Brighton have a surprisingly large transfer budget in FM26 GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images
When players boot up the game for the first time, they will each be looking for a different type and level of challenge. For some, one of the most important questions to address before they pick a team in Football Manager 2026 is figuring out who has the most money to spend. Others will want to know who has the least.
The Athletic has gone and done the legwork for you. Want to know who has the biggest budget in the Premier League? Or who has the least money in La Liga?
Here, The Athletic runs the rule over the richest teams in the game, detailing the transfer and remaining wage budgets for over 200 teams in 12 leagues across men's and women's football, as well as the 25 richest teams overall in FM26.
It comes as no surprise that England's top division is home to the teams that can spend the most in the transfer market.
Three teams have more than £50million to spend (Brighton, Tottenham and Brentford), while a further five have at least £40m at their disposal (Manchester City, Newcastle, Liverpool and Crystal Palace).
City have over £800,000 available in their weekly wage budget, by far the most of any team. Manchester United also have a healthy remaining wage budget on offer for new recruits, but you will need to generate funds first.
More than half of the clubs in La Liga begin each game with a negative remaining wage budget.
Elche, Alaves, Sevilla, Osasuna, Oviedo, Real Madrid, Getafe, Levante, Espanyol, Barcelona, Villarreal and Valencia are all spending more on wages than their initial budget allows for. Valencia find themselves in the worst wage situation, as they will need to free up at least £50,000 per week before adding new recruits.
Barcelona (£56million) and Real Madrid (£43m) top the spending charts, with just two other teams, Athletic Club and Real Sociedad, beginning each new game with more than £15m at their disposal.
Three teams (Pisa, Cremonese, Lecce) have less than £10m and a further four have a touch more than £20m on offer (Como, Lazio, Milan, Atalanta).
Despite most teams beginning each save with a decent transfer budget, the majority of sides don't have much of a remaining wage budget on offer. You will either need to sell players or reduce your transfer budget to allow for new signings.
Bayern Munich have the most money in the Bundesliga to spend, with £30million. This, though, speaks to the division's relative financial limits, as 13 teams have a larger transfer budget in FM26.
Four other clubs (Leverkusen, Leipzig, Dortmund and Frankfurt) have at least £10m on offer.
Despite not having huge starting transfer budgets, Stuttgart and Hoffenheim both have at least £100k per week in remaining wage budget available to them.
Roses are red, violets are blue, and Paris Saint-Germain are by far the richest team in Ligue 1 in Football Manager -- does that surprise you?
PSG's starting transfer budget of £44million accounts for nearly half the league's total, while six clubs (Auxerre, Angers SCO, Lorient, Nantes, Havre and Lyon) begin the game with no transfer budget at all.
When it comes to remaining wage budgets, only one side, Nice, have any money available for new signings, meaning the other 17 will have to do a lot of selling and reworking of their transfer budgets to allow for new additions.
It comes as no surprise that two clubs that were relegated from the Premier League last year, Ipswich and Southampton, have the highest transfer budgets with £25million and £20m, respectively.
Wrexham have £1million available, which is more than £2.5m lower than the league average. But their remaining wage budget of £19,000 per week is one of the higher totals throughout the league.
QPR, Sheffield Wednesday and West Brom each begin the game with no funds available, with Portsmouth sitting a hair above that trio with just £50,000 on offer.
If you remove the transfer budgets of Fenerbahce and Galatasaray, the other 16 Turkish Super Lig teams only have an average of £5.1million to spend. Fenerbahce and Galatasaray have nearly 10 times that available to them.
There is not much in the way of remaining wage budget available for most sides, but four clubs, Besiktas, Trabzonspor, Goztepe and Kocaelispor have more than £7million at their disposal.
Overall, there is a healthy chunk of money to spend across multiple teams in the Turkish Super Lig.
Lionel Messi's side have a decent transfer budget, but there are five MLS teams with more money to spend than Inter Miami in FM26.
New England Revolution have the most money (£15.25million), with Atalanta United and Chicago Fire (£14.75m) joint-second.
If you are looking for a tougher challenge, six teams, Minnesota United, Houston Dynamo, Vancouver Whitecaps, FC Dallas, San Jose Earthquakes and the Colorado Rapids all have £1million or less in available transfer budget.
Arsenal have the highest budget in the WSL, with 50 per cent more on offer than London City and Chelsea, who round off the three richest teams in the WSL in FM26.
Everton lead the way when it comes to remaining wage budget, but also have the smallest transfer budget on offer, with just £50,000.
West Ham find themselves in one of the more difficult spots, with the second-lowest transfer budget (£75,000) and the fourth-lowest remaining wage budget (£1,510).
All 12 teams in the NWSL in FM26 begin the game with the exact same transfer budget -- £375,000.
That level playing field puts a greater focus on each team's remaining wage budget and your ability to generate funds from selling players.
San Diego Wave FC and Washington Spirit both have north of £7,000 per week on offer to sign new players, while three other teams, KC Current, Utah Royals and Bay FC, each have more than £6,000 per week in available wage budget.
Reigning Liga F champions Barcelona are by far the richest side in FM26, with a shade under £500,000 to spend on new players.
Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid are the only two other clubs with a transfer budget in excess of £100,000.
A total of 10 of the division's 16 teams begin with a negative wage budget, which makes dethroning Barcelona a difficult task.
Half of the league has a transfer budget to work with, and the other half does not.
No team has more than £160,000 to use, while wage budgets are hard to come by, too, with just Lens and Les Marseillaises beginning each FM26 save with money available.
OL Lyonnes, the dominant side in France, do not have a transfer or remaining wage budget, but are largely expected to win the league despite that financial shortcoming.
The only team with £100million to spend is Brighton, who have at least £40m more at their disposal than the teams in second (Tottenham) and third place (Barcelona).
Somewhat surprisingly, Brentford make the top five, with £55million to spend and a healthy remaining wage budget north of £150,000 per week.
Other fun takeaways include Ipswich having more money to spend in FM26 than Arsenal -- they are one of two Championship teams in the top 25, along with Southampton.