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[FM13] The Scandinavian Shankly: smashing the status quo


withnail316

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Excellent "crazy goalkeeper" references, indeed.  As a former keeper (and the father of a 9 year-old insistent on being one...), I am particularly fond of these lunatics.  Not ol' crazy knees, though.  Can't get past his club. :lol:

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4 hours ago, ManUtd1 said:

Excellent "crazy goalkeeper" references, indeed.  As a former keeper (and the father of a 9 year-old insistent on being one...), I am particularly fond of these lunatics.  Not ol' crazy knees, though.  Can't get past his club. :lol:

I was a big fan of Grobbelaar, so the way his career finished left a bit of a sour taste in the mouth. Even at his best he was only the second best keeper on Merseyside though - Neville Southall was a beast. 

Had Southall been English and in the 1990 World Cup side instead of Shilts...

Anyway, enough of that!

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November

LC 4th Round: Birmingham City 3-0 Stoke City
My first game against a "rival", and while I didn't hold out much hope prior to kick off (Stoke are very much a top-half PL side) we were magnificent. Uche Nwofor had swept us in front after five minutes, and Tommy Smith curled in a peach 10 minutes later. The game became scrappy as Stoke fought back into it, but as they pressed forward late on, Connor Waters tucked home a third to send us into a home quarter final tie with Arsenal.

CH: Birmingham City 1-0 Leeds United
A scrappy affair, but a big day for young striker Will Webster, who came off the bench to score his first goal for the club after 65 minutes, and that was enough for the points. 

CH: Blackpool 0-3 Birmingham City 
Our away form has been sketchy for a few weeks, but this was a great performance. Barbalias continued his habit of scoring brilliant goals to put us in front on half time, and a second half double from Nwofor meant we had a very productive visit to the Lancashire sea-side.

CH: Birmingham City 4-1 Swindon Town
Swindon are really struggling at this level, and we tore them to pieces at St Andrews. Nathan Redmond was tormentor-in-chief and he grabbed two goals from mazy runs, while Robbie Brady curled home a 30 yard free kick for the goal of the game. The fourth came from the head of defender Mick Raynor, powering home a near post corner. 

CH: Birmingham City 3-0 Peterborough United
We've been looking really good at home, but it took a half time rollicking for us to get going here. Peterborough's keeper scored an unlucky own goal after an hour, he'd pushed a free kick onto a post only for it to bounce off him and go in, before he was chipped by Barbalias and beaten again by Facey late on. 

CH: Coventry City 0-1 Birmingham City
A clean sweep, but only just. We weren't great at all, but Facey's header just before half time was enough to pick up the victory. 

November%2023%20table.png

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A couple of transfer deals to let you know about, as I continue to tweak the squad. 

Damo%20Gannon.png

We've been playing 4-2-3-1 for most of time in Birmingham, so I've been looking for decent competition for Barbalias in that central AM role, and I'm pretty sure I've found it here. Gannon had only joined Hearts in the summer from Shamrock Rovers, but had a stupidly low clause of £475,000, which I've hit with instalments. He's insisted on a higher division clause of £5m in his contract, but this looks like a steal of a deal to me. 

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Black meanwhile strengthens us in the heart of midfield, or indeed as a DM. I'd expect him to be my back-up when he arrives, but he certainly improves us in that role, and for £200,000 (£100,000 in instalments) I can't complain. 

There will also be at least one player leaving in January. Goalkeeper Peter Devlin couldn't budge Larsen from his position and demanded a move, so he's off to St Pat's Athletic for £400,000. 

 

 

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2 minutes ago, noikeee said:

Sounds weird to write this but Utrecht to Birmingham in those circumstances is a massive step down!

Looks like you're improving throughout the season and could have a genuine shot at promotion already.

It really was, I can't see too many managers who have just won the CL and Dutch title taking a job in the Championship, but I've always been a builder in FM. Going straight to a PL club could have made the save feel too stale for my liking, but this seems like a good fit as there is bags of potential to grow with Birmingham. 

Agree we could go up this year, but right now I'm just enjoying being up there rather than thinking about a promotion challenge. 

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Just wanted to say this is fantastic reading. I'm learning so much and also rather embarrassed at having started a totally meager thread of my own last week. This shows me I should not update that until I have time to write proper posts/updates. Thanks very much.

