Football Italia: Season 9 – Bleak-ish Midwinter

Season Nine: A bleak-ish midwinter.

With plenty of playing time left before FM25 is even announced, let alone released, I’m able to continue the growth here in Sicily. At times, it will be slower, and, probably for the first time – we’ve really encountered a bad run in the league.

Our goals have dried up a little and, fluke Milan win aside, we really haven’t produced the kind of results that are required, hence a slight drop down the league. We are trending for just below our points tally from last year, suggesting that – as I mentioned – we did slightly overperform, by taking the league by surprise more than anything. This kind of form, whether it brings Europe or not, is perfect for the progress I want to make and means that, despite their horrific bad luck, we won’t be bobbing up and down like Milan, for example.

To ensure that we remain competitive, I have also completed some transfer dealings:

Sales of academy players Josep Colell, Roberto Arana, Guille Fuentes and Umberto Micheletti raised a total o €6m for me to put towards wages and transfer fees. This is the second option within my academy plan – profitability on youngsters who cannot reach the first tea. The three Spaniards cost a total of just under €200k so represent a lovely bit of work for me. A total of €400k was spent on buying out the Hoyos clause, a great deal when he’s already valued at €60m+ and any profit would be on, at least, €50m.

To strengthen the team, I recruited three players. Luca Galletti, despite his chequered past following a big money move to Man Utd, possesses great quality in the middle of the park and some traits that I think will help us in the early transition. I wasn’t able to replace Charlie Patino in the summer and, as such, minutes have had to be used elsewhere as I was only left with three natural central midfielders. He’s very low risk but I’m happy. Next in is the first of two loanees: Valentino Mendoza comes in from Chelsea with a point to prove as they barely played him since spending €8m on bringing him over from River Plate. An excellent traditional wing back, he’s the perfect complement to the creative Fernandes and offers a nice mirror image (both in terms of style an nationality) to what I have on the left hand side. Creative 10 Santiago Zimmerman signs from Arsenal in a loan that will cost about €1.3m. He’s had two successful spells on loan at Fulham and one at Ipswich – both in the Championship – and knows how to find the net. I’m told I’ll have to look after him a little as he’s somewhat injury prone but, as Argentine 10s go, he’s already a player I really really am excited about. Both Mendoza and Zimmermann have expiring contracts and I hope to be able to try before I buy, as it were, spending around €2m on loans before signing them both for free.

With the returning Migliori – following a decent half season in Portugal, where they decided to play him as a wide centre back – I am now pretty much fully stocked in terms of my first team. We are settled, competitive and, whilst still very much the small fish in the big Serie A pond, are developing nicely. Realistically, few of these players would make it into other sides in European competition but I am trying to slowly and carefully build this project and I think we have some wonderful infrastructure and foundations in place to do so.

Forza Biancoscudati!