FM26 Update (26.2) for Football Manager 26 is now live, including all the big transfers from the January transfer windows. 

This update also includes thousands of player Current Ability, Potential Ability and Attribute changes based on performances since we locked the launch database for FM26. 

We’ve picked out some of the players with the biggest upgrades in this update, ready for you to manage, scout or sign. Let’s dive in…

In what has mostly been a challenging campaign for Wolves, the emergence of Mateus Mane has been a real bright spark. 

The 18-year-old attacking midfielder has established himself in the first team under Rob Edwards, becoming the club’s youngest-ever Premier League goalscorer and winning the club’s Player of the Month award for both December and January. 

That breakthrough, and the huge interest he’s attracting from other clubs, warranted a big Current Ability increase in this update – and makes him someone to watch from the off in your latest saves. 

After making a big money move from Spain last summer, Ivorian winger Yan Diomande has been the talk of the Bundesliga this season. 

The 19-year-old has already more than doubled his value, recording 11 goals and seven assists in all competitions for RB Leipzig. 

His Finishing Attribute has been upgraded accordingly in this update, with a wider improvement to his Current Ability recognising his emergence as a new star. 

Bournemouth’s recruitment team appear to have struck gold once again with their addition of Eli Junior Kroupi. 

Hugely prolific in France last season, the 19-year-old has quickly established himself in the Premier League with eight goals already to his credit. 

His Finishing has been upgraded, making him even better-equipped to lead the line for you whether you take the reins at the Vitality Stadium or elsewhere. 

A breakthrough star in FC Bayern’s UEFA Champions League campaign, 18-year-old Lennart Karl has been nothing short of a revelation. 

The diminutive playmaker has repaid the trust shown in him by Vincent Kompany and his contributions to the first team against some of Europe’s best has seen his Current Ability significantly increased.

In terms of individual Attribute changes, his First Touch is the most notable mover, reflecting the excellent close control he’s shown on the biggest stages. 

Already a quality operator, Antoine Semenyo has cemented himself as one of the Premier League’s elite attackers this campaign. 

The Ghana international had 10 goals for Bournemouth at the mid-point of the season, leading to a big money move to Manchester City. He’s already found the back of the net four times for his new club and that finishing, as well as the all-round quality of his play, has led to an improvement in his Current Ability. 

He’s not the only City to receive an upgrade, with fellow new arrival Marc Guehi, Rayan Cherki, Nico O’Reilly and Max Alleyne all recognised for their strong starts to the season. 

The standout of Hearts’ William Hill Premiership title challenge this season, Claudio Braga has rewarded the faith the club put in his underlying data in Norway. 

The Portuguese attacker has scored 15 and assisted six in 35 appearances across all competitions for the Jambos.

Braga’s Heading is now up to 14, meaning he’ll be primed to nod home from the crosses put in by similarly upgraded teammates like Jordi Altena, Michael Steinwender and Alexandros Kyzridis.

Viktor Dadason, FC Kobenhavn

FC Kobenhavn’s young players have long proved popular with FM players and we think Viktor Dadason is set to be the latest to join that list. 

In October, the teenage striker scored for the Danish side in the UEFA Champions League. That made him the third youngest goalscorer in competition history, a milestone he then improved on in November when he became the youngest player to score twice in the tournament. 

That rapid emergence for the Icelander has seen him receive one of the biggest upgrades in this update, and makes him a significant one to watch in your latest saves. 

Another young player to have really stepped up this season is Barnsley’s winger Reyes Cleary. 

Winner of the EFL Young Player of the Month award in November, Cleary has recorded a total of 21 goal involvements in 37 games in all competitions this season and currently sits as Sky Bet League One’s top assister.

In terms of his Attributes that have been improved, it’s really no surprise to see his Flair go up after that 60-yard worldie against Bradford City.

A newer name on this list, Yael Trepy is likely to be a very popular signing in FM26 moving forward.

The 19-year-old striker made his Serie A debut in January and scored just four minutes after coming off the bench – making him the first French under-20 player to score on their debut in a top four league this century.

Tall, athletic and physical, Trepy has all the makings of a modern forward and now he can contribute more to your teams from the off after a significant Current Ability upgrade.

Things keep getting better and better for up-and-coming Belgian striker Romeo Vermant. 

Having scored a match-winning brace in last year’s Belgian Cup final, Vermant is now a fully-fledged Belgian international and has cemented himself as Club Brugge’s leading man up front. 

He’s up to 11 goals this season in all competitions at the time of writing and it’s his all-round play that has impressed most, with his Anticipation Attribute receiving a significant upgrade in this update. 

