Posted by Football Manager Guru in The time has come to reveal, who’s in and who’s out. Who will be gracing the pitch at the newly expanded Molineux stadium? Who will be deemed unworthy? Can we stake a challenge on the top 6 places in the EPL this season with this new batch of players? You are about to find out.
Players Out
A total of 28 million was raised via the sales of players. This is to be added to my transfer funds, which has originally set to be 33 million by the board. The highlights of those who are sold includes:
Kevin Foley – He played like 2 games for me the whole of last season as Stearman kept him out of the squad. I have no idea what would any club pay 3.7 million for his services because he seemed fairly average to me. I will take the early Christmas present from Stuttgart anyway (:
Stefan Maiehofer - I was unable to find a buyer for him when I took over the club and I finally got rid of him for 2.3 million. Has great physical attributes but can’t shoot for nuts.
Ronald Zubar - My backup CB last season, made a few mistakes, but the main reason why he was sold was because I felt he did not deserve to command a 13,000 a month salary. Someone can surely do a better job as a backup CB for significantly less pay.
Nenad Milijas – Bye Milijas, you used to be one of my favourite players in the squad.
But you were so determined to leave the squad in search of greener pastures, I felt I had no chance of keeping you and when a good offer of 7.5 million comes in, I felt it was time to bid farewell to you. Thank you for all the long shots you scored last season, it played a big factor in us finishing 8th. I hope you have a great career in front of you at Florentina.
Michael Ball – Wow, I am surprised people are willing to pay 675k for your services after you royally screwed up playing left back for me last season leaking in so many goals due to the silly mistakes you made.
Players In
This is probably the reason why you are reading this article anyway, and I promise you I have a very good lineup of buys that is sure to get you just as excited as I am. It is time you fans get rewarded for sticking through thick and thin with us last season.
Gojko Kacar is bought at a price of 11 million, and he was brought in to replace Milijas and Karl Henry. Karl Henry played in the CM position but was quite a defensive minded player, and Kacar is similar that way. However, he tons better going forward to support the attack. Kacar can easily slot into the DM position, with a work rate of 19, marking tackling rated both 17. He has 18 for bravery, 18 for aggression as well. Solid DM, who is just as equally capable going forward with his high creativity of 17. Will be played in Hasebe’s DM position if needed.Kacar is only 23 years old and has years ahead of him, hence I felt the price of 11 million was going to be worth it.
Gokhan Inler is also bought for 11 million, and he was primarily brought in to replace Milijas who has left in the summer. He is also highly rated for his long shots and looks like quite a hardworking player going forward, he has around 15 for creativity, passing, technique. In addition Inler is only 26 year old, and can shoots with both feet, quite an all rounded player in many many aspects. I am really excited to see whether he could surpass Milijas, as his stats are definitely better than what Milijas has. We’ll see in due time.
Artem Milevskyi is my other big buy this season at 10 million. Milevskyi is arguably among the ranks of the best strikers in FM, as I know from past experience he was a very consistent player, not to mention has immense physical strength who can hold off the ball well till support from the midfield arrives. For someone so towering at 190cm, he is fairly graceful and has 18 rated for his dribbling. He is also fairly quick and has good balance. Has great technique of 17 and that will complement his finishing of 15. Milevskyi also has a great record in terms of fitness, rarely getting injured in his career. He is quite the all round striker who can run at defenders, and he is also fairly young at 25 years old. Many things are to be expected from him since he has so many more years to go before he reaches his peak.
Vegard Forren is brought into the squad for 5 million, and one of the main reasons is due to his immense versatility. One of the main reasons why we dropped points last season when we shouldn’t have is due to the lack of depth and backup in the squad. When Berra or Hasebe got injured, my squad lacked the depth to cover them positions and we paid a dear price for it by conceding sloppy goals. Forren kills two birds with a stone because not only can he play as DC, he is also capable of playing LB and DM. On top of that he is only 22 years old and his best years are still ahead of him, yet he has great attributes, especially in the mental aspects that are integral for a defensive player. Shevchuk and him will probably take turns playing LB.
