F.C Europa Review Part 1: The Players

Hello and welcome to what is the last post in my F.C Europa challenge series! Its been a surprisingly short road to complete my challenge having taken only 9 seasons to complete all my goals and reach the top of the European game, but more on this later.

First and foremost, to everyone who has read my F.C Europa journey so far thank you so much for helping to make this one of my most read series on my blog so far! If you are just discovering my challenge now then welcome aboard! You can catch up with the rest of the story here but here’s a peek at our trophy cabinet!

F.C Europa

So the overall goal of my challenge was to create a new club in the lowest tier of French football and then have a player from each UEFA nation play, score and get man of the match for the club. Quite an arduous task especially when this was combined with my tight initial rules on squad composition. These rules were:

One non-academy player from each country in my senior squad
Two non-European players in my senior squad
I would be allowed at most 4 youth academy graduates in my senior squad at any one time

Quite stringent rules to throw into the mix and i’ll be honest they were so restrictive it spoiled the fun a little so I ditched them after about 5 seasons. I just had a few too many academy prospects coming through to get rid of them!

The Original Squad

With me creating the team from scratch back in 2018 this gave me free reign to pick any players I wanted (within budget)and I picked up a few wonder kids, some experienced heads and then a few…..failures in there. Here’s the full list.

Now lets take a closer look at these founding players and their careers!

The Flops

Sadly not all of my choices came off. Although I selected them all with the best of intentions, a number of them fell short of the mark.

Ben Barclay. 3 seasons, 23 apps and 1 goal for Europa then released and retired in 2023. Can’t really say much more about him!
Jamal Khatib. 2 sub apps 0 goals. Released at the end of the first season before carving out a solid career in the French non-league system. Probably a poor choice for the stating squad.
Ryan Nolan. Everyone’s favourite Irish/Italian youth prospect. Made 53 apps and 2 goals in our first three seasons but couldn’t get man of the match for us unfortunately. Was then left to rot in our reserves for two more seasons before being released and retiring.
Ronald Koeman. I needed a sub goalie so I signed him purely based on his name. Made two cup apps in two seasons before being released. Bounced around the French 3rd and 4th tiers after leaving.
Blendi Idrizi. So un-noteworthy the game hasn’t saved his records. I can only assume he was released and then retired after leaving Europa. Made no impact.
Aron Davies. Another player the game hasn’t saved his profile. Again made no impact and has since retired.
Diego De Girolamo. Much like his real life career (where he was once linked with a big money move to Italy but now plays for Buxton) he flattered to deceive after scoring a couple of early goals he then contributed nothing. He was released and then retired a year later.
Kristofer Ingi Kristinsson. Such a shame he never worked out. After having a solid first season where he notched a couple of goals and assists (but sadly no man of the matches) he never kicked on. Really struggled to adapt to life in Ligue 2 and was eventually released in 2022. Has since played in his native Icelandic Leagues since then. At 29 has never even been capped for the national side.
Antonio Marin. Ok he is one of the greatest wonderkids on this FM but in terms of my challenge he really wasn’t great (admittedly through no fault of his own). After picking up a torn thigh muscle and missing the first two months of the season he made 11 appearances for us making no significant contribution to the team. In January Everton made a £2 million bid for him and, with our finances in a poor state at that stage our board sent him on his way. I was gutted. Especially when his career took off. He made a good contribution for Everton before sealing a £45 million move to Borussia Dortmund 5 seasons later. Thanks to my board I had missed out on a top player as he then helped them to three league titles!

The Unsung Hero’s

These players didn’t stick around for too long or make monumental contributions to the clubs growth but they did their bit. Often hailing from Europe’s smaller nations they managed to score and get man of the match to complete this challenge.

