by MaddFM.
“The trouble with the transfer window is it creates a window where transfers have to be done.”
Wise words indeed from Gary Neville. I guess he has a point though. Love them or hate them, Transfer Windows are the arguably the most essential and impactful periods in the football calendar given their ability to shape a club’s future and in some cases even a league outcome, and if history has taught us anything - one cannot underestimate the importance of planning ahead, spending wisely and smart recruitment. While many clubs thrive in this area, thankfully many also don’t and the power and influence of the January Transfer Window coupled with the panic and drama of Deadline Day are what makes this time of year so exhilarating and entertaining for football fans all over the world.
As usual, Football Manager is no different but that largely depends on what kind of Manager you are when it comes to making deals and adding depth and quality to your squad. Some of you may be more strategic and methodical - always looking ahead, building scouting & succession plans and utilising features such as the Squad Planner and Recruitment Focus to ensure you are making the right deals at the right prices for your club. Others (you know who you are) might be a bit less strategic, acting slightly more impulsively or adventurously when it comes to the January Transfer Window (no doubt enjoying the Deadline Day feature in-game), making deals based on player availability, spontaneous opportunities and as always the pursuit of an absolute bargain signing that will tear things up immediately and make you look like the most shrewd of Football Managers out there.
Whatever your style - it’s a glorious time of year, most importantly because the next data update will arrive with all of the latest transfers updated once all of the various transfer windows have closed (usually around March each year). To get you in the mood, here are 5 January Signings that we are most excited about ahead of the FM23 Winter Update who might just inspire you for your next big Football Manager save adventure.
1 . Oscar Gloukh (Maccabi Tel Aviv to Red Bull Salzburg)
An Israeli Wonderkid who has already played twice and scored once for his country by the age of 18. What more could we want? Since making his debut for Maccabi Tel Aviv at just 17 years old and going on to bag 7 goals and 4 assists in just 25 games for the club, Oscar Gloukh has been highly coveted by a host of clubs across Europe particularly due to his speed, his 1v1 ability and impressively his two-footedness wherein he is excellent at shifting the ball from one side to another, changing direction quickly and using his low centre of gravity to take on players and retain the ball effectively. It’s no wonder that RB Salzburg were happy to pay €7m to lock in his signature such is their belief in their ability to nurture his talent and help him flourish on a bigger stage.
In FM23, 18-year-old Gloukh is primed and ready as a #10 however can equally be deployed on either flank or in a deeper role if you don’t tend to deploy an AMC as part of your tactical style. His all round attributes are strong for his age, and with a likely bump due in the data update one can easily see him following in the footsteps of previous RB Salzburg Wonderkids to secure a big move if he can prove himself early on in Austria. Safe to say his new club are quite excited by his arrival…
2. Ilya Zabarnyi (Dinamo Kiev to Bournemouth)
How can a man have 22 international caps by the age of 19? Enter Ilya Zabarnyi who remarkably signed for Bournemouth on Deadline Day for a reported €22m after being heavily linked with Chelsea, Tottenham and Aston Villa in recent months. Tall, strong, good in the air while equally confident on the ball and distributing passes from defence, it’s easy to understand why his services commanded such high interest and of course such a high transfer fee - basically a right-footed Sven Botman in this writer’s opinion and it will be interesting to see how quickly he takes to life in the Premier League and how big a part he might play in Bournemouth’s survival hopes.
In FM he is a ready made Centre Half for most Top 5 league clubs, can be deployed in any CB role and at just 19 has all of his best years ahead of him (unlikely they will all be at Bournemouth but who knows!). This is a man you can build a team upon - I smell a new save brewing already, as do his new club by the looks of things 👀.
3. Andreas Schjelderup (FC Nordsjaelland to Benfica)
“Siri - find me a quick and versatile Scandinavian Wonderkid with excellent technical and mental attributes please”. Needless to say, our search returns Andreas Schjelderup, one of the most talented players to emerge from Denmark in years so much so that Portuguese giants Benfica were happy to fork over €9 million for his signature relatively early in the window before things went wild as is usually the case in January. Since making his Nordsjaelland debut as a 17-year-old he has gone from strength to strength, already doubling his goal tally from last season scoring 10 in 17 games and it’s no wonder Benfica snapped at the chance to bring him into their already hugely impressive youth setup.
In FM23 Schjelderup is one of the top Wonderkids in-game as most of you will have seen in your own saves or across multiple content creator series; bringing him into the Benfics Senior setup usually means only one thing if the paths of Joao Felix, Darwin Nunez and now Enzo Fernandez are anything to go by - do you keep him and build a team around him, or look to sell him on for a potential world record fee? Decisions, decisions, decisions..
4. Dion Drena Beljo (Osijek to Augsburg)
If you haven’t come across Dion Drena Beljo in FM23 yet then you are doing it wrong. As attainable and affordable Strikers go, the 20-year-old Croatian is a ready made goal machine with excellent Technique, Flair, Finishing and Off the Ball skills and it’s interesting to see that his real-life ability and potential have already been recognised by a progressive club like Augsburg who can give him a platform to test himself against some of the top clubs in Europe. 8 goals in 16 games this season were enough to convince the German club to part with €3m to sign him, made better by him bagging an assist on his debut and fitting in quickly alongside fellow new Croatian David Colina. If you fancy a new save in Germany and want to avoid one of the larger clubs, a trip to Augsburg might be just what the doctor ordered.
5. Julian Duranville (Anderlecht to Dortmund)
We couldn’t not mention him right? Along with Endrick (who technically signed for Real Madrid before the January Transfer Window), Duranville is arguably one of the best Wonderkids in FM23 and with good reason; explosive from either wing, good technical ability and a direct run-at-opponent mentality, Duranville rapidly proved to be a handful for opposition defenders in the Belgian Jupiler Pro League and recently bagged his first goal for the club just 6 minutes after coming on as a substitute in a 2-2 draw against Oud-Heverlee Leuvenat. Enter Borussia Dortmund. The “Wonderkid Factory” as FridayNightFM calls it and with good reason - Dortmund have an incredible track record and pedigree in nurturing and developing talent and it’s likely that Duranville will be the next big player to shine in front of the Yellow Wall in Germany.
In FM23, Duranville is the proverbial Wonderkid and has already risen to stardom in thousands of saves prior to his IRL move to Dortmund - the only way is up for the young Belgian, the question is will Dortmund rise with him and finally ascend themselves to compete with Bayern? If not, it’s likely history will continue to repeat itself with their best assets annually moving on to bigger & better things..make it stop, please.
There we have it! 5 Wonderkids who have made big moves in the recent Winter Transfer Window that we look forward to seeing in action for their new clubs in the near future - no Wonderkid is safe anymore and they are getting snapped up earlier and earlier each year, but as we all know..we knew about them first 😉.
Thanks for reading - see you for more transfer madness next Summer 👋.
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