Upon starting a Real Sociedad FM26 save you are immediately handed a very well rounded, if not a world-class, squad. Although I have some changes in mind (I will get to that shortly), they are mostly of the long-term kind. You could theoretically start with 1st Transfer Window turned off (as I usually do) and still do very well. But first, Let’s start by highlighting a little club background before moving into my objectives for this save and finally reviewing the First Team squad.
Media prediction – UEFA Europa Qualification
39,500 All-Seater Capacity Anoeta Stadium (Reale Arena for sponsorship purposes) built in 1993
Superb youth and training facilities and Good youth recruitment
Transfer Budget – 17.25 Million (GBP)
Squad Personality – Professional
Captain – Mikel Oyarzabal
Top Earner – Alex Remiro
Key Player – Mikel Oyarzabal
Top Prospect – Jon Martin
Origins and Early History
Football was introduced to San Sebastián in the early 1900s by students and workers returning from Great Britain. Some early club experiments in the city, finally led to foundation of Sociedad de Futbol on September 7, 1909. The club is also known by its nicknames Erreala or Reala in Basque, La Real in Spanish, and the Txuri-Urdin (The White and Blues). The colours were already there at the time of the founding as a kit featuring a blue-striped white shirt with the initials “SS” in blue and blue shorts. The club was initially called Ciclista Football-Club before a royal decree from King Alfonso XIII gave it the “Real” (Royal) title in 1911, leading to the name “Real Sociedad de Fútbol”. Sociedad was among the founding members of La Liga in 1929.
Right away in its first year, the club started off with a bang by winning their 1st Copa Del Rey. At the time the members of the club still called themselves Club Ciclista de San Sebastián before the name change.
From 1980s Golden Era to Recent Successes
Real Sociedad’s most successful period was the 1980s, especially the 1st half of the decade, when the team achieved its greatest success. This was thanks to the veritable bags of home-grown Basque talent that the club amassed during this decade. If there was ever a Dream Team at Real Sociedad, it was the one during this era.
Some notable names on that Dream Team: legendary goalkeeper Luis Arconada (far left in photo above), Alberto Górriz (key central defender), Jesús María Satrústegui (team’s top scorer in the 1980–81 season), and Roberto López Ufarte (far bottom right), a talented winger and an essential cog in the two time league winning side.
During this most successful period in its history, the club won two consecutive La Liga titles (1980–81 and 1981–82 seasons). In 1987 Txuri-Urdin added a 2nd Copa del Rey to their trophy cabinet. In 1983, they also made it to the Semi-Final (their best ever Champions League finish) of European Cup where they lost to the powerhouse West German side, and the 1983 Cup winner, Hamburger SV.
After the 1980s golden era ended, the team has gone through a mix of highs and lows, qualifying for Champions League on three more occasions (latest during 2023-24 season) and a three year stretch in Second Division from 2007 to 2010. The most notable recent success was their 3rd Copa del Rey victory in 2020. So now in FM26 is as good time as any to start adding to La Real’s trophy cabinet!
Rivalries and Derbies
The longest-running rivalry in Spanish football is undeniably the one between Real Sociedad and Athletic Club (Bilbao), the so-called “Derbi Vasco” (Basque Derby). The matches between the two Basque giants are extremely tense affairs, full of excitement and drama. Since the inception of both clubs, the two have faced each other a total of 193 times (as of the end of 2024-25 season). Of these times, Athletic have won 80 games, and Real Sociedad – 62. So that definitely sets a goal for any long-term save with Real Sociedad. I’ll definitely be itching to set the record in Real Sociedad favour in FM26.
Incidentally, Sociedad’s historic/regional rivalries are also with the other Basque clubs: Eibar, Deportivo Alaves and Osasuna. For 2025-26 season, all but Eibar are in top-flight, so this should make for a particularly interesting La Liga fixtures.
Outside of La Liga and 2nd Division, there are even more smaller Basque-region clubs. There are two currently in 3rd level of Spain’s football pyramid – Barakaldo CF and Arenas Club de Getxo. Both are historic clubs with over 100 years of history. Even lower down in the pyramid, you have Real Union, SD Amorebieta, Basconia, Beasain, Gernika and Sestao River. They all start in Segunda Federación (4th level in pyramid) which is playable in FM26.
