Before you pick a club in FM27, one question rules everything: how much money do you have to spend? So we looked at the Liga Portugal budgets in FM27, club by club. The numbers come from the FM Blog database, which gathered the budgets of 1015 clubs across 63 leagues.
The answer has a few surprises. Sporting have the most to spend on transfers, but Benfica have the biggest wage bill. Also, six clubs start the season with €0 to sign players. In the game, values appear in pounds: we converted the values from pounds to euros, at an approximate rate of £1 = €1.15.
Transfer budgets: Sporting out in front
| Club | Transfer budget | Weekly wage budget |
|---|---|---|
| Sporting CP | €30.4m | €1.1m |
| SL Benfica | €23.2m | €1.3m |
| SC Braga | €12.6m | €490k |
| FC Porto | €9.4m | €1.3m |
| Casa Pia | €3.0m | €104k |
| Gil Vicente | €3.0m | €103k |
| Vitória de Guimarães | €2.3m | €142k |
| Estoril Praia | €2.0m | €99k |
| FC Arouca | €988k | €106k |
| Moreirense FC | €988k | €82k |
| CD Santa Clara | €692k | €87k |
| CS Marítimo | €97k | €96k |
| Académico de Viseu | €0 | €106k |
| Alverca SAD | €0 | €110k |
| CD Nacional | €0 | €79k |
| Estrela da Amadora SAD | €0 | €91k |
| FC Famalicão | €0 | €118k |
| Rio Ave | €0 | €133k |
Liga Portugal transfer budgets in FM27. Data: FM Blog
Sporting start with €30.4m for the market, the highest figure in the league. Right behind them are Benfica, with €23.2m. Then Braga come in with €12.6m and move ahead of FC Porto, who sit at €9.4m. In other words, of the top four, Porto have the least room to buy.
After that there is a big drop. Casa Pia and Gil Vicente have €3m each, Vitória de Guimarães have €2.3m and Estoril have €2m. Finally, Arouca and Moreirense get €988k, Santa Clara €691k and Marítimo less than €98k.
The six clubs with no transfer money
Académico de Viseu, Alverca, Nacional, Estrela da Amadora, Famalicão and Rio Ave start with €0 for transfers. So every signing has to come on a free, on loan or after a sale.
Still, it is not all bad. Rio Ave and Famalicão have some of the highest wage budgets outside the top four. So there is room to think about free agents, as long as they fit the wage budget. Plus, in FM you can always change the split between the two budgets, or ask the board for more money.
Wage bill: Benfica pay the most
On wages, the order changes. Benfica have €1.3m per week, and FC Porto are almost level, also with €1.3m. Sporting have €1087k, while Braga have €490k.
Outside the big clubs, Vitória de Guimarães lead with €141k per week. Next come Rio Ave, with €133k, and Famalicão, with €118k. At the bottom of the table are Nacional, with €78k.
Watch out for one detail: this is the weekly total and it already includes the wages the club pays. So the real margin is the gap between the budget and the current wage bill. For example, Porto have a huge wage budget, but much of it may already be taken up by the squad.
How Portugal compares with other leagues
The biggest budget in the whole guide belongs to Arsenal, with €175.6m. Brighton also appear from the Premier League, with €77.9m. In Spain, Real Madrid have €49.4m, but Barcelona sit at €24.7m. In other words, Sporting have more money to sign players than Barcelona.
Against the leagues at our level, the comparison is also good for us:
- Netherlands: PSV have €14.8m and Twente €12.4m, so Sporting have more than double PSV.
- Belgium: Club Brugge have €11.9m and Anderlecht €8.2m, in other words below Braga.
- Greece: Panathinaikos have €9.9m and Olympiacos €8.9m, but here Panathinaikos already pass FC Porto.
Which club to pick for your style
- You want to spend straight away: Sporting and Benfica give you money to attack the market from day one. Check the Benfica and Sporting squads before you decide.
- You want a big club with little money: FC Porto have the wage bill of a giant, but only €9.4m to buy. So you will need to sell well before you strengthen.
- You want to grow from mid-table: Braga have more money than Porto and a squad with less pressure. So it is a good club to try to break into the top four.
- You want hard mode: take one of the six clubs with €0 and live off free agents and loans. Plus, if you like this kind of save, also check our sleeping giants challenges.
Our take
The numbers confirm what many already felt: Sporting arrive in FM27 as the strongest club in the market. However, the most curious case is Porto, with top wages and little money to buy. Also, having six clubs with €0 makes the bottom half of the table much harder. But that is where the most fun saves are. And if you are going to negotiate, first read our piece on the director of football in FM27 negotiations.
