Summer 2017
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Well, there have been changes at Bayer Leverkusen. The board handed me a fair transfer budget and I went into the market looking for 2 types of players. The first was a regista - Charles Aranguiz wasn't overly impressive last season and I'm not sure if I see Akkaynak as a holding midfielder, long term I think he could be more of a box-to-box midfielder. I made a shortlist consisting of Granit Xhaka (estimated cost between £32-44 million), Julian Weigl (£38 million release cause), Pierre-Emile Hojberg (part of a relegated Southampton side) and Leandro Paredes (estimated cost between £16-22 million).
After some thought and negotiating, Hojberg was the player I elected to pursue and sign. Southampton accepted an offer of £12 million, which is under his market value and in my opinion, much below his true potential. I didn't think it made sense to sign Xhaka or Weigl for that price, as it could stunt Akkaynak and Havertz's growth. I believe Hojberg can play in any of the midfield positions and can fill in at right back if needed too. A great signing for the club.
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A few young players were brought into the club, none more exciting than Moise Kean. The teenage sensation was poached from Juventus for £1.2 million and could prove to be an absolute steal long term. He'll play as back up this year as we look to develop him and will likely be loaned to a Bundesliga club as a starter next season.
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Now for the sad news. Javier Hernandez has left the club.
Inter Milan came in with an offer that I simply deemed too good to refuse for a 29 year old with 10 months remaining on his contract. We now have the task of replacing a man whom bagged 31 goals for us. Good luck Chicharito, you're welcome back any time.
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This transfer occurred with 2 days left of the window and now I had the task of replacing him. My shortlist consisted of Romelu Lukaku (was available for £16.5-33.5 million earlier on in the season, but now seemed happy at Everton), Michy Batshuayi (transfer listed for £15.5 million), Arkadiusz Milik (available for £12-21 million) and my main target since the start of the save - Roberto Firmino, who was part of a Liverpool side that finished 8th.
I tried and tried for Firmino all summer. I declared interest in him for a transfer, then as my top target before he was unsettled at Liverpool, but Liverpool even rejected a £40 million plus £22 million in bonuses(!) offer for him! I accepted defeat at the beginning of deadline day - it just wasn't going to happen this summer.
So my interests shift to Arkadiusz Milik.
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The former Leverkusen man represented excellent value for money and has already been at Leverkusen previously. I had a bid of £12.75 million potentially rising to £18.5 million accepted for him but a condition that Napoli insisted on was that they sign a replacement first.
Well perhaps I was duked by them, as they made no effort to find a replacement and the deadline passed with the Milik transfer not being able to go through. You've got to be kidding me. The fans are (perhaps understandably) furious that I sold Chicharito and now I don't even have a replacement for him? Disaster.
But then...
"Roberto Firmino has been transfer listed by Liverpool"
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. 1 hour after the German deadline closed, Firmino is transfer listed by request by Liverpool and they are asking for £38 million, a far cry from the £62 million I offered a few days previously. I decided to swoop fast and take no chances on losing out on the man I had been pursing since Day 1. As annoyed as I am that he won't be able to be signed until January, at least I finally have got my man.
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Transfer Summary
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A decent summer overall, hopefully Volland can fill the void left by Hernandez as he'll be playing through the middle until Firmino arrives in January. A few decent youth players were signed too, namely Arapi and Koç.
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Beginning of 2017/2018 season
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Not a lot to say about pre-season, we won games we should have won and increased our presence in South Korea as the players returned to match sharpness. We'll be using the same tactics, so I didn't feel a heavy pre season was really needed.
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A nice way to start the season. A very late win against a Hoffenheim who are really a difficult side to play against in this save. Moise Kean came on on the left and changed the game for us, setting up the own goal to draw us leve before Kevin Kampl came up big for us once again as we got our hands on some early season silverware.
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Moise Kean. Even though this was against very poor opposition, a hat-trick for the Italian sensation is very encouraging to see. Hojberg opened his account for the team too.
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What a way to start the season. We utterly dominated the match and even when Mayoral converted the penalty and gave Wolfsburg the lead I wasn't worried - we were that in control. Then Dolberg scored and I almost accepted it was just one of those games. Kevin Volland had other ideas, scoring two goals to drag us back into the game before Calhanoglu held his nerve and earned us 3 points with the last kick of the ball.
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A great performance and solid point. We went with the 5 at the back that we exploited against Gladbach last season and got our rewards for a great performance with Hernandez setting up Akkaynak to equalise at the death.
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Not a great result or performance, but we'll take it. Kevin Kampl is in fine early season goal scoring form.
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Summary
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4 wins 1 draw 0 losses 14 goals for 4 against
7 points from a possible 9 is not a bad start to our efforts to retain the title. We could struggle for goals until January unless Volland and Kean can deliver for us.
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With Toprak leaving I had to appoint a new captain, step forward Benji Hendrichs. He was superb last season and at just 20, I think he can push forward and become a real world class player. A big responsibility, but one I think he will take in his stride.
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Our Champions League draw could have been worse. Stromgodset
should be 6 points, Madrid and Monaco will be a tough fight, but one I think we will be up for. Last 16 has to be the minimum aim again.
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Other than Real Madrid, a fairly generous month ahead for us. Hopefully we can push on and maintain our early season form and don't regret selling Chicharito...
