FOOTBALL MANAGER 2026

ÚJPEST FC

In this career, I am trying to make my beloved team flourish and make it a determining factor, first on the domestic front and later in international cup series. The club is the 3rd most successful club in Hungary with its 20 league titles and 11 cup wins. In terms of fans, it is clearly the second most popular club in the country. The club plays its home games at the Szusza Ferenc Stadium. The stadium was built in 1922 and underwent minor renovations in 2001 and 2017. It currently seats 13,500 spectators. There are advanced plans in the game and in real life for a new, modern stadium, which is expected to be completed by 2027.

Supporters:

However, the past decade and a half has been characterized by stagnation and agony in real life, as the previous owner, the Belgian Duchatelet, did not make any sacrifices for the club, and during this period the club became one of the leaders of the Hungarian top flight in terms of club building, youth, player base and infrastructure. The term "big team" was only mentioned by supporters of other teams in our country in relation to our club because of our fan base. In 2024, however, the light at the end of the tunnel flashed, the hated Belgian owner was bought out by MOL, thanks to which a new era was ushered in.

The club has become significantly stronger financially, thanks to which the player base underwent a significant blood transfusion in 2024, thanks to which the team achieved a stable mid-table position and finally finished in 7th place in the championship. The player base has been significantly strengthened for this year's 2025-2026 season, and I will try to get the most out of this basic state. My plans for the next 5 seasons are as follows:

• 2025-2026: Top-3 in the league
• 2026-2027: Top-3 in the league + gaining useful experience in international cup series
• 2027-2028: Fight for the Championship title
• 2028-2029: Fight for the Championship title + qualify to the group stage of any continental cup
• 2029-2030: Become champions

It'll be nice to read a story about Hungarian football, especially one produced by a fan of the club being managed. Good luck!

Roland Duchâtelet is someone I had forgotten about, he's known here in the UK for his equally as awful ownership of Charlton Athletic.

I'm very ujpest that you chose Ujpest as your team! I much prefer Puskas 😉 

Seirously though, I always love following saves from fans of the team, this is going to be one hell of a journey with some more than managable targets early doors!

Wow, this is going to be hard to read 🙂... As someone from Pécs, I've never really been a fan of the teams from Budapest. Still, no matter who knocks Fradi off the top, I'll be really happy. 

Best of luck!

INTRODUCTION:

I started working at the club on June 23, 2025, where I was offered the following opportunities:

Board expectations:

• Top half finish in the league
• Work within the wage budget
• Sign players under the age of 23 for the first team
• Develop players using the club's youth system
• Don't sign players over the age of 32

Supporters expectations:

• Be competitive against Ferencváros
• Qualify for the Europe League
• Play attacking football
• Develop players using the club's youth system

Financial opportunities:

The club has particularly good financial opportunities at the Hungarian level, thanks to the financial situation of the new ownership group. At the start, our balance was 3.065.633 euros, to which a transfer budget of 2.000.000 euros belonged. Our wage budget was 140.478 euros per week, which was fully utilized. We had a particularly high sponsorship contract at the domestic level, 5.840.513 euros per year. Our scouting budget was set at 144.000 euros per year.

Our FFP indicator is fine, we are currently at +13,440,000 euros:

After a quick assessment of the player base and financial possibilities, the usual pre-season meeting with the board took place, during which I raised the stakes and, instead of the top-6 performance set by the board, I promised to take the team to one of the positions worthy of international cup participation in the first season:

As a result of the successful negotiation, our transfer budget was immediately increased to 2.400.000 euros, and perhaps more importantly, our wage budget was increased to 154.000 euros per week. This immediately gave us sufficient room to make changes to our squad!

SQUAD:

The squad is good at Hungarian level, it can be competitive enough in the domestic league, but of course almost every area needs development. There are positions where there are simply not enough players, and in several positions the quality needs to be improved. In the long term, I would definitely like to have a Hungarian core in the team, and I plan to sign players who are sufficiently universal, i.e. can play in several positions. After reviewing the roster, the decision was made to play a 4-2-3-1 lineup with the team. But let's see who we start working with together!

