10 Teams to Manage after the Football Manager 2024 Main Data Update

The Football Manager 2024 Main Data Update is out now. Whether you’ve been managing since launch or you’re now picking up FM24 for the first time, this is the perfect opportunity to start a new career with updated squads and player attributes at your disposal.

There’s an endless realm of stories ready for you to write but with more than 2,500 clubs to choose from, it can be tricky to decide where your managerial journey begins.

To assist you, we’ve used our expertise to pick out 10 of the most interesting teams for you to stamp your style on.

FC Seoul

In a largely quiet transfer window, FC Seoul made the biggest, and most surprising, splash of all when they signed former England international Jesse Lingard on a free transfer.

The capital club are six-time K League 1 winners but have struggled for consistency in recent years, finishing in the bottom half of the table on five occasions since their last title win in 2016.

The addition of Lingard shows the club’s intention to get back to winning ways, and it’s certainly attracted a lot of attention from fans and the media. Can you get the best out of their new superstar signing, building a tactic that can drive FC Seoul back to the top of Korean football?

Borussia Mönchengladbach

For most of their current Bundesliga run, Borussia Mönchengladbach have been a regular fixture in and around the European qualification places.

The last couple of seasons have been tougher though and after losing key figures Jonas Hofmann and Ramy Bensebaini last summer, they currently sit 12th in the table.

The club’s Borussia-Park ground has a capacity of more than 50,000 and is a stadium that deserves more big nights under the lights. Can you get Borussia Mönchengladbach back on an upward trajectory, creating a team to be reckoned with at home and abroad?

Fiorentina

From a couple of clubs that have been trending backwards in the table to one on the rise in Fiorentina.

Reaching the UEFA Europa Conference League final last year showed the potential of Fiorentina’s squad and they’ve continued to deliver this season. The Florence club are overflowing with quality in the final third, with striker Lucas Beltrán combining with Nicolás González and Jonathan Ikoné out wide.

Fiorentina are in the UEFA Europa Conference League again when you start your career in FM24, so you’ve got the chance to go one step further and deliver European silverware in your first season. Couple that with a good season domestically and you’ll have the platform for a brilliant career in one of Europe’s most beautiful cities.

Ipswich Town

We know that a fair few of you have achieved back-to-back promotions in your FM24 careers – in real life, Ipswich Town are looking to do the exact same thing.

After finishing second in Sky Bet League One last season, the Tractor Boys have taken the Sky Bet Championship by storm and are firmly in the promotion picture.

There’s a lot of positivity around Portman Road on and off the pitch and their strong results this season mean that almost their entire squad have had a big Current Ability bump in the Main Data Update. That boost makes them an even more exciting team to manage in FM24, as does the signing of in-form striker Ali Al-Hamadi.

Can you replicate Kieran McKenna’s entertaining style of play and guide Ipswich Town back to the big time?

Bologna

Another club where a young coach has been making waves this season is Bologna.

Thiago Motta’s expressive style of play has put Bologna fourth in the table and it’s brought out the best in the club’s key players. Captain Lewis Ferguson is now one of the most highly-rated midfielders playing in Italy while teammates Federico Ravaglia, Kacper Urbański and Joshua Zirkzee also got Current Ability increases in FM24’s Main Data Update.

Although the top half of Serie A is stacked with talented teams with big reputations, Motta’s work this season has shown that it’s possible for Bologna to fight for a first European finish since 2002.

Achieve that in FM24 and you’ll have the tools to further invest in your squad and compete with the Milan clubs for a first Serie A crown in more than 60 years.

RSC Anderlecht

There’s already one club in this list with wonderful purple kits, so why not another?

RSC Anderlecht are, without doubt, Belgium’s most successful team. They also boast one of Europe’s best academies, developing many of Belgium’s recent ‘golden generation’.

However, the last of RSC Anderlecht’s record 34 Belgian league titles came back in 2017 and last season’s finish of 11th left them behind fierce rivals Standard Liege and Club Brugge.

They’ve improved this season and key to that were last summer’s signings, including goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, winger Alexis Flips and attacking midfielder Thorgan Hazard.

Putting those players into a squad led by Jan Vertonghen gives you experience and quality and provides the sort of leadership figures you’ll need to develop Anderlecht’s next generation of wonderkids.

SV Darmstadt 98

SV Darmstadt 98 secured a return to the Bundesliga at the end of last season by winning automatic promotion from Germany’s second-tier.

Despite having a good spine to their team, Die Lilien entered the 2023/24 season as relegation favourites. Those predictions have been a reality for the Hesse-based club, who currently sit bottom of the Bundesliga.

Your immediate goal is to make SV Darmstadt 98 more sturdy defensively, turning their Stadion am Böllenfalltor home into a fortress and nicking enough points to avoid relegation. From there, recruit wisely to establish them as a permanent part of the Bundesliga and start looking up the table rather than down.

Charlton Athletic

Since relegation from England’s top-flight in 2007, Charlton Athletic have had a challenging run on and off the pitch.

The 2023/24 campaign started with hopes of promotion, but their attention has instead been pointed towards the other end of the table. By the start of February, The Addicks were onto their third permanent manager of the season and trying to avoid the drop to Sky Bet League Two.

What hasn’t changed over the last two decades is that the South London club consistently produce good young players. Your task is to create a stable environment at The Valley, delivering a pathway for those young talents to shine and building a team capable of moving back up the divisions.

When you takeover in the dugout, you’ll have three in-game seasons since the 20th anniversary of that 2007 relegation. It’ll be a test of your skills but wouldn’t it be nice to get them back to the top-flight by then and in a position to mix it with their London rivals?

Dundee FC

Sticking on the theme of young talent, Dundee FC are an interesting proposition for you to manage following the FM24 Main Data Update.

Why? Well, every FM player loves an affiliate club and The Dee signed one of those deals in January with Burnley. They immediately made the most of it, loaning in three of their prospects to bolster a squad already overperforming expectations in their cinch Premiership return.

Using that link to build a young, hungry squad will make for a fun career, but when you add in the save narrative of beating local rivals Dundee United and breaking the Glasgow duopoly at the top of Scottish football, it’s almost irresistible.

Dundee FC’s last and only cinch Premiership title came in 1962. How long will it take you to add a second to the Dens Park trophy cabinet?

Górnik Zabrze

We’ll end with a wildcard choice - a trip to Poland to manage Górnik Zabrze.

If we’re being honest, Lukas Podolski being one of their star players at the age of 38 is a big part of their appeal. He’s bidding to for title glory in the country of his birth and achieving that milestone will mean the world to Górnik Zabrze’s passionate fans. One of the country’s most successful clubs, they’ve not won the Ekstraklasa since claiming four titles on the bounce in the mid-1980s.

It’s worth noting that Podolski isn’t their only older star – the club’s seven highest-rated players in FM24 are all in their 30s. So, while you’ll have the experience and quality to compete in your first season, you’ll have to renew and refresh the squad pretty quickly if you want to claim a 15th Ekstraklasa crown and then turn your attention to competing in the UEFA Club Competitions.

This list should give you 10 great options to choose from, from Asian clubs with superstar signings to fallen European giants looking to get back to former glories.

Wherever you decide to create the future, let us know how you get on through our forums or on social media @FootballManager.