Sometimes it all just comes together for a player and that’s very much been the case this time around for Irish forward Aaron Drinan.

The 27-year-old is enjoying the best season of his career for Swindon Town, finding the back of the net 25 times in 35 games for Ian Holloway’s men. 

He’s a key part of their Sky Bet League Two promotion push and with a three-point upgrade to his Finishing Attribute in this update, he can do the same for you.

One of the biggest upgrades in this update belongs to exciting young Pia Vlok. 

The 17-year-old signed with Wellington Phoenix at the start of the season and has looked right at home ever since. 

She scored her first goal in November, became the first Phoenix player to score a hat-trick in the Ninja A League Women in February and has now been called up internationally by New Zealand. She’s got a very bright future ahead. 

We wrap up this list by heading to another prolific forward in the shape of AFC Fylde’s Danny Ormerod. 

The 19-year-old has been electric for the Enterprise National League North promotion-chasers, scoring 26 times and assisting six in 31 league appearances. 

His clinical finishing, ability to lead the line and ability to stand up to the rigours of a very physical league have led to a big Current Ability increase in this update – and the potential for much more in your saves. 

These are just a select few of our favourite players for you to keep an eye on after the latest FM26 update, with thousands of changes waiting for you to discover. Let us know who you scout, sign or manage on social @FootballManager. 

​

FM26 Update (26.2) is now live across platforms.

This update contains transfers from the January Transfer Window, Current Ability, Potential Ability and Attribute changes for thousands of players and staff, as well as several game additions and upgrades.

For PC players, this update sees a change to make the Fixtures and Results card full-screen and introduces the ability to change player roles from the Tactics Visualiser.

These changes will apply to all existing save games. To experience the data and competition changes in this update, you will need to start a new career*.

The full changelist is available below, alongside platform-specific updates.

This update should take effect automatically but if you have any issues, please visit our dedicated FAQ[support.sega.com].

The update is scheduled for release on March 10th for FM26 Mobile (Netflix). A larger update for FM26 Touch (Nintendo Switch) will follow later in the month, subject to the submissions process.

* Rosters for certain licensed leagues whose seasons run to the calendar year will only be reflective up until the end of the 2025 season and will not include incoming and outgoing transfers made for 2026.

Database  

• Five million+ database changes since the initial release of FM26

• Updated licenced headshots 

Technical Issues 

• Various Crash and Stability fixes 

• Game no longer soft locks when attempting to progress to a penalty shootout in certain competitions 

• Improved the User Interface (UI) responsiveness in Online Lobbies with large number of users 

User Interface (UI) 

• Redesigned fixtures & results page to be full screen 

• Added a preference for the Fixtures and Results screens to be automatically shown before and after matches in competitions the user is participating in 

• User is now able to change Player Instructions & Roles from the Tactics Visualiser 

• User is now able to view the Tactics Visualiser from the Team Shape tab from within the In and Out of Possession tabs 

• Fixed an issue causing the opposition formation visuals to inaccurately reflect the actual formations on the pitch after the AI makes a formation change during a match 

• Added Club Profile and Best XI tabs on the club Welcome Pack 

• Tactics - Quick Pick will no longer include players who aren’t in First Team unless you have a filter selected 

• Tactics – Fixed an issue causing injury indicators to remain after clearing the position 

• Tactics – "Hide players" option no longer filters out empty slots 

• Tactics - Tactic name no longer overlaps with the overall Familiarity if the name of the tactic was too long 

• Opposition Instructions screen will now default to Predicted Lineup instead of All Positions 

• Player listed in the Squad Registration screen are now sorted by position by default 

• User can now sort the personality column on the Squad page 

• You are now able to sort players by Squad Number on the Squad Numbers screen 

• Resolved an issue where the user could duplicate the spoken languages selected during the Manager Creation process 

• Fixed an issue causing the hierarchy induction pyramid graphic to display in low resolution 

• The text displayed in the ‘last club’ column is no longer too large when on the Squad screen 

Gameplay 

• Increased the prominence of AI manager sackings being shown on the News screen 

• Players should no longer illogically get upset with manager when a transfer was cancelled due to work permit issues 

• Fixed an issue preventing the Director of Football to sign players that were recently on trial with the club 

• Fixed an issue causing some News items to incorrectly display a capital “S” after the player's name 

• Fixed a rare issue where some players would illogically be considering options at the end of their contract when playing at the lower levels in England 

• Resolved a very rare issue where playing highlights from a past match would sometimes show the wrong match 

Art & Animation 

• Implemented Dynamic Aging for Newgen Portraits 

• Fixed an issue causing distorted models to appear at the start of a match 

• Resolved a rare issue causing the weather to snow during matches played in Saudi Arabia 