GOALKEEPERS:

• Riccardo Piscitelli (31y - ITA - 6.500/w - 2026) 
• Banai Dávid (31y - 1.500/w - 2026)
• Juhász Bence (19y - 650/w - 2027) - on loan at Kazincbarcika
• Svékus Olivér (18y - 65/w - 2026) - on loan at Fehérvár
• Dombó Dávid (32y - 1.300/w - 2026) - on loan from Kazincbarcika
• Szentkirályi Szilárd (18y - 65/w - 2026)
• Király Gábor (19y - 350/w - 2026)

The team is in good shape in terms of both quality and quantity in goal, the starting player will clearly be Piscitelli, and behind him the experienced Banai will act as a substitute. The emergency reserve is provided by Dombó, who also has sufficient experience and is currently on loan from Kazincbarcika. Among the young players, only Juhász has promising abilities, he is spending this season on loan in Kazincbarcika, from where he will hopefully return to us having developed even further. 

I don't expect any serious movement in the goalkeeper position, although it is possible that there will be a transfer here as well. Piscitelli is clearly the number one goalkeeper, but he has a very high salary of 6.500 euros per week, and the Arabs are seriously interested in him. So I will assess the possibility of replacing him, and if I can replace him qualitatively, then it is possible that he will leave, especially if we receive a financially advantageous offer for him.

RIGHT BACKS:

• Bese Barnabás (31y - 2.800/w - 2027)
• Baranyai Nimród (21y - 1.200/w - 2027) - on loan at Kazincbarcika
• Kovács Dominik (24 y- 490/w - 2026) - on loan at BVSC
• Márkus Dominik (18y - 200/w - 2026)
• Hallay Zalán (19y - 160/w - 2026)

After assessing the individual positions, I had to realize that this position is one of the biggest problems. Bese is the only quality player for this position, so I will definitely have to sign him here, since Baranyai is also spending the entire season on loan in Kazincbarcika. And my two young players (Márkus and Hallay) do not give me high hopes...

CENTRE BACKS:

• André Duarte (27y - POR - 4.500/w - 2028)
• Joao Nunes (29y - POR - 4.300/w - 2027)
• Fiola Attila (35y - 5.250/w - 2026)
• Davit Kobouri (27y - GEO - 4.000/w - 2027)
• Máté Zsolt (27y - 600/w - 2026)
• Babós Levente (21y - 1.100/w - 2027) - on loan at Diósgyőr
• Fehér Csanád (23y - 600/w - 2026)
• Kaczvinszki Dominik (19y - 875/w - 2027)
• Horváth Dániel (19y - 240/w - 2026)
• Mándi Milán (18y - 390/w - 2027)
• Dévényi Zsombor (17y - 65/w - 2027)

We are qualitatively okay at the center-back position, according to my plans, Duarte will be the pillar of the defense and Nunes and Fiola will alternate next to him. Unfortunately, Fiola is past his prime, at 35 years old it is unlikely that he will last the whole season. Moreover, Fiola and Nunes are not the fastest players either, so a transfer is likely to be expected here, we need to speed up the defense a bit. Kobouri is not a bad player, he is excellent as a substitute, but I don't count on him in the long term. If I can get rid of him in a profitable deal, I will definitely let him go. Among the reserves, only Kaczvinszki has the right potential, I will try to give him as many opportunities as possible during the season so that he can develop as quickly as possible. Babós, who is currently on loan at Diósgyőr, is not a starter for the big team of the future either, but we will see how he develops this year, and then his fate will also be decided.

