Players
External youth of the week.
With Top100 very much a trading world, finding external gems is key to trying to build assets. As I'm bored I'm going to do a weekly external youth find which maybe worth a punt.
This week's gem is currently playing in the second tier of Germany , however that's proved no obstacle to his progression, as he last night made his Germany under 21 debut.
The commanding Centre back in question is
Centre backs historically can be hard to find , so one that gets gametime internationally at one of the power nations is certainly worth a second look!!
Verratti justifying managers faith
When Espanyol agreed to sell generational defender Antonio Silva this close season, it raised a few eye brows. Joining in his place was Balogun, Engels and experienced Midfield maestro Verratti.
Verratti may have just moved to Qatar and may be looking at a rating drop, however in the first five games this season, he is already repaying the managers faith by controlling the midfield battle in Division 2.
Described by his former boss James Mckenzie as a "rollsroyce" , he is certainly living up to that title. Two assist, Two player of the match awards and a average rating of 7.4 from the first five fixtures, has certainly aided Espanyol to sit a point off the leaders at this early stage and create some optimism , given they were predicted to finish 19th this season.
The club have already reached an agreement to bring another experienced player in place of Balogun, with Sadio Mane to join in November, as they look to keep momentum going.
"When all the dust settles, you can't beat having experienced players who carry a good rating. We've seen a big shift to young players in the game world, whilst the Saudi, Qatar and MSL leagues have been snapping up some of the worlds biggest names, To further complicate the thought process. We've seen this an opportunity to compliment our youth set up, by boosting our first team with some solid players and ratings, which really has us sitting pretty. We are not worried about having to find buyers or replacements for these players, as we already have them sat in our 35 strong youth team. This season we've been able to loan out youth players with a rating of 85, due to them not making our first 11 for our youth Cup campaign, which is how we are measuring our progress. Verratti is producing exactly what we thought he would, and along with Muller and Mane, our first 11 is looking strong in key areas. We have looked at bringing another experienced head in this past week, and although talks have been far too slow, we will continue to explore options"
Return of the Jihadi.
With the big leagues currently being updated, and most of the leagues around the world in close season, transfer activity within top100 is most intriguing.
You go to bed with a rolls royce in the garage, and wake up with the prospect of the rolls royce now being a Lada, as its whisked off to Saudi Arabia.
Managers need to box clever, as it could happen to anyone. We have gone through a short period of older players being cast aside (though ratings win games) to now being in a period that the very best players could be getting almighty drops due to their taste for cash outweighing their taste for football.
We could see in 12 months quite easily a different looking big 6 in top100, if those big stars decide to also jet off.
Add to that the MSL which has already snapped up the worlds best player in Messi, we could be on for a bigger rating decline of players than a "Salvo" Viagra come down.
Already we've seen Benzema head out to Saudi Arabi. As Benfica's big capture in top100, it was timing at its best from Barcelona but leaves that Saudi cloud hanging which makes a barge pole further redundant.
Kante another timely departure from Barcelona headed to Schalke, which was followed by a move to Saudi, with one drop secured and another likely, Schalke will take solace that their division and position means Kante can do a job for them, but the likelyhood of this Midfield enforcer having much sale value is unlikely as is the heights of division 1 football in top 100.
Other players to flee to Saudi are Neves, Koulibaly, Mendy,Jota and Brozovic as others queue up to fill their pockets.
Agent Wallace's luck appears to have run out too. 12 hours ago he had one of the gameworlds best defenders. As he wakes this morning James is going WBA in a planned move, however his best Midfielder Milinkovic-Savic is set for Saudi, whilst wide player Mahrez is expected to join him too within the coming days. He must feel like he has had a visit from the "child support agency" to collect maintenance given the potential affect of 3 x 92 players either not being at his club or taking a drop rapid. Already we have seen gameworld post of requesting players with the caveat"no aging or Saudi bound" players. Shifting a couple of 92s use to be easy, even if it was for promising players. However trying to move an aging player has recently become a challenge, so now moving a Saudi based player is going to be even harder unless its lower leagues, or some mug comes along.
I'm sure more are looking at their squads now weighing up who is at risk and who to move on rapid. This is serious money being put under the noses of players and in most cases the players are taking it.
Who is next? who is going to catch a cold? Only time will tell
Danish Explosion
Espanyol have today agreed to sign Gustav Isaksen from CSKA Moscow, who becomes the forth young Danish striker on the clubs books.
Espanyol's youth set up is often headlined by having the Likes of Guler, Ben Seghir, Alvaro, Hickey, Kalimuendo, Broja and Sudakov.
However lurking in the background now are three of the Danish under 21 international teams strike force and one of their under 19s
Mathias Kvistgaarden has really burst on the scene these last 12 months for both club and country, which has seen scouts flock to his native country. An astute finisher with a strong frame, he is part of the danish sides new generation.
Mads Hansen is a name to keep an eye on, versatile in terms of being equally comfortable across midfield as he is attack, he is already being dubbed then next Christian Eriksen which is certainly a glowing reference. Again now part of the Danish under 21 team and utilised as a wide forward as a starter with Kvistgaarden, he is one that could turn into a real star if the right move comes.
Gustav Isaksen who today arrives, has already hit 22 goals this season and is flying at present, on the brink of the full national team, some of Europes bigger clubs are already swarming with his club unlikely to be able to bat off approaches when those bids start to land.
Gustav Christensen has been breaking youth records weekly in Denmark and has been rewarded with a move to Hertha Berlin this spring. Last season despite playing wide left he hit 34 goals, from 31 games which is some return.
"We've opted to look at other countries where there is potential for players to break out. We can see the impact and breakout of Rasmus Hojlund, and there is a number of young players like him playing champions league football and performing at the highest level against some of Europes Elite clubs and players. Its easier to perhaps look at France, Spain or Germany, but truth be told, not everyone can be the next Mbappe and those countries are littered with 100s of players under 21 who appear to have potential but will get to the point at national level that there is a 20 players to get past to get a cap. We continue to look for players who can improve and be an asset for the club. I'm sure some will question the swap for Weah who is likely to hit 87 within the next 48 hours, just had big real life move to Juventus and is progressive. However, i think Isaksen long term could prove to be value and we are happy to now have 4 Danish strikers with potential"
Player Fitness
A while ago, Doug asked why his players were losing or not regaining full fitness quickly enough:
In the Game Help, it says:
I monitor my players' fitness every day so that I can make the best team selections, and substitutions in matches.
Here is a record of my players' fitness each day after Thursday night's game:
Of course, none of this answer's Doug's query why he only seems to have a problem with player fitness in Top 100, and not anywhere else!