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First of all, thank you very much for all of your responses! I know we’d all rather be watching Bayern Munich play, but the more we can get this series going, maybe we can all feel like we’re watching the team go by...
Before we get to any games though, we have some big announcements to make!
WE HAVE A TWITCH ACCOUNT
Everyone is going to have to bear with me, because I’ve never streamed via Twitch before, but thanks to a user suggestion, we’re going to have an account to show live streams of the matches played in a neutral setting (a.k.a. no one controls the teams).
Find us here: https://www.twitch.tv/bavarianfifaworks
Now, let’s get to the action.
Jérôme Boateng joins FC Barcelona for €23,000,000
I’ll admit, I was a little bit shocked that Barcelona ponied up the cash to sign him, but they weren’t the first La Liga team to try and get him.
Sevilla were the first ones to approach me with an offer for him. It was a little low, but using my A+ negotiating skills, I was able to get them to agree to a €24 million fee with a 5% sell on clause. But then, Boateng’s agent went on to bungle everything and we were stuck with Boa for a little while longer.
Then, Barca approached us and off he went.
Javi Martínez to Olympique Lyonnais for €30,000,000
I’m even more surprised by this. The French club put forth an initial offer of €27.2 million, which I was inclined to accept. But, I countered at 30 with a 5% sell on clause, and they agreed to it.
So, now we’re down two centerback prospects, but we have over €160 million in transfer money to deal with. And, maybe, we’re gonna have more:
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At first, I kinda laughed at this one, but for €114.3 million, I doubt we will ever get more money for Lewandowski down the line in this simulation. Anyone whose played FIFA will tell you, Lewy isn’t that amazing of a player in the game outside of his finishing abilities. The game is built for speedy players, so it’ll be shocking that he will be doing well like in real life.
So, the choice is up to you guys. Though there’s one caveat that should be added: all of our biggest European rivals are buying BIG.
Major Non-Bayern Transfers that Happened so Far:
- Jadon Sancho from BVB to PSG for €91 million
- Anthony Martial from Manchester United to Juventus for €53 million
- Toby Alderweireld from Spurs to Man City for €53 million
- Memphis Depay from Olympique Lyonnais to Inter Milan for €47.8 million
- Andrej Kramarić from Hoffenheim to Valencia for €45.9 million
- Iago Aspas from Celta Vigo to Atletico Madrid for €44 million
- Gabriel Jesus from Man City to BVB for €41 million
We may be looking at some attacking buys sooner than we thought.
Meanwhile, looking at defense, we said we wanted to buy a center back and a right back.
I’ve decided I’m going to throw out three potential players for each future transfer decision: two that Bayern has been linked with in the past, and one that is off the wall a bit.
First up, Centerback a.k.a. “Let’s Just Raid Leipzig”
- Ibrahima Konaté - RB Leipzig
- 20 years old, 79 rated, France
- Valued at €18m with a €34.2m release clause//earning €36k per week
I’m a fan of Konate’s but with that release clause, it would put a decent dent in our transfer budget and would take us out of the running for someone big on the attacking front.
- Dayot Upamecano - RB Leipzig
- 20 years old, 79 rated, France
- Valued at €18m with NO release clause//earning €36k per week
He looks similar to Konate, but has no release clause to him. In this game, usually, that means we can get a lower fee for him. But, given the AI’s ability to adapt, maybe with all of the transfer rumors for him nowadays, it will cost us more.
- Off the Wall - Milan Škriniar - Inter Milan
- 24 years old, 86 rated, Slovakia
- Valued at €52m, NO release clause // €89k per week
So, this is the option we make if we decide to not sell Lewy or go after any attacking players. Škirinar was briefly linked with Bayern in the past and fits in with the team in other sims I’ve done. He isn’t that bad of an option, but probably has less of a chance to grow much beyond his current rating given his age.
Now, looking at right backs
- Lukas Klostermann - RB Leipzig
- 23 years old, 81 overall, Germany
- Valued at €20.5m, NO release clause//€48.5k per week
I like Klostermann a lot. He’s pacy, German, and versatile being able to be played at Left & Right Back. He’s not tied up with other clubs like the next player on the list.
- Achraf Hakimi - Borussia Dortmund (on loan from Real Madrid)
- 20 years old, 81 overall, Morocco
- Valued at €22m, NO release clause // €54k per week
It might be hard to get him with Real in the mix, but I’m not partial to any of the players on this list. Hakimi is also able to play Left and Right Back. He’s younger, just as pacy and has some pretty good shooting skills as well.
- Off the Wall - Just Ride it Out
Let’s think about this a bit. We have Benjamin Pavard currently starting at Right Back. He’s not the worst option in the world. In a worst case scenario, where he goes down, we slot Kimmich over to RB and then we have plenty of options to replace him at CDM (Cuisance, Thiago, Goretzka, Tolisso, etc.) I’d love to have a more stable option there, but there’s a lot of good players at our disposal now, and I don’t know if we necessarily need one.
So, my fellow managers, we have a lot of decisions to make:
Poll
Given our rivals big spending, do we buy more attacking players?
This poll is closed
-
13%
Yes, let’s get some strikers
-
63%
Yes, let’s get some wingers
-
8%
Yes, let’s get some attacking midfielders
-
15%
No, we should be okay
Poll
Do we accept PSG’s offer of €114m for Lewandowski
This poll is closed
-
36%
Yes, we may never get a similar offer for him again
-
63%
No, are you crazy?
Poll
Which CB do we buy?
This poll is closed
-
7%
Ibrahima Konate - RB Leipzig
-
75%
Dayot Upamecano - RB Leipzig
-
16%
Milan Škriniar - Inter Milan
Poll
Which RB do we buy?
This poll is closed
-
31%
Lukas Klostermann - RB Leipzig
-
35%
Achraf Hakimi - BVB (via Real)
-
33%
Stand pat, buy no one
The polls close at midnight Eastern Daylight Time. You have a little under 11 hours to vote. Make your voices heard!
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