What a season it’s been in the Swiss town of Basel, as a whole my first season in Top 100 as manager of the mighty “RotBlau” has been a season of progression and unexpected success. We split our end of year review into two sections, Squad Progression and Performance, we start by looking back at where we were when we took over in August…

Squad Progression

As my previous article stated, it was no secret that FC Basel were a team in freefall, they had an ageing squad, no youth at all, mostly trash players and not a lot of assets to work with (36 man squad), the immediate areas of concern were:

• Six players rated 88 and above.
• Eight players under 23 (five aged 21 and under). All trash though.
• Lack of long-term quality: Three of the six high-rated players were over 30.
• Squad of 36 players.

Priority was improving the first team followed by building the u25 aspect of the 2^nd team (with longer term talent between 21 and 25) and then lastly adding to the youth setup. Over the course of the last 5 months Basel have seen a total of 96 players join! There has been a constant flow of players in and out depending on their performances for their clubs and the chance to improve the starting 11.

The framework I wanted to build the squad around was having a 33 man core squad, 3 players for every position with at least one player fitting the following criteria:

Criteria A) 88+ rated aged 30 or under, happy to bring in a slightly older age profile as we rebuild the team slowly so long as they are either playing regularly or cheap to bring in.

Criteria B) 83-87 rated squad player aged under 25, there are many of these players around but it was important to buy players who have potential even if their ratings are lower (E. G. Circati) these players need to be playing regularly for their real life teams also.

Criteria C) Under 21 players with high potential, at least 1 of every position.

That gave me 17 extra spaces to fill, as everyone in Top 100 knows youth is king so the best use of this space would be under 21 talent, but some spaces would be used for 86+ rated squad players that will allow Basel to play higher ratings until our youths/u25s wait to rise, for every older rotation option we buy there will be an under 23 player who should take their spot eventually.

To find 33 players that fit these criteria was, and still is, extremely difficult and laborious, we had some mid-season business which saw 6 key players join the club and some important end of season business as we look towards Division 3 which has seen us bring in an additional 9 players, including 4 for the first team.

Mid-Season Business

We brought in Julian Brandt as a natural CAM to help push for the Division 4 title, Chilwell and Loftus-Cheek came in to give quality in some weak areas of the pitch, Gudmundsson was brought in to offer quality and versatility in the attacking areas and fit's our age profile and lastly Gueye and Gregoritsch were brought in for cash only deals to boost the 2nd teams ratings.

End of Season Business so far...

Brandt sadly had to leave Basel for Cruzeiro but in return we got Yuri ALBERTO (88/24) and Lovro MAJER (89/28). Majer was a direct replacement and slightly younger so fits the age profile and Yuri will replace the ageing Giroud. With the arrival of an under 25 striker we could afford to use Felipe PABLO in another swap...

Iñaki WILLIAMS (90/31) arrived to finally give us a natural AM(R) and boost the quality, Division 3 will be tough so it was worth sending Felipe PABLO and KONE to Internacional to get the deal done.

Wonderkid Kauã PRATES (75/17) arrived with 4 heading to Twente (Loftus-Cheek, Riedel, Vega and Barria), a heavy price to pay indeed but LB is a hard position to find talent and as previously stated, the club was in a position we could just about afford to offload these players.

Emirhan ILKHAN (78/21) also joined from external now he is starting for Torino, a solid pickup.

During the writing of this article we also managed to bring in Geoffrey KONDOGBIA (89/32), we sent a couple of youth players to Tottenham in return but he will enable us to keep the same quality we had last season (replacing Thiago Silva but 9 years younger) whilst waiting for Affengruber or Circati to rise.

The squad that Basel have now is by no means complete or at a place where I am content, but it is on its way to being set up for longer term success and the players we currently have that fit these A, B and C criteria options are:

Criteria A

GK

A) MUSSO – 88/31 – A solid 88 rated keeper who has put in fantastic performances for Atletico when called upon. Solid for now as we wait for rises. Happy to disregard the age requirements for GKs.

