Real life problems replicated – All you need to know about Celtic on Football Manager 21

The annual release of Football Manager is always an exciting moment for any football fan, especially when it gives you the chance to right any wrongs that the real life version of your team is presenting.

Managing Celtic on the game has always been a walk in the park due to the strength of the squad and the lack of competition, but the Rangers have been given some very generous ratings and the Celtic squad is weaker than you’re probably used to.

The challenge with Celtic has always been to find a way to win something in Europe, so here’s all you need to know about the club in the latest iteration from Sports Interactive.

Expectations: Win everything domestically and reach the Champions League qualifying round

Club Vision: Sign players to sell for a profit and develop players using the club’s youth system

Starting transfer budget: £4.5m

Excess wage budget: £35k P/W

This broadly ties in with what you’ve seen from the club in recent years where they sign talented players and develop them before selling for a profit, but there’s not exactly a steady flow of young prospects making it into the first team.

That comes with a mixture of the pressure that comes with having to win every game and losing talents at a very young age, but you do have some prospects to work with here.

Key Players:

Odsonne Edouard:

He was always going to be the focal point of this team and his all round game has been boosted this year, so it allows you to use him in different ways to compliment your playing style and those round about him.

The main decision here comes in deciding when to sell him because he’s open to negotiations on a new deal, but the agent is looking for a bigger wage than you can afford and a release clause that represents less than his market value.

Finances are tight at the start of the game so you probably won’t field too many offers, but there’s always the risk that he runs his contract down and you lose him for nothing too.

It might be a wise idea to have a succession plan in place.

Kristoffer Ajer:

If he had a bit more pace then he would be up there with the best ball playing defenders in the game to begin with, while you’ll have exactly the same contract situation as Odsonne Edouard when it comes to renewals and release clauses.

The defence is a real weak point just now and it’s very well replicated in the game for Celtic, so you can’t afford to let him go unless a mega offer comes in.

Celtic need to play in a way where they dominate possession so having a ball playing centre half is vital, but again you’ll need to figure out a way to maximise Ajer before selling him at the right point.

James Forrest:

This might be a head scratcher to some because his form in real life has been stuttering for a while now, but his pace and movement are fantastic in the game and that will be vital if you want to have success in Europe by hitting teams on the counter.

The developers have also promised that wingers will be much more useful in this edition as the groundhog day scenario of hammering a cross into the first man or shooting into the side netting from an impossible angle should be eradicated, so Forrest will be a key player.

His value is high and his age suggests this might be the final chance to get a sizeable fee for him if you do want to sell, and once you see the defence then it might be a good idea to cash in and bolster that back line.

Weak Links:

Vasilis Barkas:

It can’t be emphasised enough that Barkas is rated as a lower half Scottish Premiership keeper on the game, with someone like Zander Clark being miles ahead of him in terms of ability.

That is one almighty problem in this team because you need to have someone you can rely on between the sticks, and Scott Bain isn’t much better.

You can’t sell Barkas because he’s just been signed and interest will be limited, but do you really want to spend most of your transfer budget on a replacement keeper either?

Fraser Forster is way out of your reach at the start of the game which means he’s not an option, so this will be a big problem that needs to be fixed quickly.

Shane Duffy:

This does accurately represent what we’ve seen from Shane Duffy over the years. If you want to sit deep and need someone who will eat up headers and put their body on the line then he’s wonderful, if you need any kind of pace or lateral movement then prepare to concede some goals.

You’re paying him the full £45k P/W and £200k to Brighton each month for the pleasure of this, while it also looks like it’ll take a club record fee to make this permanent at the end of the season too.

The good news is that this deal can be terminated after the initial 28 days are up, and it might be a wide idea to utilise that.

Defensive Midfield:

This isn’t really a pop at Broony because he’s still a ferocious leader who should act as the base of your midfield in the first season at least, but if he goes down then you’re left with nothing.

Callum McGregor has limited defensive instincts while Soro and Bitton aren’t the answers either, so the poor defence is going to be left exposed unless you find someone to bring in.

Brown also lacks pace so that will leave bigger gaps at the top level, and a weak defence with limited protection in front or behind them is never going to end well.

Talented Youth Prospects:

Karamoko Dembele:

Dembele has been talked up as a major prospect for years now and he’s still the youngster with the most potential here, but he’s starting to reach that point where he needs to play some first team football.

It’s a risk to loan him out to the lower leagues where his lack of physicality could be an issue, so the best move may be to give him plenty of sub appearances when games are won to help build him up.

Mikey Johnston:

Mohamed Elyounoussi should be your starting option on the left flank but keeping him after the first season will be difficult, so Johnston looks like the best internal option to eventually take over.

He’s promising and he will be capable of producing some magic here and there, but you’ll need to find a way to develop those mental attributes to ensure he doesn’t become wasteful when it matters.

David Turnbull:

There’s a big call to be made with Turnbull because you already have a static playmaker in Tom Rogic who’s much higher rated, but there’s interest from China at the start of the game so you may decide to cash in.

Turnbull will be fairly useless if you want to press from the front and he doesn’t have the stamina to last 90 minutes, but his technical quality is incredible.

Jeremie Frimpong:

If you take away his pace then he’s a pretty average player, but he’s still young and has plenty of time to develop and grow in the game.

Having an attacking threat from deep can often be the difference in a tight game, but he’s also going to be woefully exposed on that back post if he’s isolated with a target man and the opposition look to stand crosses up.

Long term planning:

You’re projected to have £5m to spend in your second season at the start of the game but that doesn’t take into account potential Champions League revenue and player sales, so success in Europe will be crucial to your long term success.

The team needs upgrades at the back, Ajer and Edouard will probably go and Elyounoussi will only be a one season option too, so this will take some serious planning to build a successful team in the long term.

Football Manager 21 is officially set for release on November 24, but the early access beta is now available.