorade team features a short-lived, laptop stealing (and destroying) Gator player in Cam Newton. The “what could’ve beens” are innumerable, but the reality is that Cam’s UF career was… Nonexistent. Using his Auburn statistics is borderline treason. With that said, our Sisterhood gives credit where credit is due, and Cam could have been That Dude for Florida. Unfortunately for the Gatorade team, Cam was That Dude for Auburn instead. But let’s give the Gatorade team a fighting chance… Just remember what Shanahan did with RGIII and apply that to Cam Newton in this situation.
The Gatorade offensive line is full of a bunch of unfamiliar names, which the exception of Jawaan Taylor. The Great Wall of Wanee isn’t so great when defending against Jevon Kearse and Dominique Easley though. Our DL is able to apply constant pressure on Newton, who has to use his legs more than preferred to avoid sacks. In fact, I’m willing to concede that Cam is only sacked a few times this game, given his mobility.
But throwing on the run, and against our secondary, is a bad idea. The SofTJ’s secondary features the original Elam and Gator walk-on turned 2nd Team All-American Adrian White. The outside is defended by Marco Wilson, who plays better DB ball with a torn ACL than most DBs. Finally, CJ Henderson locks down the other side. I’d go as far as to say that Henderson is the best DB at Florida in the last decade or more. The only way the Gatorade team is catching a pass on that side of the field is if the pocket is perfect (it won’t be) and Cam throws a dime (he won’t).
The Gatorade team’s best shot at moving the ball down the field is TE Aaron Hernandez. The jokes are too easy with this one, so let’s just say the matchup can go either way.
And don’t expect their RB, Mike Gillislee, to do any damage on our defensive front and our LBs. If he breaks past our DL, he still has to contend with the likes of Earl Everett, Scott Brantley, and Antonio Morrison. In the off-chance Mikey boy gets past that, CJ Henderson will chase him down and punch the ball out of his hands.
Perhaps the biggest advantage that the Gatorade team has over The Sisterhood of Traveling Jorts is their mascot – the Scoot Stronghands. This man is so powerful that he singlehandedly kept UGA out of the playoffs. I don’t doubt he’ll pull some strings and try to keep Wuerffel off the field.

X-Factor

The SotTJ X-Factor lies in our mascot: u/Zlatandiego. Zlat always has insider knowledge and gives our team the leg up when preparing for the Gatorade squad. It’s not cheating if we didn’t pay for it right? Speaking of insider knowledge, our team scouts have seen and heard that our opponents in fact DON’T EVEN LIKE JORTS!

What a couple of days. I was planning on compiling a similar post to my piece last year in the belief that it would once again become redundant… Personally I was hoping that Arsene would step down at the end of the year but this hasn’t come to me as anything less than a shock. Although I have never met the man, he seems like a grandfather we all wished we had. A constant in my life, with him being at the helm nearly as long as I have been alive, I cannot thank him enough for the joy and elation right down to the downright lows with tears and smiles all along the journey.
 
The players, the style, the bottle kicks, the goals, the wins, the defeats, the Invincibles, the coat, the FA Cups, the stadiums, the Champions League Final, the Banter Era, the Invincibles, the man, the memories. I wouldn’t change it for the world. Merci Arsene.
 
The real challenge begins now however. As Arseblog has quite rightly pointed out the onus is no longer on the manager and this decision is all on the board to get right. If the manager turns out to be half the manager that Arsene was then it will be a success, if we continue to slide out of where we all want then the pressure should be pushed back to Kroenke, Gazidis and co. There is no longer someone to shield for them and they will for once have the microscope on them.
 
Well then, let’s get down to it. I am splitting this into three categories; the best odds, the curveballs and the ex-players. I will try to use as many facts as possible with as little of my own opinions but I can’t guarantee you’ll all agree…
 
The Main Protagonists (All odds from SkyBet)
Luis Enrique (5/2) - Unemployed
The current favourite for the job is Luis Enrique. The Spaniard’s last job was at Barcelona, where he had varying degrees of success. Following on from the all conquering sides from Pep Guardiola and the late Tito Vilanova, Enrique’s first season in charge ended in the treble with Barcelona defeating Juventus of the 2015 Champions League Final. This was followed by another La Liga in 15-16 and a Copa del Rey in his final season of 16-17. He led with a 4-3-3 formation throughout the majority of his tenure getting the best out of MSN and despite the successes he was often criticised for his setups rotating lineups more often than not to the dismay of both players and fans. Although he has been out of a job for over a year he is a man in demand, with Chelsea also in the running following on from the expected departure of Conte at the end of the season. He likes to play a fast flowing passing game which would be a natural continuation from Wengerball. New boy Sanlehi also worked with him at Barcelona and rates him highly.
 
