FM27 Guides
The free preview is pulling in people who have not played Football Manager for years, and people who bounced off FM26. A beginner's guide that assumes you already know the portal is useless for them. The beginner page stays at the first-season questions: pick a club you understand, do not rebuild the tactic on day one, and use the preview save on purpose.
The save page is the one with a real disagreement. Community posts, including the Sports Interactive forum, say FM26 and FM24 saves can be imported when you start FM27. The official help article people still find is written around FM26 compatibility. I do not upgrade a forum confirmation into a guarantee.
Budgets are the other trap. FM Scout's starting-budget tables that are easy to find are still FM26 figures. I will not relabel them as FM27. The budget guide explains what a transfer budget and a wage budget are, and it stops where the new numbers have not been published.
Which guide should I read first?
The beginner page if you are new. The save page if you already have FM26 or FM24.
Are the budget numbers final?
No FM27 starting-budget table was published in the sources used here. FM26 tables stay labelled as FM26.
Does the preview save count?
The official preview note says the save carries into the paid game.