Start from the beginning here!

In the midst of the transfer dealings, the pre-season schedule rumbles on. We pick up only one victory in the five games we play, beating Sønderjysk in a convincing 3-0 win. We then go on to pick up draws against AS Saint-Etienne, Bolton and Osmanlispor, as well as losing 1-0 to Olympiacos. All in all, not the most enthralling or encouraging pre-season, but with the incomings and outgoings behind the scenes, it isn’t the most stable place to be training with a squad.

Our first competitive game comes in mid-August, as we have the customary first round of the DFB Pokal to begin the competitive fixtures. We’re up against Aubstadt, a team who’ve just finished 3rd in the Bavaria North Divison. Not exactly the most exciting of opposition, but we should be absolutely battering this lot, which will be a good confidence boost ahead of the first league fixture.

The team we put out is strong, however there are a few young players sprinkled in. 18 year old Luca Plogmann makes his first team debut, as does Julian Rieckmann, who has also recently turned 18. Bauer, Langkamp and Friedl make up the rest of the back line, sitting behind a midfield of Junuzovic, Novais and Eggestein. Rashica, Kainz and Johannes make up the front three.

The team wastes no time at all putting this game to bed and within the first half an hour the game is already wrapped up as we’re winning 5-0. Johannes scores a 9-minute hat-trick, the pick of which being his second as, moments after Aubstadt kick off after conceding Rashica’s goal, he runs at the centre-backs and robs the ball, bursting away and calmly slotting the ball into the bottom corner. It’s so quick that the goal goes down as being scored in the same minute as the one which preceded it.

The half-time team talk is the easiest I’ve ever had to make as I happily tell them they’re doing brilliantly. I bring off Johannes, who’s work is done for the day, and allow Josh Sargent, a promising 18 year old American youngster, to make his first appearance.

Florian Kainz gets his second of the game after 20 minutes. Not long after this, Josh Sargent is given his dream debut by getting a goal in his first game. He takes the ball on past the defender in the penalty area and at first I think he’s taken it too wide, but he puts the ball perfectly inside the near post and the keeper can do nothing but watch as he’s wrong-footed. He adds a second goal to his name in the 90th minute, though not before Junuzovic adds to Aubstadt’s misery.

We take a staggering 9-0 victory, a new club record win in a competitive game. The dressing room is buzzing and, despite the quality of the opposition we were playing against, it feels like a big moment. Despite the concerns about the losses of Delaney and Kruse, this team has shown it can really put a team to the sword if they’re there for the taking.

Another debutante was Keanu Schneider, who takes the record for youngest ever player to make an appearance for the club at aged 17 and 134 days. He had a fairly indifferent season playing for Bremen II the season before, however at the age of 16 it’s easy to see why that might have been the case. He’s certainly good enough to rotate along with Raschica and Bartels in case of injury and can expect more cup game time in future. The youth academy is proving to be quite the useful resource.

The second round draw comes up and I’m hoping for an improvement on the trip to the Allianz Arena we were handed last season. Thankfully the footballing gods are slightly kinder to us this time and we find ourselves with a home tie against Mainz. Not as easy as it could be, but not a certain loss either.

With no further games until the end of the transfer window, it’s time to get back to business. The rumours are circling and, interestingly, my name has reportedly been thrown around the Hannover boardroom as a potential replacement for their previous manager, André Breitenreiter, who has left his position to take over the German National Team.

Hannover finished 4th in the previous season and this would be a great chance to take over a Champions League contending team, however Werder Bremen are the club for me. I quickly deny the rumours and get it out in the media that I’m not interested.

Then we get an offer for a player I was hoping we wouldn’t get – Ludwig Augustinsson. After turning down a pitifully low offer from Wolves, Monaco put in an offer of around £9 million. This is an improvement on the Wolves offer but it’s still not enough and I know Monaco have the funds to pay up. I counter with an offer of £20 million but Monaco instantly decide it’s too rich for their considerably rich blood and bottle it.

Then I get the inevitable knock on my door. First Delaney, now Augustinsson. It seems players don’t quite have the same faith in the project as I do. Instead, rather than buckling to his demands, I tell him he’s going to stay whether he likes it or not as I have no intention of letting him go. He promptly leaks this to the press and his name finds itself highlighted in yellow on my squad chart. The beginning of a potentially slippery slope.

Rumours begin to surface that Fin Bartels is one of Hannover’s transfer targets. Publicly I hope it’ll come to nothing, although privately I’m open to offers. Bartels turns 32 this season and a Champions League club being interested could be my last chance to make a decent amount of money off him. When Bartels knocks on my door to request a bid be accepted should Hannover make a formal bid, I’m more than happy to oblige.

