Part 214: Prologue: Always Be Transfering.
Prologue: Always Be Transfering.May 29, 2027-July 5, 2027
After several tight votes, the board's determinations have been made. The club's 2027-2028 operating budget is set at £162.67m, to be paid for in part by commanding me to sell off £80m worth of our first team players. The American contingent succeeds in seeking a club to foster great young American players by just one vote, 13 to 12, over those seeking a new financial partner.
Finally, the proposal to improve our U15 coaching and recruitment sails through with 23 out of 34 votes.
Winning the Champions League does very healthy things to our budget.
Of course, that also comes with paying out the agreed upon bonuses.
Ouch.
The one silver lining to a gigantic £54m loss last season is that the Exchequer can't take a shaved farthing from us.
We've long since capped the number of members the club can have, but I wish we'd charge more than 5 quid for membership. We could raise forty times more if we only priced things at the level of the Spanish socios.
This is a surprise. I'm not sure how we're getting this money from our board of directors, but I'm going to imagine that it's a collection taken up by the community to help shore up our finances. With this unexpected windfall our balance is up to £36m.
I'm looking forward to our new stadium being complete in a month, as sponsorship revenues are tied to how nice our corporate facilities are. The old Racecourse has “Average” corporate facilities, I expect that to improve to “Excellent” or “Top” in the new stadium.
The Champions League awards come out, flush with Wrexham players as expected.
It's good to see Shahed Parr's name in third place for best goal, despite all the injuries he more than lived up to expectations.
The only major CL award we don't get is Golden Boot, but I'm sure Rog would trade his individual accolade in a heartbeat for a victory over us in Milan.
Stringel also picks up the Best Player in Europe award, as Wrexham completes a podium sweep with James Loseille and Thiago in second and third.
Thiago picks up another Golden Boot, but this time it's by the narrowest of margins.
For those saying we should sell Thiago now, even with his increased profile he's still only worth £32m.
Juve was interested in him, so I asked them if they'd buy him for £60m.
This displeases Thiago greatly.
And he certainly doesn't keep his discontent to himself. Thanks, now I've got a small riot on my hands as the radio lines and supporters' forums light up in outrage at the possibility of selling Thiago.
At least he wasn't the supporter's player of the year again.
: Good on yer, Stu. Only two more tests to go.
: Thanks boss. Just trying to become worthy of you handing me the reins some day.: Who says I'm ever going to retire?
I could have sworn I had longer before he forced the issue, he starts squawking on June 1st.
Luckily it doesn't change his contract demands, but the big new deal Stingel does eat up almost all of what we were going to save from Parr's departure.
Hughes is the American midfielder of the future, and already one of our best senior team players. Not having him will hurt.
I finally got around to renewing staff contracts. Any coach that didn't have at least 4.5 stars and any scout that doesn't have at least a combined 38 out of 40 in Judging Potential Ability and Judging Current Ability don't see their contracts renewed. We only accept the best here in Wrexham, and merely excellent doesn't cut it anymore.
If Moctezuma pulls off the Golden Boot, I'll be wildly impressed. Stringel is by a mile the best player in the tournament, he's probably among the 5-10 best players in the world, and we'll have to be at our best if we face him.
That's what I like to see from my captain.
Nice work, Paul! Much better than your results in the U20 CONCACAF Championship.
El Salvador has a decent chance of advancing to the knockout round thanks to the format of the Gold Cup, but they're going to need a win against Curaçao to get there.
If you had to ask me for my picks, I'd say that Mexico and Jamaica finish first and second in Group A, while Los Ticos of Costa Rica and Guatamala top group B, and we walk away with Group C with Honduras trailing us. I'm guessing that two of El Salvador, Trinidad, Canada, and Panama also advance as the best third place teams.
vs. El Salvador, June 8, 2027
CONCACAF Gold Cup, Group C
I want a good start. We failed to make the U20 World Cup because our youth team didn't handle it's business in the Group Stage and were forced into a knockout round match with Mexico. Let's not let that happen to the senior team.
Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control
Starting 11: Toninho, Parsons, Ramirez, Stevens, Bruno (c), Woods, Ramos, Garcia, Spence, Ulusal, Dolinsky.
Subs: Rubio de la Fuente, Latham, Bartlett, Hyndman, Hartman, Fisher, Moctezuma.
