Football Manager 2024: Best teams to start managing with on FM24

Chris Hughton laid the groundwork, then came Potterball and Roberto De Zerbi got them into Europe. It's now time for you to take Brighton to the next level.

The Seagulls have become everyone's second favourite team in England thanks to their swashbuckling style of play and ability to pull off upsets.

Club stalwarts such as Lewis Dunk and Solly March are complemented by Kaoru Mitoma, Joao Pedro, and wonderkids like Evan Ferguson, so the future is looking... Brighton. You can take them to the top, right?

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are aiming to be in the Premier League in a few years. That's the goal for Wrexham and they are all in. Welcome to the show.

First, though, you'll need to get the Welsh side out of League Two, then League One, and finally, the Championship.

You have a decent budget to play with, but it'll take shrewd recruitment, the right tactics, and, most of all, Super Paul Mullin's goals.

With seemingly endless supplies of Saudi money to play with in the transfer market, starting a game with Newcastle United can be very fun, which Antoine "Community Shield" Griezmann can attest.

The Magpies have begun amassing a decent collection of players at St James' Park and are starting to challenge the established order, but a few things are still missing.

Can you lure a massive signing - Kylian Mbappe, anyone? - Tyneside and deliver a Premier League title for the Geordie faithful? Of course, you can.

When you take charge of Inter Miami, David Beckham is your boss and Lionel Messi is the GOAT tasked with inspiring you to MLS dominance. Glorious.

Messi is supported by a few Barcelona old boys, including Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets, so there is a decent spine already in place at Miami, but it's never as simple as that in MLS. You have to put in the work to get through those playoffs.

Managing a team in MLS is a decidedly different prospect from managing in Europe, but there is lots of ground to break and it's a fun challenge. Can you lead an American team to Club World Cup glory?

Ajax are the most successful Dutch club of all time, but all is not well in Amsterdam in 2023.

While domestic dominance is expected, it doesn't always happen and the likes of PSV, Feyenoord and AZ are constantly snapping at your heels.

Once you get a handle on the Eredivisie, the big challenge for any Ajax head coach is cracking European football.

The glory days of Johan Cruyff and Louis van Gaal are a distant memory at this stage. Isn't it about time they returned?

What will it take for Manchester United to win the Premier League again? David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and Erik ten Hag have all put their minds to it and failed.

Something drastic needs to happen at Old Trafford, but you have a vision, finally. Too many managers have been burdened by the past, toiling in the far-reaching shadow of Sir Alex Ferguson while being chained to the elusive concept of "Manchester United DNA".

Ferguson was once driven by a manic desire to "knock Liverpool off their f*cking perch" and you're going to take Pep and the blue half of Manchester down a peg.

It's time to bring football home.

England have not won a major tournament since 1966, despite boasting plenty of talented teams over the years.

Gareth Southgate and Co. went close at the 2018 World Cup and Euro 2020, but a new generation, led by Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, and Phil Foden, is ready to shine. Or maybe you'll turn to the old guard once again?

Here's the challenge: turn Munich blue.

On-field difficulties and financial woes have seen to it that 1860 Munich are marooned in the third tier of German football, but you can turn them into a genuine force.

Their one and only Bundesliga title came in 1966 and they have only won the DFB Pokal twice, so the task here is to stretch that honours list and reshape German football.

Just imagine how exciting a regular Munich derby would be again - there hasn't been one in the Bundesliga since 2004! Bayern Munich have had things their way for far too long.

The World Cup is synonymous with Brazil, with Samba Soccer delivering a record five titles for the Selecao, but they haven't won the trophy since 2002.

When you consider the glittering array of talent available to Brazil coaches over the years, that drought is frankly unacceptable, so it's time to change things.

Perhaps you'll build your team around Vinicius Jr or maybe you'll usher Endrick through to lead the next Golden Generation to glory. Whatever path you choose, success is a minimum at the Maracana.

Before Paris Saint-Germain's modern money-fuelled revival, Saint-Etienne were the team with the most Ligue 1 titles.

The glory days have been few and far between since the 1970s when they dominated the local scene and reached the final of a European Cup, and now they find themselves in Ligue 2.

That's not good enough for a team of this stature and Les Verts deserve better, so climb out of Ligue 2 and put it up to PSG and Co.

Athletic Club in Bilbao are one of the most fascinating teams in La Liga and they represent a unique challenge in Football Manager due to the club's transfer policy.

They only sign players who are Basque or those who are Spanish and under the age of 17, which means the recruitment pool is very small. To put this into context, it would be like Everton only signing players who are from Liverpool.

In a world where football is now packed full of multinational dream teams, there is something charming about how Bilbao have done things. However, it definitely makes things more challenging!

Help put a star above Genoa's badge by ending a century-long wait and delivering their 10th Serie A title.

Only three teams in Italy have earned stars on their badges - Juventus, Inter and AC Milan - and Genoa are on the cusp of joining that illustrious club.

Promoted back to Serie A for the 2023-24 season, the challenge for Il Grifone at the beginning of the game is to stay up, but once you manage that it's time to build.

With the likes of Albert Gudmundsson, Kevin Strootman, and il Re tigre, Mateo Retegui, it can definitely be done too.