Hello and welcome to the next post in my European Alphabet Challenge where I am currently in France with Marseille. So I have just finished the January transfer window and have some new signings to tell you about:
I signed 3 new players; Khumalo, Carrizo and Schuster. I only paid for one player and although £12.5m is a large sum for an Austrian… remember Vogt? I paid £17.5m for him at Liverpool and he scored 50 goals. Let’s look at them individually:
Nhlanhla Khumalo: ST (Free Transfer)
I signed Khumalo as he looks to have great potential. Although he only has 2 stars ability, his 4.5 stars potential proved that I was correct to sign him. This season he will feature mainly in the reserves but will also play the occasional league or cup match for the first team.
Augusto Carrizo: ST (From Cruzeiro — Pre-Contract Deal)
I signed Carrizo as a money gainer. This is because I got him on a free and sold a striker of similar ability and wages for £10m, (shown later), which helped me get funds. On his debut he scored 4 goals which may sound amazing… but it was against some non-league team in the cup, (also shown later).
Jens Schuster: MC/DM (£12.5m Fee — From SV Reid)
I signed Jens as he was a good long-term replacement for Husson, my vice-captain. Schuster is only 24 but has already got 4 stars in ability, and £12.5m seems a good price for him. The SV Reid board accepted it on the manager’s behalf, whereas in the Summer when I enquired before, they wanted £17.5m, which I couldn’t afford.
So, here are the players who left:
Diego Bagnulo was the player I sold to Besiktas for £10m. Not only was he not very good and couldn’t score, but he was also foreign. This meant that when he left, the foreign player space was freed up for Carrizo, meaning Carrizo can now play.
OK, away from the transfers now and onto the results.
We’ve had a good first half of the season, playing a low of games. We finishing 2nd in our Champions League group, behind Barcelona, meaning we qualify for the 1st KO round. We drew Manchester City…. in other words, out we go. In the Coupe de la Ligue, we made it all the way to the semi’s where unfortunately we lost to PSG 2-3 after extra-time. In the French Cup, we blasted through the 9th round beating the non-league side 12-0 where Carrizo score 4 on his debut, before beating Cherbourg Football 5-0 in the 10th Round.
Here’s how the result have affected the league table:
So we currently sit in 1st place which is where I want to be right now. We are 8 points clear on top, however the teams below have a game in hand over us. Lyon are very close to the relegation zone which is quite funny, but hopefully we can stay clear of St. Etienne and PSG.
Thanks for reading and please comment/vote!