 

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9 minutes ago, IndyManager said:

Just wanted to say this is fantastic reading. I'm learning so much and also rather embarrassed at having started a totally meager thread of my own last week. This shows me I should not update that until I have time to write proper posts/updates. Thanks very much.

 

Cheers fella, glad to have you on board. As for you own thread, we all have different styles. I'm sure it'll develop as you progress with the game. 

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December

CH: Ipswich Town 1-2 Birmingham City
An efficient display in Suffolk, which was especially pleasing as I'd rested several players for the upcoming Arsenal game. Matt Dryden nodded us in front from a corner just after half time, and although Ipswich scored straight after, Connor Waters smacked home a winner with 15 to play from long range. 

LC Quarter Final: Birmingham City 2-3 Arsenal
So close and yet so far. We were poor in the first half and fell behind early on, but the players really responded after I read the riot act at half time. Dionysis Barbalias levelled straight after half time, and Robbie Brady slotted us in front 10 minutes later. The players fought like lions for the rest of the game, but Arsenal scored a rocket from range with 6 minutes to play, and then disaster struck. An AWFUL penalty decision gave them the chance to win it in the 92nd minute, and of course it was slotted into the corner. A terrible way to lose, but a performance the 29,000 strong crowd could be proud of. 

CH: Birmingham City 1-0 Wigan Athletic
What we needed on the back of the Arsenal defeat was a game straight away, and we got the defeat out of our systems with a good win - albeit a very narrow one. Robbie Brady curled home a peach of a free kick after an hour to win it, but we did lose Nathan Redmond to injury...which was the start of a bit of an injury crisis. 

CH: Brighton & Hove Albion 1-0 Birmingham City
We deserved absolutely nothing from our trip to Brighton, and that's exactly what we got. We did however lose Aguilera, Hart and Webster to knocks ahead of a run of 6 games in two weeks. Not ideal. 

CH: Birmingham City 3-0 Huddersfield Town 
We showed no sign of our squad being short for the visit of Huddersfield, and Uche Nwofor ran riot. He bagged two goals and forced an OG for a comprehensive victory in one of our best performances of the season so far. 

CH: Birmingham City 1-1 Bristol City
While we'd been excellent against Huddersfield, we were anything but here. Things started well when Tommy Smith smacked us in front after 10 minutes, but he stupidly got sent off for two bookable offences (the latter being a dive) inside the first half, and then we dropped in quality. Bristol City's equaliser became inevitable - and richly deserved - with 10 to play, but at least we took something from the game. 

CH: Burnley 0-1 Birmingham City
A much better display on Boxing Day, and although we only managed the one Keith Facey goal, it was more than enough for the points against a struggling Burnley side. 

CH: Birmingham City 2-0 Crystal Palace
The very next day we met Palace at home, and were outstanding. Tommy Smith smashed home the opener after 15 minutes, and from there we took total control of the game. It took a late Facey header to seal the points, but we never gave them a sniff. 

CH: Nottingham Forest 1-3 Birmingham City
Forest have been disappointing this season, and they were no match for us here despite going in front. Waters levelled from range before Barbalias slotted us in front just before half time. Paul Nicholson scored his first goal for the club to seal it with three minutes left to play, and cap off an outstanding month for the club. 

December%2023%20table.png

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The board are delighted with how the season has been going, understandable considering we were expected to struggle, and as a result they have made some more money available to me for new players. I now have an extra £25,000p/w to spend on wages, so I shall be keeping my eye out for a couple of Bosman deals in the next few weeks. 

I don't think I've mentioned that the club currently also has two parent clubs (Tottenham and Sevilla) but both have been feeling generous at the start of January. They've sent these two out on loan for the rest of the season:

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We also have a feeder club, League One side Cheltenham Town, and I expect I'll be sending a couple of our youngsters out to them for the rest of the year. 

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A little update from Utrecht: after I quit, they announced they were expanding the stadium again (up to nearly 46,000) and they've made an enormous profit on Juan Vecchiola. He's just joined Manchester City for £28.5m (€33m). I'd signed him for €7.75m. Outstanding business. 