• Players under armour should now always match the colour of their kit shorts 

• Under pitch heating should now work when on Low and Very Low graphics settings 

• Lowered the brightness of the pitch when playing matches at Night 

• Changes and improvements to manager hairstyles

In-Game Editor (IGE) / Pre-Game Editor (PGE) 

• Various Crash and Stability fixes 

• Added Kit Editor tile to the Club Edit card (IGE) 

• Flamboyancy and Goalkeeping non-player attributes can now be edited (PGE) 

• Non-Playing History staff roles no longer appear in the Staff History and Biography as a Player role (PGE) 

• Functionality of the duplicate button has been fixed (PGE) 

• Resolved an issue causing data edits from edit files not affecting the database information during manager creation (PGE) 

Competition and Rule Groups 

Africa  

• Updated rules & format for the African World Cup Qualifying 

• Women’s Africa Cup of Nations expanded to 16 teams 

Argentina

• Updated the participants of the Copa Argentina

Australia 

• Updated format rules for the Australian Cup 

Austria 

• Updated the schedules for the Austrian Premier Division 

Asia 

• AFC Champions League – Resolved an issue where the Winter Registration window would never open 

• AFC Women's Champions League – Updated the Schedule for 2026/27 season 

• China will now host the Under 20 Asian Nations Cup in 2027 

Belgium 

• The Belgian First National Amateur Division no longer appears in game 

• Adjustments made to the starting times of matches on Saturday and Sunday in the Jupiler Pro League Season 25/26 

Brazil 

• Updated a high number of formats, schedules and rules of various Brazilian State Championships 

• Updated the Brazilian Cup and Super Cup for the 2026 season 

• Updated the format, schedule, and rules for Brazilian U-20 Championship, and added the Brazilian U-20 Second Division 

Canada 

• Updated salary cap information 

Chile 

• Updated format rules for the Chilean Cup & Chilean Super Cup 

• Updated the Chilean First Division & Chile Cup Revenue 

• Updated the Chilean First Division and First Division B Match & Sorting Rules 

• Updated the Chile Cup Substitution rules 

China 

• Various teams given Points Deductions and Fines 

• Removed the 100% transfer fee tax 

• Updated the Chinese FA Cup Match Rules 

Colombia  

• Updated format & match rules for the Colombian First & Second Division 

• Updated the Colombian First Division Discipline Rules 

• Updated Colombian Second Division Semi Final Draw Rules 

• Updated Colombian First and Second Division TV Deals 

Czechia 

• Updated the match rules for various Czech domestic competitions 

Denmark 

• A-Liga squad numbers can now be assigned from 1-99 

• Updated the format for A-Liga - 2025/26 and 2026/27 seasons 

Europe 

• Countries who play in different nations will now have the correct flag displayed alongside their name 

• Updated the Hosts for Euro 2032 

• Updated the Hosts for European U19 Championships (2027, 2028, 2029) 

• Updated the Hosts for Women's European Football Championship 2029 

• Updated the Nation and Club Coefficients for women’s football 

Egypt 

• Updated the match rules for the Egyptian Premier League 

England 

• Resolved an issue causing some Premier League Fixtures occurring at the start of an international break 

• Updated Premier League Prize Money 

• Updated the substitution rules for FA Cup qualifying rounds & FA Youth Cup 

• Updated the format rules for U21/U18 Premier Division Cup & U18 Division 3 Cup 

• Resolved non-cat 1 English U21 clubs incorrectly qualifying for the U21 International Cup 

• U21 Premier Division International Cup - English teams will now correctly only play at home 

• WSL & WSL2 - Trialists no longer allowed to play 

Finland 

• Updated substitution rules for all league divisions, the Finnish Cup & the Finnish League Cup 

• Updated format rules for the Finnish First Division Championship League Cup 

• Updated the 2025/26 Transfer Windows dates 

France 

• French Women's Cup - Reserve Teams will no longer participate 

Germany 

• 3. Liga - added rule where clubs get an automatic 9-point deduction if they enter administration 

• Updated the substitution rules for German Women's Cup 

• U21 Frauen Bundesliga players no longer need to be registered 

Hong Kong 

• Updated format rules for the Premier U22 League 

Indonesia 

• Added VAR to the Indonesian Super League & Indonesian Championship 

• Updated the Indonesian League Two Schedule 

• Removed the Piala President Cup 

Israel 

• Updated VAR rules for various competitions across Israel 

Italy 

• Resolved an issue where trophy celebration would wrongly trigger in Serie A if teams were tied on points for first place when instead a playoff game should decide the champions 