Kiko. Everyone’s favourite Andorran on FM19 (or mine at least) he played just 25 times for Europa and yet managed to score and get man of the match. Very impressive for a player that was out of his depth and was never in danger of regularly breaking into the first team. His lone goal was a top quality free kick in Ligue 2. After being released he has since played 7 seasons for Arras in French non-league.
Andrej Startsev. A very consistent performer for me in the National league as well as Ligue 2 but just couldn’t make the step up when we got to the top flight and was replaced with new signings. Eventually got to 101 appearances for the club before being released in 2023. Weirdly despite his ability to perform at a decent level he couldn’t find a new side and is still unattached now. Unspectacular but did the job for Kazakhstan.
Andrew Eleftheriou. The perennial backup to Startsev made just over 50 apps but performed well when required. Released in 2024 and then retired. Managed to complete the challenge for Cyprus which is fortunate given the total lack of any other good players.
Yanik Frick. Only played 4 games for Europa but i’m firmly putting him in this category. In 4 apps he scored, got two assists and a man of the match award quite an impact for a back up player. His career for us was cut short as he was sold to Monza for £96k in January of our first season. Played there for 5 seasons before bouncing around the Italian non-league system.
Ryan Johansson. Played the first half of our first season but was another player sold by the board as finances worsened as he went to Leeds for £500k. He later returned for two different loan spells as he completed the challenge for Luxembourg. Now plays for Amiens in French football.
Liam Walker. His career was hampered by injuries but was instrumental in helping us establish ourselves in Ligue 2. Did his job for the club before retiring in 2022 where I then hired him as our U19’s manager. Unfortunately he didn’t stick around too long as a coach as he left to become manager of Bolton. In his first season there he got them promoted to the Championship before leaving to manage Reading where he was sacked after exactly one year. Then became manager of Getafe where he has had two unsuccessful play off runs.
Kenny Miller. Had a solid seasons for us the the National league scoring 6 times and performing his job admirably before retiring. I immediately hired him as a first team coach and he has remained with us ever since, working his way up to a Continental A licence.

Club Legends

There were a handful of players who made a long lasting impression on the club and after a decade most of them are still with the club or have only just left. Truly they played a huge part in our success.

Saku Ylatupa. Did a fantastic job filling in for Marin during our first season and went on to play over 150 games for us. Unfortunately he became unhappy at the club as his game time dwindled and was eventually released. Went on to play for Willem II in the Netherlands.
Elia Benedettini. For years our number 1 keeper and manged to pick up a handful of trophies as we peaked in Ligue 1. Ideally i’d have loved to kept him at the club until retirement but eventually (as Geiger surpassed him) he refused to renew his contract and left to join Nancy. Such a shame but he made almost 200 apps and took us from the third tier and helped us survive in Ligue 1. Oh and also he scored a goal! The first time I’ve ever had that happen.
Zach Muscat. The Maltese centre half played a crucial role for us year after year somehow managing to keep stepping up to the task at hand. Still at the club into his mid 30’s as he approaches retirement he has just managed to creep over 200 league games for us. Scored an impressive 7 goals for us in our debut year.
Renat Dadasov. A club legend for sure but was always somehow underwhelming. Serious injuries hampered his early development and it took him a while to get going. Finished the challenge with 60 goals but I always felt he could have contributed more. Perennially in Joveljic’s shadow and his appearances have started to dwindle despite flashes of brilliance. Speaking of…..

Dejan Joveljic

Such a legend he gets a heading all to himself. Played every season for us without picking up any major injuries, top scorer in all bar one season. Over 300 league appearances and who knows how many apps in all competitions whilst scoring 226 goals. One of only two players to score over 100 league goals for us and he has over double the goals of the second highest scorer on the list. Simply put, he is a club legend!

He played his part in pretty much every trophy winning run along the way and has netted the winning goal in two of our three Champions League wins. As well as picking up 17 trophies as part of the team he has also won;

2 Golden shoes (as well as two runners up and a third place)
4 consecutive Ligue 1 Top goalscorers awards (and a runner up)
1 Champions League golden boot
Several teams of the year and team of the week awards.
9 times team of the year and in the overall best eleven.

As he hits his peak he is in the best goal scoring form of his career and helping to drive the club onto new heights. Its fair to say he can’t really achieve much more for the club!

Ahhhh. What a player.