Our superior class is obvious from the start, and leads to a fifth minute goal from Sinan Ulusal, who's done more for the USMNT than Sinan Ünsal has ever done for Wrexham. Then a shocking red card after a two footed tackle forces El Salvador to play a man short from the 22nd minute on. It's all America from that point, with the first half capped by Ulusal's second goal. Both of his goals are the product of Fred Spence assists, an impressive showing for a player who only made the team because of Xavier Hughes' injury. Unfortunately, Spence takes a bad knock in the 55th minute himself. I hope that it's not going to keep him out of other matches. We add a third goal before the match is through from the head of defender Chris Ramirez, who's turning into a stalwart presence at the age of 23. Ulusal finishes up our scoring in the 70th minute with his hat trick, he's in the right place at the right time to put in a Hunter Fisher rebound. This win essentially seals our advance into the knockout round, as even two losses will leave us with a positive goal differential.
Man of the Match: Sinan Ulusal
USMNT 4-0 El Salvador
I hope they'd be happy after a 4-0 plastering of our opponent. Even Wrexham fans appreciate that level of dominance.
Uh-oh.
Hey, if I had a choice I'd be offering you a new contract instead! I might still do that, if I can hit the £80m mark without selling you. But the board made it clear that players must be sold.
I wonder how much Manchester United makes in jersey sales...
The club took a bath on this transfer. Ünsal was my big swinging dick move back in the winter window of 2024. We paid an outrageous £100m for him, which comes out to exactly £1,000,000 for each time he showed up on the pitch in a Wrexham shirt. I was hoping to get at least £40m back, but then he got hurt just before I could shop him around last January and knocked another £10m off his price. When internet curmudgeons claim that the God King is not actually good at his job this never fails to be exhibit A in their argument. With my big mistake on the way out I've got another £55.5m to add to the balance sheet before I can stop selling players.
I finally remembered to both schedule our friendlies early and think about our opponent's fixtures while planning our meeting.
Which means that the Mini-Cwp is back, for the first time since 2021. Well, unless you count the incomplete 2024 Mini-Cwp, when we played one match and then saw the second one cancelled out of nowhere.
Hell yes. France produces an amazing amount of young talent, as much as any other nation in the world. To defeat them, on their own turf, in the Toulon Tournament is an impressive accomplishment. That's even more the case since the U20 team is missing Rodrigo Moctezuma, who's with the senior team at the Gold Cup.
I don't want to transfer list Allan, because that will only drive his value down. At the same time I'm still £55.5m away from meeting my sales mandate.
I also don't want to sell Maloney, who's only 21 and already worth £20m, but again it might have to happen to balance the books.
Maloney's upset that I'm asking £35m for him... but for once I can calm a player down. All it takes is feeding his ego.
Juventus gets around to making a bid for Thiago, but it's eight figures short of the amount that would get me to sell him. He's still abjectly miserable despite my rejection of the transfer offer.
Well, I guess we couldn't hope for more than second place. It would have been neat to win, though.
Negotiations with Southampton for Maloney fall apart late, as I can't get them to go above the £30m mark.
vs. Honduras, June 12, 2027
CONCACAF Gold Cup, Group C
Honduras has the second best team in our group, but that's not saying a whole lot. They made the World Cup last year but were blown out in all three of their matches after having the bad luck to be drawn against England, Uruguay, and Wales. A win here locks in our first seed status.
Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control
Starting 11: Toninho, Parsons, Needham, Latham, Bartlett, Hyndman, Padilla, Fisher (c), Hartman, Burman, Moctezuma.
Subs: Rubio de la Fuente, Bruno, Stevens, Woods, Ramos, Spence, Dolinsky.
The new generation gives us our first goal, as 22-year-old Hunter Fisher springs 18-year-old Rodrigo Moctezuma for the Wrexham man's first international goal in the fourth minute. Fisher's involved in a second goal ten minutes later, rocketing a perfect cross to Brian Burman in the box that the MLS veteran volleys into the net. Three minutes later and it's Isaac Parsons, all of 23-years-old, putting the ball right on Moctezuma's foot for our third goal of the day. We do lose left back Mark Bartlett to injury in the 59th minute, but his replacement Scott Stevens scores seconds after entering the match to expand our lead even further. Honduras finally puts some pressure on the Americans at that point, but it only lasts for ten minutes until their left back picks up a second yellow card and is sent off.
Man of the Match: Hunter Fisher
USMNT 4-0 Honduras
Here's to my biggest transfer bust ever... and I've had some doozies.
Followed by a painful departure. Cirjak was one of the smartest signings I've ever made. We stole him from Barcelona by meeting his £5.5m release fee and he immediately became one of our best players. He was with us for eight years, and even though he'd become a backup to Steve Reed he still regularly appeared in a third of our matches. There's another £33m that needs to be added to the bank balance, which means at least one more player is on their way out.
Godspeed, Tonci. I'm happy you're now being paid more than any other player in the world.
One of these two are going. I'm thinking it'll be Maloney. We have Kamel Zouaghi to take his spot on the first team, and if Quiboulaz leaves we've suddenly got zero depth at either fullback position. Plus, I'd rather make Southampton good than PSG even better.
vs. Curaçao, June 15, 2027
CONCACAF Gold Cup, Group C
Sorry Curaçao, you're going to have to head back home and enjoy your paradise of an island. Maybe things would go differently if this were baseball and you got to team up with the other Dutch islands. A win gives us either first or second seed, and will match us up against a third placed team in the quarterfinal, depending on our margin of victory.
Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control
Starting 11: Rubio de la Fuente, Woods, Latham, Ramirez, Bruno (c), Hyndman, Ramos, Fisher, Dolinsky, Ulusal, Moctezuma.
Subs: Toninho, Bartlett, Stevens, Padilla, Hartman, Spence, Garcia.
Curaçao turtle up and merely try to weather our barrage, and it works through most of the first half. Then Rodrigo Moctezuma picks up his third goal of the tournament when they edge just a smidge too far upfield and we're able to move from box to box in four passes and seven touches. Our second goal is the work of a defensive lapse on the part of the Curaçao defense, who let a perfectly weighted Latham pass find Hunter Fisher in the middle of the penalty area despite being surrounded by blue jerseys. Despite an incredible number of attempts we manage just those two goals. It's a slightly disappointing outcome after dominating the game for all 90 minutes.
Man of the Match: Hunter Fisher
USMNT 2-0 Curaçao
The USA/Mexico final is essentially preordained, barring a massive failure on one of our parts we'll be seeing each other in eleven days.
Stringel has five goals through the group stage, while we have Sinan Ulusal and Rodrigo Moctezuma at three each.
Shahed Parr suffers one last injury while under contract with us. I'll miss his goal scoring elan, but I won't miss his constant injuries.
Arsenal was bought by their current owner a couple years ago. I guess they got tired of not winning trophies.
Wow. Yes. David is absolutely going to be able to take care of his family on a deal that quintuples his wages. This sale completes the board's objective of picking up £80m via player sales, as the Maloney deal includes 10% of whatever Southampton sells him for in the future which the game rates as a £3m value. £30m transfer fee + £3m future sale clause = £33m. Everyone left can breathe a sigh of relief, they're (probably) not getting sold.
With the hatchet work finished, I can start on the process of extending our players. The easiest decision is triggering Kamel Zouaghi's three year extension.
It seems that shopping around Quibz and Thiago has put them in a bad mood, and they're refusing to negotiate new deals. That's not good, as they both come out of contract next year. If I can't get them to negotiate I'll be forced to sell them as we can't risk them leaving for nothing. I'm surprised they're not negotiating with me, though, since their big complaint was that they thought I was trying to get them to leave the club.
We do get Damgaard to put his John Hancock to a new deal, with Mateo Mujkic nearing thirty years old it's good to have his potential replacement locked down long term.
vs. Panama, June 20, 2027
CONCACAF Gold Cup, Quarterfinal
A victory here will put us against Costa Rica in the semifinal. I hope to see a better performance than the shank-fest that was our offense against Curaçao.
Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control
Starting 11: Toninho, Parsons, Needham, Bartlett, Bruno (c), Woods, Padilla, Moctezuma, Spence, Ulusal, Garcia.
Subs: Rubio de la Fuente, Latham, Stevens, Hyndman, Ramos, Burman, Dolinsky.
Panama surprises everyone in the crowd with an early strike, but it's hard to defend for 85 minutes. It doesn't take us nearly that long to equalize, as Bobby Padilla scores before the clock has reached twenty minutes from a Fred Spence corner kick. It's not all glory for the midfielder, though, as he gifts the lead right back with an unlucky own goal five minutes after he'd pulled us level. Panama score another in the 26th minute, and we're suddenly on the brink of elimination.
In the 55th minute Sinan Ulusal puts us on his back and drags us back to within a goal, and my players have 35 minutes to make a difference. When Parsons hits the post for the second time in the match, I'm becoming very concerned, but then Bobby Padilla pulls out his driver and hammers home the equalizer from a full 25 yards out.
We spend the next thirty minutes beseiging the Panamanians, but we can't push across a winner and are forced into extra time. Both teams have already used all three of their subs, but the Americans are more fit and better rested. It shows as Scott Dolinsky of Nottingham Forest puts us ahead for the first time all game on his own rebound two minutes into extra time. Five minutes later the ball is in the back of the net again, this time off the foot of Sinan Ulusal, but the flag is up and replays show that he was indeed just barely offside. Then, with seventeen minutes left to play, Panama loses a man to injury. Without any remaining substitutions they're forced to play 10 vs. 11. Worse for them is their goalkeeper being stretchered off with ten minutes remaining, forcing one of their outfield players to put on the goalie mitts and leaving them with nine men on the pitch. We run our lead up to two when Brian Burman puts the ball past the Panamanian striker turned keeper, and we escape with our hopes and my job intact.
Man of the Match: Bobby Padilla
USMNT aet 5-3 Panama
With 18 shots on goal you'd have think we'd have won sooner. Especially since Panama had four shots total.
Southampton sure are throwing their money around. Rose is very good, but not great. That's probably a fair price for him.
Meanwhile the man that Bruno Santos could never get to put pen to paper (seriously, Tomas rejected a contract offer seemingly every other week for the past three years) moves to Arsenal. Tomas is about as good as the recently departed David Maloney, but he's definitely more defensive-minded and suited to an anchor man role.
FC Twente are a Dutch team from Enschede, and winning the Europa League is a huge accomplishment for a club of their stature. They're the home club of American international Hunter Fisher, and I'm looking forward to facing them instead of a giant club like Inter Milan or Real Madrid.
50 games? That's nothing.
vs. Costa Rica, June 23, 2027
CONCACAF Gold Cup, Semifinal
Los Ticos are good enough that we'll have to be on our guard for an upset. That's especially true given that we've had only two days rest since Panama took us to extra-time. I'm hoping we can get a couple goals early and then coast to an easy win.
Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Control
Starting 11: Rubio de la Fuente, Latham, Needham, Stevens, Bruno (c), Hyndman, Hartman, Ramos, Burman, Moctezuma, Dolinsky.
Subs: Toninho, Bartlett, Parsons, Ramirez, Padilla, Ulusal, Garcia.
Dolinsky gets us off on the right foot, scoring at the six minute mark thanks to lackadaisical defense from Costa Rica. Our chances get better when their striker goes down injured after a collision with Needham, and has to be removed from the game. Minutes later Dolinsky scores his second, and we've got the first half lead I wanted. For the rest of the match Costa Rica have occasional moments where they look threatening, but our defense is disciplined and we're able to see our way through to the final without much worry, and without needing to use players who needed a rest before the final.
Man of the Match: Scott Dolinsky
USMNT 2-0 Costa Rica
Was there ever any doubt who we'd face?
Aww, shucks. Talk about the end of an era, he won six league titles, each cup thrice, and the Champions League another three times. The lowest he ever finished in the league was fourth, way back in 2017. David Moyes would have killed to have his doppleganger's career.
I foresee bad things for the Manchester faithful if Collignon gets the United job, the man has literally outspent everyone in France by a 2:1 margin and still can't put together seasons as good as any of the top four teams in England. He's won one Champions League title, but that was in 2018 and while they beat Man U and Chelsea in the knockout rounds they also got to face Shakhtar Donetsk in the quarters and Celtic in the final. He led PSG to three other appearances in the Champions League semifinals, but the last of those was in 2021... or before we qualified for the first time. Stay in Paris, Collignon. You can't handle the big leagues.
Perhaps it was a sign that changes were coming when Swansea overcame United in the FA Cup final.
I've decided to not enter the reserves league, as we have a comparatively small squad with very few players sitting around and gathering dust. If we're desperate for match fitness I'll set up my own friendlies as needed. We're still in the U18 league, though, as well as the continental youth competition that comes with Champions League membership.
No wonder we were always losing to Mexico before I showed up. Talk about a defeatist attitude!
vs. Mexico, June 26, 2027
CONCACAF Gold Cup, Final
After five matches where we played a control tactic we're finally up against an opponent we can't expect to push around. Still, I like our chances here in New Orleans. We've never lost to Mexico during my time at the helm of the USMNT, and I sure don't plan on that changing.
We do catch one break. Rodrigo Jimenez, Mexico's all world midfielder, will be missing the game with a sprained ankle. That leaves Stringel as the only player of theirs who wildly outclasses everyone on our squad.
Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Counter
Starting 11: Toninho, Parsons, Ramirez, Latham, Bruno (c), Woods, Padilla, Spence, Fisher, Ulusal, Moctezuma.
Subs: Rubio de la Fuente, Bartlett, Needham, Hyndman, Ramos, Burman, Dolinsky.
