In the Garden of Edin [Džeko]

Former striker Edin Džeko was appointed as the head coach for Palermo F.C., as announced in a press release by City Football Group, the major shareholder of the club. In searching for a new manager, the City Football Group stressed the importance of an experienced figure in Italian football, as well as an individual with prior links to the City Football Group to ensure a seamless transition.

In a career that spanned more than fifteen seasons, Džeko had stops at Manchester City in the Premier League, the flagship club of the City Football Group, and Inter and AS Roma in Italy, before ultimately finishing his career in Turkey at Fenerbahçe. A decorated champion, the Bosnian brings a wealth of experience to the City Football Group at a trying time for the organization, recently beset by the punishments handed down based on Financial Fair Play (FFP) charges, which ultimately sent Manchester City from the Premier League to League Two in the English football pyramid. 

Džeko brushed off questions surrounding a competition back to the “top” between Manchester City and Palermo, and subsequently, that he was eventually being groomed to replace manager Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. According to Džeko, he’s excited to embark on this new phase of his career, stating that he “can’t wait to bring Palermo F.C. back to its former glory.”

Notes: 

-In creating a save, I always look for the story to keep me going. I felt that this was an appropriate one: a former Manchester City player at the tail end of his career, joining City Football Group and moving up to (eventually?) take over at Manchester City. As a United supporter (I know), this is horrifying to think about; regardless, the story prevails. 

-Concurrently, I felt that the potential confirmation of the 115 charges was an interesting caveat as well: I torched Manchester City and edited their roster prior to the save. Any non-English player above 80 OVR (outside of Nathan Ake, I believe–don’t ask me why), was sent to a team that they were linked to in Transfermarkt (Haaland to Real Madrid, etc.). In the absence of that information, they were sent back to their former clubs (Ederson to SL Benfica, etc.). I then canceled the loans of several players who were playing outside of Europe to provide them with a bit more depth but kept English loans in place (Liam Delap at Hull City, for example). 

-For financial rules: despite the fact that City Football Group is wealthy and an octopus in the football world, I plan to abide by some simple, common rules: 

• Do not spend more than you take in (except in cases of promotion, qualifying for European competition, etc.) 

  • In the event of a promotion, qualification for European competition, etc., the overall salary of the team can grow by (at most) 20% the following season

• Only look to sign players of an average of the top 3-5 players currently on your roster (capped).

• Imposition of a transfer caveat that allows me to protect one player at each position (1 GK, 1 DEF, 1 CM, 1 ST, 1 RANDOM); every other player is open to transfer. Despite this rule: if a bigger club comes knocking for a younger player that I have protected, they will be sold to that team (unless a promotion/relegation/European qualification/battle is occurring). At the end of each year, I will assess the feasibility of this and adjust

• Cap contract renegotiations at four per season 

–I’m sure there are a few other rules or thoughts that I’m missing, however, I’m hoping that this save keeps me going for a bit here. Any thoughts/ideas are greatly appreciated, especially as I am often commenting and not posting my own saves. I’ll be posting S1 results by the end of the weekend (hopefully). Cheers!