LEFT BACKS:

• Tiago Goncalves (24y - POR - 5.500/w - 2027)
• Gergényi Bence (27y - 3.100/w - 2027)
• Tamás Krisztián (30y - 2.400/w - 2027)
• Simon Balázs (20y - 180/w - 2026)

In defense, we are clearly the best in this position, in Goncalves and Gergényi I have two very good players at my disposal. Goncalves is more of an offensive player, while Gergényi is a more defensive-minded left-back. Behind them, I also have Tamás, who is also a good player, but he will probably leave because he will not get many playing opportunities this season. Moreover, he is already 30 years old, so there is still money to be made from him now and his salary will at least be freed up. The young Simon will train in the reserve team, we will see at what rate he develops.

DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS:

• Tom Lacoux (23y - FRA - 5.250/w - 2027)
• Damian Rasak (29y - POL - 3.500/w - 2027)
• Mező Dezső (20y - 390/w - 2026)
• Helmich Pál (20y - 1.800/w - 2027)

In the defensive midfielder position, Lacoux will be a key player, who can also be used in the CM position based on his skills. The 23-year-old Frenchman is a Bordeaux graduate, and I count on him as a key player in the long term. His alternative will be the Polish Rasak, who is less effective in forward play, but can provide stability to the team. I will loan one of the two youngsters (Mező, Helmich) for his development. I do not plan to make transfers for this position.

CENTRAL MIDFIELDERS:

• Arijan Ademi (34y - MCD - 6.500/w - 2026)
• Geiger Bálint (21y - 1.200/w - 2027)
• Palkó Áron (17y - 65/w - 2027)
• Kollarik Tamás (19y - 120/w - 2026)
• Mucsányi Miron (19y - 500/w - 2027) - on loan at Diósgyőr

In the box-to-box position, the number one candidate is clearly Macedonian Ademi, who I hope will be a real leader in midfield. Ademi was previously a regular for Dinamo Zagreb for more than 10 years and also the team captain. At 34, he is obviously past his peak, but he can still be a decisive player for us for a season or two. Behind him is the young Geiger, whom I would definitely like to give a chance to play. I might sign for this position because I want to give Geiger playing time, but I wouldn't count on him as a starter. I currently only have 4 players for the two possible positions in the middle of the midfield (Lacoux - Rasak - Ademi - Geiger), and I will definitely need 5 players for the proper rotation. Among the youngsters, only Palkó has the potential to fight his way into the team in the future.

ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS:

• Iuri Medeiros (30y - POR - 8.250/w - 2027)
• Matija Ljujic (31y - SRB - 4.700/w - 2026)
• Tajti Mátyás (27y - 3.800/w - 2027)
• Dékei Márk (22y - 1.200/w - 2026) - on loan at Fehérvár

We could also say that it is a problem of abundance. The 30-year-old Medeiros is clearly above the league level, maybe not even at the same level. He was previously a key player for Sporting and Genoa. In addition to the CAM position, he is also comfortable in the RW position. His participation in the starting team cannot be questioned. Behind him is Ljujic, who is also an excellent player, and Tajti, who was raised in the Barcelona academy. Tajti is younger than Ljujic, and I plan to play him in the CM position during the season. The young Dékei has good skills, but he would not get much playing time behind the above trio, so the best thing for his development is that he is currently on loan. Unfortunately, I will have to sacrifice someone from the above trio, because it would have a destructive effect on the team spirit if one of them were to be permanently left out, even from the match squad. This departure will probably be Ljujic...

RIGHT WINGERS:

• Aljosa Matko (25y - SVN - 5.250/w - 2028)
• Necula Krisztián (19y - 350/w - 2026)
• Simon Krisztián (34y - 490/w - 2025) - retires on 2025.06.24
• Vas Bence (20y - 250/w - 2026)
• Sarkadi Kristóf (19y - 410/w - 2027) - on loan at BVSC
• Árki Marcell (19y - 130/w - 2026)

The former Slovenian top scorer Matko will definitely be in the starting line-up. Behind him, the young Necula could also play as a substitute, who has impressive qualities, but his speed wouldn't be 5... Seriously incomprehensible - it's like he has one leg. Simon is a former club icon, he is still in the squad at his previous clubs, but he will retire within days. He had an unlucky career. He played for Feyenoord, torn knee ligaments. He was a national team player, a Bundesliga contract, then another torn knee ligament. So I will definitely have to sign him here, because the two young players behind them don't have much potential. Sarkadi is spending the season on loan at BVSC, hopefully he will play a lot and develop there.

