Football Manager 2022 Review: 8 Ups And 2 Downs
6. The Newcastle Experiment Is Ridiculously Fun
For those who were playing Football Manager when Man City first came into the big bucks, City all of a sudden became a hugely intriguing option when debating who to start your new save as. Here in 2021, swap out City and replace them with Newcastle United and you have that exact same prospect.
Following Newcastle's real-life takeover by PIF, the Toon start FM22 with a £200 million budget. With that amount of money to play with, it's fair to say that you can now realistically attract players who would never have even considered turning out in the famed black and white stripes.
Upon starting a new game as Newcastle, a good chunk of genuine world class players initially have minimal interest in signing for the club, but there are still plentiful major names who are keen to sign up to this 'project'. You may not be able to get Kylian Mbappé, but you can get a Ciro Immobile or a Richarlison - both of whom represent a clear upgrade to Joelinton and Dwight Gayle.
Here, much like in the real world, Newcastle are at the point City were at when they brought in the likes of Elano, Martin Petrov, Vincent Kompany and Robinho. Obviously Kompany would go onto become an icon of the club, but those other three would all, whilst doing a good job at The Etihad, eventually be replaced by bigger and better names like David Silva, Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero.