Tips On Football Manager In China
How to handle the new reality
Tips On Football Manager In China
After a long 3 1/2 season campaign in China, I’ve got some pieces of advice for anybody else who wants to give it a try.
Focus on young domestic players. The best way to manage the salary cap and other ridiculous issues is to simply buy the best young Chinese players you can. You’ll have to accept the fact that the vast majority won’t be world beaters.
Focus on making your youth intake as good as possible. This is true everywhere, but is particularly true in China, where good talent is scarce. You’ll want to improve your youth coaching, youth training and so on before you improve anything else. Interestingly, this advice probably applies to every nation in Football Manager 2024.
Be careful about expensive foreign players. China has a separate salary cap for foreigners, and it can be easy to accidentally sign players to contracts that are too high. Keep track of the amount you spend on foreign players, and try to stop those salaries from getting too high.
Be prepared for continental frustration. The AFC Champions League runs in the fall and winter. Meanwhile, China’s domestic league runs in the summer. You’ll run into strange conflicts as a result, such as transfer windows not lining up well with the AFC Champions League registration windows. There’s not a great solution outside editing China and forcing the league to play during actual football months — but being aware of the issue is helpful.
It’s a great place to manage, though it’s not like it once was. Chinese management in FM24 is less about buying big names and more about youth development and persistence.