LEFT WINGERS:

• Horváth Krisztofer (23y - 4.700/w - 2027)
• Giorgi Beridze (28y - GEO - 4.700/w - 2027)
• Varga Balázs (21y - 875/w - 2026) - on loan at Budafok
• George Ganea (26y - ROM - 2.000/w - 2026)
• Dénes Adrián (21y - 1.100/w - 2027) - on loan at BVSC
• Tamási Domonkos (20y - 200/w - 2026)
• Müller Márk (20y - 190/w - 2026)

I have no reason to complain here either, as I have two excellent players at my disposal in Horváth and Beridze. According to my plans, Horváth will start, and Beridze, who can be used on both wings, will replace him. Basically, if it weren't for Medeiros, I would have Horváth permanently in the CAM position. Presumably, he will still appear in the matches there. Varga, who is currently on loan at second-tier Budafok, is a great promise, hopefully he will return to us next year with many matches under his belt. Ganea will clearly leave, unfortunately he is not even close to the players listed above. The young Dénes is also a big question mark as to what he can get out of himself during his loan at BVSC. Tamási will presumably be loaned out, and Müller will be released.

STRIKERS:

• Fran Brodic (28y - CRO - 6.250/w - 2027)
• Milan Tucic (28y - SVN - 3.300/w - 2027)
• Kárász Benjámin (17y - 65/w - 2027)
• Katona Benedek (17y - 65/w - 2027)
• Tóth Ákos (20y - 360/w - 2026)
• Gleofilo Vlijter (25y - SUR - 1.200/w - 2028)

In the striker position, the Croatian Brodic is the clear number one candidate, his alternative will be the Slovenian Tucic. Behind them, there are two very promising young talents available in the person of Kárász and Katona, I hope to be able to get the most out of them in a few years. Tóth will probably be among the reserves, and Vlijter will definitely leave. I do not plan to sign him for the striker position for now.

TRANSFER CLAUSES

IN:

• Peter Ambrose - Aberdeen - 20% of the player's next transfer fee go to Újpest - can be activated for 26.000 euros

OUT:

• Damian Rasak - Górnik Zabrze - 20% of the player's next transfer fee go to Górnik Zabrze - can be activated for 67.000 euros
• Gleofilo Vlijter - OFK Beograd - 20% of the player's next transfer fee go to OFK Beograd
• Tiago Goncalves - Hermannstadt - 10% of the player's next transfer fee go to Hermannstadt

None of the loan players have an option to buy. 

STAFF:

As you can see in the pictures below, this area also needed a lot of development. There were roles where we didn’t have any staff members at all, and in other positions the skills of the current staff left something to be desired. That’s why I tried to tune this area up a bit right after starting. To start, I assessed the skills of each staff member and looked at where I needed to bring in new people. The area that needed the most development was the skills of the coaches, as at the beginning of my career the average coaching qualification for each type of training was only 2.67 on a scale of 5.00...

That's why I was very active in hiring crew members, and I ended up hiring the following personnel:

Of course, there were some people leaving, I also terminated the contracts of several crew members:

I had to pay 36.000 euros in severance pay due to contract terminations. After the developments and modifications, we managed to improve the composition of the professional staff and the training categories:

FRIENDLY MATCHES:

During the preparation, we played a total of 6 matches, in which we tried to practice the tactical elements, which went quite well:

TRANSFER SEASON - 2025 Summer

When mapping the squad, it was clear which positions would be prioritized for reinforcement during the summer transfer window. I definitely had to bring:

• a quality right-back to Bese,
• had to find an alternative to Matko in the right wing position.
• I needed one more player in the midfield axis, as I only had 4 players for the 2 positions there
• In addition, I had more players in the CAM position than I absolutely needed.

