Swansea City surprised many with their time spent in the Premier League, and after a few seasons in the Championship, the board wants them back in the top league.
The issue is, the team isn't up to scratch, the youngsters won't get good enough for the Prem, and you've got no money for a rebuild!
It's a really tough challenge, with high expectations from the board, so if you want to put your FIFA 22 manager skills to the test, this is the Career Mode for you.
Team Rating
Swansea City have a three-star rating on FIFA 22.
That is due to their rating breakdown of: 71 ATK, 70 MID, and 71 DEF.
Starting Lineup and Formation
Swansea line up as a 5-2-3, and we're going to keep it like that for now, although don't think that because it's more of a defensive formation that we will be playing counter-attacking football.
There isn't much pace from the front three (or the rest of the team), with the most being given from Jamie Paterson, with Joel Piroe in the middle and Oliver Ntcham an unorthodox option on the other wing.
Matt Grimes is the playmaker in the midfield, with Jay Fulton giving some defensive cover.
Ryan Manning and Ethan Laird are the wing-backs looking to get forward and offer some overloads up the pitch.
Between them is the centre-back three of Jake Bidwell, Ben Cabango and Kyle Naughton, with Cabango the only out-and-out CB of the lot.
In goal is Ben Hamer, who has another season in him before Steven Benda takes over.
Tactics and Instructions
As we've said, it's not counter-attacking play with this formation, as the team has little pace.
Instead, we will be looking to control the game, stay compact, and pass our way to victory.
That means defensively it is Balanced, so the team doesn't get out of shape trying to win the ball back.
Offensively we're keeping the Slow Build Up and Possession based play, giving the team a chance to move up the pitch as a unit and outmanoeuvre the opposition, waiting for an opening to play that killer ball.
Most player instructions will be kept on Balanced, letting them decide positions depending on the situation.
Paterson will be told to Cut Inside, his pace meaning he can make a darting run behind the defence in a more central position.
Grimes is told to Get Forward, to dictate play further up the field.
Both wing-backs are set to Join The Attack and Overlap, giving the side some extra width and creating overloads.
Development Plans
Swansea has a very young squad, but none of the players will develop into top stars.
The best you have is Cabango, who has the potential to reach 82 OVR.
As well as him, look to train up Michael Obafemi, Piroe, Ntcham, Grimes, Liam Walsh, Manning and Tivonge Rushesha, who could all play a decent squad role over the next few seasons.
Transfer Market
Starting transfer budget: £8.77 million
Starting wage budget: £69,000 a week
Who should go
All the players apart from Cabango will probably get the boot at some point, so you can be pretty ruthless of who you get rid of, just make sure you are bringing in suitable replacements.
It's probably a better bet to trust in youth academy players who are similarly rated to fringe players and will likely have higher potential, which will give you some more freedom when shipping out some dead weight.
Loans
Laird is the only first-team player who is on loan at the club, so prepare to lose him at the end of the season unless you like playing with him and decide to pursue a deal.
Rhys Williams is the other loanee in the squad, but won't be playing much of a role in his time with the club.
There are a few players out on loan, but much like the rest of the team, they don't have great potential, so don't get too excited about their return to the club.
Who to Sign
It's such a tight budget but you may be able to bring in a couple of players if you look for cheap wonderkids or hidden gems.
Reinforcements will be needed everywhere at some point, so it's up to you where to tackle first.
The first point of call for us is a new striker, someone who can take the chances that come their way and also give a bit more pace to the attack.
There are some great options for young strikers who could become brilliant, most notably Youssoufa Moukoko.
Striker options
Player | Age | Club | Cost | Wage | OVR | POT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Youssoufa Moukoko | 16 | Borussia Dortmund | £3.3m | £4k | 69 | 89 |
Giacomo Raspadori | 21 | Sassuolo | £9m | £19k | 74 | 87 |
Karim Adeyemi | 19 | Red Bull Salzburg | £4.7m | £11k | 72 | 86 |
Brian Brobbey | 19 | RB Leipzig | £6.5m | £27k | 73 | 85 |
Facundo Farias | 18 | Colon | £6m | £4k | 73 | 85 |
With the wing-backs playing a vital role in chance creation and also needed to get up and down the field, it is probably worth investing there too - especially with Laird leaving when his loan expires.
Wing-back options
Player | Age | Club | Cost | Wage | OVR | POT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Luca Netz | 18 | Borussia Monchengladbach | £2.9m | £3k | 69 | 85 |
Aaron Hickey | 19 | Bologna | £3.7m | £8k | 71 | 84 |
Hugo Siquet | 18 | Standard Liege | £3m | £2k | 70 | 84 |
Liberato Cacace | 20 | Sint-Truidense | £4.2m | £7k | 72 | 83 |
Viktor Korniienko | 22 | Shakhtar Donetsk | £3.4m | £430 | 71 | 82 |
Board Expectations
There are three high priority expectations from the board, Youth Development, Financial and Domestic Success.
This is quite a tough combination, as you need to fight for and then gain promotion, while making a profit, not spending much money, and bringing in Youth Academy players!
Luckily, Brand Exposure is of low priority, so if the task counters the financial objective you can discount it.
You aren't in European competitions, so Continental Success is a very low priority, as there is nothing to be fought for!