Academy Graduates

Although it took a while for our academy facilities to get any sort of meaningful upgrade we were still able to produce a number of quality youth players….which resulted in me bucking with some of my rules and playing more of my youth players in the first team. Here’s a rundown of my top 5!

5. Abdoulaye Diomande

Still only 16 and only broke into the first team once he was old enough to play but has made a hell of an impact in only 6 months. Played 14 senior games and scored 7 goals averaging over 7.5 in these games. Looks a sure bet to develop into a top class player either in midfield or up front.

4. Ali Goncalves

The first player of any real quality to come through our academy so he always has a soft spot in my heart. Took a while to develop but eventually turned into a good Ligue 1 full back. Has so far made over 200 appearances for the club but now plays mostly in a backup role as better signings have matured and surpassed him.

3. Pierre-Eric Roques

Something of an up and down career but I’ve grown to like him more and more as this save went on. Began his career as a very lightweight and inconsistent creative CM and as a result he had 4 different loan spells in 4 seasons. Matured during these years and has become a good leader who can operate well on the wings using his pace for full effect. A great option to rotate tired legs anywhere in midfield.

2. Eloy Mur

Looked nailed on to be a star as soon as he emerged into the academy and he certainly has made an impact so far. A must start in the squad since he turned 18 and he has been a main stay ever since, going on to make over 230 appearances so far and has so far set up or scored over 150 goals in that time. Has yet to be capped by the senior Spain squad but with an average rating of 7.46 for his career it’s just a matter of time (hopefully) before this happens. Is currently one of only 4 club legends.

1. Maxime Geiger

The first of my academy prospects that looked to be a world beater and he has fully lived up to that reputation. After two seasons on loan (in France and Holland) it was finally time for me to make a huge decision and drop long time number 1 Benedettini. I definitely made the right choice. Over the following 5 seasons he barely missed a match as he helped drive us from a solid Ligue 1 side to a dominant force in Europe and France picking up an impressive 134 clean sheets in 275 games for the club. He is so far the only academy player to make a senior international appearance having played three times for France. Impressively in his debut season he also scored a goal! What a servant he has been and he’s still only 23.

Notable Signings

There have been a large number of signings I’ve grown attached to over the course of this save and all of them have impressed me in different way. I’ll run down my favourite……….(picks arbitrary number at random)……seven signings in this section.

7. Jakup Thomsen

A player who only made 8 appearances for the team might not seem like a regular inclusion on this list however I’ll make a special exemption for Thomsen. As I reached the end of my challenge, by the year 2025 I only had one minnow left to complete: The Faroe Islands. Jakup presented me with the only realistic chance of a player from this nation being able to get a goal and man of the match at this level so I went all guns blazing to get him in the transfer window. Signed for a mere £240k I threw him into the first team immediately and fortunately this paid off. In his first seven games he notched two important goals before his 8th game saw him score the only goal of the match in a 1-0 win. Enough to get him man of the match. His contribution might have been seriously limited but without him I’d be surprised if we ever found another one of his compatriots who could get us over the line! After this game I dropped him to the reserves and he was sold at the end of the season for £10k profit!

6. Daniel Westgren

Signed from Hammarby for just £2.9 million Westgren is an absolute Rolls Royce at RB. Never injured, rarely has a bad game (an average rating of 7.47) he just does his job and never any less. The only games he’s missed for us since signing is due to the need to rest him during busy periods of the season but I literally cannot ask for any more from a player. Inexplicably took a little while to break into the Swedish side but has racked up games for us. Oddly, he is the only one of our players ever to win the Ligue 1 player of the year award.

5. Bogdan Baltariu

Someone who I considered a bit of a gamble as I signed him for £4 million back when he was just 17 and I only had £8 million in my transfer kitty at the time but i’m certainly glad I did.

After growing and forcing his way into the starting eleven ahead of Morina he has turned into a vital creative player for Europa. Twice the winner of the FIFA best U21 men’s player on 2026 and 7 he is an assist machine who can chip in with double figure goals every season. Has managed an astounding 92 assists in just 4 seasons. and at 22 is comfortably the best player for his country.

