Actually managed to sell him to Tottenham for 47m in FM. Could probably get even more but was just happy to see him go.
Tried to offload Eric as well and accepted 14m offer from Dortmund but Laporta blocked transfer saying we should get at least 18m which nobody wants to pay.
Also sold Roberto and Alba in winter transfer window to get rid off their wages (still paying around 2m to Alba but better than 11m or so). Now have around 40m transfer budget and 20m wage budget (luckily no stupid Tebas rules in FM
![LoL :lol: :lol:](/images/smilies/lol.gif)
) although I've already bought some talents like Moleiro and also Marcos Leonardo on loan with buy option (tried to get Vitor Roque but he was too expensive).
Also have some free agent signings lined up for next season. Max Aarons (need a RB as I'm playing Kounde there with some random Brazilian talent named Gustavo Garcia who I've got for cheap in summer as backup, tried to sign Singo from Torino on a free but didn't want to negotiate and then Bayern paid 20m to get him immediately; don't see Aarons as longterm option but can always sell him for profit back to England), Guerreiro (to rotate with Balde if I'll offload Alonso; he's already complaining about not playing much so shouldn't be too hard) and two young CBs (Omeragic from Zurich looks quite interesting and there were several EPL clubs after him so didn't even expect he'll sign with us. He could potentially replace Garcia as 4th CB but will look for someone better). Also wanted to sign Marcus Thuram but he's keeping his options open so will need to try later.
Season not going to plan though. 2nd ln league 3 points behind Madrid (their defense only conceded like 2 goals in 20 league games before we beat them 2-0 and then they also drop points in next two league games but we didn't use that as lost at Mestalla) half way through the season. Also finished last in CL group with Milan, Sporting and Olympiakos (probably my worst FM moment ever
![LoL :lol: :lol:](/images/smilies/lol.gif)
). First we've conceded a 95th minute goal to lose against Milan at Camp Nou. All teams could still qualify before last round and we only needed to win in Greece and Sporting not to win in Milan (they've lost) but conceded late in game after going all attack (draw would qualify us to EL but didn't really care about that). Also lost after penalties in Supercopa against Madrid and last we were eliminated in Copa against Eibar playing with backups. So now can only focus on the league which is fine for me as we don't really have much depth and I also try lot of Barca B players like Barbera and Lucas Roman off the bench. Still have support from the board and fans (wouldn't be so in real life I imagine
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) because we play good but I think if don't win the league I'll probably get fired. They're also disappointed because I don't sign "high profile players" but how can you do that with no money?
![LoL :lol: :lol:](/images/smilies/lol.gif)
We'll see how much I'll get in summer and who will be available but I'll probably just focus on bringing more youngsters rather than spending big on one player.
Another interesting thing is Raphinha is doing better than Dembele (who also was injured a few times) so far. So I'm actually thinking about selling Dembele in summer and maybe even start to play 4-4-2 diamond that worked so great for me in FM22. Not sure if it works in FM23 though as I've only started to play it. Usually never start my first save with Barca so I could "learn" at other clubs but thought I'd do it different this year. Well, at least if I'm fired after first season I'll manage another club (thinking about Brighton) and then in a few months start another save with Barca.