Very few people would have heard of Yssouf Kone. He was bought into the squad for a price of 4 million dollars. I know some people would look at him and say that that is a fairly risky gamble. He has 16 for finishing, 14 technique, 14 off the ball, 14 composure and 16 for flair. However, these stats are not the factor that convinced me to Burkina Faso. My scouts indicated that he is a consistent player, regardless big or small games. A look at his international record shows 12 goals in 17 appearances. Now that is something Kevin Doyle could not have done at the international level. Mind you, Newcastle bought Kevin Doyle for 4 million as well. Let’s see if he really turns out to be a consistent player this season.
Marc Muniesa came from Barcaelona for a mere fee of 95k. And he is already tipped by most of my scouts to be a young defender with tons of potential. What’s there to lose in this deal? Besides, he is paid peanuts at 200 a week. Will use him on loan and reserve game to develop him into a more complete player. Potential profit making player.
Verratti is one of the highly sought after youngsters in the game at only 17 years old. He was bought for a price of 1 million. A fairly good price considering how good his stats already is at the mere age of 17. He has 16 for corners, 16 for free kick tacking, 17 technique, 16 aggression and 18 flair. Will maybe use him as a substitute or loan him out for a while A potential superstar for the future Wolves’ squad.
Sergiy Kryvstov looks to be a future superstar CB. He was brought in for 2.8 million. Before you think I am overpaying for a kid of only 19 years old. Check out his stats firce. He excels in the areas where a CB should. 19 for both jumping and heading means he probably is unbeatable in the air when he matures, 16 for stamina, 18 for strength, good mental stats hovering around 15. Marking of 15, Tackling rated at 14. Besides, I am without any true CB for cover now that Zubar is sold, I am left with just Otamendi and Berra. Will probably feature quite a bit this season in the easier fixtures.
My last signing is a backup signing for the squad. Morgaro Gomis is the star player of Dundee and I obtained his services for a mere fee of 1 million. He has great physical attributes, immense strength and a great work rate, determination and agression. He might be lacking on the technical attributes with the exception of his passing rated at 14, but for a backup player I believe he will provide the squad with great cover. Will field him in the easier fixtures and against lower league teams in league cup etc.
My signings cost a total of 46 million in total and I still have some transfer funds left after selling the players I wanted to. Big investment for Wolves, and of course I demand big results from all the signings above. We will see in due time, but so far they look promising in friendlies, although I will not look too much into it, afterall we usually outclass the oppositions in friendlies.
I am just as eager as you to find out how Wolves fair in the new season. There you have it our new signings, and really have a good feeling about this season. This season might be the breakthrough year where Wolves finally qualifies for a Europe competition slot. I am sure the fans and board will be delighted if our squad could achieve that this season. We have a tough away game on our first day of the EPL season, and we’ll see how much we have improved then. Till then, we will be training hard for the new season!
Hey Jason, i think you had made very good signings for your squad and some fantastic youngsters in the ranks also.
It should be an exciting season for Wolves this season, i bet you are as excited as me. But hey do not rush playing the game, take it slowly
Hey Lye,
of course I am excited this Wolves squad has improved so much in quality that it makes me wonder how high we can go.
In fact I am playing the game as we speak. (: Things are looking quite promising so far. Can’t wait to share!
Looks like you’ve done a good job of strengthening the squad there. Kacar and Inler look like they should serve you very well. Verratti and Kryvtsov should be stars of the future, and already look good for their age.
Milevskyi is a favourite for many people, and should give extra power up front. The depth has definitely got better. If you reached a European competition next season, you’ll probably want just a little bit more depth, but you’re pretty close already.
Hey Ziggy (:
Milvskyi has been slow to fit into the squad, but in my recent games he has been utterly awesome. I will share it with you guys when I finished writing my next post.
Inler is amazing every game he puts in at least 4-5 successful tackles and is very consistent with his passing.
Can’t wait for your article on how to break down teams who “park the bus” Cheers!
Kryvtov is amazing. He is my squad and he look comfortable to be a stopper.
How much you get for Milevskyi? I’m searching for new striker now as I’m cannot rely on Doyle only even he got me 17s goal for this season.
Hi zam (:
nice to hear from you again. Kryvstov is great, although he is having trouble settling down in England early in my game. Nevertheless the few appearances I gave him, he did great as you can see from my later posts.
Milevskyi cost 10 million for me and so far, I would say he’s worth every single cent. Ditch Doyle and get yourself a real striker (: