Became The Premier League’S Youngest Manager [EN]: Chapter 129

129. Free Agency

“Our next target is Lazio’s Andre Anderson.”

Jonathan Landris announced their next player target.

Andre Anderson.

He’s 23 this year, Brazilian, and came up through the ranks of the prestigious Brazilian club Santos.

While he didn’t make a huge splash at Santos, Lazio in Serie A, noting his Italian dual citizenship, signed the 18-year-old for a bargain £375,000 in the summer of 2018, hoping for a good return on their investment.

He then spent four seasons bouncing between Lazio’s reserve team and Serie B on loan.

Just as he seemed destined to be written off as a failed prospect at 22, his potential suddenly blossomed in the 2022/23 season.

During the first half of the season, he served as a backup for their main central striker, Ciro Immobile, scoring 5 goals and providing 1 assist in 19 games.

Importantly, he demonstrated high-quality attacking ability, even though he only started in 7 of those games.

He’s a versatile player, capable of playing as a central striker, attacking midfielder, and even central midfielder.

Lazio wanted to keep the prospect who was finally realizing his potential, but even the prestigious Serie A club couldn’t match the financial terms a lower-tier Premier League team could offer.

“Are you thinking of using him as a central midfielder?”

At Helena’s question, Jonathan glanced at Hyungmin, deferring the explanation to him.

“Well… he *can* be used as a central midfielder. He definitely has a strong attacking instinct. But we’re primarily looking at him as another option at central striker, alongside Benjamin or Wout.”

“His style seems a bit different from the central strikers we’ve signed so far, doesn’t it?”

John Banaskiewicz, who had been quietly listening, posed the question to Hyungmin, who had taken over from Jonathan.

Chris Wood, Wout Weghorst, and even Benjamin Sesko, the central strikers Hyungmin had used, were all tall players.

Andre Anderson is 180 centimeters tall [approximately 5’11”], which isn’t short, but he’s not going to physically dominate Premier League central defenders in terms of strength or height.

“Yes, his style is a bit different from our existing players, but I think he can bring a different dimension to the team. He’ll act as a central link, passing and receiving the ball more skillfully than Benjamin, while also changing positions more actively and quickly than Wout.”

“Similar to Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino?”

At the mention of Liverpool’s veteran striker who essentially created the “false nine” position [a center forward who drops deep to link play, creating space for wingers], Hyungmin nodded.

“The better we do, the more teams will sit back and defend deep against us. Of course, it’s good to have players like Wout to break through that, but I think it’ll also be helpful to have a way to pass and move around the defense in the forward line.”

“Hmm, that’s true.”

Mike Garrick, listening from the side, nodded in agreement.

Seeing that the board members’ curiosity was satisfied, Jonathan advanced to the next slide and resumed leading the meeting.

“Negotiations with the agent are progressing smoothly. Not only are the financial terms agreeable, but the player himself is very interested in the role Hyungmin outlined.”

“What are the approximate terms?”

“We anticipate agreeing on a weekly wage between £25,000 and £30,000.”

That’s almost double what he’s earning now, but Burnley can now comfortably afford that level of expenditure.

“That’s good.”

Helena nodded, and Jonathan moved to the next slide.

“Finally, there’s Cher Ndour.”

The board members looked curious, as if hearing the name for the first time. Jonathan presented a slide with detailed history and data, unlike the previous two players.

“He’s 18 years old, Italian, and grew up in the Atalanta youth team in Serie A before moving to Benfica in Portugal at the age of 15, spending three seasons in Benfica B [Benfica’s reserve team].”

At the mention of Atalanta and Benfica, Mike Garrick and John Banaskiewicz reacted with quiet admiration.

These are two clubs renowned for developing promising young players in Europe.

Dejan Kulusevski, who went through Juventus and now plays for Tottenham.

Frank Kessie, who moved to Newcastle via AC Milan.

