[FM14] I Gondolieri - A New Club in Italy

Venezia Announce another Two Deals

“I came here to impress the fans, and the manager. I want to do well here, because it is a career defining move, if I do not do well, I could end up playing for smaller clubs which is not good, I want to play for the biggest clubs in the world. Venezia might not be a big club at the moment, but I think, if I and all the players perform, we can do well and get that big club name. The club is very ambitious and I like that, it wants to go places. I was impressed with Nesta, he seemed very professional and he knows what he wants, and I had watched Venezia a bit last season, as like in a lot of countries, it was receiving a lot of publicity over in Holland. I think Nesta did very well to get them promoted, and deserves success. I cannot wait to work under him. Also, Kenny is moving with me. I have known him for many years and played in the same team as well for years, and I cannot believe he will be here as well, which will definitely help me settle in. But, I cannot wait to start learning Italian. I loved learning English in school, and I am looking forward to learning a new language and eating lots of pasta here! I just cannot wait to get started!”

“Ricardo has immense potential and has the ability to become one of the best in the world. If he works hard and plays well, I have no doubt he can reach the level of Hazard or Draxler, but he has to work. I will support him anyway I can and help him to reach that level. But, he is still a key part of the team now and will play lots, which is important to his development. He will hopefully live up to his price tag as well, as the club played a decent amount of money to get him here. It might sound like I am putting a lot of pressure on him, but the best players need to cope with pressure, it would be bad if he got to the age of 23-24 and was one of the best in the world, and then he didn’t perform, and the press started attacking him, and he couldn’t cope – it would ruin him. So he needs to learn from a young age. Otherwise it would be the beginning of the end.”

“I watched him play a few times live, and I was really impressed. For such a young player, he showed great composure and awareness. He was really solid defensively as well. When he develops, he will be a very good player, solid both defensively and offensively. I reckon he could become one of the best. I am also very happy with the fee we got him for, a player of his potential for just under four million is outstanding. He will be good for us, even now, maybe not playing week in week out, but he will be a very good back up and will learn lots off Cristiano, Giourkas and Gino.”

“My ambition is to help the club get to Europe. How long it will take, I do not know, but that is why I am here. I feel it is not unachieveable and the squad here is full of quality. When I had the tour round the club, the facilities were all brand new and in tip-top condition. I cannot wait to work around them. I also want to play. Nesta told me the fans here were amazing and that they will love me if I perform when I am called upon, which I want to do. Anywhere you go and do not perform, the fans are going to turn on you, so you need to perform, and I hope I can do that when I play. I know I won’t play often, as I know Biraghi and Peruzzi are in front of me in the pecking order, but that doesn’t mean I won’t, as there are cup games this year as well, and Nesta will have to rotate his team.”

“I hope I can progress and learn here. The club is great, and I hope I will be ready for Nesta when I return to the club next season. My performances last season were not really that good compared to the rest of the team and I understand why he shipped me out. I hope I can do better this season, and then force my way back into the team at Venezia.”

“After some tough times in recent seasons, the Scommessopoli scandal and all, the club and the fans deserve something good, a fantastic player that comes under the name of Jake Sinclair. I hope he plays well for us and contributes largely to our promotion push. He is a great player, a good winger. I don’t really understand why Alessandro let him go out on loan, but there could be other things behind it that we don’t know, but he is a real coup and will make a huge impact on our team.”

“I am very pleased with my performance, it could not have gone any better, to be honest. To score a hattrick in any game is special, but to score one on your debut for your new club, while trying to impress the parent club’s manager, is amazing. I just want to play now, play week in, week out, and impress the fans and my managers with my performances.”

Interview with a Legend: Paolo Maldini!

New Crest and Player Unveiled

“My ambition is very simple, to get my name on the European stage. But to do that, I have to be playing in a big league, which Italy certainly has. Portugal is big, but people start to take notice when you play in Italy, as it is covered more across the globe. I also need to impress, I need to play well. That is when people take notice of you and say “he is alright” and then start paying more attention. Venezia offer me that opportunity. I feel I can achieve that here. I am surrounded by legends in Maldini and Nesta, who had the same ambitions as me once, when they were my age, and players with ambition. We can go far as a group, and hopefully win things. Getting into Europe would be great, and I believe we are not far off, but this season, we have to avoid relegation to be able to push for Europe. Avoiding relegation is our aim for this season.”

“Out of all the deals, this was the hardest to complete. Diego did not want to join originally, and I thought the deal was dead. But I, Paolo and Tal worked hard to persuade him. It took weeks, but I am glad that he joined us, he is a quality player. He is what we missed last season, a proper anchor man. Bottone did a great job, don’t get me wrong, but he is not Serie A quality. Therefore we bring in Diego. He is part of Mexico’s ‘golden generation’, which shows he has great potential, and to captain you country at twenty-one is a remarkable achievement. His tackling is also very good for such a young player and will develop into a star. I cannot wait to see him play in Venezia colours, it will be a huge moment for the club. The only downside of the deal is release clauses. Unfortunately, his agent – Raúl Vera - wanted it in the deal, and I am not sure why, but hopefully, it won’t come to a club wanting to activate it.”

“In my opinion, the current one was not powerful enough, it did not send out a statement “this is AS Venezia”. As much as I liked the last one, this expresses the club better, and it is modern, simple and professional, which I like. Also, it follows the same mould of the San Francisco crest, which makes them more marketable together, and shows that the two clubs have links, which they certainly do. I just love the new one, and was actually designed by a fan, and it was sent in. When the email team showed me it, I said that is our new crest. I hadn’t responded to the fan, but now he will be happy. I will get in touch soon.”

“I like it. It is simple. It is effective, and as Tal said, it sends out a message. The fact one of our fans designed it is incredible, and it shows that the fans put in time and effort into the club, and makes me even prouder to be manager.”