Who better to ask about his FM20 Player of the Year than a blogger who has surpassed 40 years in one Journeyman save alone? Surely an easy task for @Lutterworth_Fox…😉
When having a save that has gone on for nearly 40 seasons it is very hard to pick a player that has stood out. This is even harder as when you look at the teams you have played at and most of the players are now Newgens!
One of my main aims in this save was to get an intake player that I had faith could play 300 career appearances for me and also chip in with 100 goals. For season after season I received shocking youth intakes and never found THAT man, that was until the year 2039 when we welcomed Oleg Wagner to the Magdeburg ranks!
When he first arrived I hoped he could develop, but I never ever expected him to go on to be one of the greats! He had most of the attributes to become a decent Right Winger, his pace and acceleration needed to improve but his flair was there, alongside his natural fitness, passing, etc.
Whilst other intake players were shipped out on loan, Wagner was given the rest of the season to play in the reserves and in the 2039/40 season he was moved into the Magdeburg first team to ply his trade, get mentored by the older boys and see how he improved.
5 years later and Oleg was a staple in the Magdeburg side, he had played 106 games scoring 20 goals. Not the best goalscoring record but he was playing at a side flitting between the Bundesliga and Bundesliga-2. Then came his big chance…
I decided to leave Magdeburg to return to England with Newcastle. My first task? Bring Oleg with me. He only cost me £12.5m, a decent fee and he immediately was my first choice Right Winger.
The lad that seemed to kick on at a rapid rate, his goalscoring record jumped as well. From a goal every 5 games he was now scoring 1 in every 3!
Wind forward 7 years, Oleg Wagner now 28, 12 years since his debut at Magdeburg Oleg became a legend at Newcastle, he has helped us to 4 straight Premier League titles and our first Champions League success. But bigger than anything he reached the goal I had aimed for him way back in 2039.
At Newcastle he played 263 games scoring 88 goals, he tailed off towards the end but as I was so close to the 300 appearances/100 goals achievements I had to keep playing him.
An absolute legend of my save, the player of my series, one of the best intake players I’ve ever helped produce, here he is now.. In 2051!
What a ridiculous improvement!
From the humble beginnings at Magdeburg to becoming a Newcastle great, I’m sure you can see why I love him so much. He ended his career at Leicester, leaving Newcastle in 2052 for £30m. His career stalled there but he will never ever be forgotten at St James’ Park (or the new ground The Steve Robbins Arena!).
He will go down as my favourite ever player on an FM save!
Thanks for reading,
Steve aka @Lutterworth_Fox.
Like what you just read? Make sure to check out Steve’s excellent blog here where you can find a full narration of his Achievement Hunter adventures, “A-Z of FM” series and guest posts from other members of the FM community from this year’s version of FM and previous versions also.
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