From my previous save experiences with Real Sociedad, Erreala also tend to naturally develop rather heated competitive rivalries with Barcelona and Real Madrid, as those two clubs are always competing with Real Sociedad for the top spots in La Liga. As Real Sociedad, I find it quite challenging to win La Liga, even a few years into my save, because of these two footballing giants. And it’s great when as a manager you start to get emotionally invested with your club. Winning or losing those big matches against Barca or Los Blancos has often put me on an emotional rollercoaster and I expect FM26 to be no different.
Other than our own famed Cantera Academy, Osasuna’s and Athletic Bilbao’s academies are probably the two biggest producers of Basque talent. But signing players from these two clubs is not so easy. It can be especially difficult to pry them away from Sociedad’s main rival Athletic Club. Because of their Basque-only policy, Athletic tend to naturally hoard their young Basque stars. And this is for good reason since their La Liga survival depends upon retaining their best Basque players.
Image Above: In FM24 I saw Athletic relegated in the same year it lost a few big players on transfers. It was not really a happy moment for me as a Real Sociedad manager, simply because Real Sociedad players and fans had to miss out on the excitement of the Basque Derby for a few seasons. Anyway, Athletic’s hard-coded reluctance to sell their best players to us (or to other clubs) is another element of the Basque rivalry which makes Real Sociedad saves so interesting. You cannot just buy the Best Basque XI.
When playing as Real Sociedad, you can expect to sign players on the odd occasion from other Basque clubs, but don’t count on this as your main method of filling your First Team squad with Basque stars. Your Cantera youth academy should remain the main, most reliable source of Basque talent. For this reason, Real Sociedad save could also work very well as Youth Academy challenge.
Youth Academy Challenge saves are always great fun for those who want to take the challenge up a notch by not only restricting themselves to Basque players but also only utilizing your own youth academy products. With or without YA Challenge, I heartily recommend implementing a historic Basque-only policy with Real Sociedad and try to relive club’s glory days of Golden 1980s Era when the team was made up of local players.
Personal Expectations/Objectives
Aside from the reasons that I already gave in my previous blog post, there is another important consideration that made me choose Real Sociedad for the past four versions of the game.
When played in a specific way, it can be one of the more challenging Football Manager saves. And my favourite way of playing Real Sociedad is by limiting my squad to Basque players only. This is the way Real Sociedad functioned up until 1989. That year was significant in club history, since it was when they broke their long-standing Basque-only policy by signing Irish international John Aldridge.
Although Sociedad starts with some great non-Basque players, I find the challenge, of scouring the database for players with Basque heritage, one of the best experiences to be had in FM. It forces you to focus on utilizing the players you have in the squad to the best of their ability, and to develop your own youth players. I also believe that it prevents the common pitfall of many FM managers – the never-ending chase for that ever-elusive “better wonderkid”. Sometimes it can become an addictive reward loop that hits straight to our dopamine centers. But it can also risk making the save predictably boring and eventually unrewarding as you lose track of the DNA of your club. It’s not so fun winning everything without much tactical effort because your team is packed with a bunch of Cristiano Ronaldo-like regens.
“It was terribly frustrating job at times but, ultimately, very rewarding… It so happened that all of my best defenders were left-sided, but you just have to adapt.”
– John Toshack, three time Real Sociedad manager, on the highs and lows of managing Sociedad during its Basque-only policy era.
I would very much like to channel my inner John Toshack with this FM26 La Real save. Do the best with the starting squad and foster youth development, as Toshack was famous for doing, and fill the First Team with homegrown talent while I’m at it.
There is a particularly insightful passage in Toshack’s autobiographical book “Toshack’s Way: My Journey Through Football”. It sums up rather nicely my own vision of for this FM26 save.
I worked closely with Marco [Toshack’s Assistant Manager] and with the second- and youth-team coaches. We chose the best six young players at the club to come and train Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with the first team. Then they’d go back on Friday and play their ninety minutes at the lower level at the weekend.
And here is another astute Toshack quote from the same book.
I’ve often heard coaches complaining because they’ve only got 25 pros in the squad and they want more… It’s crazy. I’d always have twenty players in my first-team pool and then make up the numbers from the younger group. It’s better for the club, it’s better for the players and then better for the managers.
Couldn’t agree more. I am all for using smaller squads. Not only is it better for your younger homegrown players, but also for maintaining tighter discipline and morale in the whole team. I don’t envy the manager whose squad is overloaded with 3-4 strikers who all consider themselves “Important” players and are pushing for more game time.
Some real nuggets of wisdom from Toshack. If you have any interest whatsoever about John Toshack’s long career as as a Liverpool player and later manager of Swansea, Porto, Real Sociedad, Deportivo de la Coruna and Real Madrid. A real-life journeyman manager! Reading through the Real Sociedad chapters inspired me a lot in my FM26 save. His insights into youth development especially are priceless.
My personal objectives for this save, are rather simple. First, develop and give our own youth, the best chance possible. Second, only sign Basque players. Phase out the non-Basque players on the squad by accepting the first reasonable offer that comes my way. I always start my saves with the 1st Transfer Window turned off so this should give me a bit of breathing room to set up my scouting network and find some suitable Basque replacements.
Real Sociedad have one of the best youth setups in the game. You can churn out prospects endlessly to replenish your 1st Team and keep it home grown. But even with a healthy influx of homegrown wonderkids, I won’t be buying any trophies here. Any success will still feel hard-earned because the club would be limited in comparison to other world-class clubs like Barcelona or Real Madrid, who can just go on a shopping spree at the end of the season to fill their teams with South American wonderkids or top bargains from the Balkans. With a transfer restriction save, you need to have a strong handle on youth development and be ready to integrate the younger players into the side.
Winning trophies is not my main objective but will be a nice bonus if we do win some hardware. The challenge is what keeps me going in particularly long saves. So hopefully it will also keep you, my dear readers, interested in the long haul.
Board Expectations
In our 1st season the board prefers that we qualify for UEFA Europa League and reach the later stages of Copa del Rey. Both are quite doable, especially considering the quality of our starting squad. But this might get harder as I start trading away my Non-Basque players.
2025-26 Squad
As per my personal objectives for this save, I will not be going into great detail on any non-Basque players in the squad. Most of them probably won’t be staying much longer than a season or two. Unless, there is no Basque alternative available, I will be using most of my non-Basques as subs. Some might not like this, but on a positive side this might encourage them to leave sooner. The focus of this analysis is therefore the Basque First Team players.
Strikers
One cannot talk about Real Sociead of the 2020s without mentioning the name of Mikel Oyarzabal. The last-minute star of Spain’s National Team at the 2024 UEFA Euros.
THAT goal!
Eibar-born Mikel is the player around whom Real Sociedad has build its squad for a couple of years now. The current club captain, who personifies the kind of qualities that permeated La Real’s club DNA/philosophy since its inception.
Home-grown, local talent that is nurtured in Basque hard-working and communal (teamwork) ethos before being matured by Cantera academy’s technique-focused drilling.
Oyarzabal has started his professional career in a an advanced midfield role but more recently migrated into a striker position. This is exactly where I intend to play him, and where I believe his attributes can be most useful as a creative False 9. My tactical vision involves creating a system that employs a False 9 as its centre-piece not only to better suit Oyarzabal’s unique attribute set, but also to better reflect my personal vision of Basque-style Football (more on this my next tactical blog entry).
Mikel is not the fastest player. But he does not need to be, because he is our definitive False 9, a playmaking linchpin role around which the rest of our attackers will move (think Fabregas role in Spain’s 2012 Euro tactic) and attack the space liberated by the False 9.
My 2nd Basque striker option is one who is best suited to the Deep Lying Forward role. While I would have preferred another younger Basque False 9-type player, it is not an issue. I am designing a tactical system which should work equally well when spearheaded by either False 9 or DLF.
Jon Karrikaburu already has the makings of a decent DLF but he is mostly untested at La Liga level. Having played extensively with Real Sociedad’s B Team and at various loan clubs in the Segunda Division, this will be his first full season in La Liga. In order to jumpstart his development, I will play him as much as possible as a sub to Oyarzabal.
Wide Forwards and Advanced Midfielders
Without digressing too much into my tactical plans for FM26, I am just going to say that the tactic will involve strong inter-play between our link-up striker and advanced midfielders. Because the central striker is mostly tasked with creating opportunities for his teammates, I require my attacking midfielders to be quite attack-minded and capable of taking advantage of the space generated by our striker.
Luckily, Sociedad’s Advanced Midfield is rich in options, with players like Kubo, Sucic, Mendez, Guedes and Carlos Soler on the team. Unfortunately they are not Basque. When it comes to Basque talent, AML/AMC/AMR positions is where Real Sociedad’s squad depth is the thinnest. This will definitely be the first area where I’ll concentrate our scouting.
