Qin Xiong really did not understand how Arsenal operated in the summer transfer market, at least he did not care when he was on vacation.
If he had read the news on Fleet Street, he would have known the background behind the Juventus trio's move: Arsenal and Juventus were in a deadlock over the transfer fee for Patrick Vieira. Juventus' offer of 16 million euros was not enough for Arsenal to let go of the player.
When Qin Xiong heard that Patrick Vieira might be transferred, his mood suddenly became bad.
Not to mention Vieira, who was an important pillar of the team, even Lauren, Touré, and Silva, who were strong players in the team, were indispensable characters in an excellent team.
The more elite the competition, the higher the requirement for the players' individual strength!
Real Madrid's picturesque front field and terrible backfield was enough to illustrate this reality. It could also be said that if Arsenal's lineup was not thin last season, they could have created a miracle of a treble.
Arsenal's excellence was recognized by the outside world and could be said to be unexpected by being able to fight on multiple fronts with 13 or 14 players and finally achieve the Double of the Premier League and FA Cup, as well as the record of being in the top eight of the Champions League.
To put it bluntly, Arsenal's current configuration was, at best, a single-front battle!
And they did not have the hard strength to fight on multiple fronts!
Under such circumstances, Patrick Vieira might still leave. This was undoubtedly another major setback after Edu left the team on a free transfer to join Valencia!
"What's the boss' opinion? How could he let the captain leave? "
Qin Xiong felt that Wenger should have a full say in this matter, and Wenger would certainly realize the importance of Patrick Vieira. No matter what, Vieira was still the captain!
Bergkamp said softly, "They must have talked about it. Things will never be as simple as you think. "
Pires interjected next to him, "Maybe you think the team wants Patrick to leave, but have you ever thought that maybe Patrick himself has the idea of leaving?"
Qin Xiong was stunned and could not say a word.
Yes, he had only been at Arsenal for one season. Last season was a success!
But Vieira had achieved such success before. He was similar to Henry, obsessed with the Champions League!
They had won the World Cup, the UEFA European Championship, the Premier League, and the domestic cup. Their career was only short of a Champions League trophy!
For the past four years, Vieira had been complaining that the club did not recruit players on a large scale!
In this era, Arsenal wanted to build a new stadium. This might be a century-long plan. Once the new stadium was built and the debt was repaid, Arsenal's income for the next 30 to 50 years would steadily increase and keep up with the footsteps of the powerhouses.
But in this era where the board of directors had issued a monetary tightening order, not all of the players who worked hard at the cost of their youth could contribute silently. It was inevitable that they would consider their own interests!
How could he make his career even more glorious?
Honor!
The reason why Qin Xiong hadn't considered this was because he didn't have a sense of honor crisis, and also because he was still young.
Vieira was going to be thirty.
The time he could still be the main force in the Wealthy Families would become less and less.
In a conversation that Qin Xiong and his teammates were not clear about, Wenger and Vieira had a long talk the night before.
Wenger expressed his desire for Vieira to stay, but Vieira put forward a reason for leaving that Wenger could not refuse: the Champions League!
Wenger could not guarantee that Vieira would have a Champions League trophy in his career. Perhaps no manager in the world would dare to make such a guarantee.
This also made Vieira's departure logical.
Perhaps Vieira's condition was just that the team could bring in a heavyweight player in the transfer market. Even if there were two or three more first-class star players to enrich the depth of the bench, so that the team would not have to hide in multiple competitions, he would see hope and let him stay to shed blood for the Gunners.
But even if Wenger understood, he could not guarantee it.
After Edu's departure, Arsenal renewed the contracts of a number of young players, including rising stars like Clichy and Eboue. In addition, at the end of June, they brought in Stuttgart's core player Hleb for 15 million euros. After this deal was completed, Arsenal's current situation was that they did not have a single cent of signing funds!
The club would not put the account book in front of the players and tell them how difficult the club's financial situation was!
As long as they did not default on wages, everything looked good.
Now that Vieira was leaving, there was another reason why Wenger could not keep him: if Vieira stayed, he would have to give him a big contract that would at least maintain the treatment of a top star in the Premier League!
In the long run, Arsenal's spending of this money on Vieira was equivalent to not being able to cultivate at least two more young rookies!
It was just that the salary spent on Vieira was more than 3 million pounds a year!
And how much did a young player cost in a year? It might not exceed 500,000 pounds. No matter how famous or how good the seedlings were, it could not exceed 1.5 million pounds!
Against such a complicated background, the negotiations between the three giants of Juventus and Arsenal were actually coming to an end.
It was just that Juventus were eager to make this deal happen.
During the afternoon training, Qin Xiong did not see Vieira. His teammates also seemed absent-minded, as if they were waiting for something. And this kind of waiting was a kind of torture, as if they were looking forward to an impossible miracle!
Probably only Eboue, who was promoted to the First Team, and the new signing, Hleb, could concentrate on training hard.
When the afternoon training was over, Qin Xiong drove away. He saw many fans outside the training ground holding slogans and pleading with the club not to sell Vieira. They were also calling for Vieira to take the initiative to stay!
But before six o 'clock in the afternoon, Juventus officially announced the signing of Vieira for 20 million euros!
The reason why Juventus wanted to complete the deal quickly was that during the office hours before six o 'clock, Juventus, as a listed company, would be able to push up the stock price after the announcement of their blockbuster signing!
Vieira was interviewed before he left London. He seemed to have mixed feelings, "When you have experienced nine years of loyalty like I have, it is really a very difficult decision to leave. But in the end, you have to make a decision for your future. It was difficult, but I am very happy that I made the decision. There is no problem with Arsenal and I leave with my head held high. I have a clear conscience. "
Later, Wenger, who had been silent, also spoke on Arsenal's official website.
"Patrick is a very good player and one of the greatest players in Arsenal's history. I am as sad as the fans about his departure. "
Wenger's speech about the departure of a special player was also from the bottom of his heart, and Wenger understood the importance of Vieira to Arsenal. His final speech was more like a consolation for a lost era!
"Vieira will always be special to Arsenal. He will always be in our hearts."
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