Football Manager 2023 has that Champions League-winning quality

The football season is steaming towards winter, as managers up and down the country are covering their three-piece suits and tracksuits with fancy cashmere coats and fleeces embroidered with club insignia. As has been customary for years, the latest iteration of Football Manager arrives to warm fans up through the cooling months, and deliver the most detailed iteration of the deepest football management sim in the world.

Of the showcase new features in Football Manager 2023, it's hard not to start with the glitzy UEFA Club Competition licensing, which means that should your team make it into any of the three big European competitions – the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, or UEFA Europa Conference League – you'll have all the presentation and experience you'd get watching the matches live on TV. There are  unique walkout cutscenes, those starry branded match balls, authentic trophies, and, of course, the iconic competition anthems, giving those special weeknights the sense of occasion they truly deserve.

Of course, not everyone can be expected to compete in the upper echelons of European competition right away. Whether you're trying to get your local hometown into the Football League or managing a team in the Polish Ekstraklasa, there are meaningful improvements this year that everyone will benefit from.

Let's start with matchday AI. Both AI managers and players on the field have been upgraded by myriad variables when making those big decisions on the pitch. Things like cup ties, playing against in-form teams, and relegation battles, will all have an impact on managerial AI decisions, making each match feel like more of a duel with the man in the other dugout. On the pitch, meanwhile, goalkeepers have a greater arsenal of saves at their disposal, defenders are more adaptable and read interceptions better, and those first touches up front have been given some extra polish (among countless other fine-tunings).

The biggest overhaul in Football Manager 2023 is probably the transfer and recruitment system. The new Squad Planner will clearly show you your player options for each role on the field, letting you filter out players you plan on selling, filter in youth players you see rising through the ranks over the next season or two, and setting parameters that really let you plan your long-term vision.

Aiding this process is the new Experience Matrix, which categorises your players and colour-coding them based on what stage of their careers they're at. It will give you a feel for the youth-veteran demographics in your squad, and when it's time to start blooding new players while putting the old warhorses out to pasture. Recruitment Meetings, meanwhile, have been revamped to look ahead to potential future transfers and reflect on the success of previous transfers with the Director of Football, Assistant manager, and Chief Scout at your club.

Your interactions with those dastardly agents will be more nuanced too, expanding on the 'Ask Agent Availability' feature introduced last season to let you fine-tune aspects of a contract even before you approach a club so you're in a better position when the time comes to make an offer (much like in real life). Likewise, for existing players in your squad you can feel out a player's contract demands through their agent before going public, in order to avoid rocking the boat and causing potential squad morale problems.

There are changes up and down the pitch in FM 2023, from a new Supporter Confidence system that lets you get closer to a club's fans, to a timeline that tracks the highs and lows of your whole career.

Whether you're looking to step right in to guide a top team to a title that's eluded them for years, or work your way up from humble beginnings, Football Manager 2023 makes those footballing fantasies possible, with more detail and ways to enact your vision than ever before. The game is available on PC, consoles, and mobile, so pick your platform on the official site, and begin your managerial odyssey today.