FMFA Manager

Pre Season Transfers: The club enter the loan market to protect the academy

We're almost there but there was one final deal this week as the club entered the loan market to ensure that the U23 squad remained legal and within all regulations for the coming season. It has long been discussed that there were nerves over too many players becoming too good for the setup in the current system and that this would leave us short with a gap we could not fill later in the season. However, with the potential of regulations changing to allow higher rated players to play down next year the club did not want to sell all our stars. We have already seen Karamoko Dembele, Jared Branthwaite, Keilan Quinn and Rory Wilson move on this off season followed, more recently by Rico Lewis. This was enough for one season but still challenges existed.

In a meeting with the board it was suggested that we look for a club with capacity to play some over rated players that would benefit from our lads for the season. We would reciprocate by taking a couple of theirs - albeit to probably play less minutes.

We didn't have to look far - just down the A45 in fact as Coventry City had an academy that fit the bill perfectly. Space for 2 loans and 2 overrated players. The club have always had a good working relationship with Cov manager Will Schoolar and negotiations were fairly short and sweet to get this one over the line.

Going to Coventry City for the season... Harry McKirdy is a very good defensive midfielder who was signed back in season 22 for £54m. The club have put a lot of work in on him over the years since then and he has been very effective for the academy since then. It is unlikely he will ever make the cut in the first team but the club want to keep hold of him as long as possible - although he will be too old for the U23 next season so he may well have kicked his last ball for the club. However this is a chance for him to make a mark and, with Coventry crying out for an academy DM, it is a good move for the player

Verrell George on the other hand probably still has plenty of his career ahead of him. The 17 year old scored 11 goals last season as he was used in the squad rotation. With still age on his side he will relish having the chance to be the number one striker for Coventry for the season


Coming in from Coventry... .

Charlie Finney will come in for McKirdy as a backup to the academy midfield. Without the all out attack or defensive midset of others in the squad he will still be a good enough distributor of the football in the centre of the park. We expect him to play less than most of the mids but will still play a key role in a rotation system.

Aiden Dausch however comes in as a potential starter. Jauvon Splatt will be the man given responsibility to lead the line this season with Lamaun Sillah rotating with Dausch. It is thought Splatt will start every game and then alternate between playing 90 mins and just 70. The other two meanwhile witll probably rotate around the front line. There are concerns we don't have the quality of attack we had last year but it should still be strong enough to challenge.



The loans along with the sale of Rico Lewis mean the club will start with just Sam Lewis and Emerson as their over rated / over age players in the squad. It is likely Junior Wilson will join them soon enough in defence and he will take the third slot. Yilmaz and Boulegcha will follow shortly after that although the latter may be held back in his development. When Yilmaz comes up that is when Lewis will swap with Atherton in their GK roles within the club. And, hopefully, that will be that. The club are now optimistic we have the squad to carry us through the season - although there may be an adjustment to the midfield balance. More on that if it happens.

Pre Season Transfers: The deals keep coming...

It was speculated that Rusyn wouldn't last long as the number three forward at Villa. The ink was not even dry on his contract and already he was bumped down the order to number four! His all round ability just wasn't of the quality Villa would have wanted and a better passer was the order of the day. The club were immediately scouring the market and a target immediately showed up - already on the transfer list.
Dutch forward Brian Brobbey at Manchester City fit the bill for what Villa could realistically achieve - although rumours circulate that he was only second choice after an ambitious move for QPR's Cody Gakpo couldn't be agreed. Brobbey is no better a finisher than Rusyn but a far better passer of the ball and, at just the age of 22, he is a man with potential as well. He could even find himself in the U23s at some stage in the future. But for now he will be the one to play backup to Cunha and Fati with that duo taking most of the goalscoring responsibility. The club will certainly feel better with a FW of his quality on the books.

In the meantime the club are already open to offers on Ukranian Rusyn but if nothing is forthcoming he will remain at the club as the fourth FW - the direct replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo. Big shoes to fill but, in that fourth spot, he feels like an upgrade so the squad balance may now be addressed.

Pre-Season Transfers: Youth balance addressed

We keep saying one final piece of business but there always seems to be another one just around the corner. This time it was with the U23s. The story for this one is that, after doing some final squad analysis for the preseason, the management decided that the balance was off. The group were to be lead by Lamar Bogarde who can play anywhere across the midfield but then in Doherty, following McKirdy's loan, they had just one out and out DM. Meanwhile in Patino, Berry and Daly they had three out and our AMs - so it felt this was unbalanced.

The club had only recently been involved in discussions with Man City over the Brobbey transfer and the two managers open talks once again and, in what was an incredibly smooth process, a deal was agreed at lightening spped!
It is thought that City have paid Villa £5m for the services of Daly as part of the deal.

So Cormac Daly - who only signed from Forest earlier in the off season is heading back north. A shame for him but he will hopefully get more game time at Villa than they can guarantee him.

Coming the other way is Romeo Lavia with the Belgian providing that more defensively minded player that the club needs. A little older than Daly but still only 20, the player will be working hard on his passing as soon as he arrives and will slot in as the club's second choice defensive midfielder for the academy. In bringing him in this leaves the six midfielders as two defensive, two attacking, an all rounder and a central midfield creator. A much better balance to take the side into the league competition next week