Welcome back to Belgium and Royal Antwerp. In this edition of the blog I intend to introduce our first intake of "Euro Rejects". If you don't know what I am talking about you need to read my first post in this series where I outlined a somewhat 'unique' recruitment strategy for our time in Belgium.
Save Reveal - Royal Antwerp - The Great Old
In short I intend to only sign young players that have been released at the end of their contract in order to give them another chance to 'make it' before we sell them on for profit. All the while keeping Antwerp challenging domestically.
If you read my last post you will be aware that I have a few confessions to make. Let's get those out of the way first. As you should be aware money was fast becoming an issue for us. We were hemorrhaging cash at a really alarming rate and I couldn't tell why. We did have almost £1m outgoing each month in loan repayments so I put it down to that. By the end of season one we were almost £20m in debt.
So it was with great surprise when I received this news item. I had largely ignored the rumours around a take over up until this point.
When I saw Portuguese involvement I immediately presumed we had been taken over by BC Madeira. This wasn't the case, and their Managing Director immediately denied any involvement.
Bruno de Carvalho cleared the clubs debts and consolidated all our loans into longer repayments that were much more manageable for us.
*I promise I did not use the editor for this (aka doing a statapp)*
The second of my confessions involves a 'slight' departure from the recruitment strategy discussed above. There are reasons for this that I will explain, plus it's my game so I'll play how I want ok pal.
We had a number of players already at the club on loan when I took over. Two of these had an optional purchase price built into the loan agreement and when I saw how cheap they were I really couldn't resist putting the cash on the table.
Jordan Lukaku (210k)
£210,000 for Lukaku is an absolute steal, the younger brother of INTER striker Romelu. He was fantastic for me in season one, before SI borked the FB match ratings, and I was worried about how I could replace him. As an added bonus he was born in Antwerp, and has DR Congo roots, and he counts as home-grown! What's not to like?
2. Cristian Benavente (2m)
Regular readers will know all about this fella. He was on loan from Egyptian outfit The Pyramids last season and was an absolute beast for us. I couldn't resist getting our hands on him for only £2m. His performances and record over season one speaks for itself.
3. Juan Mata (free)
So how did we end up signing Juan Mata? First off we made move at the end of last season to a 4231 but we didn't really have a recognised AMC. So I opened up the player search and put in my Euro Rejects filters; Contract - Expired; Nationality - EU National. Age 15 - 23. I then looked at the attributes required and couldn't really think what combinations I wanted. So I decided to take a different approach and search for player similar to....Juan Mata, a perfect number 10 for Belgium.
Unbeknownst to me, I had somehow managed to untick the age filter so I was taken aback when the player at the very top of the list was none other than, Juan Mata himself. He had just been released by Manchester United. So just for the giggles I decided to click approach to sign and to my amazement, he was keen to play in the Champions League, and would do so for £18k per week. He wouldn't even be my top earner! So he is here on a one year contract and I'm really looking forward to watching him tear up Belgium.
Euro Rejects
So onto the real reason for this post. To look at my first intake of "Euro Rejects". If you missed my first post explaining my recruitment policy you can find it below.
Save Reveal #FM21 – Royal Antwerp “the Great Old”
In short, I intend to only recruit European players who have been released from their club and find themselves on the football player scrap heap. Antwerp will provide them with the opportunity to play first team football for two seasons before selling them on for a hefty profit. I intend to follow each recruit through their careers to see where they end up.
After a little squad analysis I decided we needed a dynamic box to box midfielder, a good Inside Forward who could also play as a lone striker (I often like to have players fit into multiple roles in my squad, I find this helps with rotation and changing a game when things are not going to plan.). Finally I felt we needed some extra depth in centre midfield.
Box to Box Midfielder - Youssef Ait Bennasser (25 French national)
Released from Monaco, I really like Youssef he is a real all rounder, and my scouts see him as a leading Eerste klasse A midfielder. He has few real weaknesses which for a Box to Box midfielder is perfect. I also like his trait of Tries Long Range Passes when coupled with his high vision, passing and technique. Finishing could be better I guess along with defensive positioning but we can't have everything.
2. Inside Forward / Striker - Luca Vido (24 Italian national)
Released from Atalanta, Luca Vido is exactly the sort of player I was hoping to get when doing this. His career has never really got started, coming through the youth ranks at Milan indicates he has some potential. He moved to Atalanta but failed to break through there only appearing four times before a series of failed loans around Italy. He comes into Antwerp and will be first choice Inside Forward on the left. I love his high dribbling, technique, and flair. His physicals are also far in advance of the tiny wingers Antwerp were overloaded with upon my arrival. Plays one twos and places shots could be lovely moving inside from the left wing.
3. Centre Midfield - Lassana Coulibaly (25 French national)
When searching for a Box to Box midfielder, Lassana Coulibaly kept coming up high on my list. In the end I decided to sign Youssef but I knew I still needed more depth in midfield so later in the window I returned to Coulibaly and signed him. Released from Angers in France, Antwerp will hopefully provide the spring board his career needs. While not technically gifted I think he could do a reasonable job as either a box to box midfielder, or a ball winning midfielder, with high bravery, aggression, tackling, and positioning. Not to mention his work rate and stamina.
4. Inside Forward - Hussayn Touati (19 French national)
As the window drew to a close we got a few offers for back up forward players. In preparation for losing one or more of them I returned to the player search screen and looked for another Inside Forward. My scouts absolutely loved Hussayn Touati who had just been released from PSG. Still only 19 he has plenty of room to grow. I'm hopeful we can fill as much of his potential stars as possible before selling on for some profit.
DR Congo
If you read my opening piece for this save you will know there will be a nod to Belgium's past involvement in DR Congo. I have committed to signing one young player per season from obscurity in Africa. I see this as Antwerp giving a young man a chance to come to Europe and realise his dream of playing football at the highest level.
I set my scout in Africa to work and he came back with a glowing report for this young man.
5. Forward - Paupol Kashindi (16 DR Congo national)
Still only 16 so understandably raw but already has superb technique, heading, flair, bravery. His physicals aren't bad either, I could see him as an effective Complete Forward in the future. He will join Antwerp upon his 18th Birthday and I'm hopeful he develops even more before then.
We are just about to start season two and have to negotiate the champions league playoffs. Making it to the group stage would be fantastic for the club, not only financially but the increase in reputation will help attract the highest quality of 'euro rejects' next season.
If you have made it this far thanks for reading. I hope you are all well and dealing with the current restrictions as best you can. I'm pinning my hopes on the Spring bringing some relief in that regard.
Playing time for me should also increase going forward, which is great it has been very stop start for me so far this year.
Over and out
FMEadster!