Ruiz on the Move?
1 August 2025
Reports have emerged that the U’s are in negotiations with West Ham United over the sale of Marcel Ruiz to the Premier League club. An initial offer of £29 million has been received, which the U’s have rejected, but West Ham officials are due at the U’s Camulodunum stadium later this week to try and complete a deal.
Ruiz: About to get his move?
£29 million would smash the club's transfer record for a sale, only recently established by the £16 million sale of Ned Labrovic, so more than that would be even more of a remarkable deal for what was a free signing, 2 years ago.
“We have received an offer for Marcel, from a club he is interested in, but the sum is way short of what we would want,” said manager Danny Cowley. “Frankly, it’s a bit of an insult to Marcel, if they value him at that price, and we have told them not to bother unless they significantly increase their offer.”
It seems that the Hammers are about to do just that. As the season is about to start, we will soon see whether it is with, or without, the U’s midfield kingpin.
Ins and Outs so far.
As August starts, we have seen some comings and goings at the U’s. Here is a summary so far:
The U’s have smashed their transfer record for purchases with the £9.3 million signing of Anderson Duarte, a young left-winger from Chelsea, then followed that up with the £5.5 million capture of left midfielder Roger Fernandes from Wolves. Both players are expected to compete over the season, and will be joined by academy promotee Laurenco Castro, who is seen as an exciting prospect.
That completes the forward-oriented left-side of the U’s squad, which was often filled by right-footed players last season.
Meanwhile, up front, the U’s have signed two free transfers – Robert Jovanovic and Sebastian Ayala, to replace outgoing Liam Lambert and Xabier Rojas.
Jovanovic Joins the U's
The U’s also are currently missing Bradley Ihionvien with an ACL injury, so these two are welcome additions.
Attacking midfielder Felipe Carillo is another exciting academy promotee, replacing the departed Olav Petersen whose default first-team place in the number 10 role is now taken by Noah Chilvers. Chilvers has also been selected by the players as the club captain; a reward for his stunning season, which left him as the U’s highest asister and third-highest scorer.
The New Club Captain
On the departures front, three more players go to Championship rivals, alongside the already known move to Luton by Olav Petersen.
So far, the U’s have made a £15 million profit on transfer dealings, with the possible big fee also yet to come for Ruiz.
Winning Start to the League and Disappointment at Wembley
The U’s have got off to a positive start in the Championship, winning both of their first two matches, before heading off to Wembley for what is normally the first game of the season – the Community Shield.
Last season’s strike partnership of Louis and Tovide opened the scoring against Portsmouth, Samson Tovide having the distinction of being the first on the scoresheet on the U’s return to the division.
Tovide Nets First
Portsmouth had their fair share of opportunities but, when new boy Anderson Duarte made it 3-1 on 84 minutes, all Portsmouth could do was get another consolation.
A straightforward 3-1 win against QPR saw new striker Robert Jovanovic score twice on his competitive debut, with Max Dean getting the other. QPR finished in a low position last season, and this performance made it clear why.
Off to Wembley and the U’s gave a good account of themselves in what may have been Marcel Ruiz’s last game for the club, following ‘good talks’ between the U’s and West Ham. A 1-1 draw saw the U’s lose on penalties, but there was a lot to encourage for manager Danny Cowley.
It's back to the Championship grind now for the U's. The first two matches have been against teams that struggled, as are the next 2-3 league matches, which gives the U’s a chance to settle into the division.
“We have at least 8 matches to play this month, possibly 9,” said Cowley. “We are going to need the squad like no other time before and, with the Europa League games, it will remain really busy right up to Christmas, so a good start is just what we needed.”
Ruiz Breaks Transfer Record
Marcel Ruiz has become Colchester United’s most expensive player ever, after the club agreed to sell him to West Ham United for £45 million.
The deal, which sees the player move down the A12 to East London and the former Olympic Stadium, was announced after the Community Shield match between the U’s and Chelsea. Ruiz joins the Hammers on a 5-year deal and leaves a gaping hole in the U’s line-up.
“We couldn’t keep Marcel; it wouldn’t have been fair,” said manager Danny Cowley. “He has a great opportunity that he now needs to take as he enters his prime years.
“We were determined, however, to get the deal we wanted, and Marcel was on board with that, so it was an anxious wait for him.”
Ruiz after a missed opportunity against Chelsea. He'll now play them twice more this season
The Hammers offered £29 million to start with, but Colchester clearly were not prepared to let him go for that amount. The final price represents an amazing return on a player who has been with the club 2 years and cost nothing to acquire.
“I will forever be grateful to the club for the opportunity they gave me,” said Ruiz. “I learned how to settle and live in this country, everybody made me welcome and I hope that, in helping the club to 2 promotions and realising such a large fee, I have given something back. I will forever look out for the U’s results and I am not that far away. I will come back whenever I can to watch the team. Thank you all.”
It remains to be seen how the club fills the position on the pitch. In the first instance, it will probably fall to Alexander Schmitt (18) who played well in that role at times last season, understudied by new academy promotee Tristan Thygesen, also 18. Perhaps some of that transfer money will be spent.