So now we need an attacking player urgently and we need something ambitious, something that shows we truly mean business. The record signing of Lovro Majer is a good start but it’s not quite enough, he’s not a big name. We need another Paulo Vitor, another player who big teams are after.

I decide I’m going to be bold. I ask my scouts to bring me a report on Justin Kluivert and I like what I see. Aged 19, his current ability is 3 stars and his potential is well beyond that. He can play on both wings also, which is invaluable utility. He’s a player who big clubs will be interested in very soon, if not already.

I open up negotiations with Ajax and they seem surprisingly open to selling him. We agree a fee of £5.75 million with future add-ons and bonuses bringing it up to around £9 million in total. Contract negotiations go smoothly as we agree on wages of £25k, with him taking up a rotational role in the team. I become nervous as this is almost going too well.

It doesn’t last long, however, as Stuttgart and Marseille match our bid, both of which can offer Kluivert continental football. I go back in and improve the offer, increasing the wage and signing on fee ever so slightly but I feel as if it’s too late.

I throw my keyboard and mouse violently across the room as my Director of Football breaks the news to me – Kluivert has chosen to join Stuttgart. The real kicker is the less wage he’s signed for, but I suppose the opportunity to play in the prestigious Europa League is too much to turn down.

That’s two huge talents young talents we’ve missed out on now – Sancho and Kluivert. After coming so close, it’ll feel incredibly underwhelming to get somebody with less potential. A scout of mine who’s been spending time in South America, however, presents me with a scouting report for a talented young attacker he’s been keeping his eye on. A 17 year old attacker from Santos by the name of Rodrygo.

Rodrygo is a raw player, but with brilliant dribbling technique, a high level of agility and acceleration, as well as flair and technique, he’s the perfect kind of attacking player we’d like at the club. He’s also natural both on the wings and as a striker. An unpredictable utility player filling an attacking role is just the sort of thing our team needs. The best part? He’s just been transfer-listed after demanding a move to Europe. The asking price is £9.75 million, which is a fair price to pay considering the outlay we were prepared to spend on Kluivert.

The transfer negotiations are surprisingly smooth. His agent demands a high fee, as all agents of a good, young Brazilian do, but besides that the wage demands of Rodrygo are reasonable at only £10k, rising to £13k after 20 league games. The transfer will wait until he reaches 18 years of age in the January transfer window and will only run until 2021, though I suspect after a year or so we’ll be offering him another contract fairly quickly. I finally get the wonderkid I’ve wanted.

Transfer deadline day arrives and no business is intended to be done. Bartels seals his move to Hannover at the start of the day and I assume the deals are done for the day.

How wrong I am.

In the early afternoon I get a panicked phone call from Wolfgang Rolff. This time I’m in the middle of the Coronation Street Omnibus when I receive the phone call.

“This had better be important, Rolff.”

“Ja, boss, Robert Bauer has left the club.”

“You fucking what?” I leap to my feet, scrambling around for my keys. “I’m coming to the office. Why is he leaving without my say-so?”

“He had a release clause, sir.” Rolff replies. “£6.75 million. Hertha Berlin just activated it.”

My heart sinks. I had no idea. I really should know that he had a release clause, but I didn’t. “Any chance of getting him to sign a new contract?”

“Nein, boss. He’s already agreed the contract with Berlin. He’s ducking our calls.”

“Great, so now our only right-back is Pablo Maffeo with no back-up? Is there anybody we can get in on short notice?”

“Realistically? No. We’re looking at a loan and then buying a permanent replacement in the January window.”

“Well, who do we get in then?”

“You need to come back into the office. We’ve not got very many options.”

I drive to the office quicker than ever, probably breaking a few speed limits on the way. I go through the list and Rolff is right, we don’t have an awful lot to choose from. In the end, we settle for Alex Pinto on loan from Benfica. He’s got decent potential but that’s all it is at this point and we aren’t really in a position to develop another team’s players for them with no long-term benefit, but for a temporary fix until January it’ll have to do.

Hours later, Bauer’s transfer is finalised and that’s all she wrote. The transfer window slams shut.

We’ve brought in a good few players for a good combined outlay (though Rodrygo is still to arrive later in the season), whilst also making a good amount of money back in player sales. Financial stability is another big step this club needs to take, in order to have regular competitive transfer budgets to improve the squad to the level we need. There’s still bits to do in January but, on the whole, we’re in a good place.

Elsewhere, Bayern continue their league domination by signing Isco and Belotti, two players who really make the signing of Jadon Sancho more meaningful. It goes to show the huge gap between them and ourselves.

The season begins in a matter of days. Time to see what the last couple of months have all been working towards.