Football Manager 2023: Every club's starting budgets

The Football Manager 2023 beta is out – and you're going to want to know each club's starting budgets before you take on a job, right? You might know a few of the players, even the expectations of the employers and what the ambitions of the fans are… but come on, how much money do you have in the bank?

Unfortunately though, the start screen doesn't reveal what you're working with. The only way to find out is to take a job and often, you assume that a club will be rich before getting through the door and finding your first job is balancing the books and clearing the deadwood. You could ask your owner for more money – or you could cheat – but we've done the hard work for you. 

We've started a job at every club in Europe's top five leagues, plus the Championship – that's England, France, Italy, Germany and Spain's top tiers – and yes, we were surprised that owners were still putting their faith in nurturing their wonderkids after dozens of times of taking a job, checking the transfer budget and immediately retiring. What we found could just save you doing the same – and it may surprise you to know how flushed or skint some sides in Europe really are…

FM23: Every club's starting budgets in Football Manager 2023, from Europe's top five leagues, plus the Championship

Premier League

So that's… odd. Yes, Brighton are the second-richest club at the start of FM23 after moneybags Manchester City. But don't worry: there's a perfectly good reason for this.

The Seagulls, as you may remember, sold Marc Cucurella towards the end of the 2022 summer transfer window, without really investing too much of that £60 million that they received. That's how Football Manager works: the players that have just been signed by each club are factored into the budget for the first transfer window. 

Bear in mind, too, that a club's financial status is not too reflective of what the opening budgets are. This essentially just explains how the club is run: a club with insecure status, for example, would be unlikely to increase your wage budget if you request it and would probably ensure that a percentage of all player sales goes back into the club and not the transfer pot. 

Championship

*Reading have a transfer ban and cannot sign attached players until June 9 2023

The richest club in the Championship is Middlesbrough, partly thanks to the sale of Djed Spence to Tottenham, while Norwich and Burnley, who dropped down from the Premier League last season both have some money to spend. 

Look out if you're looking to manage Birmingham City. The club has a minimal transfer budget but the insecurity of their finances means that there's an onus to balance the books rather than splash out. 

Ligue 1

For all but one club in Ligue 1 – Lyon – you're going to have to adjust your budgets or sell a player if you're looking to bring in anyone new. That's because no club has any wage budget, with many having little to no transfer budget either. 

Lyon are set in the game as "rich" financially, which means the board should be favourable to your economic plans. 

Bundesliga

Bundesliga wage budgets are minimal but given that most clubs are either secure financially, you should have scope to bring in one or two players before selling anyone, should you take a job in Germany.

Be sure to balance the books if you take on Schalke. The Gelsenkirchen-based outfit as listed as insecure financially and may require you to jettison some names to bring in some cash. 

La Liga

*Athletic Bilbao operate with a cantera policy and will not allow you to sign non-Basque players

Barcelona are an interesting club: seemingly thrifty enough to go on a spree in the summer, they're only listed as financially "okay" in FM23 and don't have much more money to spend after bringing in the likes of Raphinha or Robert Lewandowski.

That means that your board may consider taking a cut from any transfer sales, should you look to do any more overhauling of the squad in your first window. A number of Spanish sides are in the red for wages too, so be aware of that when you take on a job. 

Serie A

*Sassuolo have a transfer ban in place until July 1 2022

Only reigning Scudetto holders AC Milan are listed in FM23 as rich, when it comes to Serie A. The majority of clubs are secure, so there's scope to at least have a rebuild with most Italian top-flight outfits.

You're going to have to either sell some Juventus players or fiddle with the budget slider. The Old Lady start with a negative wage bill – we're blaming Paul Pogba.