Best teams to rebuild in Football Manager 2023

Football Manager 2023 is now out, or at least in its beta stage, so players out there will be looking for a new crop of teams to rebuild.

Seeing as OmegaLuke hasn’t really had the chance to rebuild the entirety of the world yet, players are on their own in terms of finding a team to rebuild in Football Manager 2023. Thankfully, as always, Jaxon has you covered.

Here is our list of the best teams to rebuild in Football Manager 2023.

Oldham Athletic

Thanks to the 21/22 season, Oldham Athletic became the first of the Premier League founding teams to be relegated all the way to non-league. They haven’t played in the Premier League since its first-ever season back in 92/92, so rebuilding them to a point where they can compete again is a huge challenge.

To make matters worse, Oldham is also in a pretty poor financial situation. That’s also without mentioning that all of their best players are out of contract at the end of the year, as well as their best loanees also being set to leave halfway through the season. In short, you’ll have your work cut out for you just to get off the ground.

Get the first season out the way, however, and England can be one of the most forgiving footballing pyramids to manage in. All of them the teams in the leagues above you will have a tonne of players they’ll be willing to loan out, and loans can be enough to do most of the legwork to get you to multiple promotions.

Sign a couple of smart free agents and a few tasty-looking newgens and you’ll be well on your way to completing one of the longer Football Manager 2023 rebuilds out there.

Olympique Lyonnais

For many Football Manager players, Lyon was the team in France for the majority of their formative years playing the game. Before PSG ascended to utter dominance in the 10s, it was Lyon who dominated French football in the 00s. Between 01/02 and 07/08, L’OL didn’t drop a single league title as they became undoubtedly the best team in the country.

Unfortunately for Lyon, however, the last few years haven’t been so kind. PSG’s money has elevated them to a level none can consistently beat, but Lyon has also struggled to beat the teams beyond that, too. In fact, the club hasn’t even finished in third place since the 18/19 season.

The 21/22 season was a new low for Lyon, however, as the club finished in 8th place in Ligue 1, leaving them without European football for the 22/23 season. Not only that, but star player Lucas Paqueta also departed for the Premier League with a move to West Ham over Summer.

Fortunately in your rebuild, however, Lyon does have a respectable squad to start with in Football Manager 2023. Rayan Cherki, Malo Gusto, Castello Lukeba, and Maxence Caqueret are all formidable youth prospects. Toppling PSG is hard, but it’s not impossible, you can be the one to take Lyon back to the top.

Sevilla

Sevilla might be one of the most successful teams on the continent in recent years, but domestically, they have been without a La Liga win since 45/46.

Age is a bit of a concern for Sevilla, 11 of the first-team players are already in their 30s and the majority of the rest of the squad is approaching that. Names like Jesus Navas, Alejandro Gomez, and Ivan Rakitic are all coming toward the end of their careers.

On the other end of the scale, however, is a bright light in Tanguy Nianzou, a French Center-Back brought in from Bayern in the Summer. With a 3* Current Ability and a 5* Potential Ability, the wonderkid is already a capable player and is destined to become a formidable one.

There’s plenty of talent on the books at Sevilla, Isco, Erik Lamela, Fernando, and Adnan Januzaj will all be familiar faces. Start your Sevilla rebuild in Football Manager 2023 by bringing the age of the squad down, and finish it by toppling the giants of Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Schalke 04

After just one year in Bundesliga 2, Schalke was promoted back to the Bundesliga as champions. Their rebuilding process is not complete just yet, however, this is a team who finished runners-up only five years ago. In Football Manager 2023, your task with Schalke is to rebuild them to a European standard team once more.

Gone are the days when Schalke’s academy was producing top prospects like Alexander Meyer and Leon Goretzka, but there is one player to help start you off. Mehmet Aydin looks like he will develop into one of the best Right Backs in the game.

Beyond Aydin, however, there isn’t much promise within the first-team squad. Or talent at all, in fact. Predicted to finish 16th in the Bundesliga in the first season, just surviving will be the first task in this rebuild.

Premier League fans will be familiar with Alex Kral, Ralf Fahrmann, and Maya Yoshida, but one of them is a loan and the other two aren’t really enough for a push up the table. Bringing in talent capable of matching the Bundesliga big boys will be difficult, and so too will holding on to that talent, but this is a club that deserves to be near the top once more.

Parma

Now it wouldn’t be a football Manager rebuild list without Parma, and that’s no different in Football Manager 2023. A Serie A mainstay for over 20 years, bankruptcy saw the club relegated to Serie D back in 2015.

They have been promoted to Serie A since that bankruptcy, but their third season back in Italy’s top flight saw them related in last place. Climbing back to the best league in the country will be the first step in this rebuild.

Once you’re back in Serie A, Europe is the goal. The club hasn’t been in a European competition since the early 00s and it will be your job to get them back there. It might take a while however, the Italian league is fiercely competitive and there’s a host of teams duking it out for those top spots.

Left Back Jayden Oosterwolde will be a key player early doors, the Dutchman has great offensive stats and will be excellent at flying down the flank. It would also be wrong of us to not mention their 44-year-old star player, legendary keeper Gianluigi Buffon.

Not looking for a rebuild?

Check out our list of the best teams to manage in Football Manager 2023 here!