RB

A) COUFAL – 87/33 – Not the rating or age profile I would like but one of the best RBs in the Bundesliga, he is a safe 87 with a slight chance of 88 if Hoffenheim continue to overachieve. An area for improvement.

CB

A) KONDOGBIA– 89/32 – Recently swapped a couple of youth players for him, not a long term option at all but gives us a rating boost whilst we wait for others to rise. Will drop to 88 in next review but this is still a solid rating for our project for now.

A) NIAKHATE – 88/29 – One of the best performing CBs in Ligue 1 and Senegal’s key defender on their route to an AFCON win, will surely get a +1 in the next review, can also cover LB.

LB

A) CHILWELL – 88/29 – Has seen redemption at Strasbourg and plays nearly every week, has hit a bit of form over the past 2 months (as of writing this in Jan 2026), a solid LB as this was a weak area for the team. With Vinicius Lira and Kauã Prates, the Left Back position looks set for the foreseeable future.

CM

A) KOKCU– 89/25 – The engine of the team, he is undoubtedly one of the better players in the Turkish league, he will likely not rise unless Besiktas start overperforming however he will at least keep his rating for some time which is fine for us, too good for Turkey so I see him heading back to a top 5 league in the future.

A) SOLER - 88/29 - Came into the team in a swap deal for Thiago Silva, he is playing regularly for Sociedad and can play multiple positions and only just turned 29 so he fits the age/rating profile. Should be replaced by Tanaka or Marlon in due course.

RAM

A) WILLIAMS - 90/31 - Joined the club at the end of the season, Inaki will bring some much needed quality to the first team, another that might drop in the next review but even then its still above our average, a key signing and another one that we hope will help us over the next couple of seasons.

CAM

A) MAJER - 89/28 - Replaces Brandt in the CAM role, Majer will be a key component in a new look front four alongside the other new signings of Inaki, Gudmundsson and Yuri Alberto.

LAM

A) GUDMUNDSSON – 88/28 – Bought in towards the end of the season, he has also hit some form over the past few games as an under performing Fiorentina have changed him to LW leading to 4 G/A in seven, linked with Juventus and Roma, perfect signing for the Basel project.

ST

A) YURI ALBERTO - 88/24 - An exciting young striker who has been heavily linked with a number of top European clubs (Lazio, Roma, Everton to name a few). His arrival allowed us to finally move the 39 year old Giroud onto pastures new.

Criteria B

GK

B) BRAZAO – 84/25 – Even though Santos had a terrible season, he has still been putting in strong performances and is heavily linked with Flamengo and Bayern, he has seen his value on transfermarkt nearly double since I bought him.

RB

B) DONOVAN – 77/19 – Celtics young and upcoming RB, he has already put in a few good performances, plays regularly and has already had a +12. Due to his slightly lower than required rating for the B category, Basel look to Paolo Henrique (86/29) for cover, Vascos best player and himself could get a +1 in the next iteration of reviews.

CB

B) AFFENGRUBER – 86/24 – Affengruber has already been linked to a top team (Man Utd) and seems to be a staple in Elches defence, should hopefully grab 87 in next review and a potential move in the summer so happy to hold as we also have Circati.

B) CIRCATI – 83/22 – Circati has come back from injury and been a force in Parma’s back line, I have had multiple PMs about him since the article about him by Jacek the football talent scout but he will stay as I see him as a long term starting CB alongside Affengruber. Would take a very good offer for us to sell this gem.

LB

B) VALERA – 85/23 – A make shift LB but a top player, is playing regularly for an Elche side having a solid season, got a +2 recently and if he continues to start he could be due a couple more rises over the next two reviews, he will plays LB until Lira or Prates rise then he will be moved to an AM position.

CM

B) MARLON GOMES – 85/22 – After only recently turning 22, Marlon has been ever present for Shakhtar, he's had a dip in form recently but he's young enough to figure it out and be a top player, im sure he will be linked with other teams in the future but for now we are happy to see him play.

