Chapter 586 Volume 5 Red Mendez's Gift

The team has resumed normal training. But in the four days before going to Russia, the team only conducted physical training to lose the belly of many players who grew up during a holiday, restore their physical skills, and allow their bodies to keep up Intense training and game rhythm.

The team is not full of people now, and there is no need for joint training.

Before leaving for Russia, one thing must be done. That's the transfer of Anelka.

Juventus had already proposed an offer of 12 million pounds to Nottingham Forest. After discussing with Allen, Twain decided to agree to this price. Although it was three million pounds lower than AC Milan's offer at this time last season, but...money can't buy happiness. Twain just spent 3 million pounds to buy the victory against Anelka for a season. Of course, after this transfer offer is made public, AC Milan will definitely complain, but Twain doesn't care so much - he has already snatched the Champions Cup from him, so is he still afraid that the other party will chew his tongue a few times?

Anelka's agent brothers received a call from Tang En, telling them that they could go to negotiate with Juventus, and the two of them flew to Italy immediately. They and their younger brother couldn't wait to escape Nottingham.

As long as there is no obstruction from the club, the progress of personal contract negotiations is still very smooth.

Two days later, the two sides finalized all the details, and then on the third day, the day before the Forest team left for Russia, Anelka was no longer seen in the Wilford training base, and the locker in the locker room was marked with His name tag was also torn off.

Anelka has flown to Turin, Italy, accompanied by his brother, for a medical check-up.

Another person was missing, and the players of the Forest team didn't have much reaction to this. Some heartless people were still discussing where to go to Moscow.

Anelka was not very popular in the Forest team due to his withdrawn and unsocial character, and no one would miss him when he left.

The next morning, when the Forest team was preparing to board the plane at London Heathrow Airport, a press conference was being held in Turin, a city thousands of miles away in northern Italy. This is the first successful transfer of Juventus this season when it returns to the first division. At the press conference, Juventus's new head coach Ranieri introduced Anelka to the Italian media with a smile .

"...he's a world-class striker, but he's always been underrated. I think he'll show his true quality here."

Anelka also made speeches such as "I'm here to prove to you that this deal is correct", which delighted local journalists and fans alike.

Then, in front of many reporters, the two jointly held up a Juventus black and white sword-striped shirt with Anelka's name and his back number—39 on it.

At this point, the two-year relationship between him and Nottingham Forest came to an end, and the grievances between him and Tony Twain also came to an end.

If they have a chance to meet each other in the Champions Cup in the future, how do they feel about each other?

※ ※ ※

After the Forest team arrived in Moscow, they met their two new teammates and introduced each other again.

In the days that followed, the team scoured the transfer market while training at a quiet country sports club on the outskirts of Moscow.

On the left back, Twain took a fancy to Grosso. The main defender of the Italian national team had an unsatisfactory life in Inter Milan. Injuries made him lose his main position. If there is a bid from a buyer at this time, Inter Milan will be happy to change hands.

Currently, Lyon has expressed its intention to buy Inter Milan, but Tang En does not know the specific price.

Nottingham Forest's offer to Inter Milan is 5.5 million pounds, or about 7 million euros. Inter Milan agreed to the offer, and Twain knew that Inter Milan also agreed to Lyon's offer.

The next thing is simple, it depends on which offer is more attractive from Nottingham Forest or Lyon. Lyon's advantage lies in their salary, while Nottingham Forest's advantage lies in the honor they just won and the bright prospects for more champions in the future. Of course, the salary will definitely not be too low.

Lyon finally gave Grosso an annual salary of two million euros. The forest team offered 1.9 million euros, which was only 100,000 short. But joining the European champions and joining a Ligue 1 champion, playing in the Premier League and playing in the Ligue 1... These are completely two concepts.

Grosso also hesitated about whether Italian players could succeed in the English league. Tang En used Albertini as an example to dispel his hesitation.

In the end, Grosso signed the Nottingham Forest contract because he felt that it was possible to get higher honors in this team, and although Lyon dominated Ligue 1, their performance in the European arena was really weak powerless. He rejected Lyon and chose Nottingham Forest. Twain hoped that the arrival of Grosso, a member of the world champion team, would increase the thickness of the forest team's defense on the left side, which would be good news for the forest team that will fight on multiple fronts next season.

Grosso, who signed the contract, came directly to Moscow, accepted a comprehensive physical examination, and then put himself into the training of the new team.

※ ※ ※

The forest team's signings are not over yet. Tang En has always wanted to add another person to the position of right back. Although Sun Jihai, the panacea, can also play right back, but because he has been playing panacea under Tang En for a long time, in the position of right back. In terms of position, his performance is not as good as before, and he is not very safe.

Out of this idea, Twain is now competing with Arsenal's professor Arsene Wenger in the transfer market.