Isaac Stringel shows why he's in the running for best player in the world with a slaloming run to give Mexico the lead after two minutes. El Tri control the next twenty minutes, piling on shots, and we're lucky that we don't concede a second time. We're even luckier when we equalize off a set piece, with Bobby Padilla putting the final touch on a corner kick and bringing us back to even after half an hour of play. We hold on to that score throughout the rest of the first half, and I breathe a sigh of relief when we can retreat and regroup in the lockers.
After a talk about how I know they have the ability to upset Mexico in them, and that they can play without fear, the team takes the pitch and without a moments hesitation makes me proud of them. Sinan Ulusal scores his fifth goal of the tournament on a scorcher that beats Mexico's keeper, and we're the ones with the lead. Mexico don't wait long to knot things up again, though, and with thirty minutes in regulation it's all even once again. But these players just doesn't quit, and we go up three-two after Fred Spence scores what might be the finest goal I've ever seen in Football Manager. We hold serve into the final fifteen minutes, and I'm busy throwing every tactical wrinkle I can think of into the mix in an effort to stave off a Mexican equalizer. It's working, and when Sinan Ulusal hits on the break in stoppage time, I feel triumphant. But the goal is called back, and I'm forced to sweat through another two minutes of agony. The bliss that follows was worth the tension, though, and once again America tops Mexico.
Man of the Match: Sinan Ulusal
USMNT 3-2 Mexico
Threepeat, baby.
We've clinched the North American berth for the 2029 Confederations Cup, as well.
Just as well, Bruno is 32 and unlikely to be a part of the team in the 2030 World Cup.
Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. I need to add a World Cup to my trophy collection.
I don't know how Ulusal beat out Spence for Goal of the Tournament, his was good but not nearly as impressive as the volleyed rocket that put us ahead of Mexico. That's not to diminish his effort, it was a scorcher from long range, and the two of them are why we were able to overcome a more talented squad in the final.
Fisher's our new captain, he's young but he's been one of our best players for the past year.
Stringel didn't get the Golden Boot as his strike partner racked up two hat-tricks during the tournament.
Once I made it clear that he's not being pushed out of the team Quiboulaz was happy to work out a contract extension. And a good thing, too, or I'd be off hunting for fullback depth.
Thiago also signs a new deal, but he was unwilling to go for a two year extension and I had to give him three years. It would have cost us an extra £80k a week to get him to sign the shorter deal, and thus been more expensive to sign him for one fewer year, so we'll just have to put up with his aging.
Finally!
Top corporate facilities! 39,500 seats! A retractable roof! The only thing this place is missing is a name. "Wrexham Stadium" is missing that je ne sais quoi.
We played six games shy of the maximum number of matches possible last season, for a total of 65. Our schedule isn't going to be any less crowded this time around.
Our toughest stretches in the league seem to involve playing Arsenal, Chelsea, and Manchester City within the span of a month in September/October and January/February. I'm happy to get those matches out of the way early, as I expect them to be our stiffest opposition other than Manchester United and it's better to have an easier schedule towards the end of the season.
That's a serious step down for Manchester United, how will Collignon handle only having £160m in payroll to work with?
He was injured in a danged U22 tournament? Who even has U22 tournaments? I hate you, Japan.
Geez, Sky Shadowing, you're pulling out all the stops to finish top four this year.
McLeod's retirement has set off a chain reaction of manager movement. First Collignon moves from PSG to Man U. Then Paulo Goncalves of Man City goes to PSG. Now it looks like Ajax's coach will be leaving for Man City, which in turn will mean some manager from a good Swiss or Belgian team is going to be moving to Ajax.
The new contracts for Quiboulaz, Thiago, Stringel, and Damgaard amounted to an increase in payroll of £288,000/wk. But the sales of Cirjak, Maloney, and Ünsal lowered wages by £307,000/wk and the release of Parr and Mercado saved a further £315,000/wk. All told we've reduced our wages by over £17m while fortifying our bank balance considerably.
Let's never have to do this again.
Now that I've cleared out our budget I can get back to adding players. Lundbye is 16, a four star prospect, and we're adding him on a free transfer when his contract ends in six months.
: My son! They've poisoned my son!USMNT
I have to admit, I was pretty sure we were going to lose to Panama at halftime and that I was going to get fired. We pulled through, though, and then went on to beat Mexico thanks to some lovely finishing and some lucky bounces. We won't have any important matches for the next year or so, at which time we'll have to start qualifying for the World Cup.
Wrexham
The Mini-Cwp will inaugurate our new stadium, and afterwards we'll head over to the United States for some easy matches and increased business opportunities. Then it'll be time to accomplish the unheard of, a threepeat in the Champions League and the legendary Triple Double.
