Notts County 2014-2015: Pre Season Transfer News

Hello folks and welcome back to the Notts County Football Manager 2010 story! Our fans might be still nursing hangovers after the magnificent treble that we pulled off last season but I had to start working again to face the challenges ahead of us. You might have already seen the squad analysis, so you know that I wanted to bring in a new left back and a left winger, let’s see what I’ve managed to do during the transfer window.

I was hoping for a wealthy transfer budget and I must admit that I was slightly disappointed when I saw that the board offered me 33 million pounds to challenge for the title. The wage budget is quite alright though, 1.4 million pounds per week.

So, let’s see the transfers. I sold Djourou and Sburlea for 18 million pounds, that added quite a big chunk of money to the existing budget. My main targets were left back Fabio from Manchester United and left winger Ashley Young from Aston Villa, they seemed to be the best home grown players for those roles. Fabio came in for a reasonable price, 10 million pounds, but I have spent almost everything on Young, 30 million pounds! It might have been a rash decision but I guess I’m a bit stubborn sometimes. Initially Aston Villa wanted 40 million pounds but I managed to negotiate down to 30 after trying to get him for 25. The rest of the players are promising youngsters plus two surprise signings on free transfers, goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa and world class striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Now let me introduce the main transfers. The first one was the left back, Brazilian born and Manchester United raised Fabio. He is one of the best left backs in England at the moment and I hope that his presence will be a big incentive for young Joe Barton to improve himself.

I guess I don’t have to say too much about our new left winger, Ashley Young, he has great abilities and I think that he could be one of the players that could add quality to the team.

I didn’t really need another striker but when I saw that Ibrahimovic was available for free I just couldn’t help it. He’s 32 years old now, lost a bit of pace, but he still has awesome skills that could be important in certain games. He will be a backup player, he agreed to that status within the team, and he could also be a great tutor for the club’s youngsters.

I was very satisfied with my goalkeeper, Sergio Romero did well during the two seasons that he spent at the club, but finding someone like Guillermo Ochoa on a free transfer is not something that happens every day. So I thought that it will be a good business opportunity: if he does well then I’ll sell Romero in January, if not I’ll sell Ochoa and still gain something.

I also brought in six youngsters that will be given some time to grow in the reserves team. The most promising of the bunch seems to be Romanian regen defender Iulian Neacsu, a very versatile player that has the natural ability to cover every single role in defense: right back, left back and centre back.

We played five friendly games, scored a whole lot of goals but I was a bit disappointed with the Celtic game, we conceded two goals with incredible ease.

Liverpool and Man City seem to be the favourites for the title, we’re used to fight against the odds.

We’re going to start the season with a tough battle with our rivals from last season, Manchester United. It will be a chance to win the Community Shield at Wembley, I hope we’ll be ready for the occasion. The month will end with a fantastic encounter with Champions League winners Real Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup.

I had offers coming in for almost each and every player in the squad and some of them are not happy that I rejected them. I hope that once the transfer window will end they will set their minds on playing football again and forget about all the millions that are being offered for their services. That’s how our pre season went, thanks for reading and I’m looking forward to your comments. ;)

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