These were the priorities, and I tried to achieve all of this while signing Hungarian players whenever possible, thereby increasing the Hungarian axis of the team. I think I managed to solve the missing positions quite well, and I was also able to give the squad enough depth during the summer. 

So let's see who came and who left the team:

The first player to join the team in the midfield axis was Kata Mihály, who played in the CDM/CM position. The 23-year-old, 5-time Hungarian national team midfielder can be considered an extra signing, as he is a quality player who can be used in several positions. With him, my rotation options in midfield have significantly increased. His contract with MTK was due to expire in the summer of 2026, and he did not want to extend it, so I managed to buy him out relatively cheaply, for 650.000 euros + bonuses. He had a very high salary requirement, which I finally managed to negotiate down to 7.000 euros per week, but he really represents a serious reinforcement, and in addition, I have to calculate with Ademi's replacement in the longer term. Kata signed a long-term contract until the summer of 2029.

The second signing was due to the discussions in the CAM position. Of the 3 people available there, I finally decided that Ljujic would leave. The 25-year-old Szuhodovszki Soma who arrives here will also provide ample depth to the position, but I will be able to use him in the CM and RW positions as well. Debrecen put him on the transfer list and set a buyout price of only 210.000 euros. It would have been a sin to miss him for that amount, especially since the proportion of Hungarian players in the team also improved with him. He signed his new contract until the summer of 2027 for a weekly salary of 2.800 euros.

After the two midfielders, the third most important signing came, at right-back. I received a lot of player recommendations and after a long research, my choice fell on the 27-year-old Croatian player Frane Maglica, who has amazingly good values ​​at the Hungarian level. I acquired him from the Varazdin team, after a little bargaining, for 400.000 euros, which in my opinion was a very good deal in terms of price-performance ratio. I signed a contract with him until the summer of 2027, with a weekly salary of 6.500 euros. In him, I found my number one right-back!

My fourth new signing came in the RW position in the person of 24-year-old Kovácsréti Márk. Nyíregyháza put him on the transfer list, and I had to pay 325.000 euros for him. Kovácsréti can be used on both sides of the pitch in both the RW and LW positions. With him, we have strengthened a lot in terms of quality, and our variation options have also expanded significantly. Kovácsréti signed his contract until the summer of 2028 with a weekly salary of 3.800 euros.

I was completely satisfied with the signing of the above 4 new players, and the transfer season was over for me. It would have been... But life intervened, because at the end of July, in the first league match, my newly signed right-back, Maglica, was out for 6 months - he broke his leg in the first match! Knowing this, I obviously still had to consider the right-back position as a hole, so I started looking for a player there again. At first, I just wanted to bring someone on loan behind Bese, but there was no valuable opportunity on the market, so in the end I had to sign him again. My choice fell on the 27-year-old Argentinian Alejandro Molina, who appeared among the player recommendations, whom I signed from Argentina, from the San Martin team, for 94.000 euros. Molina also has very good qualities, I will play the autumn season with him and Bese. Molina signed his contract until the summer of 2028 with a weekly salary of 3.200 euros.

Of course, there were also departures from the team during the summer, as there were several players in the squad who were unnecessary and some who became surplus to requirements:

My young striker, Tóth Ákos was loaned to the second division team BVSC in the hope of more playing opportunities.

30-year-old Tamás Krisztián left the LB position, Paks applied for him and bought him for 125.000 euros. Tamás is a good player, but behind Goncalves and Gergényi he would not have had a chance.

In the CAM position, Matija Ljujic became surplus to requirements in the shadow of Medeiros and Tajti, so I definitely wanted to sell him. We couldn’t sell him, but at least he left the team on loan to Hapoel Beer Sheva in Israel, who will have an option to buy him for 180.000 euros.