Tough luck in the Community Shield. But possibly a fair result at the end of the day.
More than 60 million raised in two years from Labrovic and Ruiz. Signing these internationals for free certainly work out for you. This enables you to spend big now, signing players who would otherwise be above your station. It's a pretty massive development though, first doubling your transfer record, then almost trippling the new record again in the same window. You've practically had a financial takeover in these two transfers.
@JustinCase0110
The thing is, their value wasn't particularly big when I signed them. Ruiz eventually rose to a value of £25 million in the 'book value' terms, which is still a lot, I know, but neither of them were anywhere near these levels 2 seasons ago. I don't know why the game decided to let me push West Ham as far as I could, because the amount over 'book value' was ridiculous. I never thought it would do it.
Both of these players are 'internationals' in the sense that they have a cap or two. Ruiz has one at senior level and Labrovic one as well. When I signed them, it was with that in mind. I wouldn't call either of them 'established internationals' on that basis. Over the years, Colchester have had internationals in their squad.
Apart from one big money signing to come, I don't expect to use this money at the moment, as it wouldn't be proper.
What I've signed otherwise is almost entirely in keeping with an upwardly mobile side, I think. Most of my incomings over the two seasons have been from the academy...
Club Captain Out For 3 Months
Sidelined: Captain Chilvers
Club captain Noah Chilvers will miss the next three months after suffering a broken toe during the win over Milwall at Camulodunum.
The injury happened soon after he gave Colchester the lead in a bad-tempered match that saw 4 Millwall bookings overall, as the visitors played their usual robust style of football.
“It’s hard for Noah, so soon after stepping into the captain’s role, but he’ll come back as strong as ever,” said manager Danny Cowley.
It’s likely that his attacking midfielder place will be shared between Iago Miranda and Ryan Norton. “This is a good chance for both of them; let’s see what they make of it,” Cowley added. Both are from the academy and it illustrates the strength of what has been delivered over the last two years.
Colchester also got past Birmingham in the Carabao Cup, setting up a ninth match in August, as they will now face Crystal Palace in the next round. That will give Fabien Louis, if he plays, a chance to show Palace what they are missing out on, after the U’s rejected a bid from the South London club in July. Hero of the Birmingham match was summer signing Sebastian Ayala, the striker scoring his first goals for the club as he delivered a hat-trick.
The U's edged a close game against Blackburn, which saw the return of former U's academy player Sammie Szmodics, who has been the Championship's top scorer for the last two seasons. Not this time, though, as he was well shackled by the U's defence, who instead let Gallagher in twice.
Louis Signs Contract Extension
Louis: Staying Put
Fabien Louis has ended specuulation about his U’s career by signing a contract extension to summer 2030. The deal allegedly makes him one of the biggest earners, following the departure of Marcel Ruiz.
Enquiries had been made by a number of clubs, but the U’s rejected them and in the end Louis was convinced that he would be better-placed to continue his development in the Championship – and of course in the Europa League. None of the clubs making an offer could provide the young Frenchman with the latter.
“Fabien knows that he’s in a great place, with the opportunity to test himself against serious opposition this season” said manager Danny Cowley. “It’s up to us to try and match his ambition going forward and we will of course be trying to do that.
“I am happy here,” said Louis. “The manager knows me, what I need and how to help me get better still. Evereybody here loves me and I do them. Together, we can do great things.”
Fans will no doubt be very happy at this development.
@CO88LER5 wrote:The thing is, their value wasn't particularly big when I signed them. Ruiz eventually rose to a value of £25 million in the 'book value' terms, which is still a lot, I know, but neither of them were anywhere near these levels 2 seasons ago. I don't know why the game decided to let me push West Ham as far as I could, because the amount over 'book value' was ridiculous. I never thought it would do it.
Both of these players are 'internationals' in the sense that they have a cap or two. Ruiz has one at senior level and Labrovic one as well. When I signed them, it was with that in mind. I wouldn't call either of them 'established internationals' on that basis. Over the years, Colchester have had internationals in their squad.
Apart from one big money signing to come, I don't expect to use this money at the moment, as it wouldn't be proper.
What I've signed otherwise is almost entirely in keeping with an upwardly mobile side, I think. Most of my incomings over the two seasons have been from the academy...
I know they've grown in your 'possession', but if my memory doesn't fail me, they were already top of your hierarchy (by far) when you signed them for nothing, holding mid-70's ratings compared to the 60-somethings for the rest of your squad.
I get that it wouldn't be 'proper' to spend all that money now, and kudos for thinking this way. But still, I kind of feel you created the situation yourself by making this shortcut. No way these players would choose a League Two side IRL, regardless of their limited amount of international games. Sorry, but I just don't buy it.
This also brings me to the ambivalence, I'm left with here. Should I even say this? I mean, it's your save, so you can go about it just the way you please. Who am I to judge? But there is so many things I do like about your save(s), so perhaps my cincerity about these things comes with the price of honesty, when I come across something that I find to be too unrealistic or whatever one might call it.
In regards to the big fees (45m for 25m player) I've often received this kind of overpayment, sometimes twice the market value (to which you are very close). So nothing of this comes as a surprise to me. In fact, I believe it was actually my first thought, when you signed them two years back.