Aside from Oyarzabal who can also play, the only other two Basque options are Ander Barrenetxea, the rising star on the squad, and a decent prospect Mikel Goti. Both are 23 y.o and with potential for improvement. Barrenetxea is an exceptionally versatile player and I expect him to play big minutes in advanced midfielder strata but also in other positions too (he could develop into a handy wingback!).
Goti is just barely ready for La Liga but I will nevertheless use him as a substitute as much as possible. Otherwise, for the 1st season at least, I’ll have no choice but to rely on my non-Basques to fill most of the advanced midfield roles which are vital to our tactic.
Central and Defensive Midfielders
Real Sociedad’s CM/DM positions are actually one of the team’s strengths. Despite Mikel Merino’s departure to Arsenal last season, the Basque options in the midfield are still very strong. The two players I plan to give the most game time are incidentally both 23 y.o old Basques. Beñat Turrientes and Jon Gorrotxategi are technical and dynamic midfielders with lots of potential to develop and hopefully fill the hole in the midfield left by Merino.
Turrientes is young box-to-box dynamo who pairs well with Gorrotxategi – a playmaker. The two possess skill sets that could work very well in combination. Box-to-Box/DLP role combo is one that worked very well for me in the past FMs. In FM24, I replaced it with Segundo Volante/DLP in the deep version of 4-2-3-1 which was especially effective.
Pablo Marin is another young player with great potential for growth into a well-rounded box-to-box type midfielder.
Defence (DL/DC/DR)
Real Sociedad’s Basque options are also quite solid in defence department. In the First Team, every defensive position (DL/DC/DR) can be filled by a Basque player, and in some cases a decent Basque substitute.
While Robin Le Normand departed to Atletico Madrid, the ever present rocks in defence, Elustondo and Zubeldia, are still on the team. They might not have the best Jumping Reach but make it up with their great technical abilities. AIhen Munoz and Alvaro Odriozola are also solid options at DL and DR positions respectively. Additionally, it is not obvious, because his chosen national team is Venezuela, but Jon Aramburu is also Basque and is a very good option in DR position.
He is a handy wingback-type player who still has room to develop into a regular performer for the team.
Defence is also where we have our top young prospect, 19 y.o Jon Martin. Spanish news website Onda Vasca described the young defender as one with “excellent heading ability… [who] often finishes off many set pieces… [has] refined technique for playing the ball”. And this is reflected quite accurately in FM26.
Martin is a phenomenal wonderkid-level talent who is already making waves in La Liga, and has been linked with interest from clubs like Arsenal this past summer. My primary task will be no doubt to keep this wonderkid at Anoeta at all costs.
Goalkeepers
The goalkeeper position is one that does not present any recruitment issues in my objective of making the squad fully Basque. Both of our keepers are of Basque heritage. Remiro is great as a First-Choice keeper. His Backup, 24 y.o Unai Marrero, is good enough to stay in his secondary role. If I see a better Backup keeper then I will sign him.
30 year old Bilbao academy graduate Alex Remiro has firmly established himself as Real Sociedad’s first choice between the posts. He was also part of the Spain squad which won The 2024 Euros. Remiro is among the best Basque goalkeepers in the game at the moment. He is also unsurprisingly the biggest earner on the squad.
In FM24, Alex was my #1 Keeper until he was well into his late 30s. Barring a major career-ending injury, I expect the same from him in FM26. Alex is a reliable, solid choice for a keeper who is similar in style to the legendary Luis Arconada. Not as skilled as Arconada in his prime, Remiro at least should give us enough time to develop or find a suitable Basque newgen to take over the role in some 6-8 years.
Future Prospects
Real Sociedad is rightfully considered to be modern day football factory. As I mentioned in my previous blog, some big names have emerged from Sociedad’s Cantera academy. So its not surprisingy that at the start of 2025-26 save, there are already a few potential football stars within the First Team and youth/B team squads.
To reiterate, the young players whose development I will keep a closer eye on 2025-26 are the “Three Jons” (Jon Gorrotxategi, Jon Martin, and Jon Karrikaburu), Pablo Marin & Mikel Goti. At the expanse of some of my non-Basque players, I will be giving more training time and game time to these youngsters in order to jumpstart their development. It might be a big gamble and lose us a few matches but it is a gamble I’m willing to take. And I believe John Toshack would be proud.
The Gaffers Lounge 
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