https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14wukDxjQd2-BnAFJsw-KWvmNg6HvLplMhcUr2yuhGXg/edit#gid=1809540159


Doing my yearly Milan save - this time, I am using Buzzko's realistic career mode ruleset. I'll keep a link to my page in here as I update it throughout the year. Here is the squad at the beginning of season one.

Season One Winter Transfer Window:
A. Guler - CAM - 1-year loan (no buy option) - Real Madrid
M. Thiaw - CB - short loan - BVB09 (He didn't play for 3 or 4 games and threw a fit demanding a transfer)
P. Kalulu - CB - $55m - Lazio (The same thing as Thiaw as I replaced him to try and make Malick happy. Lazio ended up paying his release clause.)
*This should be my only sale in the winter transfer window as I am only limited to 1 sale.*
F. Chiarodia - CB - 2 year loan w/ option to buy for $3.5m - Gladbach
D. Bartesaghi - LB - short loan - Toulouse
B. Gil - LW - short loan - Tottenham (Filling in for injured Leao)
O. Giroud - ST - swap w/ Ferreira - FC Dallas

... Yeah Bryan Gil kind of stinks so I sent him back to Spurs lmao.

T. Chalobah - CB - short loan - Chelsea
T. Pobega - CM - $16m - Torino
L. Jovic - ST - $21m - Frankfurt
S. Kjaer - CB - free - Torino
J. Miranda - LB - $35m - Real Betis (pre signing for season 2)

Season One update: Finished 3rd in our UCL group and have been sent to the knockout stage of the Europa League. We will face Ajax. Rafael Leao was lost in the middle of November for 3 months with a broken toe & was replaced with Okafor. Giroud is scoring just fine but Jokic is having a tough time getting goals. The plan is to send Okafor back to the ST behind Giroud and loan in Bryan Gil for 6 months.
We are still sitting in first place in Serie A, but have been knocked out of the Coppa Italia by Atalanta, 1-0. We played the first round of the knockout stage v Ajax as well. The first leg we were away in Cruyf stadium and lost 1-0. The second leg was a different story however. We just got Leao back from injury and boy did we miss him. We won 6-2, with Leao being named MOTM with two goals and an assist. We will come up against FC Twente in the round of 16.
We surprisingly had a difficult time with FC Twente and it took a last minute goal from Zirkzee to give us a 2-1 aggregate lead and send us through to the Quarter finals where we came up against Atalanta. They came out scoring within the first 10 minutes with a penalty in the first leg. We managed two second half goals and held on to a 2-1 first leg win, but we lost Arda Guler for 8 months with an ACL tear. I decided to just cut his loan short at this point as we wouldn't get him back for the rest of the season. In the second leg they once again took the lead early in the first half and just before half time we lost both Adli and Leao (again) to broken toe's (3 months out for each). We brought on Chukwueze and Musah and they were the difference makers that helped get us through. Chukwueze assisted Zirkzee in the 80th minute to equalize the game and give us the 3-2 aggregate lead.
For the semi finals we come up against the dark horse team of the cup so far, Royal Antwerp. They just knocked Liverpool out in the Quarter finals with a score of 3-1. On the other side, Inter will face Marsielle.

Current injury crisis: 6 games left in Serie A + Semi finals of Europa League.
R. Leao - broken toe
Y. Adli - broken toe
A. Guler torn ACL (loan cut short)
N. Okafor - broken toe (just coming back)
RLC - hyper extended knee
Chukwueze - torn ACL
Buongiorno - hyper extended knee
Giroud - broken toe

I am really starting to regret letting Bryan Gil go back to Spurs lmao.

My current XI looks like the following:
Maignan
Calabria - Tomori - Buongiorno - Theo
Bennacer - Musha
Pulisic - Reijnders - Chukwueze
Zirkzee


We took on Royal Antwerp and went up 1-0 within 25 minutes but lost Chukwueze to a torn ACL. They equalized early in the second half and kept the pressure on the rest of the game. It took a last minute goal from Musah to give us the lead, and a final score of 2-1. In the second leg, they went up 1-0 early from a volley outside of the box. Completely blew me away with this goal. They again kept the pressure up and came close multiple times to doubling their lead. Just like the first, only a little more dramatically, Noah Okafor broke loose on a late counter and scored, giving us the 1-1 scoreline and a 3-2 aggregate score. We will go on to face Inter in the final of the Europa League.

We played 3 more games in the league, winning 2-0, 1-0, and 1-0 (with a dramatic last minute goal from Pulisic). We are currently sitting in first place with 1 game to go with the table looking like this:
1. Milan - 81 points
2. Inter - 79 points

As for the Europa League final, we fielded a much weaker side, consisting of: Maignan, Calabria, Tomori, Kjaer, Theo, Reijnders, Bennacer, Florenzi, Pulisic, Okafor, Zirkzee. The majority of the first half Inter were all over us, hitting the post twice and dominating possession. We came close with two chances from Pulisic at the end of the first half. The second half was the same way, however, we only managed 1 shot on target. Inter completely dominated us and forced Maignan to make a diving save when their high press won the ball back deep in our half. Dimarco had a 1 on 1 but Maginan somehow came up with the save. We managed to escape the two halves of extra time, although with hardly any possession. Inter missed their first pk when Maignan saved Lautaros effort and we went on to win 4-3 (o-o).

We ended the season with the double! We beat Salernitana 2-0 with both goals coming from Pulisic to help us win the Serie A (84 points to Inters 82). We've got a budget of $130m to spend for next season. I won't include any outgoing sales into this budget.

My goal for the season two summer transfer window is to bring in another CDM/CM. I would prefer to switch to a 4-3-3 holding with one CDM. I am looking into either Pafundi or Reyna on loan if I can. Sadilek would be the CDM I bring in. Chukwueze has not been great this season so I might look into selling or sending out on loan. Realistically I need to fill the following positions (BEFORE any players go out - those would need replaced as well):

CB - M. Thiaw will come back from loan and hopefully he'll get good rotation this year and be happy. Kjaer signed a pre contract with Torino, Chalobah goes back to Chelsea,and Chiarodia / Gabbia aren't starters at the moment. If Tomori stays, he'll be a starter, if he leaves, we'll need 2 CB's.
Option: O. Boscagli - PSV
T. Adarabioyo - Fulham
K. Mavropanos - West Ham

GK - IF and only IF I receive an offer from a larger club for Maignan will I let him go. If that is the case I would like to look into Di Gregorio from Monza.
Option: G. Di Gregorio - Monza

CDM - I definitely need 1 CDM to take the load off of Reijnders and Bennacer. We might need 2 CDM's if Bennacer leaves this year too. Zeroli has been okay to use but he is going to Cremonese on loan for 1 year. I can drop Loftus Cheek back some and use him but I think M. Sadilek from FC Twente will be the player we bring in.
Option: M. Sadilek - FC Twente

CAM - We have used RLC, Guler, Adli, & Musah as the CAM throughout the season. Guler was fantastic but the injury really messed things up. RLC/Musah are good but don't produce any numbers. I would like to have a 10 who is good on the ball as well as has good distribution. I have a few players in mind.
Options: G. Reyna - BVB09
S. Pafundi - Udinese
S. Szymanski - Fenerbache
R. Orsolini - Bologna

RM - If we send Chukwueze out on loan we'll need a replacement to play behind Pulisic. I haven't decided on if I want to do that yet. Chukwueze isn't terrible, he just doesn't produce any numbers when I play him over Pulisic.
Options: G. Reyna - BVB09
R. Orsolini - Bologna
N. Bajrami - Sassuolo