Both he and Wenger have their eyes on French Auxerre defender Bacary_Sagna. Due to his outstanding performance in Ligue 1, he was selected into the best team of the season. Now there are many teams pursuing this black right back, but it seems that he is closer to Arsenal.

Twain intervened in this transaction forcefully with his reputation as the "New European Champion". He very much hopes to get this right back who is known as "Thuram's second" to strengthen his right flank. It is definitely not enough to rely on Zimbunda alone, not to mention Zimbunda's slow progress in the past two years, which made Tang En very worried.

Arsenal offered 6 million pounds, while Nottingham Forest offered 7.5 million pounds. Both sides were determined to win.

In the end, the personal wishes of the players played a key role.

Sania thanked the forest team for their great love for him, and thanked Tang En for his praise, but... this "but" made Tang En's heart go cold.

However, Sagna himself hopes to play under Wenger because they are both French. He has always liked the French coach Wenger, and it is his dream to play under him...

At this point, the matter is considered to be over. Forest lost the 'Battle for Sagna' to Arsenal simply because their manager looked less attractive than Arsene Wenger.

Tang En is a very competitive person, and this reality makes him very depressed. It seems that I am not popular everywhere...

Then Arsenal announced that Sagna officially joined the Gunners, and the Forest team had to find another right back.

Fortunately, Tang En and Tang have several candidates for each position, and if this one fails, they can be replaced.

He originally had several candidates in his hand, among which Sarnia was the most suitable one, the price was not high, the ability was outstanding, and the reputation was not great. Now that Sania's plan fell through, he had to turn his attention to several other people.

After repeated screening, there were only two operable people on the list.

Schalke 04 right-back Brazilian Rafinha (Rafinha), and Croatian international, Shakhtar Donetsk right-back Darijo_Srna (Darijo_Srna). These two people are well-known in the FM series as masters and monsters. Twain has also used them when playing games, and they are indeed very useful.

In the game, you can try your best to buy it to work for yourself, but it is not so easy in reality.

Rafinha is the absolute main force in Schalke 04. Due to the status of Schalke and the Bundesliga, his price is on the high side. This is the only reason Tang En gave up on Rafinha in the first place.

As for Serna, price is not an issue. However, according to the reports sent back by the scouts who were responsible for tracking him, as well as Dunn's own observations, Serna's performance was not particularly stable, and sometimes he became irritable due to some of his own mistakes during the game, and his level was greatly reduced. . This made Dunn not very relieved.

Now that Sania has been rejected, only these two people are the most likely.

Dunn believed that as long as he called, Shakhtar Donetsk would never be able to compete with the European champions, and Cerna would definitely come. But he still wants to work hard on Rafinha first.

The Forest team began to try to contact Schalke 04, and the answer they got was "not for sale".

Schalke 04 originally thought that this would allow the Forest team to know what's interesting, but the thick-skinned Twain didn't even know how to write "knowledge". A day later, Schalke 04 received an official offer from Nottingham Forest of 5 million pounds, which was equivalent to 7.5 million euros according to the exchange rate at the time.

In order to strengthen the strength on the right side, Tang En planned to be more ruthless this time and spend more money.

Fortunately, they caught a Thai kid and selling Yang brought the team a transfer fund of 25 million pounds. Otherwise, the Forest team, which was planning to build a new stadium, would be financially stretched, and it would be impossible to bring any funds to Twain. support.

Young earned £25m, Anelka £12m and Arteta £10m. Looking at the money Twain spent when he brought in these players, he won't lose money. With 47 million pounds in hand, after deducting the 11 million spent on the purchase of Arshavin and the 5.5 million spent on the purchase of Grosso, there are still 30.5 million pounds left. Provided any support, Twain also has the confidence to form a team with strong combat effectiveness.

Facing the offer of 5 million pounds, Schalke 04 was unmoved, and their answer was still "not for sale".

The Forest team made a second offer that afternoon - £7 million.

This figure may be unremarkable in terms of pounds, but it is not low when converted into euros - about 10.5 million.

Schalke 04's answer was still cold "not for sale", Tang En did not plan to increase the price. You know, when Schalke 04 brought Rafinha from Corinthians in Brazil to the Veltins Arena in the summer of 2005, it only cost 4.5 million euros. Now in just two years, they can transfer 6 million euros in just two years. Dunn doesn't know what else the Germans are dissatisfied with. Anyway, there is Serna as a substitute candidate. At worst, he will talk to the Shakhtar Donetsk team in Ukraine. I believe it will not cost much.

Just when he decided to give up, a call came to his mobile phone. Speaking of which, the person who called was considered an "old friend" - Mendes, the famous Portuguese agent who made great efforts in the introduction of Pepe.

