Football Manager 2017 review – the best in the series, but only for dedicated fans

The last few instalments in the simulation series have provided major improvements. But has the Football Manager team run out of energy this year?

The question every annual franchise has to answer is whether the new entry in the series expands enough on the previous title to warrant a purchase. This year, and for the first time in a few seasons, Football Manager 2017 doesn't make enough of a step to confidently recommend it outright. Though it does build on the strengths of its excellent predecessor Football Manager 2016, it doesn't offer enough of a change for anyone outside the hardcore fanbase to warrant an immediate purchase.

This feels like a strange thing to write, because in many ways - through a series of small but positive changes to the way players interact with the game - FM 2017 offers the best experience of pretending to be a football manager there's ever been. Although the series shares the lineage of Championship Manager, FM 2017 is getting closer than ever to abolishing that game's reputation as glorified football spreadsheet.