B) ROMAN – 80/23 – Celta’s new midfield maestro, he is a regular starter for them and looks to be putting in solid performances as Celta push for a top 6 finish, a starter for any team in La Liga is decent enough for Basels B team, let alone a team pushing for top 6.

RAM

B) ANDRE LUIZ – 82/23 – A big rise is coming as he lights up Portugal, heavily linked with Benfica, he has 7 goals and 6 assist in 18 games in the Liga Portugal, at only 23 he fits what we want long term, a switch to Benfica and some regular game time over the next couple of seasons could see him hit a few decent rises.

CAM

B) TANAKA – 86/27 – Although not under 25, we can make an exception for Tanaka, he has had some blinding games for Leeds, scoring against Liverpool and Chelsea, he has already had a +1 and with some more gametime could easily get 87 if Leeds stay up, a solid pick up for just over £2 million.

LAM

B) YEREMAY HERNANDEZ – 85/23 – The diamond of this squad and the player I think has the biggest upside, he has been Deportivo’s best player and in my opinion, will likely get snapped up by a big team in the summer. Basel have an abundance of talent in these AM(RL) positions so we are quite happy with what we have.

ST

B) AREZO- 83/23 - A former wonderkid who hasn't quite lived up to the reputation, last year he finished the year strong for Penarol and scored a bunch of goals in the second half of the season, has gone back on loan to Penarol until the end of 2026 as their first choice striker and should go back to Gremio as their first choice striker. A solid rotation option to partner an already Young and talented Yuri. Until he rises we use GREGORITSCH (88/31) as backup.

Criteria C

GK

C) FAUSKANGER – 70/17 – A starter for Haugesund and the Norway u20 first choice GK, he put in some good performances towards the back end of 2025 so will monitor his progress.

RB

C) MIKIC – 73/18 – Dinamo’s best young RB has finally started to get regular game time in the first team, he started 3 games in December before getting an injury just before the winter break, Dinamo continue their push for the title on the 25^th of Jan so we hope to see him play many more games before the season is out. Got a +8 today.

CB

C) HUGHES – 82/22 – By far Hull’s most consistent player as they push for promotion to the Prem and at 22 years old he surely has a solid career ahead. Recently inked to Crystal Palace to replace Man City bound Guehi, if he works on his composure a little he could establish himself as a Premier League regular. Slightly older than the u21 we wanted but not a problem.

C) MBOKAZI – 77/20 – Originally scouted back in September, I sold him to then rebuy him three months later for £30m, a costly mistake that I have to take on the chin, a starter for South Africa, got his move to Chicago Fire, one to watch for sure.

LB

C) PRATES -75/17 - Cruzeiros talented new Left Back has almost sealed his switch to Dortmund. A lot of hype around him so we will see how he develops. Could be a generational Left Back and a future cult hero at the club if he develops in line with his hype. Will hope for the best for this kid, have Santos's first team LB Vincius Lira (73/18) as a backup.

CM

C) ILKHAN– 78/21 – Ilkhan has started Torino’s last seven games in all comps and looks to be an up and coming CM in Serie A, he looks to be a real steal purchasing from external and could quickly move into category B if he keeps playing.

C) DZODIC – 73/20 - A calming presence in the middle of Almerias midfield, a regular and consistant performer as they push for promotion into La Liga, he looks to be a shrewd pickup and if Almeria end up getting promoted, he could be in line for a decent rise.

RAM

C) GOZO – 78/18 – He has been a starter for Salt Lake and put in some fantastic performances towards the end of the year, (including 1 goal and 2 assists in 3 games for the USA u20 team back in October). Now linked with Aston Villa, another promising prospect.

CAM

C) TIAN NAI KOREN – 65/16 – I believe this kid could go right to the top, he made his debut for the first team in a friendly game on the 8^th of Jan and has made the bench in Brugge's last two games, won’t be long before this guy is known everywhere.

