Adam Chabukiani: Defying All Odds

A pretty good month mate, great to see you into the cup semi finals! And it's great to see Remy Cabella still has it!!

Justice: Indeed it did, seeing Fletcher back gave me brilliant memories and to say that he's played a huge part in getting out season back on track is even better

mgriffin2012: I'd love to be able to win a major domestic cup (the last one I won was the FA Trophy, which was hardly major), but yeah it's great news

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Following Avenue's 8-1 demolition of Dutch side Vitesse in their final Group D match, the draw for the Europa League First and Second Knockout Rounds have been announced.

Bradford Park Avenue have drawn Portuguese outfit SC Braga in the First Knockout Round of the tournament.

Avenue's opponents Braga topped their group in the Group Stages by a four point lead on runners-up Besiktas. Braga crushed AEK Athens 6-0 in their final match of their group along with three other wins picked up in the process.

Braga's Rafa Silva and Lucas Boyé terrified teams in the Group Stage, with Silva picking up five goals in six and Boyé scoring a hat-trick against AEK Athens in the 6-0 win.

However, Braga also boast a great defensive talent in Brazilian centre-back Léo Pereira who joined the Primeira Liga team for £2.8M back in 2018.

Bradford will be looking to finally register their record £36.5M signing Jurij Dinaburskij into the competition after missing out on the Group Stages. Their new Russian striker has rocketed up the Premier League goalscoring charts into second place with 13 goals to his name, one goal behind the current leader Álvaro Morata on 14 goals.

But there is a risk that Chabukiani will be without Europa League top scorer Domingo Brana as interest rises in their young Spanish star who is on 15 goals in the UEFA Europa League.

The tournaments Second Knockout Round phase has also been drawn, which means if Bradford manage to defeat Braga they will play either FC Midtjylland or Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in that round.

Last season, Chabukiani's side were knocked out in the Second Knockout Round at the hands of a different Portuguese team in the form of Sporting. They lost on away goals. With two slightly easier draws this time around, Bradford will be looking to push themselves further this year.

The First Leg of the Braga tie will be played on 16th February 2023, with the corresponding fixture the week after on 23rd February 2023.

You should get past Braga but still.. best of luck Jack!

I alwyas seem to struggle against Braga but I'm sure my failures won't be yours too so best of luck mate!

Should have enough about your side to win here!

Griffo: Thanks man, it's a preferable draw compared to other teams in the competition

mgriffin2012: I still have an undying love from my FM15 story with them, it'll be hard for myself to take if I defeat them! But I agree, they can be a tough team on their day.

BeanyUnited: I really hope so!

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Another fantastic month sees us close off the year 2022 in mid-table after performing a brilliant league comeback from as low as 18th into 10th as we are now. We absolutely demolished both Vitesse Arnhem and Leeds United with two 8-1 scorelines. Jurij Dinaburskij has torn up the goalscoring charts as he sits in third in the leagues highest scorers table with 13 goals, level with Man Utd's Al Clark.

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After rising back up from the foot of the table, we hold a solid tenth position in the Premier League with 26 points - three points ahead of the team below us and one point away from ninth. I may delve into the transfer market in January to sign a player or two, but I doubt that I will be going into too much spends this winter.
Next month our first match will be in the Capital One Cup Semi-Final First Leg against Newcastle away from home. However January is a very congested month where we play nine times, including three fixtures against Newcastle and three games involving the current bottom three. We also enter the FA Cup Third Round against Notts County in January.

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Despite being the unsung hero for so many years, Ben Blackmore has sprung into action this month with his second and third league goals of the season. With Blackmore having defensive tendencies during matches, I decided to give the Australian a bit more freedom and he has revelled in that free role.

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You crushed Chelsea and their reserves Vitesse in the same month, nicely done! The league is still very tight in the middle, so a set of decent results could put you in the European spots!

Two 8-1 scorelines in the same month! How? Great going rising up the table though mate!

Mate you must have scored more this month than all of last season!

Justice: Hahahaha, it was a good feeling getting those wins together and I can definitely see a European surge coming on soon!

mgriffin2012: Change in formation really gave the attackers more freedom, also the added influence of having more potential goalscorers helped a lot

BeanyUnited: It wouldn't surprise me!!

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Bradford Park Avenue have opened proceedings in the transfer window dramatically, by selling seven players involving fees.

The West Yorkshire club have racked up an outstanding total of £116M just from the past few days, with sales including five first-team players.

The first to leave was Spanish forward Domingo Brana who agreed a deal in December to join Chelsea immediately in January for a fee of £29.5M.

Brana joined Bradford last season for a fee of £9M from Hull City after the Humberside fell victim to the Premier League relegation spots despite joining The Tigers for a large fee of £18M so they made a huge loss on their young striker.

After Matt Fletcher had left Bradford, Brana filled the Australian's void left behind, scoring ten league goals in 23 last season, scraping a Europa League spot in the process. Brana remains the Europa League's top scorer this season with 15 goals in 10 matches. He will be missed at Elland Road later this season.

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After spending three successful seasons at The Avenue since arriving from Leicester City in 2020 - Bradford's first top-flight season, Tom Ince has agreed his departure to Stoke City, with the club committing to a £2.5M loss on the winger compared to the £7.5M they paid to bring Ince to the club.

Making 30 league appearances in his first season, it was only last season that Ince made a real impact on the club's season. The winger scored nine league goals and created six in 31 games for Avenue. However his good form hasn't been rewarded this season, making only three appearances due to rising competition.