Alessandro Bastoni, who has become a key central defender for Inter Milan.

Amad Diallo, still a prospect, commanded a transfer fee of £18.75 million without playing a single first-team game, moving to Manchester United.

All of these players are graduates of Atalanta’s youth system.

Benfica, who sold Darwin Nunez to Liverpool for £85 million last summer, speaks for itself.

“Is there no room for him in Benfica’s first team?”

Helena, now much more knowledgeable about the football world, asked. Jonathan nodded.

“The player wants to compete for a first-team place now, but Benfica has a very strong midfield. The club wants to send him out on loan for a season or two, but the player wants to step up to the first team immediately… And his contract expires this summer, at the end of this season.”

So, they were trying to snatch him up.

Of course, Paulo Morais, who had coached at Benfica, not only dispatched scouts but also gathered detailed information about his personality and skills through his contacts.

“Since Nico and Tomaso are both here on loan, there’s a good chance there will be a vacancy in midfield next season. Of course, we’ll try to sign both of them permanently…”

Even if Tomaso Pobega doesn’t stay, Nico Gonzalez’s value is increasing every day.

However, they can’t keep a great player on the bench and diminish his value, so it’s a dilemma.

“Anyway, I think we can have good competition even if he doesn’t immediately break into the starting lineup next season. Especially since Luca and Chris aren’t much different in age. The agent and the player himself are very positive.”

“What about the weekly wage?”

At Helena’s question, which she asked for final confirmation, Jonathan smiled.

“He’s still just a prospect. We expect to agree on less than £10,000. The agent doesn’t seem to have any objections.”

Considering Anselmo Garcia McNulty, 20, currently playing in the Swiss First Division for Basel, and the duo Colin McDonald and Henry Mahoney-Pilling, 17, who are slowly progressing to the reserve team, Burnley’s future looks bright, even accounting for the players who might leave in the summer transfer market.

Benjamin Sesko is 19 years old.

Luca Sucic and Christian Medina are 20 years old.

Karim Adeyemi, Nicholas Seiwald, Nathan Collins, and Mika Marmol are 21 years old.

Dwight McNeil, Sebastian Szymanski, and Anel Ahmedhodzic are 23 years old.

The trio of Nick Pope, Wout Weghorst, and James Tarkowski are the oldest at 30 years old.

Among them, Nick Pope is a goalkeeper, and James Tarkowski is a central defender.

These are positions where age-related experience is relatively important.

Of course, Wout Weghorst is a central striker, so his age is a slight concern, but his style relies more on his height and physique than speed, so slowing down isn’t a major issue yet.

Mike Garrick and John Banaskiewicz couldn’t hide their admiration for the first-team squad, which had undergone a complete transformation in just eighteen months.

“Everyone has worked incredibly hard. If we can keep this up, I think we can continue to look forward to the future!”

Everyone smiled at Mike Garrick’s enthusiastic words.

***

Late Thursday night.

As you’d expect in a football-crazy country, the late-night hours after the news and daily schedules are filled with programs featuring panels discussing the latest football news.

Generally, in January, just discussing the numerous transfer rumors and confirmed transfers involving European clubs, and analyzing the role the transferred player will play in their new team and the value of the deal, is enough to fill a month.

However, this transfer market has seen few actual transfers or even rumors, perhaps due to the aftermath of the Qatar World Cup and the resulting winter break.

Of course, there have been some significant transfers within the Premier League.

Manchester City, frustrated by Burnley despite having an attack led by Erling Haaland and their elimination in the Carabao Cup semi-finals, decided they lacked a finishing touch and spent a whopping £49.5 million to sign Christopher Nkunku, a 25-year-old central striker attracting attention from RB Salzburg.

And Manchester United, who were conceding goals at an alarming rate and suffered a 4-0 defeat to Burnley in the final game of the first half of the season, panicked and paid £36.5 million to sign Turkish international central defender Çağlar Söyüncü from Leicester to shore up their defense.