Carlo Ancelotti (5/1) - Unemployed
What hasn’t Carlo Ancelotti won? Wherever he has been he’s had a huge amount of success; a world class manager with a wriley smile and a great admiration from a wide range of ex-players for his use of man-management techniques. A father like figure in the dressing room, he would be similar to Wenger in that respect. Following on from success at Real Madrid, PSG and AC Milan (when they were good), Ancelotti’s last role was at Bayern Munich where he was dismissed earlier in the season for an unusual falling out with some strong figures for his laissez faire style. However, he has shown that he can come into the Premier League and win it. He did it with Chelsea in 09-10 following a turbulent period for the Blues. The main style of play has been built on strong defenses (haha good luck with that…) and a real freedom in the final third with the main formations based around 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1 and 4-4-2. This shows his versatility where it can help to get the best out of the players at his disposal. He could be the perfect man to be a stop gap and get Arsenal back to where we want it to be but is unlikely to be a long term appointment.
 
Joachim Loew (7/1) - German National Team Manager
I almost put this in my curveball section but the odds are very good on this from a range of sources. I really don’t believe that Joachim is the right man for the job. Despite success with the German national team, where they won the World Cup in 2014, he hasn’t managed a club team since 2004. His style of play would be suitable to Arsenal and would be similar to the current team, with a deployment of a 4-2-3-1 formation allowing for possession based football. He has always been able to get the best out of Mesut Ozil often deploying him on the right. Having said this, I think this is not the right choice following on from Wenger’s departure. A man with more club experience would be better in my opinion.
 
Massimiliano Allegri (10/1) - Juventus Manager
Seemingly the front runner this time last year, Allegri has fallen down the pecking order somewhat. An indifferent year for the side has seen the closest title race in years in Italy, especially following on from Napoli’s late winner last night against The Old Lady. Two victories this season against Tottenham and Real Madrid would make Allegri a popular choice amongst Arsenal fans. His huge amount of success has been built around the defensive stability and tactical versatility, which was shown against Sp*rs where he was more than willing to change from the favoured 3-5-2 to a 4-4-1-1 resulting in a snatch and grab at Wembley, haha! This versatility would be welcome in my opinion where it would be good to see Auba and Laca play up top together and if he could bring Pjanic with him from Turin then would it be all aboard the Allegri train?
 
Thomas Tuchel (12/1) - Unemployed
Seemingly linked daily with the PSG job, this is another manager that I do not believe would be arriving at the Emirates. Despite being able to get the best out of Aubameyang, it has been well documented of his falling out with Sven Mislintat and it doesn’t seem like those bridges have been repaired. I just can’t see this one happening because of this. I also don’t believe he has done enough to justify the job considering the players at his disposal whilst in Dortmund.
 
Julian Nagelsmann (16/1) - Hoffenheim Manager
The rising star out of Germany is the youngest on this list; at 30 years Nagelsmann has already led Hoffenheim to their first Champions League season last year and could be set to do so once again this year. Another disciple from the Klopp and Tuchel school of management, Mislintat is said to be a strong admirer. Although he is young in his managerial career he has shown that he can galvanize a team, is tactically versatile and uses the high press of the squad to good effect. He could be seen as a Klopp 2.0 and with the way that Liverpool have played this year it wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. It would obviously be a long term replacement for Arsenal but it may be a step too far at this stage. However, he was touted for the Bayern Munich job before they hired Niko Kovac from Frankfurt. If Bayern were in for him then he should be near the top of our list.
 
The Outsiders
Brendan Rodgers (8/1) - Celtic Manager
I have put Brendan in this section despite the media talk and good odds, because this would be laughable. Surely… His huge amount of success in Celtic has to be taken into account but you must also take into account that this is the SPL and the Hoops have not a had a challenge since Rangers went bankrupt a number of seasons ago. An invincible season and 69 game unbeaten domestic run led by double invincible Kolo Toure was ended this season but we must also remember his time on Merseyside. The David Brent imitator, showed that he could potentially lead a team to the title but in all honesty this was down to the brilliance of Luis Suarez and not the tactical work of big Brendan. This would be a divisive decision and not one that is needed at this point in time.
 
Leonardo Jardim (14/1) - Monaco Manager
A personal favourite for myself, Jardim showed that he could compete with the best with the young Monaco team of 16-17 where they won Ligue 1 and reached the Champions League Semi Finals. A team torn apart last summer, Jardim has done well to keep Monaco in the top 4 and if they win their remaining games they will finish in second, 20 odd points off of oligarchs PSG… Able to get the best out of young starlets, Jardim deploys a traditional 4-4-2 which can often change into an odd 2-4-4 where the wing backs push forward when in possession. This could be interesting with Kolasinac and Bellerin moving forward and if he could bring Fabinho or the highly rated Thomas Lemar (or both? Please) then we would be very happy indeed. This would be an appointment with the long term in mind and I hope that this is the direction Arsenal go in.
 
Rafa Benitez (14/1) - Newcastle Manager
A successful first season back in the Premier League for Newcastle is likely to see them finish back in the top 10. This would be a great achievement for a very good manager. He knows the league very well through his time with Liverpool also. More of a defensive minded manager, Benitez has had varying degrees of success at rivals Liverpool, Chelsea and a stint at Real Madrid to forget. This would be a stable choice for Arsenal even if uninspiring…
 
Diego Simeone (16/1) - Atletico Madrid
This is the dream! Who I believe is the best manager in European football at the moment, we face Atletico Madrid in two upcoming matches in the Europa League semis over the next fortnight. A defensively organised team that has overachieved in the last decade when compared with Real and Barca, this has mainly been down to Diego. He plays a 4-4-2 and is able to get the best out of his players in terms of commitment and quality. Despite this, Simeone seemingly looks like he will remain in Madrid committing to the club for the foreseeable future. As much as I would like this, I cannot see it happening.
 
Antonio Conte (22/1) - Chelsea Manager
A very good first season with Chelsea last year has been followed by a disappointing second. Conte has fallen out with the board and is likely to be replaced at the end of the season. I personally feel he will be offered the Real Madrid job if they do not win the Champions League and it would be a longshot to see a manager go from two of the biggest clubs in England one after another. Most of us know how Chelsea play and his lack of rotation would worry me considering our injury records.
 
Ex-players
Patrick Vieira (9/1) - NYCFC Manager
The Frenchman was the catalyst for much of Arsene’s early success at the club. A gangly midfield maestro, Vieira is a legend and is one of the best players we have seen in red and white. Having said this, his only managerial job has been with New York City FC in the MLS. Despite the leagues growth in popularity and quality, this would be a large leap and with the club ties to Manchester City it would be odd to see them let him go to a rival. I think that this is a gap too far at the moment and the City hierarchy will want him to have some further experience before I see him following on from Guardiola.
 
Mikel Arteta (14/1) - Manchester City Assistant Coach
Personally, this would be the favourite for me out of all the ex players. Reportedly, he has admirers in the club in Sanlehi and Gazidis and he would have the chance to lead following on from the success with Manchester City as Guardiola’s assistant for the past 2 seasons. I am sure that he has learnt a lot and would likely deploy a similar brand to the one from the champions. It could be exciting from a fan favourite but with the complete lack of experience (no managerial job at all) it would be a huge leap and a great amount of expectation to follow on from Wenger. For that reason I hope for Mikel’s and Arsenal’s sake this one doesn’t go through.
 
Thierry Henry (18/1) - Belgian National Team Assistant Coach
Arsenal’s greatest ever player? Maybe. Wenger’s greatest ever signing? Surely. Should he be considered? No.
 
Conclusions
I hope I have summarised a wide range of options and have given some insight into tactics and quality of some of the managers that could be available to us this summer. Personally, I think the safest option would be Carlo Ancelotti. A natural succession to Wenger in terms of style I think he would do best to get us through what is expected to be a period of transition. There is nothing that he hasn’t seen and he has already proved himself in the Premier League. He has announced his interest and I think it would be silly to miss the opportunity.
 
Alternatively, if Allegri is relieved of his duties in Turin then he could be a very good replacement. A versatile manager with a huge amount of success, he knows how to get the best out of big egos and win trophies. I could see him going to Chelsea however, which should be seen as a compliment and the kind of guy that we should aim for.
 
For the long term I would love to see Leonardo Jardim and it would be fitting if a Monaco manager followed on from a former Monaco coach. It would almost be poetic… He has proven himself in the Principality and has shown that he can lead a team to compete with the best.
 
All in all, I hope we get this right. I’m sure much of it will depend on how we finish the season in the Europa League. Success means Champions League and will likely lead to a larger transfer budget and make the club more attractive for a replacement and new additions. Most importantly though, let’s learn from the mistakes with Manchester United and move forward in a dignified way giving Arsene the send off he deserves and supporting the new man, whoever he may be, to success and future glories. Come On You Gunners!
 
Edit: Formatting