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A little Bosman activity to tell you about for next season, although I haven't gone mad as I don't know what division we'll be in next year. First up, a pair of youngsters:

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These two are likely to be squad players next year, although I'd expect Adam to get regular football if we are still in the Championship. I'll be letting winger Tommy Smith leave when his contract expires in the summer, so Krznar is likely to become Nathan Redmond's understudy on the right flank. 

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This lad however will be straight in the team even if we end up going up. He is head and shoulders above the rest of our defenders, and an absolute steal on a free. 

I tried and failed to bring a pair of Liverpool youngsters in on loan until the end of the year too, but both of them are out of contract in the summer, so I may have a go at signing them permanently in a few weeks time. 

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January

CH: Hull 2-3 Birmingham City
We were excellent for the first half hour here, when Keith Facey and a debut Damo Gammon goal apiece put us in charge, but then had a major wobble for the next half an hour. Hull pulled it back to 2-2, but Uche Nwofor's late header ensured we left with a win. 

FAC 3rd round: Birmingham City 3-0 Bury
I'd heavily rotated for this cup tie, which included a rare chance for Will Webster to start up top. The youngster was terrific, he grabbed a brace and made the third for Simpson in a stand-out performance. Safely into the hat, we'll meet PL Norwich in the 4th round.

CH: Birmingham City 5-3 Cardiff City
An epic encounter! Neil Thomson nodded us in front after 10 minutes, but 10 minutes later we were 2-1 down. Brady drove in a leveller five minutes before half time, and Nwofor put us in front in stoppage time. He grabbed his second 10 minutes into the second half before Gannon curled in from distance. Cardiff grabbed a late consolation, but it turned into a good day for us. 

FAC 4th round: Norwich City 2-3 Birmingham City
An awful day for our keeper, but a great day for the rest of us. Larsen made two errors which led to goals, but fortunately we were 3-0 up by that point! Tommy Smith and a Nwofor brace did the damage, and set us up for a trip to Brighton in round 5.

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February

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Another good month for us in the league with 7 points out of 9, and I was really pleased to avoid defeat at leaders Southampton. The table is looking good for us, so hopefully we can keep up this form. I've no complaints about getting knocked out of the cup either, we weren't good enough on the day, but considering we've played 42 games already, that could even be advantageous for us in the coming weeks. 

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Breaking News:

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Andersson said his family had not been able to settle in the West Midlands and had moved back to Sweden. Andersson himself felt unfulfilled in his job, and so rather than just coasting to the end of the season, he decided to resign immediately. 

 

In reality, I'm just not enjoying the save at the moment, so it is time to move on. 

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5 minutes ago, ManUtd1 said:

Go take down Bobby Manc in Sweden! Huzzah!

Heh, I'm not necessarily going back to Sweden... I'm not sure where I'll end up, but I'm just not enjoying England at all. Hopefully any damage to my reputation will only be minimal, but I needed to get out of Brum. 

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10 hours ago, ManUtd1 said:

Fair enough! I find myself bored there as well, these days. The madcap joy in the narrative in my head is what I like, and it isn't there in England for long term purposes.

I think my style of save has just changed, tbh. I used to enjoy taking a tiny English club up the leagues, but now I'm much more at home trying to turn a club from a smaller league into European contenders. 

I'm going to have a think about what leagues I load/remove and see what my options are for my next move.

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AaB%20badge.png

AaB Fodbold
(With thanks to Wiki)

AaB Fodbold, also referred to as Aalborg BK or AaB, is a professional football team of Danish sports conglomerate Aalborg Boldspilklub, located in Aalborg in northern Denmark. They play in the Danish Superliga and upon my arrival, have won three Danish titles and two Danish Cups. 

AaB became the first Danish team ever to participate in the UEFA Champions League group stage in 1995. AaB also qualified for the 2008–09 Champions League and qualified for the UEFA Cup in the same season by finishing in 3rd place in their Champions League group.

The club won its first silverware during the amateur era of Danish football, picking up the Danish Cup in 1966 and 1970, but had to wait until 1994-95 to win a first league title. A second followed in 1998-99, and the most recent title came in 2007-08. 

Since my career began, AaB's best finish has been 4th, and the club was even relegated in 2015/16. 

