Chapter 75
A Couple Of Legends Depart The Club
21st August 2032
Our Champions League win last season has seen us move up to 8th in the European club rankings!
And our stature in world football has grown to make us the 13th biggest club in the world, overtaking Manchester United and Spurs in the process!
Nobody can deny that Christopher Nkunku has had an illustrious career and last season with us capped it off for him with the biggest honour - a Champions League medal! He has now retired from professional football.
Outgoing: One of my first signings as Fortuna Sittard manager was Miguel Reisinho and the Portuguese midfielder went on to captain the club for my first few years in charge. He has now left the club as he reaches 33 years old and the back end of his career and joins Salernitana on a free. He has been an important player for me over the years and one of my favourites so it's with a heavy heart I see him go.
Outgoing: Another experienced player that leaves the club this Summer is centre back Mads Sorensen. He has only been here for a season after arriving on a free, so when Al-Fayha were willing to pay £7.75 million for a 33 year old, then I was happy to let him go.
Pre-season was once again relatively routine stuff, with a successful tour of China thrown in to boost our profile in Asia. A good draw against Real Madrid was probably the highlight.
Our participation in the Johan Cruijff Schaal is becoming our first fixture of every season now and we lift the trophy once again. However, I'm a little disappointed that we required a penalty shootout to get the job done considering we had 20 shots in the 90 minutes and Ajax didn't manage a single shot at our goal! If we'd have lost the shootout, it would have been a robbery.
With the new Eredivisie season now upon us, for the first time we are favourites to win the title this year. Not only that, but we are actually odds on as the bookies start to recognise we are the best team in the country by some way. That is also backed up by the fact 6 of our players dominate the media dream 11.
We weren't handed the easiest of opening day fixtures as we went away to Heerenveen who are expected to finish in the top 5 this year. Despite that, we go on to win our first fixture of the new league campaign, with Ignacio Fernandez shining with his hat trick from the right wing!
Our next game would see us contest the UEFA Super Cup against Fiorentina. We won this trophy last time we played in it, beating Dortmund. However, on this occasion we weren't able to get over the line as Europa League winners beat Champions League winners again.
Incoming: I've been in no rush to make signings this Summer, but my first one does finally join the club. Marco Evangelista looks like he could be a steal at just £12.75 million from Sassuolo and can make an immediate impact in the Dutch league I am sure. At 23 years old, he can continue to improve as well!
Our new man made an instant impact, scoring twice on his debut.
Outgoing: Then there was more transfer news in a case of 'one out, one in'. The player that leaves is one that has become a bit of a club legend during my time here. Abdallah Sima signed for us in 2025/26 for a fee of just £1.7 million from Brighton and has gone on to make 134 league appearances to the club, scoring 63 times. He walks away with a whole host of trophies as he joins Galatasaray for £4.4 million, to potentially finish off his career in Turkey. Love him, but we have much better players at the club now.
Incoming: Sima's replacement is a 22 year old Dutch winger with terrifying pace and acceleration and a tidy finish on him. I am confident that Massimo Burg is going to be a major success at the club for years to come and will prove well worth the £33.5 million we paid Anderlecht to bring him here.
Incoming: I have also brought in another attacking midfielder. Paraguayan, Kevin Mendoza, had a release clause of just £825k and that was just too good an opportunity to miss so we snap him up. However, I don't see a place for him right now, so have sent him back on loan to Libertad for the rest of the season.
Massimo Burg came on from the bench to score a debut goal against Sparta Rotterdam as we win again. I have to say I really wasn't sure where we could strengthen this Summer, but I feel like we've actually managed it.
Outgoing: Finally, there is another outgoing transfer as Vasilis Zagaritis leaves the club to join Roma in a deal worth £5 million.
