Football Manager 2024 has been released live on Steam through early access and fans of the popular game are already sinking their teeth into the latest edition.
The series is now over 30-year old and an impressive worldwide database of clubs, players and staff gives gamers the opportunity to take charge of their beloved clubs and attempt to guide them to unprecedented successes. Just for fun, we simulated three years into the future with the new game to see how clubs across the EFL and the rest of the world had fared.
Here is how the Sunderland starting XI looked in our simulation at the close of the 2026 summer transfer window:
1. GK - Leopold Wahlstedt
After two seasons as Blackburn’s number one he loses that spot and Sunderland pay just over £10m for his services in January 2026
2. RB - Joe Rankin-Costello
It’s a double signing from Rovers in January 2026 as the full back also joins for just over £10m the same month as Wahlstedt
3. LB - Josh Tymon
Arriving for £3.5m from Swansea in the 2025 summer transfer window he quickly establishes himself as Sunderland’s first choice left back
4. CB - Daniel Ballard
Club captain and a stalwart of the Sunderland defence throughout our simulation with over 100 league appearances in three seasons