Among the unnecessary players, I managed to sell the Romanian George Ganea, he was bought by the Turan Tovuz team for 59.000 euros.

CB Fehér Csanád was loaned out for this season to the second division team Szentlőrinc.

Gleofilo Vlijter was absolutely overstaffed in the forward line, so I definitely wanted to sell him, but in the end he was only taken on loan on the last day. He is spending this season with Ruzomberok.

I signed a total of 5 players, I paid 1.679.000 euros for them, the weekly salary of the new players is 23.300 euros.

6 players left in the summer, I received a total of 208.000 euros for them, with their departure 10.860 euros per week was freed up from the wage bill.

In summary, we can say that we have had a successful transfer season, the arrivals were all quality signings, and with the departures, I have begun to reform the squad and remove players who are not a good fit:

Interestingly, here is a summary of the teams that spent the most in the Hungarian summer transfer season:

2025. JULY

After the 6 preparation matches in July, the domestic championship started at the end of the month, with a derby against Ferencváros in the opening round, and an away game. This match was a real roller coaster, a thriller! We started the match very well, we were characterized by a brave game, which paid off, as in the 4th minute, after a skillful combination of play, my right-back, Maglica, who was moving forward on the right side from a pass from Lacoux, scored a goal, making it 0-1!

Despite the lead, we stayed on the attack and held on to possession well. However, in the 16th minute, our first defensive lapse was punished by the opponent, and Joseph equalized with my defenders assisting, making it 1-1...

The goal we conceded didn't dampen our spirits, we attacked throughout the first half, but we didn't manage to score another goal. We went into the break with a draw and based on the play we showed, I had no reason to change. We went into the second half confident, but my team took a 180-degree turn. At the beginning of the half, we produced a 10-minute short circuit, which immediately put us 2 goals behind thanks to Varga's double. 1-3... And to make matters worse, my right-back, Maglica, who had been playing well and scoring goals up until then, was injured in the 67th minute - it turned out later that he had a broken leg and would be out for 6 months. I reorganized the team a bit and refreshed it. Despite the 1-3, the team moved forward with honor, we had chances, but I had the feeling that we wouldn't score a goal here until Christmas. This is how we arrived at the end of regular time, when the referee announced 5 minutes of extra time.

In the 94th minute, substitute Beridze dribbled his way into the penalty area, where he brought Matko into play with a clever pass, who shot the ball into the net, making it 2-3! After the kick-off, after an aggressive attack, we managed to get the ball and almost copied the previous attack, Beridze dribbled the same way, but he could no longer pass, the defenders kicked him - we got a penalty in the 95th minute! There was huge tension in the stadium, Horváth stood there for the penalty - his nerves were like ropes, he didn't make a mistake, 3-3! With this, we brought the match back from the grave in the last two minutes and scored a very valuable point on the field of our ancient enemy!

After one round, we were in 6th place in the league at the end of the month:

2025. AUGUST:

In August, we had 5 league matches. First, after the away derby, we had two home matches against MTK and Zalaegerszeg. We won both matches very confidently:

After the two big wins, we visited Diósgyőr in Miskolc. We were able to respond immediately to the early home goal, and we played with superiority throughout the game, but we had no answer to another goal conceded at the beginning of the second half - we suffered our first defeat of the season:

After the somewhat unexpected defeat, we had 2 more matches to play in the month, at home against Debrecen and away against Paks. I was confident that the team would find its way back to winning ways, and I was not disappointed, we won both matches with ease:

Overall - except for the derailment in Diósgyőr - we had a successful month, we managed to win four of our five matches and the performance we showed in them is more than encouraging for the future. Several important players (Nunes, Horváth, Medeiros) also suffered from injuries during the month, but the teammates who replaced them also performed well. 

At the end of the month, after 6 rounds, we are in second place in the table with 13 points, but we are already 5 points ahead of Ferencváros, who were a bit stuck at the beginning of the season:

2025. SEPTEMBER

September was a fairly short month in terms of match load, as we only had two matches due to the break due to international matches. In the middle of the month, we hosted lower-division Mezőfalva in the 3rd round of the Hungarian Cup, where we won 5-0 with my players who had had fewer opportunities so far. 