LAM

C) THORVALDSEN – 78/19 – Playing regularly for Valerenga on the Left Wing, he looks very skilful and has bags of pace, another season at Valerenga could set him up for a move away if he keeps up his momentum.

ST

C) ESPI – 80/20 – Hard to pick between him and Mirisola however I think Espi just nudges Mirisola to the best u21 striker at the club as of Jan 2026. He scored his first goal in La Liga recently and is getting regular minutes. Not generational but could develop well and we have enough youths in this position to look promosing.

Overall there has been huge progress over the past season, which to be fair was not hard considering how much of a mess Basel were 5 months ago, we have plenty of talent with potential and only 6 players (5 outfield) above 30 (Kondogbia, Gueye, Gregoritsch, Inaki, Musso and Coufal) and only 1 player in the first team below 88, which is the RB and our main focus for recruitment at the minute, but more importantly some key squad stats over the past 5 months:

Key Season Stats

71% of the squad is aged 25 and under (compared to 31% when I took over)

Average age of first team squad dropped from 29 to 27

Total squad value increase of 10.6% in 5 months

Value of U21 team increased by 362%

Average rating of the starting 11 has increased by 0.1 to 88.4 but the average age has dropped by 1.3 from 30.3 to 29.0

Number of 87 and under players in the first team dropped from 4 to 1.

Next, it's time to analyse the team performance...

Performance

Our sole objective this season to finish in the top 6 and push for promotion, this season there was no expectation in the Cup, Shield, Youth Cup or the World Club Cup as this was the first season for Basel under new management and there were players flying out the door so no consistancy to start with, nevertheless there were some exceptional showings in certain competitions which far exceeded what I wanted from this squad…

Division 4 - Winners!

Truley a momentus achievement considering what shape Basel were in last season. The first third of the season saw Basel put themseves around the top 3, winning a fair few games but getting used to the team and the best use of tactics, unfortunately a lack of quality led to a terrible mid season slump, and what a slump it was. There was a three week period at the end of November where we won only 1 out of 10 games, a complete tactical revamp took place which lead to 11 wins in 13 games including a vital 2-1 win against former league leaders Lille. This late run partnered with Lilles drop off lead to a Division 4 title, winning on the last day by 2 points.

Top 100 Cup – 1^st Round Knockout

Knocked out in the first round by Chris’s strong CSKA side, the team was still in the rebuild stage which is evidenced by 10 of the starting 11 no longer playing for the club.

Top 100 Shield – Semi Finals

A real charge into the latter stages of this competition gave us an actual chance of silverware, coming up against a strong Malaga side in the semi’s was always going to be an uphill fight and a 2-1 loss saw us go home with our heads held high, Málaga then went on to win the competition (congrats Dave) so it was probably the right result.

Notable Wins:

- Quarter final - Leverkusen (4-2)

- Round 3 - Barcelona (2-1)

- Round 2 - Arsenal (2-0)

World Club Cup (WCC) – Round of 16

There was no expectation here, participation was going to be more of an experience to learn the format, however Basel really pushed their performances to the limit, FC Basel finished 1st in Group A, going undefeated in a group that had Sporting and Sao Paolo. We then beat Division 3 Sampdoria in the Round of 32 only to lose to Arsenal 3-2 on aggregate in the round of 16.

Notable Wins:

- Group Stage – Sao Paolo (A) 2-1

- Group Stage – Sporting (H) 2-1

Closing Thoughts and Future Plans

Overall, it’s been a successful first season in Top 100, winning Basel's 2^nd ever trophy (not counting play offs) was incredible and no matter what happens now, Basel and I will share that first season success.

Everyone always think's their team is the one thats going to break the mold, so im not getting carried away at all, Division 3 will be tough but at the very least the free falling mess that used to be Basel is stable, avoiding relegation is the only focus for next year, we would love another cup run like the Shield but it's best to base expectations in reality.

Thank you to all those that have taken the time to organise everything, Hopefully this blog and many others like it will show how much some of us love the grind of GWs like Top 100.

The Football Manager (FM)