second bit of transfer news
in their two new additions--kevin danso and george ilenikhena--manchester united have addressed their top priority positions early on the in transfer window.
in kevin danso, united identified a powerful presence in the backline who is young, but also has plenty of experience as a mainstay in the starting eleven. nagelsmann will look to danso's physicality and aerial presence to compliment lisandro martinez, and hopes to establish and strengthen that partnership during preseason. danso nearly joined napoli in the summer of 2023 after kim min jae joined bayern munich and danso's performances helped lens secure a second place finish in ligue 1, but lens were able to hold onto the austrian centerback for another season. former united defender, raphael varane, returns to rc lens as a free agent after united allowed his contract to run down. varane was part of the lens youth setup for nearly a decade before being promoted to the first team in 2010.
studied football fans will recall that julian nagelsmann brought exciting young attacker, mathys tel, to bayern munich in the summer of 2022 and had plans to turn the versatile french forward into a prolific attacker. in a similar move, united's manager worked with the recruitment team to identify ilenikhena as a promising young player. the 17 year old ilenikhena is a confident and precocious talent who is blessed with power, pace, and excellent close control. while his youth means he can be aggressive and make the wrong decision here and there, there's a definite talent there, and one who nagelsmann believes he can develop into the next great striker.
with malacia's forced absence from football and benfica taking up the permanent option for alvaro fernandez, it's believed nagelsmann will set his sights on a young left-back who can seamlessly rotate with the injury-prone luke shaw. french giants paris saint-germain have shown interest in casemiro, as well, which means united are ramping up their efforts to narrow down their search for a defensive midfielder.
transfer news!!
julian nagelsmann prepares to join up with his germany squad ahead of the 2024 euros, but not before meeting the newest addition to his manchester united squad.
a few squad and potential transfer updates for manchester united as the summer window rolls on without manager julian nagelsmann, who is currently with the germany squad for the 2024 euros.
as you can see from the image (it's small-ish, i know), i'm currently deciding between three defensive midfielders. i really like mats wieffer, united have been linked with amadou onana and he would be premier league-proven, and then alan varela is a player i've watched for a few seasons now who was also very impressive against arsenal in the first leg of their champions league tie. open to suggestions, though.
This is interesting. I'm doing a Man United career myself, also starting a year ahead in time, so there are quite a few similarities. Though also quite a few differences, and it will be interesting for me to see a different take on the current situation. Welcome aboard mate!
Kevin Danso was on my shortlist too. I opted for Edmond Tapsoba in stead, but I suppose we both identified the position to be in need of strengthening.
@sonofthepitch wrote:
i've read through yours and it's really good. do you play on a pc? your graphics and whatnot are nice, as well.
like you, i try to find that balance between keeping things realistic (players we're actually linked with) and doing what i think would make sense. most of the time i won't make a ton of signings and i'll take on a true rebuild that requires a few seasons
Thanks mate, appreciate the feedback. No, I'm on PS5, though I do the writing from a pc. I remember starting writing these stories, feeling quite inadequate in terms of the graphics, so it was mostly textbased at first. Slowly adding a few screenshots and graphics too, learning as we go.
I usually find my way 6-8 seasons into a save, so yeah, I'm not for the quick fixes either.
@sonofthepitch wrote:
i'm not super tech savvy, so i can't figure out how to get screenshots from my series x.
Well, me neither. I have a twitter account for this sole purpose really. So I used to just press the share button and post directly on my twitter.
However, recently they changed it so screenshots are saved in a PS-app in stead. So now I need to open my PS-app and share on twitter from there. And the images are sometimes not as "clean" as they used to. It gets a bit blurry sometimes.
I don't know if any of this is helpful, but that's just how I do it.
two more transfers to wrap up manchester united's summer business.
following germany's fantastic run to the 2024 euros final, where they lost 2-1 to england, newly appointed manchester united manager julian nagelsmann addressed the media ahead of what promises to be a busy preseason for the red devils.
speaking in a press conference at old trafford, nagelsmann stated that united's summer transfer business is complete and he is happy with his squad. considering player departures, a much-needed clearing out of some players, and ffp restrictions, he and dan ashworth had their work cut out for them heading into the transfer window, given the expiration of the contracts of raphael varane and anthony martial. this left a major lack of depth in united's striker and centerback positions. these were united's first pieces of business, and austrian centerback, kevin danso, was purchased from rc lens, while young nigerian striker, george ilenikhena, was brought in from royal antwerp after a stellar season for the belgian club.
jadon sancho, too, made demands of united's hierarchy that they didn't feel were warranted, which led to the winger submitting a formal transfer request. newcastle united made a bold approach for the 24 year old, hoping to capitalize on his unrest with a lower offer, but it was ac milan who turned sancho's head and agreed to a fee that more closely matched united's asking price.
brazilian winger, antony, has found adjustment to the premier league to be more difficult than anticipated and personal issues off the pitch haven't helped. ashworth isn't completely sold on antony's suitability to united's long-term plans, but agreed to listen to loan offers for the brazilian. la liga side, real sociedad, agreed to a one-year loan with an option to make the move permanent, which united and antony accepted.