At the end of the month, we visited Nyíregyháza for an away league match, where we also left the field victorious, winning 3-1.

Overall, it was a perfect month, we also advanced to the cup, where we will face Dunaújváros at the end of October. We are still in 2nd place in the league. But what is more important is that our 16 points in 7 games mean 2.28 points per game:

2025. OCTOBER

After a start to the season that exceeded expectations, we had 4 matches in October, of which 3 were league matches and 1 was cup match. Two of the three league matches were considered to be close matches against Puskás Akadémia and Győr, as these teams will presumably also be competing for the international cup spots. 

However, before the matches, the newcomer Kisvárda came on the home field, which initially assumed a confident victory. Well, that was not the case... We were two goals behind in the first 20 minutes. We attacked throughout the entire match, and soon we scored, but despite all our attempts, despite our 30 shots on goal, we were unable to even equalize. Kisvárda took the 3 points with a 0.39 XG indicator:

So we didn't travel to Felcsút for the away match against Puskás Akadémia with the most ideal background. The home team took the lead twice, which we were fortunately able to respond to both times, but we had no chance of winning this match. On a positive note, at least we didn't lose:

Against Győr at home, I was confident that we would finally come out of this negative spiral, because we had not managed to win for a long time, and it would have been timely to finally win a match in the championship. We started the match well, we took the lead with Goncalves' goal, we had several great chances for the second goal, which could have finally closed the match. But we didn't, and Győr punished us, they equalized in the last stage of the match:

In the last match of the month, we visited Dunaújváros in the 4th round of the Hungarian Cup, where we defeated the home team 5-2:

Our October was quite poor, with only one victory in the cup against a lower-division opponent:

Thanks to this subdued performance, we slipped back to 5th place in the table, with 18 points after 10 rounds:

2025. NOVEMBER:

After the failure in October, I was confident that a victory in the cup at the end of the month would put the team back on the winning path, and we would climb the table with 3 points again. The perfect opportunity for this was the other newcomer Kazincbarcika at home, against whom we could have regained our lost confidence. We took the lead, but the small team was able to turn the game around, and in the end we almost had to be happy with the equalizer despite our 28 shots. Another disappointing draw at home:

After 4 winless league games, we traveled to Debrecen, where we lost again with a goal conceded from a penalty. We attacked the entire game, had 23 shots, which was combined with an XG of 2.70. But we were unable to score:

After the match, I called a team meeting where I tried to pull the players out of the pit. This situation was especially infuriating because we were 5 games without a win, and except for the match against Puskás, we dominated all our opponents, we created a lot of chances, but we still couldn't turn this into victories. I told the team that I still believe in them, that they have the ability to achieve results. Based on their feedback, the meeting was useful and positive.

We were looking forward to our next home game against Diósgyőr with these signs. We managed to control the game in the first half, and in the end we won an easy 4-1 victory:

We closed November in Zalaegerszeg, where we also won 4-2:

This month was also uneventful, as our winless streak reached 5 games with the loss against Debrecen, but the team meeting that followed had a good effect on the team and we started to climb back up the table with two nice wins:

We still finished the championship in 5th place at the end of the month, but due to our series of stumbles, our deficit to the leader Győr increased to 7 points:

The most important thing, however, was that our luck finally turned around and we started winning games again.

2025. DECEMBER:

We ended the year in December with 3 matches that seemed winnable on paper without exception. But this year we couldn't rely on that, as we saw that we had previously failed to win against the two newcomers. We started with two home matches, both of which we confidently won against Paks (2-0) and Nyíregyháza (6-1), the second one was a complete massacre:

We closed the last match of the year against the newcomer Kisvárda away, against whom we had something to repay, as they had won at the Szusza stadium two months ago. We were already leading 2-0, but we gave up the advantage, and finally, with great luck, we managed to get the 3 points with a goal from Kovácsréti in the 94th minute:

We managed to have a perfect month in December, winning all three of our matches:

The team returned to 2nd place at the winter break, thanks to victories in their last 5 league matches:

At half-time, it became clear that the first four places would probably be decided between the quartet of Győr - Újpest - Puskás - Ferencváros, as only 4 points separate the four teams.