Tang En was very surprised why Mendes was looking for him at this time, they hadn't contacted for a while. In the end, what Mendes said surprised Dunn—he turned out to be Rafinha's manager!

"He just changed his agent, and the new agent is me. Haha, didn't you expect that? Tony?"

Tang En really didn't expect it, but then he figured it out. Rafinha is the main force of Brazil's U20. After playing in the Bundesliga for two seasons, he has gradually become famous. How could it be possible that a person like Mendes, with his keen sense of smell like a hunting dog, would not know his future? So it is normal to try every means to make promising players become "commodities" under one's own hands. Mendes' reputation as a European football agent is not blown out.

"I know you're having trouble with the right back, so I'm here to help you out. Rafinha would love to play for a team that won the European Cup, to be honest, he told me more than once - Bundesliga It is just a springboard for him. He hopes to play in a higher league and team one day. Schalke has been aiming at the league championship and the Champions League every year in 2004, but they have not achieved it in one year. They have not achieved it at all. Can't compare to your team, Tony. I like you and your Forest team very much, so I agreed to sell Pepe to you cheaply, and I am very happy to see him in your team." Of course he happy. Pepe is still one of his players. The better Pepe performs, the more honors he gets, and his worth will naturally rise accordingly. His small investment in foreign countries will be very, very rich in return. But now he speaks in a high-sounding way, and he can make the listeners feel very comfortable with a flattering meal. "Now I'm going to help you again."

These words made Dunn rekindle his desire to pursue Rafinha.

"However... things are different from Pepe this time. It's a bit tricky. I think you may need to increase the offer to impress Schalke 04, and then I will put some pressure on them to strive for a satisfactory one for both parties. Price. What do you think, Tony?"

Tang En knew Mendez's thoughts in his heart. A transfer agent can take 10% of the money. If this transfer fails, then Mendes' money will also be wiped out. Why did he help Tang En? To put it bluntly, he is still making money for himself. Raise the price? Just to make that ten percent more.

Tang En really wanted to refuse, but when he thought of Rafinha's ability, he felt as if something was scratching his heart, and he couldn't bear to let it go. It is the idea of ​​all coaches to let excellent players play for themselves. Rafinha is indeed capable, and he is still young, because he has a broader development space and unlimited potential because he is young.

To put it bluntly, Zimbunda is not a right back at the same level as Rafinha. If Rafinha can come, it will be the best...

Tang En reorganized the transfer list in his mind, calculated how much transfer fee was left, and then asked, "How much more do we need to increase?"

Mendes on the other end of the phone smiled with a glass of wine: "Ten million pounds, ten million pounds is enough. Believe me, friend, my face still has some influence."

The total price is 10 million pounds, which is not outrageous, but 15 million euros. The Forest team can afford the money.

Dunn thought about it for a while, and agreed to Mendez's suggestion. If it succeeds, it's not a win-win, it's a win-win, or even a win-win - Forest, Schalke 04, Mendes and Rafinha.

Players want to go to a team that can bring them more honor and money. Clubs always put the overall interests before the personal interests of the players. Agents will always pursue interests.

The key word - interest.

※ ※ ※

After Tang En discussed with Allen, the Forest team offered another 10 million pounds, equivalent to about 15 million euros.

When Real Madrid bought Sergio Ramos from Sevilla, it cost 27 million euros, which is the world's most valuable right back position. Now this offer cannot be considered low for a young man who is only 21 years old.

For this quote, England's "The Sun" has a very vivid analogy:

"... We all know that Twain lost to Wenger in the competition against Bacale Sarnia. It is said that he was very disappointed with the result, because the reason why Sarnia rejected him was not that the salary was not high enough, but also It's not that the team lacks honor and fame, it's just that he prefers the coach Wenger to him. So Coach Twain is very angry, so how can he vent his anger? We all know that the best way for a woman to vent her anger is to go out on the street Shopping, frantically swiping credit cards. Our dear Mr. Twain has inherited this fine tradition very well. He went on a killing spree in the transfer market, waving the pound in his hand as if it were a sharp sword, trying to put Defeat the Shark Dragon who hijacked Princess Rafinha."

To be honest, this metaphor is quite vivid, but Tang En doesn't like it, because he feels like a shrew who loses his temper when he says it this way.

His distaste for The Sun was increased.

In fact, when Tang En was playing games before, he was once someone else's winner because of Rafinha. At that time, he used the prestigious Real Madrid to buy Rafinha and spent 40,000 euros!

Of course, there was an element of Twain's anger in this: he made five offers, and Schalke 04 directly rejected them all, and they were unwilling to talk about them. So he was furious for a while, and directly reported 40 million. This time Schalke finally nodded and won it smoothly.

The forest team's finances would not allow a price of 40 million for one player, and Twain was not playing a game, he could throw money at will like throwing toilet paper.

Fifteen million euros, Twain thought, was a very fair price. It would not make Schalke 04 shut up and not let go, and it was within the range that the Forest team could afford.

Schalke 04 was in a financial crisis a season ago. If Rafinha was shot at that time, it would definitely not cost so much money. There is also a reason why Rafinha has only played in the league for a year and is too young. It's different now. Gazprom has injected huge amounts of money into Schalke 04. At least they don't have to rely on selling players to repay their debts.

Fifteen million euros to buy a young right back, Tang En thinks this is an asking price that can allow the two sides to sit down and talk. In addition, with Mendes' promise, I believe that when Schalke 04 replies again, it will not be coldly "not for sale".

Sure enough, Forest Club received a reply from Schalke 04, hoping to discuss the offer in detail.

There is absolutely no real "not for sale" in this world. Those who say "not for sale" are just because the price offered by the other party is not high enough. Just like George Wood, if there is a club that offers 200 million pounds to buy him, even if Dunn doesn't do it, Evan would rather fire this stubborn head coach, and agree to the deal—don't say 200 million is a joke , even if the asking price is 90 million euros, maybe it will be sold.

For the young right back Rafinha, Schalke thinks the price is not bad, they can sell Rafinha, and then buy other outstanding young people. Even if you don't buy young people, buying a few more players who are strong enough to play in their prime can greatly improve the strength of the team. Schalke's goal in the new season in 2004 is to hit the league championship, and every penny counts at this time.

Schalke 04 no longer held the boring idea of ​​"not for sale", sat at the negotiating table with Forest Club, and launched "intense but friendly" negotiations on Rafinha's worth.

Allen was in charge of negotiating. When he left, Dunn told him: within the total price of 20 million euros, try to bring the Brazilian.

He knew that with Mendez's help, things would go smoothly, but he couldn't put hope and bargaining chips in the hands of others, that would be too dangerous. Now that he has made up his mind to buy Rafinha, he doesn't mind paying a little more. So after much deliberation, Twain told Allen that he could accept a bid of up to 20 million euros, and that it would be out of the question if it was higher. He doesn't want to be someone's favorite.

Allen took the order to go, and Tang En, under the arrangement of Mendes, secretly ran to Germany to meet Rafinha in secret. During the talks, the two sides increased their understanding and concluded a covenant of mutual benefit. Dunn hoped that Rafinha would continue to put pressure on Schalke 04 to force them to accept Forest's offer. Tang En was worried that other clubs would come upon hearing the news and rob him.

On this point, Mendes patted his chest and assured that Rafinha only belonged to Nottingham Forest, and if they couldn't believe it, they could still initial an agreement. At the same time, Rafinha also expressed his admiration for Tang En, the head coach, and his yearning for Nottingham Forest. This made Dunn, who had just lost in the "Battle for Sagna", very satisfied, and promised that Rafinha would come to the team, and he could secure the position of the main right back—he was not for Zim in the first place. Bangda bought a substitute, which was a convenient gift.

Both the host and the guest were happy, and Tang En flew back to Moscow later that day to continue leading the training camp. It was only at a routine press conference that he expressed his appreciation for Rafinha, which was regarded as a response to the media's news about this transfer.

On the other hand, Rafinha said in a public interview that he really wanted to play football in England. His sincere attitude almost made joining Nottingham Forest his biggest dream of playing football since he was a child...

Allen, on the negotiating table, won the best interests he could for the Forest Team - 18 million euros, paid in installments, with a down payment of 10 million, and the remaining 8 million per month within 12 months pay off.

Schalke 04 nodded in agreement, and Mendes and Allen flew to Moscow together, and the two started a new round of negotiations on the treatment of Rafinha on the plane. Both of them are businessmen, and they are straightforward enough. Coupled with the relationship between Dunn and Mendes, as well as the contribution Mendes made in this transaction, the negotiation progressed very smoothly.

When the plane landed at the Moscow airport, all the details of Rafinha's contract had been negotiated. All Rafinha had to do was deal with trivial matters such as the German real estate, and then flew directly to Moscow for a medical examination. It's that easy to sign the contract. Since Rafinha is the main member of the Brazilian U20 national team, labor certification is not a problem.

Three days later, on July 11th, Nottingham Forest and Schalke 04 officially announced at the same time that Brazilian defender Rafinha officially transferred from Schalke 04 to Nottingham Forest for a transfer fee of 18 million euros, approximately Twelve million pounds.

This is the new season, the forest team spends the most than a transfer transaction, and the forest team continues to consolidate their devil wings that make their opponents fearful.

Rafinha soon went to Moscow to report, and the scene of Twain shaking hands with Rafinha on the sidelines of the training field was captured by the media. What he lost against Sania, he earned back with Rafinha, and he was in a good mood.