• Removed Extra Time from the Italian Super Cup 

• Removed Extra Time from the Italian Serie C Cup (except in the semifinals and final) 

• Added VAR to the Serie BKT & Italian Serie C 

• Updated VAR Rules to the Serie A Women Athora 

• Italian Serie C - Various clubs given points deductions 

• Updated the number of teams for Italian Serie C/B in 2025/26 due to Rimini being excluded from the league 

• Updated the Squad Rules for Serie A Femminile eBay 

• Updated the Schedule for the Italian U20 Primavera 3 

Japan 

• Updated the J1/J2/J3 League Schedule 

• Updated substitution rules for the J1/J2/J3 Special Tournament playoff stages 

Malaysia 

• Updated the Malaysia Transfer Window dates 

• Updated the Malaysian Super League Squad Registration Rules 

• Updated the Malaysian Super League & Malaysian Cups Schedules 

• Updated the format rules for Malaysian Super League & Malaysian FA Cup 

• Updated the Malaysian A1 Semi-Professional League Transfer and Match Rules 

• Removed the Malaysian Football League Cup 

North America 

• Updated the format for the North American W Champions Cup 

• Updated the schedule for the North American Champions Cup 

Northen Ireland 

• Added the NIFL Charity Shield Competition 

• Extra Time added to the North West Senior Cup 

• BetMcLean League Cup correctly renamed to BetMcLean Cup 

• Updated the Sports Direct Premiership & Bet McLean Cup Scheduling 

• Updated substitution rules for various competitions & cups 

Peru  

• Peruvian First Division Prize Money is now correctly distributed 

• Updated the Peruvian First Division Squad Registration Rules 

• Updated the Peruvian First Division Match Rules 

Portugal 

• Updated the Loan Rules for all divisions 

• Updated the format rules for the Portugal Championship & Portuguese U19 First Division 

• Updated the Portuguese League Cup Match Rules 

• Resolved an issue causing teams in Portuguese Third Division Championship Groups to incorrectly start with bonus points 

Poland 

• The Polish FA Cup Final now has the correct date 

Romania  

• VAR added to the Romanian Cup & Romanian Super Cup  

Russia 

• Updated the Russian Premier League Match Rules 

• Updated substitutions rules for the Russian Cup 

Scotland 

• Hamilton Academical given 15-point deduction 

Serbia 

• Updated scheduling for all leagues 

Spain 

• Updated the Spanish Women's Divisions and Cups Match Rules 

• Updated the Spanish Women's First/Second Division Squad Number rules 

Singapore  

• Updated the Singapore Cup Schedule 

• Added VAR to the Singaporean Premier League/Singapore Cup/Singaporean Community Shield 

Slovenia 

• Updated the league formats due to a team going bankrupt 

Spain 

• Updated the match and squad number rules for several Spanish women’s competitions 

Sweden 

• Hammarby TFF are now correctly able to get promoted 

• IFK Goteborg now play in the correct stadium 

• Updated the Men's & Women’s Transfer Window Dates 

• Updated Women's Football Contract Rules 

• Updated the Swedish Second Division Norrland Format 

• Updated the OBOS Damallsvenskan Match Rules & Schedule 

• Updated the Elitettan Schedule 

South America 

• Updated the Copa Sudamericana Knock Out Play Off Round seeding format 

• Updated the Copa Libertadores Draw Dates 

• Updated the Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana finals host cities (2026 and 2027 seasons) 

• Updated the U20s Copa Libertadores 2025 and 2026 schedules. 

• Updated the U20s Championship Schedule 

South Korea 

• Updated the Hana Bank K League 1 and 2 Match & Squad Registration Rules 

• Updated the Korea Cup Match Rules 

Turkey 

• Updated Match & Squad rules for all divisions 

• Updated the Turkish Super Cup dates for future editions 

Uruguay  

• Updated the Uruguayan Cup Format & Schedule 

• Updated the teams featured in the Uruguay Reserve Division 2025 

Wales 

• The New Saints no longer appear as an English club 

• Updated the Cymru Premier Match Rules 

• Updated Adran Premier Contract Rules 

• Aberystwyth Development, Berriew Development & Barry Town Linnets are now correctly ineligible to participate in Welsh Women's Cup 

World 

• Updated Substitution rules for the Club Intercontinental Championship 

• Updated the men’s World Cup kickoff times  

• Updated the format of ‘pairing’ 1-4 seeds for the men’s World Cup 

• Updated the European/South American Super Cup date and venue for the 2026 edition 

• World Cup Playoff-Tournament hosts have been updated