Straight off the bat, all strikers and wingers are placed on the transfer list. I'm met with 3 or 4 players wanting to meet to discuss their future. I ignore them all, hopefully they will be on a plane before they get a chance to talk to me.
One of the things I hate about managing in Portugal is that many of the players are co-owned by these weasel agents. So, you sell a player for $5m, but 65% will go to an agent, you really got to watch that. I'd rather have a player play out his contract then give money to agents.
First player out the door, Diego Capel for $3m, 25% going to his agent. Unfortunately, he went to Porto, my main rival. The fans weren't happy about that but on the bright side, that's $3m less that Porto can spend on young Brazilians!
My next move is to set the squad bonuses. I choose the lowest amount. The players won't be happy about it, but the way I see it they are paid pretty well, I shouldn't have to dangle more money in front of them to get them to win, do your jobs!
Next, my star keep Rui Patricio comes to my door and tells me he wants to move to a bigger club. I just got here for heavens sake, let me get comfortable. I tell him I plan on qualifying for the Champions League and he basically scoffs. I'm sure his agent put him up to it seeing as how he owns 25% of him. I resist the urge to have security escort him out and dump him out back the bin. I immediately go out a sign uncapped Brazilian keeper, Guido on loan (and uncheck the 'can be recalled' box). Schalke offer $9.25m, non-negotiable. I accept.
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Right behind him is Neto asking for more money. Excuse me? I?ve never even heard of this guy. It turns out he's on loan at Gent, he must have taken a red eye to meet me today. I tell him to pound salt (Something my mother used to say a lot). I'm not worried about him complaining as long as he's in Belgium he won't affect my squad harmony. I'd give him less money if I could get away with it, I'm trying to save money here, not ship it off to Belgium!
Sevilla then come in with an offer for Rojo, who has 17 caps for Argentina. The offer is $1.5m and *sigh* Rojo is 75% owned by his agent, so I decline. Capped or not, i'm not going to be giving away players here, I'd barely get 400k out of that. Porto come straight in with an offer of $5.75m, which makes Sevilla look like the cheapskates that they are. I accept the offer, the fans are livid. Why am I selling all their favourite players to our rivals??? The answer: Money!
Next one into my office: Elias. Let me guess, you want to move to a bigger club. This one doesn't even ask what my ambitions are, he just says he wants out. I have half a mind to stick him in the B team and let him rot, but I need the money, and he's been capped by Brazil, so out he'll go.
So, the date is now August 14, 2014. I've managed to make almost $13m, the bank stands at $22.7m and I'm 90k under my weekly salary budget. The board has also increased the reinvestment to 90% of revenue without even being asked. The preseason matches, which I don't manage, have been a mixed bag (results below). The good news is the team has almost fully learned the new tactic and should be raring to go on the 18th when we host Rio Ave.
and I'm in bed for the night!