I deliberately started the immediate preparation for the winter transfer season only after the last match. To start with, I reviewed my players whose contracts expired in the summer of 2026 and offered new contracts to those who were worthy. The first headache came from my goalkeeper Piscitelli, who had been performing reliably well until then, as he announced that he did not wish to extend his contract! This came as a cold shower and significantly reshaped my transfer strategy.

I offered new contracts to the following players, and they accepted them:

TRANSFER SEASON - 2026. WINTER:

Piscitelli didn't want to extend his contract, so that was definitely the key factor in our transfer window. I had to sell Piscitelli urgently to get some money for him, otherwise he would have left for free in the summer. Contrary to tradition, he had to be sold before a suitable replacement was available - but there was no other option here.

In addition to signing a new goalkeeper, I did not plan a huge blood transfusion in the squad, but rather placed great emphasis on developing next year's squad, and I tried to further clean up the squad and get rid of people who were not of the right quality. Accordingly, I had a fairly active transfer window.

I was satisfied with Piscitelli's performance, but for the known reasons I had to sell him. Of the key players, only Fiola left, whose contract would have expired in the summer. Unfortunately, he was past his prime, at 36 I could no longer count on him, and he also had a very high salary, which could now be released. The departure of the other players was due to the squad being cleaned up, these four players (Máté, Necula, Vas, Árki) simply did not reach the level of quality that I need.

I received a total of 337.600 euros for the players I sold, and their departure freed up 13.080 euros per week from the salary cap.

Kobouri is not a bad player, but he has been given little role behind Duarte and Nunes, plus a new signing has arrived at the center-back position. In addition, the young Kaczvinszki performed well as a substitute in the fall, so Kobouri has clearly become redundant. I sent him on loan, but with an obligation to buy, so I will receive 400,000 euros for him in the summer. Helmich was loaned to the second division in the hope of more playing opportunities.

During the winter, the only player signed for money came in the center back position, 26-year-old Jan Král. He is a very physically strong, left-footed full-back, whom I signed to the starting team as a partner for Duarte almost for free, and with a very low salary requirement. 

I managed to make a great move to replace Piscitelli, as I borrowed the extremely talented 20-year-old Pécsi Ármin from Liverpool for a year and a half, until the summer of 2027. With him, I managed to replace the Italian goalkeeper in terms of quality, and he arrived for free, so we even came out of the transfer well financially.

I spent a total of 26.000 euros in the transfer season, but I managed to sell players for a total of 337.600 euros. The weekly salary of the players who arrived was only 4.500 euros, while the freed-up wage bill of the players who left was 13.080 euros per week.

For me, the most exciting part of every winter transfer season is negotiating and signing pre-contracts with players whose contracts expire in the summer - i.e. the planned implementation of free transfers! This time was no different, I managed to sign a good number of players:

Among the previously signed signings, the 30-year-old experienced Serbian centre-back, Radovan Pankov, who served the Red Star team for many years and also has a suitable international experience, is worth highlighting. The 27-year-old Slovak Herc will play in the midfield axis with Ademi, Lacoux, and Kata - with his arrival, Rasak will probably be sold. The 22-year-old Croatian Simcic will arrive as a left winger as an alternative to Horváth. With his arrival, Beridze will probably also leave in the summer, thus further rejuvenating the team. The other youngsters (Bánhegyi, Bogdán, Ominger, Horváth) will probably not be an immediate reinforcement, but they can be useful to our team in the long term.

After a busy transfer season, we started the spring season with the following squad: