Meeting the Squad (1) - Whose Shocking Transfer Request?
"Understood."
"Here's a brief player roster."
Han Shin took the A4 sheet from the analyst.
"Thank you."
Not that I need it. I've already got every name memorized cold.
Over the past week, while buried in paperwork, he had run simulation after simulation on World Football Manager. Because Nebula Nexus Games—the developers of the title, literally "Nebula Connection Games"—had signed a sponsorship deal with Sunderland AFC, the data for this club was more accurate than for any other side in the game.
With a sugar daddy whose personal fortune approached three trillion won now at the helm, Sunderland had transformed into one of the youngest squads in the league.
Even so, Han Shin skimmed the list quickly, sorting the players into simple categories—forwards, midfielders, defenders, goalkeepers—to confirm exact wages and catch any discrepancies.
Anthony Patterson — 26, England — £9,000/week (~₩16M)
Nathan Bishop — 26, England — £3,500/week (~₩6M)
Liam Bell — 21, England — £1,000/week (~₩1.7M)
Anthony Patterson is the club's undisputed No. 1 and a rock-solid last line of defence. He has even been linked as a potential replacement for Manchester City's Brazilian keeper Ederson. Nathan Bishop and Liam Bell are the backups who step in when Patterson is unavailable through injury or suspension.
Luís Semedo — 22, Portugal — £8,500/week (~₩15M)
Patrick Roberts — 29, England — £11,356/week (~₩20M)
Jack Clarke — 25, England — £28,000/week (~₩50M)
Nazariy Rusyn — 27, Ukraine — £9,000/week (~₩16M)
Luís Semedo is a towering 194 cm striker who arrived from Benfica, Portugal's renowned academy of talent. Patrick Roberts joined Manchester City in 2015 for £8 million yet managed only a single substitute appearance before being loaned straight out to Celtic; he spent the next years bouncing from club to club on successive loans until settling at Sunderland in 2022. With one year left on his deal he wants a new contract, but talks have stalled. Jack Clarke, a product of the famous Leeds youth system, joined Tottenham, endured more loans, and was finally signed permanently by Sunderland for £5 million. Rumours now swirl that Tottenham, Leeds, Crystal Palace and Burnley are all circling.
Jobe Bellingham — 20, England — £34,000/week (~₩60M)
Chris Rigg — 19, England — £3,500/week (~₩6M)
Luke O'Nien — 31, England — £4,500/week (~₩8M)
Dan Neil — 24, England — £22,000/week (~₩40M)
Abdullah Ba — 22, France — £20,000/week (~₩36M)
Pierre Ekwah — 24, France — £5,500/week (~₩10M)
Adil Aouchiche — 26, France — £14,000/week (~₩25M)
Jude Bellingham—the man who lifted both a league title and the Champions League trophy with Real Madrid—is widely regarded as one of the finest midfielders of his generation. Jobe is his younger brother. Both were born in Birmingham, England's second city, and came through the Birmingham City academy. Jude's massive transfer fee to Dortmund helped rescue the club from financial freefall and earned him a permanent shirt retirement. The weight of expectation that followed has been heavy, yet Jobe remains Sunderland's undisputed ace. In 2024 half of England and several top European clubs came calling; he still signed a four-year extension. Now, with two years left, the consensus is that this summer's window will finally prise him away. Chris Rigg is pure Tyne and Wear—Sunderland through and through, the ultimate "club-trained" gem. At sixteen years, two months and fifteen days he scored in the Championship, becoming the second-youngest scorer in the competition's history and Sunderland's youngest ever. Tottenham and other Premier League sides desperate for homegrown talent have begun sending scouts in open pursuit. The Homegrown Rule requires every Premier League squad to register eight players who trained in England or Wales for three years before the age of twenty-one. "Trained in nation" players are the solid gold; "trained at club" players are the purest gold of all. Champions League squads must include four club-trained players, so any genuinely talented academy product is priceless. When a club's own youth are not good enough, sides simply fill twenty-one of the twenty-five slots and pad the last four with academy names—a loophole that still inflates the price of even mediocre English players. Fans mock the phenomenon as the "long-ball premium" or "pung-premium": England's reputation for direct, route-one football means any player with a homegrown sticker suddenly carries a luxury markup. Chris Rigg and Dan Neil are both pure club-trained jewels whose transfer values now run into the hundreds of millions of won thanks to that premium. Dan Neil—known affectionately to the fans simply as Dan—is a one-club man who has spent his entire professional career at Sunderland. Supporters adore these loyal servants, and the club has declared both of them NFS—Not For Sale—to every enquiry. Vice-captain Luke O'Nien, born in 1994 and the same age as Han Shin, is the oldest player in the first team; this season will be his last before he prepares to move on. While Han Shin was busy filming and greeting club staff, the players themselves sat for individual interviews. With a French owner now in charge, a wave of young French prospects has flooded the squad. Abdullah Ba, a versatile midfielder who can operate centrally or on the wing, secured a new contract on the strength of his bright future.
Niall Huggins — 25, Wales — £6,000/week (~₩10M)
Dennis Cirkin — 24, England — £11,000/week (~₩20M)
Daniel Ballard — 26, Northern Ireland — £17,000/week (~₩30M)
Jenson Seelt — 23, Netherlands — £8,500/week (~₩15M)
Trai Hume — 24, Northern Ireland — £7,500/week (~₩13.5M)
Timothée Pembélé — 23, France — £8,000/week (~₩14M)
Nectarios — 23, Australia — £3,000/week (~₩5M)
Jacob Brown — 24, England — £5,000/week (~₩9M)
Full-back Niall Huggins arrived from Leeds in 2021; though he holds dual nationality he represents Wales. Dennis Cirkin came through Tottenham's academy; Spurs held a £6 million buy-back clause in 2024 but chose not to exercise it, leaving him at Sunderland. Timothée Pembélé, a right-back signed from Paris Saint-Germain, remains a highly rated prospect whose defensive lapses have so far prevented him from fully blossoming. Trai Hume and Jenson Seelt are squad players who have yet to make a major impact; Nectarios and Jacob Brown are third-choice options.
This team's real problems are the lack of a reliable wing-back and, Ballard aside, a shortage of specialist centre-backs.
Arsenal-trained centre-back Daniel Ballard was the current captain of Sunderland.
While Han Shin was shaking hands with directors and staff and filming his introductory segments, Ballard and several other key players sat down for interviews with the host of the club's Black Cats programme.
"Hello everyone. I'm Daniel Ballard, captain of Sunderland."
After a brief introduction the questions began in earnest.
"Daniel, there's hardly any age gap between you and Manager Han Shin. Is it difficult to trust and follow such a young coach?"
"Every player in this squad is a professional. Age doesn't matter in football. If the manager has the ability, even if he were twenty years old, every one of us would believe in him and follow him. I'm certain of that."
"That's an outstanding attitude for a professional and for a captain. Very much the leader of the team. Have you met Manager Han yet?"
"Not yet. There's a scheduled meeting with the whole squad before the press conference. I'm looking forward to it."
"The manager has never played professional football. Could that become an obstacle in leading the team?"
"I do have some concerns about his coaching methods. A few people have already proved that professional playing experience isn't essential for a manager, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little worried."
"Even so, is there anything you're particularly looking forward to from Manager Han?"
"That would have to be..."
The host conducted several more one-on-one interviews with other players. Every answer came back the same.
"His tactics. The way he runs a match is completely different."
"He seems to look at the pitch from a really interesting angle. I'd love to sit down and talk about that."
"Even in the Manager War he used so many different formations—it was impressive."
"It felt like he had a plan from A all the way to Z."
Every single player was curious about his tactics.
Meanwhile, one player walked into the sporting director's office and handed over a document.
"Director, I want to make a formal transfer request. I want to go to a bigger club and play in the Champions League."
"If that's the player's wish... well, we can't force anyone. We'll discuss it in the next meeting. But shouldn't you first make your intentions clear to the manager yourself?"
"I understand, but I'd appreciate it if you could pass the message on first."
"The new manager seems like a decent guy. Why not at least meet him once and talk? We might even get promoted to the Premier League next season."
"I don't want to play under a manager who doesn't know football. I'll be going now."
This is a problem.
Let's see... total weekly wage bill...
Combined weekly wages of 22 first-team players: £240,000 (approx. ₩420 million)
That meant the club was paying out roughly ₩420 million every single week in player salaries—about ₩1.7 billion a month, or roughly ₩20 billion a year just for the first team. Imagine ₩400 million vanishing from your personal account every week; the sum was staggering.
Han Shin muttered under his breath.
"Still better than buying Antony."
Antony—poster boy for failed transfers. Signed by Ten Hag from Ajax for an absurd ₩140 billion, his weekly wage alone sat at around ₩350 million. One player's salary matched Sunderland's entire wage bill.
Maybe Ten Hag really was an Ajax sleeper agent.
Even Son Heung-min, widely regarded as one of the Premier League's finest forwards at Tottenham, earned a reported ₩340 million a week. Erling Haaland, the monster striker at Mansour's Manchester City, pulled in ₩1.4 billion. Sunderland's whole squad earned roughly the same as Son alone, and only a quarter of Haaland's wage.
By those standards, Kyril was running the club with impressive discipline.
Still... some house-cleaning will have to be done. It hurts, but it has to be done.
The first two things every World Football Manager player did were always the same: clear out the wage-draining deadwood and fire the useless staff and hire better ones.
But what Han Shin had to do now was no longer a game. It was reality. The thought of looking a player in the eye and telling him he was no longer wanted made him hesitate for a moment.
"Haa..."
He stepped into the meeting room where the squad was waiting.