January 2016 Transfer Window

The January Transfer Window saw the usual arrival of players from North and South America and Eastern Europe, whose contracts expired  in December.

Aiden McGeady the AMR arrived from Spartak Moscow on a free and I was delighted to get an Irish International into the team!. 

18 yr old Gil arrived from Sao Paolo as a left back, and was almost ready for 1^st team football on arrival. He was clearly a youngster with real talent. I returned Santi Cataldo from loan as I no longer needed him for left back cover.

Uilliam Felipe, a 20 year old goalie, arrived from Gremio and again he went straight into the 1^st team squad, as back-up to the slightly disappointing Baumann.

                                            Is Norwich big enough for two Irish Aidens?                    

Also from Sao Paolo came 18 year old Souza as a central defender and again he wasn’t really one for the future, as he was almost 1^st team ready.

It really was a great crop of signings, as 20 year old Darron Jevons joined as a centre back.  Already an established USA international, to pick him up on a free was a real coup for us. Again, he was ready to compete fro a place in the starting eleven.

These were not youngsters who might challenge for a place years hence, these were quality players ready to challenge from their first day at the club, with the advantage that at such a young age they were going to get better and better over the next few years.

Finally I spent £2.5 million (plus possible add-ons) on Oscar Cardozo.  I know he’s 32 and I wasn’t short of strikers, but I needed a second target man to go with Straqualursi and I loved the fact that for a target man, he not only had the strength and the heading and jumping, but also amazing finishing and composure. I was prepared to take a chance on a player of proven quality, especially when his wage demands were very reasonable for someone with his proven talent (£27,750 p/w)

I decided Nasri was a luxury I couldn’t afford at loan wages of 63,000p.w  plus £70,000 a month fee. Kakuta was still some way away from match fitness, so having returned Nasri, I loaned the much cheaper AMC Yoann Gourcuff from PSG.

                                      Oscar Cardozo..can he make it in the Premier League?                 

I resolved my issue with Frank Lampard’s contract by offering him a new one, giving him a much larger wage till the end of the season, but removing the extension clause. Additionally  with Howson out for the season, I brought in Luca Cigarini on loan from Porto as MC cover.

My final loan signing was Frank Ribery.  Dusan Tadic had been consistently underperforming and Rybus didn’t really have the quality to challenge him for a strating place, so I sold Rybus to Stke for 1.5 million and loaned Ribery from Bayern.

With two more quality DCs arriving, I decided someone needed to go. I wanted to keep Bennett and Ayala for their Home grown status and looking at the team, it seemed to me Bassong was the best candidate.  His knee tendonitis had really affected him and my coaches were all saying they didn’t think he’d get back to the player he had been, and certainly not in the short-medium term. So I put him on the market, and Toulouse offered me £7 million which I felt was a good price for the player he now was, and so he left. It can be a harsh and unsentimental game (football, not FM). I was really sad to see him go as he had been a great servant to the club and I will always remember him fondly, but nothing lasts forever and I am paid to make the tough decisions that I believe will benefit the football club. Thanks Sebastian, I’ll miss you…

I also ended the loans of Bruma and Alex, leaving the number of DCs at a more sensible level.

As for contract expiring summer transfers, I was more restrained this time. Having been updating this blog I had noticed how many players were coming in, and I resolved to be much more selective going forward  . 

               Bargain Basement Nasri?  Yoann Gourcuff   my new, much cheaper loan AMC    

Highlights were:

Fabio, a quality goalie from Cruzerio. I signed a pre-contract deal with him on the basis that I would sell Baumann who had never quite convinced me. Fabio, though 35, clearly had a couple of good seasons left in him by which time one of my several promising goalies would be ready to take over. He also was very sensible in his wage requests.

Gokhan Tore, a fantastic young winger to challenge Tadic and/or McGeady next season. He came in from Rubin, but as a youngster had spent 3 years with Chelsea.

Kamohelo Mokohtjo, a super deep lying playmaker who plays in the DMC slot, was poached from Feyenoord.  I was delighted to get him, beating off competition from some big clubs. Our improved stature following our European success was really attracting some quality players now.  At just 25, he can have his very best years here at Norwich.

Leroy Fer, an MC to replace Lampard, from FC Twente.

These were my big-name signings. I’ll cover all signings comprehensively in the summer review.

For now it was back to our mission to try and qualify for Europe again next season.