Darren — Newcastle’s overdue quiet pre-season 2017/18

Hello again guys and thanks for joining me. Today we will glance through Newcastle’s pre-season, transfer action and products of the Y2G system. The dust has settled after another quadruple winning year and my boys have hopefully recovered from any holiday hangovers. We finished 2016/17 unbeaten in 70 games and doing the double over Man City to win both the FA Cup and Champions League just three days apart. With all that in the past, I look to build on the future and where better to start than the boards expectations and media odds.

A less predictable meeting then usual where the board expressed their need for European qualification. I was shocked by this as last season saw them demand the title…ow well less pressure on me and the transfer budget is still huge at £148 million (not that I need it.) Being named favourites for the Premier League title still eludes me as Man City take this honour again…guess its time to stick a sneaky £20 bet.

Before we look through the summers transfer action, let me share some more upgrades. I have been pushing the board to make improvements over the last few years as shown below. My youth recruitment is ‘above average’ so I’m delighted they let me upgrade that, then the youth facilities are just ‘good’ so improvements were needed there too. Both these upgrades should be complete fairly soon.

I’d also like to share the richest clubs list, which reads well for me yet again. Last year saw Newcastle in 4th place worth £401 million, but this year has seen us climb above Arsenal to 3rd and worth £474 million. We are growing far faster than Barcelona and Real Madrid, so despite this been a drawn out process I am optimistic we can get top spot one day.

OK I won’t keep you in suspense any longer, its time for the summer transfer news. Unfortunately this could be a little anti climax though as only two faces left Saint James park and the same number entered. Leaving the club was Webb on a free transfer, the right back never improved since joining our academy…rather depressing as he was potentially the best we’ve produced, this sums up my rotten luck with youth intake. The main departure was Musacchio, the Argentine is 26 years old and bought during 2011 for £6 million. We made a nice profit of £4 million on the centre back that could be surplus to requirements now.

Joining the club were two very talented youngsters. The first was from Flamengo in Brazil and the deal was agreed one and a half years ago. Melo plays centre back and is rated at 3.5* potential ability. The 18 year could improve to Kalu’s level which is exciting and he seems to be in a similar mould. I’ll concentrate Melo’s training on quickness. This kid is a bargain at £1.3 million.

Next up we have Joao Borges, a 17 year old striker purchased from Porto. The youngster has bags of potential despite a few troublesome attributes such as pace and acceleration. My main reason for buying the Portuguese striker is his 20 determination and 17 work rate. These are vital to any regens development and I’ve never seen such high attributes in these areas. I have an inkling this kid could improve beyond any other player I’ve bought. Besides £1.6 million is nothing to my wealth so he is of minimal risk.

Now you’ve seen the anti climax of my summer transfers I have a little surprise. During last season I purchased four young players, I didn’t share them at the time because they were all hit and miss, but with so few signings I’ll take this opportunity to introduce you to the Y2G systems latest editions.

First off we have Danilo, this Brazilian has been in the pipeline for some time and looks great at just 18 years old. The CM still has a lot to do and won’t make the first team this year. I paid Atletico Miniero £2 million for his services and hope to receive at least three times this amount for the Brazilians future transfer fee.

While we’re in Brazil let me show you another addition bought from the same club. I signed Everton from Atletico Miniero for £1.7 million, the midfielder should mould well into an advanced playmaker role but this depends on his development. Aged 18 I believe the future is bright for Everton should he improve on passing and pace.

Before I reveal one of my favourite signings, let me share a gamble buy. His name is Matturano and departed from Cruz Azul for £1.2 million. This 18 year has a lot of improving to do, but I felt the small fee warranted the risk. My usual taste points towards big determination and work rate attributes but I stepped away from that for this guy. Playing central midfield means the Mexican has a competitive position, but we’ll see how he handles that.

Last but certainly not least is Victor Hugo Pavoni signed for £1.7 million from River Plate in Argentina. Despite some very low attributes in areas, the main bodes well for this kid. I have seen him improve already and plan to offer a little game time this year. So a lot of central midfielders, but I saw potential in all of them and decided they’d be better bought now for under £2 mill than forking out £15 mill plus in four years time if they fulfil my hoped potential.

Those new players may not be visible in my squad below, but that’s because they need time to develop in the reserves first. We still have great depth and 18 year old Melo will be getting some first team action at centre back to aid his development following Musacchio’s departure. The most pleasing aspect must be my players growth and transfer value. We have developed some very valuable stars which will reel in the big bucks during the next 4 years.

The Community Shield has been a permanent pre-season fixture for the last six seasons. This years opponents were Manchester City and I used the same starting XI that won in the Champions League final. Watch the match highlights below to see if Newcastle managed another great performance. Only the goals are shown, no video diary this time as I don’t want to over do them.

A fantastic performance and solo display from Sanogo guaranteed the 4-1 victory. City must be sick of us by now, but the match stats showed a far more even match than it felt. Despite this, Sanogo’s hat trick was sublime and no one can say his first goal wasn’t world class.

Now we move swiftly onto finances where the end of last season left £155 million in the bank. We haven’t spent much and made more than £5 million in the transfer market, so the bank balance now reads £165 million. Not bad at all and I hope to at least maintain this level for next season. As I always say, your main profit comes from players sold, so its only natural that this year hasn’t seen a massive improvement financially.

Well that is all for my pre-season update, I hope you enjoyed the read and will be back to see our start of season. Until then please feel free to comment and I look forward to reading your thoughts. Thanks guys.