The club has played its football at the 13,800 capacity Nordjyske Arena since 1960. Upon my arrival, the stadium has around 9,000 seats, and is rented to the club by the city, so it is a similar situation to my time at Örebro. I will be hoping that if we can fill it regularly, we'll be able to expand in the near future. I should point out that since I left Örebro, the stadium has been expanded up to 18,000. Something similar here would be ideal over the medium term, I think. 

The club's fierce rivalries are with the 'New Firm' of Brøndby and FC København, while it also retains rivalries with FC Midtjylland, Viborg and AGF. 

aalborg-stadion-nye-lys.jpg

The club has just shy of 4,000 season ticket holders, average training facilities and basic youth facilities. I'm viewing it as something of a blank canvass - a club I can build from the ground up - and hopefully get back a sense of satisfaction again. 

I've signed a four year deal on €7,000p/w, with a brief of a mid-table finish. To get this, we have a transfer budget of €3m and around €15,000p/w in free wages. 

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AaB badge.png

AaB Fodbold

My assistant's stats seem pretty good so I'll trust his judgement with the condition of the squad. In fairness, I don't have a great deal of choice - our first league game is under a week away, so there will be no time for any friendlies. I'm expecting us to be very undercooked...

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It's not worth showing who our "best" player is yet as I have no idea, but we do have one potential star in the youth team:

Rene%20Hansen.png

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1 hour ago, ManUtd1 said:

Good luck hitting the ground running in Denmark!

 

55 minutes ago, Deisler26 said:

Best of luck in Denmark

Cheers, lads. Not ideal that my first game is away at title favourites FC København, especially when we only have about thirteen players... but looking forward to this. 

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A frustrating end to 2016, my laptop crashed while I was saving my game, and so my file has corrupted! Lovely. 

Thankfully I've only lost my start at AaB, but I need to go back a couple of months. That might mean the job isn't available, we shall have to see!

Ah well, happy new year everybody. Chin, chin. 

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32 minutes ago, ManUtd1 said:

Brutal, man. Best of luck with getting the position again, or something equally appealing.

Cheers, man. I've just been offered something I quite like the look of, but too late for an update now. 

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Right, let's try this again then, shall we?

Horsens%20badge.jpg

Alliance Club Horsens
(With thanks to wiki)

 

AC Horsens is a professional Danish football team, playing in the Danish Superliga. They play at the 10,000 capacity Casa Arena Horsens in Horsens, eastern Denmark. The club was founded in 1994, as a superstructure of Horsens fS (founded 1915) and the merger of Dagnæs IF and B 1940, and FC Horsens.

The club has no major silverware in the trophy cabinet, although they have been finalists in the Danish Cup twice, once in 2012 and again in 2022. Since my career started, their highest league finish was 4th, and they were relegated in 2016/17, but returned at the first time of asking.

Horsens%20stadium.jpg

 

Horsens have been fairly stable the last couple of years, with successive sixth place finishes. They've had a disappointing campaign so far this year though, which is why they find themselves down in 9th place at the winter break when I takeover at the club, although there is a fair gap to the two relegation places.

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I've signed a four year contract on €5,000p/w with a target of a mid-table finish. To do that, I have a transfer budget of €1m and a wage budget of €45,000p/w. We have around €8,000p/w in spare wages. 

The club has 1,600 season ticket holders, average training facilities and basic youth facilities. It has rivalries with AGF, Silkeborg, SønderjyskE and Randers, while the real venom is saved for Vejle Boldklub Kolding. 

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On 01/01/2017 at 20:29, Deisler26 said:

Argh! That sucks about AaB, but good luck with the Horses

 

12 hours ago, noikeee said:

I don't remember any career in Denmark in this forum in recent times, so this is interesting. Good luck and may you avoid further crashes.

Cheers lads. 

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I'm still in the midst of a really long winter break, so to keep the thread moving I thought I'd do a quick transfer update from my first few weeks at the club. 

Maurizio%20Maiello.png
My first arrival was a familiar face, Maiello had been part of my Örebro squad, although he didn't much game time. He had since found his way to AC Milan via Lillestrom and Siena, but was available on a free. A decent option up front, but more likely to feature on the wing this season. 

Andrei%20Kulikov.png
Kulikov costs us around €130,000 from champions Brøndby, and is another option for the left, but is likely to feature as my AM. 

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Andersen costs €60,000 from AaB, and strengthens us in one of our weakest areas at full back. 

