Futbol Fanatik

Our first game of the new year was a huge one, the derby against our city rivals. We had lost the first encounter early in the season and I wasn’t going to let it happen again. I was very careful rotating the squad throughout our December fixtures to have my best eleven ready for that game. And so we set out in a 4-2-3-1, ready for our revenge.

But then, tragedy struck. Marc Cruz, arguably our best player of the season went down with an injury early in the game. I was forced to take him out, and that’s not usually a good sign. But instead of seeing the team crumble, something wonderful happened, our number 7, the glorious Alexis Sánchez who’s been fighting tooth and nail to keep his spot on the right wing, decided to take charge of the game and scored twice in the first half to give us a healthy lead. We ended up wining the game 3-0 with Sánchez by far and away the best player on the pitch.

After the game, the news were grim. Cruz was gonna be out for three to four months. We could still count on Silva but I was disheartened at the loss of our superstar. A 1-0 defeat to Wolves less than 24 hours later made matters worse. (By the way, what kind of scheduling is that? Two league games 24 hours apart? Madness!).

Thankfully, Sánchez hadn’t said his last words. He offered another Man of the Match performance against Blackpool with one goal and two assists, scored again in our 2-1 win over Birmingham, and ended the month with one goal and one assist in a 2-0 victory over Stoke. A phenomenal month for the diminutive winger.

Although the team’s overall performance in Cruz’s absence reassured me for the months to come, we suffered another blow when I learned that Coeff would be out for at least two months after getting injured during the Stoke game.

Coeff is one of the central figures at the club. Not having him puts a massive damper on my plans, not only tactically (Coeff, Vidal, and Rakitić form the triangle that makes the team tick), but also in terms of squad rotation. I don’t like playing Agyei alongside Vidal as I feel that they are too similar. The next two players in that role are Diomandé and Hakizimana, good players in their own right but they haven’t yet shown that mix of versatility, combativeness, and intelligence that Coeff brings to the midfield. The two young midfielders have also been injured several times already this season, so their match fitness is a concern. Can one of them step in the shoes of our beloved French dynamo? Time will tell.

As I mentioned in my previous post, Jonny Evans wasn’t too keen on resigning with us so I spent most of this transfer window looking for his replacement.

My first target was RC Lens’ Raphaël Varane. Since his contract was going to expire on July 1^st, I could grab him on a free transfer, saving money in the process. However, the minute I made an offer, all the big clubs around Europe did the same, reducing the probability of securing his signing.

So, while Varane was pondering offers thrown at him, I started to prepare a backup plan. Evans was in high-demand around England so why not attempt to trade him for someone younger on other teams? I really wanted Aston Villa’s Antonio Lombardi but they weren’t gonna sell their best player so I moved on to Sunderland’s Johan Hotlkamp.

If you pay attention to those screenshots I usually attach to these posts, Hotlkamp is a promising player who won the Young Player of the Month award several times. Their head coach Marcelo Bielsa has openly declared his interest for Evans so this was a no-brainer for me. I offered Evans + cash for the young Holtkamp. The response was positive and I quickly came to an agreement with the player.

Then the deal broke down after Evans refused the terms offered to him. I tried two more times, even accepting handing more cash than I initially wanted. The deal always broke down on Evans’ end. It was maddening. I was tempted to sell him outright but I absolutely need him for the final stretch of the season.

Meanwhile, Varane was still taking his sweet time and days were running out so I decided to look for other positions to strengthen. Coeff could always move to the backline if needed and I had plenty of Defensive Midfielders to back him up. By sheer luck, I found what seems to be a gem of a midfielder at Atlético Madrid named Iván Núñez. Without even planning for it, I had found Rakitić’s eventual replacement - for free too! He will join us on July 1^st.

Still waiting for Varane’s response, I also signed a youth player from Lens named Sylvain Zerbo. Only 16 years old, so still raw, but his attributes look promising. I’m hoping that he will turn into another Coeff in a couple of years.

Finally, on the last day of the transfer window, I received some good news. Varane had accepted our offer and will be a United player on July 1^st 2018. I’m desperately hoping that he’ll be worth the wait.

In the end, we will welcome three new players at Old Trafford this summer and not a single cent was spent. That is a feat in itself. It leaves me with a nice £40 million transfer kitty for the summer. Only problem is that we are at a point where I’ll have to sell some players to respect the registering rules. Players like Alberto, Diomandé, and Hird will be over 21 next season so I’ll have to make some space to fit them in. Aurtenexte and Ganso are the most likely to leave. All this and I still haven’t thought about what happens if *gasps* Evans decides to stay. Now THAT will be a conundrum.