PRE-SEASON
So I join the club with all the knowledge needed about the playing staff and with an idea of who I need to get out of the club (looking at you Joelinton, Jeff Hendrick and Emil Krafth!) having supported the club for 30 years since being a 10y/o boy.
I was given over £200m to spend on the first team squad and at the time of writing I have spent £183m of that but did I blow big money on just a few players and obliterate the transfer record or perversely look for bargains to build up the squad? Well I went with the latter and so far I have signed 16 players of various ages and reputations.
I have to say that I found it really fun trying to sign players for the side. I could have splashed big or went semi big and signed wonderkids who were priced £40-50m and there are so many ways how to take on the challenge of building the squad with such financial backing.
I also overhauled the backroom staff. I inherited Eddie Howe's staff and kept them on but I brought in a director of football in Luis Campos and also strengthened the coaching team with the likes of Paul McGuinness and Oliver Bartlett while Frank McParland who has been helping the Saudis with their takeover and recruitment has been signed up as a scout lol.
Here are my outgoing players so far (on the day of the opening day of the season) and there could be more to come.........
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PLAYERS OUT
I had several players who I wanted shot of and top of that list was the useless ***** Joelinton so I was delighted to sell him to Rennes for £4m which was just a £36m loss! I cant stand the player and would have given him away on a free but I was grateful for the money that I recouped.
Leeds signed Karl Darlow for £7.25m which is a decent fee for my backup keeper and my 4th choice keeper, Mark Gillespie, joined New York City for £825,000. Selling 2 keepers meant that I had to bring one in as Martin Dubravka is injured which leaves me with just Freddie Woodman.
Javi Manquillo (dont mind him tbh) joined Dinamo Moscow for £6.25m which is a good fee and my other RB, Emil Krafth (cant stand him) left for Watford for £1.4m. Matt Ritchie signed for Burnley for £3.9m, Jeff Hendrick moved to Bordeaux for £3.3m (thank god), and Ciaran Clark rocked up at Dynamo Kiev for £2.5m.
I still want to get rid of Federico Fernandez and Dwight Gayle but thats about it tbh. In all so far I have recouped £29.5m.
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PLAYERS IN
So how did I spend my cash?
Well firstly I should say I still have just over £20m left and have committed to spend nearly £10m on a young centre-back in the future. My remaining funds will
ONLY be spent on young prospects for the future and tbh I have spent nearly £20m on players who are either out on loan or in my U23 squad already!
Firstly my biggest signing! He came in for £38m and he has come from a Premier League club so he should hit the ground running and that man is Raphinha. I brought him in from Leeds United to be my new RW and if he struggles there I will swap him with the mercurial Allan Saint-Maximin. I feel I have 2 wingers who will cause havoc for the opposition defences and the only worry is that he has a £52m release fee for clubs in the Champions League.
I paid £25m to bring Delle Ali to the club. I thought the fee was a bit of a bargain and at only 25y/o he can still improve. His career has went by the wayside in recent years so it is a bit of a gamble but I think he will be good for us and the fact that he is English is a bonus as I do like to have a squad with lots of homegrown players by the country.
My other English signing was of the same mould as I brought in another player who has lost his way. I shelled out just £6m to bring in Ross Barkley from Chelsea and he will compete for both the CM and AMC positions. He is on big wages but to bring him in so cheaply was a no-brainer.
I needed a new left back so in came Renan Lodi from Atletico Madrid for £24m. I cant believe that I got a player of his quality for such a small fee and when I looked at LBs he was head and shoulders above everyone else. He is only 23y/o so he is also one for the future too.
Having sold both my right backs I needed to replace them and I shelled out more for my backup than I did for my first choice! lol. I paid £9.5m to bring in 17y/o Calvin Ramsay from Aberdeen and £9m to bring back Kevin Mbabu back to the club from Wolfsburg. In real life Ramsay looks like a star in the making so I was willing to pay whatever it took to bring the teenager in. As for Mbabu he is a decent age, homegrown by the club and is very quick so I am delighted with these 2 signings.
My defence continued to get strengthened as I brought in 2 CBs to battle it out with Jamal Lascelles who is still my club captain. Gianluca Mancini came in from AS Roma for £16m and the Italian international will be first choice CB. At only 25y/o he can still improve and I think that this move is a real bargain. I then paid £15m to Marseille for Boubacar Kamara to challenge for the spot. He will be a great ball playing defender and considering he is only 21y/o he has a great future ahead of him.
Another CB that came in but was signed with the future in mind was Kerr Smith from Dundee United for £7.5m. The 16y/o is a huge prospect and his transfer value has sky rocketed since he arrived and while he may have to bide his time he is certainly one for the future.
The signings continue and next up are 2 South American forwards. Callum Wilson was my only decent centre forward when I arrived at the club so it was imperative that I brought in competition. So in came Gabriel Barbosa from Flamengo for £12.5m and Julian Alvarez from River Plate for £6.5m. Barbosa was definitely signed as a player who genuinely can match Wilson from day one while Alvarez was signed with the future in mind. Both are terrific players and they hopefully will have bright futures with the club.
I made 5 other signings and with the exception of Lorius Karius from Liverpool for £2.6m they are all ones for the future and a couple even got loaned back to the selling club however the deal to sign Bright Arrey-Mbi from Bayern Munich for just £200,000 is an absolute steal!! I also triggered the £2m release clause to sign Santiago Munoz permanently.
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SQUAD & SEASON AIMS
Regarding the squad I have brought in so many players that it is all down to how they gel. Dubravka will be my keeper but Mbabu and Renan Lodi have been signed to be my starting full backs. In the middle of defence Kamara and Mancini should probably be my first choice pairing but Lascelles is my captain and I need to keep a base of players who were already here before the money came rolling in.
Willock and Longstaff will be my starting CMs. Barkley is better than Willock but they are too similar in their play style so I will go with these two from the start. Raphinha and Saint-Maximin will be my wingers with Dele Alli in at AMC.
The toughest decision will be whether to start with Callum Wilson up front or Gabriel Barbosa. Wilson is injury prone but at the end of the day it will be decided on form.
As for season aims I would hope to qualify for European football for next season. Thats it!