@JustinCase0110
I get what you are saying, but then this isn't real life; it's just a game.
The real life Colchester United is in a total mess; they have just avoided relegation from the football league by the skin of their teeth for three consecutive seasons. A real life, or even close to real life, simulation in this game would see them continue to do that, which is not really the point of it all, in my view. Perhaps the real life Danny Cowley (he actually is their manager) might get them to mid-table, or even battling for promotion, but that's all he's going to do because that's their real position in the hierarchy.
If we all just kept it utterly 'realistic' (as opposed to bending things a bit, and maybe trying to come up with a story that might justify it, as I did with both these players at the time), then this career of mine is effectively finished, because Colchester United in this career have now got as far as they have ever done in real life - and they only stayed in tier 2 for two seasons at that. Not only that, they have never won a 'professional' trophy and yet here I am, with 2 BSM Trophies and an FA Cup. Of course it is fantasy; that's the whole point of the game's existence.
In the same vein, you have now taken Stockport as far as they should go, to be honest. Anything above the Championship is unrealistic for a club like that. If and when you get them into the Premier League, we will all suspend belief and congratulate you for doing it, because we recognise that it is just a fantasy.
The thing is, we all bend reality in this game; that's what makes it the interesting thing it is...🙂
I hope you're not offended by anything I've said, because that is not my intention.
No offence taken mate. Quite the contrary, I was afraid my feedback the other way could have been 'too honest' and caused a raised eyebrow 😉
I know it's only a game. I just like to keep some parts of a story/journey realistic. And to me smaller steps help to do that, rather than signing too good players too quickly. I signed Mbappé on a free once, to AC Milan. Got pretty boring soon after 😄
I think I like to play Career Mode, because it is a game mode that is tied to reality somehow. You can take a club from a real life situation/mess and do something good with it. But the point goes missing in my view, if the following steps are not within a grasp of realism. That's just about it. I shouldn't expect others to feel the same way about it. But I like to give feedback to others here, and I suppose a bit of honesty comes with that.
Anyway, as I said, it's all good man (Saul Goodman). Let's get back on topic...
Good talk. I think the same. I like to keep it realistic to a point but also enjoy mixing in things to bend reality and make the CM more fun for us. I admit in my Brighton career, I have had too many transfers in the first season. Normally I limit myself to only a few to keep it realistic but I wanted to speed up the rebuild and have fun with it so I went beyond the normal limits.
Anyway, back to the CM. Good transfer business, the squad is looking good for the competition and should be up to the task with Europe as well to at least compete in the group.
Update.
I haven't been able to keep up with this for a while, and it will be sporadic for the next few months on any forum.
However, where this career is now is as follows:
1) Colchester United gained promotion to the Premier League, as runners-up. They repeated their FA Cup win of the previous season with a battling 2-1 win against Manchester City in the final (just like Wigan shocked them, a few years ago). This placed them back in the Europa League for their inagural premier league season.
2) Their "Championship" Europa League campaign was epic, in which they reached the final after the pathway was cleared by the 'big names' such as Barcelona, Manchester United and Manchester City being on the opposite side of the draw and effectively culling their numbers, with Barcelona emerging from the wreckage. In the end, they were thrashed 4-1 by Barcelona in the final, albeit that it was 1-1 until around the 70th minute.
So, the club is now in the premier league and currently (after Christmas) sitting a distant second to Liverpool (13 points behind), with Chelsea, Manchester City and Spurs only a couple of points behind them. They got to the semi of the Carabao Cup and were thrashed 4-1 at home to City, but managed a 1-0 win at the Etihad. They have just progressed from the round of 32 in the Europa League and have met the manager's target of the round of 16 in the FA Cup.
On the player side, the club continues to develp and promote kids from the academy, having not purchased any big names with their "promotion money", or indeed the big fees got for Ruiz and Labrovic in the previous season. The only purchases of any note have been to meet the board's targets (strangely, I had to buy two players from North America) and kids from other teams. We have managed to keep hold of the most promising players, like the strikers Louis and Aguilar, because we are now in the premier league, and are also in Europe. They continue to find the net on a regular basis and have got better and better as the season has progressed. This season, we have loaned out quite a few of the kids and I am looking forward to seeing what I get back, in terms of how they have developed, at the end of this season.
So, it's going well at the moment, but getting a 'top 4' finish is finely in the balance (the target is 'avoid relegation')..
I've just downloaded the 25 Beta, so I'll probably play that for a bit now.
@CO88LER5 wrote:I've just downloaded the 25 Beta, so I'll probably play that for a bit now.
Welcome back mate. Though it seems the FC25 Beta has made it a short return. I can't help getting a bit envious of you guys getting this early sneak peak to the new game. I suppose I'll just have to remain patient for another 6-7 weeks.
Colchester United continuing an immense rise with consecutive FA Cup wins, a 2nd place in the Europa League and for now a 2nd place in the first EPL season. Even with European football as a distraction.
Impressive. Good luck with the beta. I look forward to joining the FC25 community at release.
