Wishlist

Agreed a pre-contract deal with Hearts.

It is a weird season. I'm a season ticket holder so go to enough fixtures but I haven't been swept away by many individuals this season...

Perhaps its our good home form and I missed Blackpool- Dembelle got good reviews. I felt the Cheltenham forward was good but other than that I've not been desperate for many opponents players.

Previous seasons I've practically been obsessed with having a player like that...

19 goals and 11 assists in all comps after goal last night

Looks to have all the attributes. Well schooled at Brighton. International pedigree. Good age.

A centre forward I have admired for a while is Charlie McNeill at Manchester United.

A quick glance will show a couple of loans that weren't prolific at Newport and Stevenage, but the fact both Graham Coughlan and Steve Evans signed him is another good sign for me. Both have a good eye for a player.

Game time was limited this season at Stevenage with Evans commenting: "Our own players have been producing some brilliant performances, so it has been difficult for them", but if you look at his Newport spell last season, he did show some nice touches and link up play and scored highly per 90 for Expected Assists (xA), Chances Created, Successful Dribbles, Blocks and Possession Won Final 3rd.

With minutes and the right guidance McNeill has the potential to carve out a long career as a good centre forward and goalscorer. I've watched a lot of the U18/U21/U23 stuff and McNeill was always a good size and shape (can still develop and get stronger), technically excellent, two good feet and can finish well with either foot or head. Prolific at all age group level stuff and previous to joining United he scored an impressive 110 goals with 38 assists in 72 games for the Manchester City U15 side. The step up to senior football is vast, but he has all the attributes.

Initial reports after his loan recall suggested he would he staying at Utd, but If a club at League One level could get Charlie NcNeill on a permanent deal for a reasonable amount it could prove to be smart long term business. Two loans where he hasn't particularly pulled up trees might actually open up an opportunity to pounce.

No real knowledge or insight to add. I've seen a few games randomly over the years, but not recently.

I have however watched a lot of stuff from the continent in general recently and I've said the African market could be a very interesting one to tap into, initially focusing on certain clubs and hotbed nations of talent to target. Senegal, Ivory Coast, The Gambia, Ghana and Nigeria etc. But with a general overview of the continent and talent contained within. A decent scout looking after that could probably sourced for £300 p/w.

https://www.reddit.com/r/footballmanagergames/comments/18g8bub/from_basic_football_lover_to_the_professional/

19-year-old Senegal youth international defender Mikayil Faye is a great example I like to point to. In February 2023 he signed for the Croatian 2nd tier club NK Kustosija Zagreb (average attendance just 165) direct from Senegalese club Diambars for a nominal fee, and 5 months later he is signing for Barcelona for a reported €5m fee plus add-ons.

Gift Orban going to a Norwegian 2nd tier club is another high-profile success story, but the likes of Danish 2nd tier club AC Horsens (average attendance 1,759) signed Gambian youth international James Gomez two years ago straight from The Gambia club Real de Banjul for a reported €40k and sold him this summer to Sparta Prague for a reported €1.1m. They still have Alagie Saine who is probably worth as much if not more. I actually tipped off Enda Barron at Ross County about one lad called Ousmane Camara (Burkina Faso youth international), but saw he ended up in Latvia at Riga. I believe Riga's top earner is on about £680 p/w.

Jordi Escobar looked a handful again today and scored with a decent finish vs a very talented Barcelona B side. As he is reportedly out-of-contract in the summer according to transfermarkt, he would be eligible for pre-contract negotiations now with teams abroad.




...and Jaume Jardi scored too.

westfieldgas Tyrese Campbell, Jamie Vardy
And Divin Mubama certainly won't be joining us and the other striker options mentioned aren't any better than what we have.

I've been looking at the summer out-of-contract CF options in this country and slightly concerning is the options of the required quality appear to be very limited indeed!