Football Philosopher
Player Transfer Plan

After James made a list of target players for the club, he planned to immediately realize the purchase of the player. But before that James also had to discuss with Sir Alex Ferguson and also new Technical Director Ralf Rangnick.

After a long discussion between them, it was decreed that there were some players who were out of contract and not renewed, and there were also players who did not want to extend new contracts.

On 1 July 2005, new goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Sar arrived from Fulham for 3.6 million pounds, previous goalkeeper Roy Carroll moved to West Ham United and Ricardo moved to Spanish side Osasuna on a free transfer.

There are also some players from the Reserve (reserve) team who go on a free transfer, such as Michael Stewart to Scottish club Hibernian FC, Paul Tierney also to Scottish club Livingston FC, Colin Heath to League One side Chesterfield FC, David Poole to Yeovil Town, and Steven Hogg to League Two side Shrewsbury.

There are also loaned to other clubs, both from the junior team and the reserve team.

On July 8, 2005, Manchester United acquired Gingseng Korea midfielder Park Ji Sung from Dutch club PSV Eindhoven with a total transfer fee of 6.57 million pounds including add on.

At the end of July James introduced two new defenders Nemanja Vidic (Centre Back) from Spartak Moscow with a total transfer of 9.45 million pounds including add on, and also Patrice Evra (Left Back) from AS Monaco with a transfer fee of 7.2 million pounds already including add on. Both of them should only be signed on a winter transfer, but James knows they are in dire need at the moment.

Subsequently on 4 August 2005, Phil Neville received a transfer offer from Everton of 4.77 million pounds, and on 11 August 2005, Kleberson accepted an offer from Beksitas with a transfer fee of 2.5 million pounds.

That way James has spent, 26.82 million pounds and still gets income from transfers of about 7.27 million pounds. James' total expenditure of 19.55 million pounds, still available transfer money to hunt young players later. Although most young players are cheap even free. However, there is still a cost for training compensation even though it is only a few hundred thousand pounds.

In early August James and Ralf Rangnick went to Poland in search of new recruits. James looked around the small town in eastern Poland, Pruszkow. This small town with a population of about 50 thousand is one of the industrial centers in Poland. Due to its proximity to the Polish capital Warsaw, it is home to several factories and industries.

The city has a football club that has just won promotion from the third division of the Polish football league system to the second division, Znicz Pruszkow with his young striker, Robert Lewandowski, he was named the top scorer in the third division with 15 goals. Now they will get a club-record transfer fee of 200,000 pounds for their striker.

James could have tried and got Robert Lewandowski even cheaper, but he didn't need that because their transfer budget was still plenty and he wanted to start a good relationship with future superstar No. 9. So he went on and completed the transfer with the sum of 200,000 pounds as he knew even with this amount, this would probably be one of the best offers he would get.

James had set his sights on Lewandowski as soon as the season ended and labeled him one of the players to buy. James remembers Lewandowski in the German Bundesliga where he broke many records. He surpassed German striker Gerhard "Gerd" Muller's record of 40 goals a season by scoring 48 times in just 40 games. He was named FIFA Player of the Year in 2020 and would have won the Ballon D'or that year if it had not been dispensed with. He bagged two European gold boots and was still in top form at the age of 33 when James was transferred.

Lewandowski is one of the best strikers of his generation. He is even considered by many to be one of the greatest Middle Attackers of all time. Playing for different teams throughout his career, wherever Lewandowski goes, goals always follow. A prolific goalscorer, he is probably the most modern version of No. 9 with all the qualities expected of him, height, strength, balance, speed, intelligent movement, aerial ability, and power, positional sensitivity, and ability to shoot with both feet. He also stood out throughout his career due to his movement without the ball and defensive contributions to the team that were necessary to succeed in the system. He was also praised for his work ethic, mentality, fitness and discipline, both on and off the pitch.

James already has a picture of success for him, they just need to make sure that he follows it.

James and Ralf had just arrived at the rendezvous point when Lewandowski and his mother came to them. James looked at Lewandowski, he didn't have the impressive figure James remembers but was a little thin for a footballer. He's also a little shorter than James remembers, but he's only 18 next year. James knows for sure that he will grow into a physically impressive player. So he doesn't care much about that. The fitness coach at the Club will also help him.

They greeted each other before sitting down to discuss contract terms "We were impressed with Lewandowski's performance last season and thought that he was a very talented player capable of playing at a higher level." James said to his mother, Iwona because Lewandowski doesn't understand English.

James feels that with players coming from all over Europe, many of them who don't understand English, communication will be difficult. He plans to hire a language teacher when he returns to Manchester to teach the English players so they can overcome those difficulties. Although many say football is a universal language, but if the player can not understand the word of the coach will bring a lot of problems and miscommunication.

James continued, "We think Lewandowski is very talented and if given the right direction, he can develop into a great striker if given the right direction, and we want to be the ones to take him there."

"We are willing to give Lewandowski a contract with a salary of 150 thousand pounds per year for five years with his salary increasing by 20% every year." James said to Iwona Lewandowska. James is even willing to give Lewandowski a bigger contract but he doesn't need to.

"Mr Packer, the conditions you provide are very good and we would like to sign a contract. But we have one concern. Will Robert get enough playing time for his development?" Iwona asked James.

It was a common occurrence that players taken from lower leagues were then put on bench warmers and not given enough time to develop or sent on loan without proper guidance, It has destroyed a lot of talented players but Lewandowski is different from that prospect. James knows Lewandowski's future capabilities so Manchester United will help him fulfil his potential and maybe Lewandowski will reach a higher level than ever.

"Don't worry. We signed Lewandowski as a first-team substitute and depending on his performances he might be moved to the starting lineup. And in England, we also have two trophies, the League Cup and the FA Cup, so there will be plenty of chances for him in Manchester." James explained to Iwona.

"Then we will fly to Manchester to sign a contract, Mr Packer. Thank you for giving this opportunity to Robert." Iwona looked very emotional as he said those words and James could see tears welling up in Lewandowski's eyes.

Having been released by Polish giants Legia Warsaw just one year ago, and being told that Lewandowski will never succeed as a footballer, this is a huge opportunity for them. Iwona and Robert both look very emotional.

James, not knowing what to do in such a situation, immediately left with Ralf after saying goodbye.