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Despite trying their best to keep him at the club, Liverpool have activated Flavio Alcalá's minimum fee release clause of £22M at Bradford to take the Mexican to Anfield.

Spotted alongside former Bradford midfielder Dan Dickinson at Cruz Azul, Alcalá was snapped up for £9M last season, making 27 league appearances for Bradford and he shone in the defensive scene in Chabukiani's side. However after eleven appearances this time around, Andrew Robertson must become the club's first-choice left-back now.

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Perhaps one of Adam Chabukiani's biggest success stories, Min Young-Hoon has been sold to Bundesliga outfit Wolfsburg for £34M.

Chabukiani proclaimed that the Korean midfielder was his own scouting work as the player signed for £1.3M from IFK Goteborg in 2021. After numerous mesmerising performances in the heart of Bradford's midfield, Young-Hoon's value hit the roof.

Bradford will receive £1M per month for the next year as the club strike a £32.7M profit on the young midfielder.

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Following so much hype around him after his arrival, Pacato's spell in West Yorkshire is over as Borussia Monchengladbach purchase the Brazilian striker for £13M.

After sealing impressive goalscoring records in Brazil with his boyhood team of Flamengo, fans heaped the pressure on Pacato to become their new Carabina-esque player. However, Pacato only managed to return four league goals in eighteen for Avenue.

But the club have made profit on the player, he was signed for £9.5M from Flamengo, but is sold for £3.5M more to Gladbach.

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After many memorable times working under Chabukiani throughout his career, Stéphane Pires has agreed to leave the club to go to Everton for £8.5M.

Pires was signed last season, shortly after Chabukiani took the Switzerland national team job and impressed many critics after joining from Crystal Palace. Last summer, Pires started in the World Cup Final which Chabukiani's Switzerland won against Holland in a historic penalty win which shook the footballing world.

Parting as the best of friends, Pires and Chabukiani will no doubt be hoping to link up again sometime in the future.

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Finally, Vladislav Lazarov has been sold to Swiss giants Basel. Lazarov failed to make a single first-team appearance for Bradford but the club have still turned over a profit for the Bulgarian.

After loan spells at both Spezia and Malmo FF, Lazarov's value rose despite never playing for his parent club, Bradford. Following Derby's 2021 Premier League relegation, Chabukiani signed the striker for £2.6M. He has now left for almost one million more than that as he jets off to the Swiss top-flight with Basel for £3.5M.

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In terms of signings, Bradford have agreed deals for both Mallorca youngster Jean Nana and Hércules' Damián Pérez. Both players have been sent on loan to Bradford's non-league feeder club Woking. Mexican international goalkeeper Emmanuel Cervantes has also joined Bradford for £1.3M from América.

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After a rapid outflow of players leaving the club, Adam Chabukiani has announced the arrivals of three 'wonderkids'.

With Jean Nana, Damián Pérez and Emmanuel Cervantes joining the club earlier in the month, Bradford's Director of Football Oliver Kahn has been working hard to finalise the new trio.

Bradford PA kept tabs on FC Stade Rennais' Al Doumbia for months on end following their failure to capture the right-back in the summer.

Doumbia grew up in the FC Lorient academy before Stade Rennais offered the player scholar terms in 2018. At the age of 16, Doumbia was playing first-team football on loan at AJ Auxerre in Ligue 2.

The next season, Al Doumbia went on loan to Ligue 1 side Dijon FCO and played 23 matches in all competitions for them. After establishing a first-team spot in one top-flight team, Doumbia grasped his chance of a permanent first-team spot at Stade Rennais for the next three seasons.

Doumbia made 77 appearances between 2020 and 2022 in all competitions for his parent club. Despite succumbing to Stade Rennais' relegation to Ligue 2 last season, Doumbia's valuation was still very high.

Chabukiani ordered Oliver Kahn to work on Al Doumbia as a transfer target and Bradford have bought the 20-year-old right-back for a fee of £13M, which could rise up to £18M depending on circumstances.

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In a deal similar to that of Joel Looyen's switch last season, Freiburg's Reinhold Saier has made the move from Germany to England at the age of sixteen years.

The right-winger has not made a first-team appearance in his career for Freiburg, yet Bradford willingly spent an initial £8.75M on the wonderkid.

However there are certain clauses inserted in this transfer deal that could affect future finances. Freiburg inserted a 40% sell on clause, meaning they will receive that part of any profits made from Saier in the future. Freiburg are due £2.7M when Saier reaches 10 league goals, £2.7M for when he reaches 10 league appearances.

Bradford will pay £525K per league appearance for the next 10 games and £2.7M for when Saier makes his German international debut.

These clauses could raise the fee up to £22M. Saier will remain on a £100 per week contract until he turns 17 in February when he will begin to earn £7,500 per week.

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Finally, Bradford's most recent transfers has been branded one of 'the bargains of the century'. Tobias has joined Avenue on a free transfer after his contract at Santos expired in December.

Tobias agreed his first professional deal in 2017, when the right-back was only 17 years old. In his first season, Tobias made eight Série A appearances in his first ever season as a pro player at Santos - one of Brazil's biggest football teams.

In the following five years he spent at Santos, Tobias made 132 Série A appearances for Santos, scoring four goals and assisting 21.

Tobias penned a three-year deal at The Avenue with his pay packet being around £40,000 per week. Tobias is already valued at £30M by his new club, despite not playing a match outside of Latin America.

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Some good wheeling and dealing mate, things look very good for the Future!