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Sand meanwhile cost an enormous €10,000 from Nordsjaelland....

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While Zelnicek arrives on a free from league leaders FC Kobnhavn.

 

Finally, one on a Bosman for next year:

Frane%20Repic.png

 

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Youth intake

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Slim pickings with our youth intake. I'll be looking to hire a new HoYD at the end of the season after the current occupant's contract expires, while I'm also hopeful of the board spending a bit on our youth facilities. 

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March

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March%2025%20table.png

I couldn't have asked for a better start, to be honest. We've been outstanding in the first four games, and the victory over København was a huge surprise. Even the defeat against AaB wasn't anything to be ashamed of, we played really well but just couldn't take an opportunity. I'd like to think we're now safe from the drop, and I'll be targeting a top 6 finish. 

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Slim pickings?? That's a fantastic youth player! I'm not too sure about striker, maybe DLF, but he looks crying out to be adapted to midfield and a playmaker role.

Looking pretty great on the first few league results as well.

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3 hours ago, noikeee said:

Slim pickings?? That's a fantastic youth player! I'm not too sure about striker, maybe DLF, but he looks crying out to be adapted to midfield and a playmaker role.

Looking pretty great on the first few league results as well.

Yeah, he's reasonable, but we're quite short on homegrown players so I'd hoped for more than one, tbh. I'll probably retrain him as an AMC as he can't tackle, which rules out a CM role. 

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April

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Another good month for us, and we've been able to guarantee a top 6 finish. The only downside was a defeat against our bitter rivals, but with three games to go, we still have an outside chance at qualifying for Europe. I'd certainly have taken that when I took over! Jesper Rindom in particular has been outstanding, he's up to 20 goals for the season, and has half a chance at winning the golden boot. 

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2 hours ago, Deisler26 said:

Great work! I can see you getting Europe next season!

That has to be the target, man. An enormous gap to the top, but 4th or 3rd look achievable, and I'll have a good go with the cup, too.

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Horsens badge.jpg

Alliance Club Horsens - season review
2024/25

League (Superliga)

Media predicted: 7th
Finished: 5th

Cups

Landspokalturneringen (Danish Cup): quarter final (FC København winners)
Champions League: Manchester City (2nd trophy)
Europa League: Zenit (2nd trophy, beat FC København in the final)

Top scorers

Jesper Rindom: 21 goals in 37 appearances (19 in the league)
Karim Sakim: 8 goals in 23 appearances (6 in the league)

Positives

Considering I've only had 13 matches in charge, there is quite a lot to be positive about. The players have adapted well to my systems, which is probably why we've managed to win 8 of those games. I've got to be pleased we were even considered for European football towards the end of the campaign, considering where we were when I took over. All-in-all, there looks to be a half decent squad here, so if I can add to it (and keep Jesper Rindom fit and happy) I see no reason why we can't target a European place for next year. 

Concerns

The biggest issue I can see is the shortage of homegrown players from the club in the squad, which isn't ideal for either European or domestic games. That's something I'll be looking to put right both by signing players who are 18 and under, but I'll also be pestering the board to upgrade our youth and training facilities whenever we have the cash to do so. 

Ambitions

The gap to the top is enormous, so I can't see us involved in the title picture for a while yet, but I don't see why we can't be involved in a European battle. 

Player of the season

It can only be Jesper Rindom here. I have no doubt that we wouldn't have got anywhere near the top 6 without his goals. 

Attendances

Lowest attendance: 3,232 (v Randers in the Danish Cup)
Highest attendance: 5010 (v Silkeborg in the league)
Average attendance: 4,145 (4,202 in the league - 9th highest)

Finances

€4.7m in credit. 

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On 16/10/2016 at 01:31, withnail316 said:

I thought I'd decided I wasn't going to spend much this transfer window. Maybe a couple of million on a left back, if I could find the right deal - but then €8m in end-of-season Champions League TV money dropped into our bank account...

Juan%20Vecchiola.png

He'll cost us €7.75m, although only around half of that up front. The amount of centre midfielders I have is insane, but Vecchiola and Haye will be our main pairing when fit. 

 

This lad, who I signed for Utrecht in 2021, has won European Player of the Year for Champions League winners Manchester City. Immense. 

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