two wingers out the door forced united to finally put pen to paper on a deal for michael olise, who agreed personal terms with united months prior. amad diallo, as well, was given assurances from nagelsmann regarding first team minutes and will remain a part of the squad this season.
tyrell malacia's absence and alvaro fernandez's move to benfica saw united bring in dutch left-back, bjorn meijer, from club brugge in a shrewd piece of business. the young fullback will provide solid competition for luke shaw, whose injury woes haven't gone unnoticed by ashworth.
it was widely believed that casemiro would be the next player in the twlight of his career to make the move to the saudi pro league, but an unexpected offer from paris saint-germain proved too good to pass up and the midfield veteran opted to join the ligue 1 giants. in need of a powerful midfielder, united signed mats wieffer from feyenoord, who nagelsmann and ashworth firmly believe will seamlessly adjust to the demands of the premier league.
finally, donny van de beek joined royal antwerp, christian eriksen moved to feyenoord, free agent anthony martial joined eintracht frankfurt, willy kambwala joined southampton on loan, and victor lindelof joined ogc nice.
nagelsmann will use the season to further assess his squad and a strategy is already in place regarding united's next few transfer windows.
as it stands, here is manchester united's squad for the 24/25 season
the 2024-25 premier league season is up and running, with august seeing the first three matches of the season, as well as the close of the summer transfer window. united played wolves, spurs, and forest in their first three fixtures.
Well done!
Geek-Me needed to check: first time since the 2017-18 season (under José Mourinho) that United opens with three consecutive wins.
So, maybe Nagelsmaan is on route to become The Extra Special One... #sarcasm
August proved to be a fruitful month for United. Not only did Julian Nagelsmann's side win their first three matches, but the German manager won the Premier League Manager of Month and Bruno Fernandes earned the Player of the Month award, as well.
September, however, will be a test. United have six matches (four league fixtures, a Europa League group stage match against LASK, and a Carabao Cup tie against Bristol City) with an international break thrown in, too. With most of the matches falling in the last two weeks of the month, Nagelsmann will be hoping his players don't pick up an injuries on international duty.
before we take a look at each of the match results, though, an update on united's academy.
nagelsmann and ashworth have workd closely with united's academy director, youth coaching staff, and youth scouts to identify the culture, tactics, and player profiles they'll value moving forward. united have four academy players that look promising.
17 year old attacker noam van damme is a belgian talent with excellent dribbling and can play on the wing or as a number 10.
utilizing their local scouts in england, united have also earmarked two english defenders to keep an eye on. 15 year old left-footed centerback sebastian brewer has pace and great awareness, enabling him to quickly sniff out danger and make recovery runs. ethan andrews is a 17 year old left-back whose physicality and stamina allow him to get up and down the pitch without tiring, enabling him to contribute to both attack and defense
finally, united sent a scout to argentina to take a look at a young goalkeeper tipped to have a bright future. just 17 years old, german ochoa is a towering 6'5 shot stopper whose impressive distribution and reflexes caught united's eye. united acted swiftly on the recommendation from their scout and signed ochoa to the academy, where he's been a standout in the u-18's. ochoa's performances have been so impressive, in fact, that it's believed he is ready to be tested with the u-21's.
september match results incoming, but before we dive in, here's how the top of the league table looks after the first month of the season
final odds and ends to wrap up september. october sees united take on toulouse and union sg in the europa league group stage, with three league fixtures mixed in, as well.
(i figured out the screen capture thing, too, so there will be more photos). bruno fernandes' performances in september saw him win a consecutive player of the month award. and i've also included the current league table after month of fixtures.
Rare to see such consistency in United colours. It's a nice change of pace though.
However, I do have a slight concern (on your behalf) that things could quickly become too easy for you. Especially now that you've already placed yourself firmly in the title race. Usually it takes me some time to string up these kinds of win streaks and get into the same position you find yourself in.
What difficulty are you playing, if you don't mind me asking?
@sonofthepitch wrote:
i have it set to world class, but i don't play each match myself, as i think it would make the scorelines a bit unrealistic. when i do actually play a match, i usually lock to a player and change which player i choose for that with each match i play.
in my opinion, the most difficult part of manager career is navigating the combination of ea's horrible fixture congestion and a ridiculously poor fitness mechanic. player's become fatigued easily and recover slowly, meaning i get emails from them about being forced to play when not 100% or the opposite--they're unfit, can't recover and can't play, and then send an email about wanting a transfer. smh
I wonder if these things are connected somehow? I play all games myself and have no problems keeping players fit. With 5 substitutions per game, I usually spend all 5 around 55-60 mins, and the subbed players are usually at 100% or at least close, when the next game begins. The 5 outfield players, I did not substitute, will probably need a break for the next game, but then I'll make some changes in the lineup to accomodate that. So my main rotation is keeping 5 outfield players in the lineup and switching 5, subbing off those whom I need to be fit for the next match. Workes fine for me.
I never really skip playing a match, but I recall doing so at some point, and players were hit by fatigue differently than when I actually played the game. So I wonder if your fatigue issues would be less, if you played the games in stead.