Finally, Tottenham, leveraging the Juventus connection from their football director to their manager, paid £34 million to sign Nicolò Rovella, a 21-year-old midfielder considered the future of the Italian national team.

However, even dedicating one episode per week to these three teams, it’s difficult to fill all four Thursdays in January.

So, the host and panelists chose to discuss Chelsea, who fired Zinedine Zidane and appointed Roberto Mancini as their new manager.

[…I think they made the change at the right time.]

[…Four consecutive wins in the Premier League since the new manager took over. Chelsea seems to be doing well, although the results may be temporarily boosted by the “new manager effect.”]

One of the panelists agreed with the host.

It was a blow to be knocked out of the Carabao Cup quarter-finals by Burnley just before the new manager arrived.

But since then, they’ve won 3-0 against London rivals West Ham.

3-2 against Leicester.

2-0 against Aston Villa.

Most importantly, they won 3-1 against Burnley, avenging their Carabao Cup defeat.

[…Wouldn’t you say? Chelsea was struggling in 6th place when the manager was sacked but has since climbed to 3rd. The players seem to be quickly adapting to Roberto Mancini’s tactics.]

The host manipulated his laptop, and a large screen behind the panelists showed the Premier League standings changing throughout January.

Manchester City is in 1st place, Liverpool is in 2nd, while Burnley, who briefly rose to 3rd, have fallen back to 4th, and Chelsea has climbed from 6th to 3rd.

[…I think Burnley’s manager, Kim, will be very disappointed. It was a good opportunity to solidify 3rd place, but they were tripped up by Chelsea and Southampton and fell back to 4th.]

One of the other panelists commented, looking at the standings.

Burnley drew 0-0 against Leicester in the 18th round of the Premier League but then won dramatically in the Carabao Cup semi-final, eliminating Manchester City.

Riding that momentum, they won 2-1 against Brighton in the 19th round of the Premier League.

However, fatigue seemed to be setting in.

They drew 1-1 against Southampton in the 20th round and then lost 1-3 against Chelsea in the 21st, accumulating only 5 points in 4 games with 1 win, 2 draws, and 1 loss.

[…That’s true, but this is…]

The host and the other two panelists looked at the elderly panelist, whose dark hair was beginning to gray. He had been quietly listening until then.

[…What’s wrong?]

The panelist chuckled at the host’s joking question.

[…It’s amazing to hear that Chelsea’s victory over Burnley is encouraging, or that Burnley’s manager will be disappointed that they couldn’t solidify 3rd place. No one imagined Burnley would be in this position in the Premier League at this time last year.]

The other panelists nodded and laughed at the words of the retired player who once dominated the English first division.

[…Burnley’s fairy tale is still unfolding. When they faced bankruptcy just before the start of last season and manager Sean Dyche resigned, it seemed certain they would be relegated to the second division [the Championship]…]

Another panelist took over, speaking admiringly.

[…A new manager really appeared out of nowhere. A manager who seemed to have fallen from the sky appeared and dragged the team up by the scruff of the neck.]

[…Shouldn’t we consider it closer to mythology than a fairy tale now? Leicester also faced relegation the season after winning the league [the 2016-17 season], and many mid-to-lower-ranked teams have had a flash-in-the-pan season, but few have sustained that performance into the next season.]

The others nodded at the words of the young panelist, who had only recently retired.

[…If Burnley achieves results beyond qualifying for European competitions this season, or if they win a domestic competition, shouldn’t we see it as reaching the realm of mythology, not just a fairy tale?]

The host picked up on the young panelist’s remarks, sounding excited.

[…Their weekly wage bill is the 4th lowest in the Premier League, but their ranking is the 4th highest! If they can protect their key players during the winter transfer market, they might really create a myth this season.]

[…There’s talk that Burnley is rebuilding Turf Moor [Burnley’s stadium], so they should build a statue of manager Kim at the main gate.]