4/3. Klass Thys/Johannes Fischer

I can’t honestly separate these two so i’ll lump them together. A great CB partnership for the last three seasons as they have played together over 150 times now forming a formidable defence.

Fischer initially arrived on loan from Borussia Dortmund for two whole seasons where he made a great impression (and finally completed Germany in the challenge) before our transfer budget finally expanded enough for me to be able to sign him permanently in 2025. We snapped him up at the low price of £8 million and Dortmund had lost out on a quality centre half. With his defensive skill he helped us to move from a mid-table side to one that challenged regularly for trophies. Currently on 213 apps, 18 goals and an impressive 7.3 average rating and is one of Germany’s backup CB options.

The other half of this partnership arrived from Beerschot-Wilrijk in Belgium for a bargain price of £1 million at just 17 years of age. Initially I sent him straight out on loan to Strasbourg however the departure of Hefti forced my hand so he had to be recalled. He almost immediately went into the first team and, four years later hasn’t looked back since. Approaching 200 apps and has a 7.4 rating as well as being Belgium’s first choice CB. One of my better wonderkid signings on FM i’d say!

2. Alesio Morina

My longest serving player (not including original squad members) and the current club captain, the free agent signing has been a hell of a servant through his career so far.

Picked up on a free after he came into the game unattached to any club he had a couple of solid first seasons as we earned promotion from Ligue 2 and survived in the top flight and then went from strength to strength after this. His best season was undoubtedly 2023/4 as we finished second in the league with Morina contributing 32 goals or assists in just 34 league appearances which won him the award as the leagues best foreign player and came runner up in the player of the year voting. A great servant, i’ll do my best to make sure he’s a one club man for the rest of his career. Solid for a poor Albanian side whilst approaching 300 club games for us.

1. Franck Koffi

Standing at 6″3, hailing from the Ivory Coast and being a tall, fast and powerful target man I’ve always regarded Koffi as a Drogba 2.0 in the game. I snapped him up for just £58k. He is the best £58k striker I’ve ever bought.

After a brief loan to Numancia gave me a glimpse of his goal scoring talent I gambled and made him strike partner to Dejan Joveljic next season. He netted 24 goals in all competitions. This was just the start of his dominance. Before Koffi played for the club there was only one player who had scored over 50 goals: Dejan Joveljic. Koffi would soon join this list. Although he has narrowly been outscored by his strike partner at only 23 he has blossomed into one of the worlds best strikers and has netted 73 goals in his last 86 games for us and even a serious broken leg picked up in 2025 hasn’t affected his form in the long run. He is equally dominant at international level with a great goal scoring record so far.

His individual honours include: 2x Ligue 1 African player of the year, Foreign player of the year, 2x African player and striker of the year and broadcasters African footballer of the year. A very impressive resume. At only 23 he will be top of the global game for some time to come. On and his value has increased by 103348%. Steady stuff.

Overall Best Eleven

So lets take a look at the best players in our history. Overall there aren’t many surprises as Koffi and Joveljic are comfortably our leading two scorers being the only players with over 100 goals for us. Four academy players have made the starting eleven after some long service with the club. The only interesting choice is that Morina has snuck into the starting eleven ahead of Baltariu who has been outstanding for us since arriving from Romania.

The squad has a pleasing balance of youngsters (Geiger, Roques, Mur and Goncalves) some of my favourite signings and even a sprinkling of original squad members thrown in for good measure. Every player in this line up has fully earned their place in the clubs history even the surprising inclusions of Gnabouyou and Baltic who have only just starting out on their careers with us. I guess this just goes to show how much we have been lacking in attacking quality (aside from Joveljic) until the last few seasons.

I didn’t intend to start this as a list article of some of my favourite players in the clubs short history but I guess I got swept along with writing about them, after all I have seriously enjoyed playing this save. This means i’ll have to do a second part of the save summary this time focusing on the clubs growth and looking at the achievements of the team as a whole! What a shame.

Alex