Before bringing in Ivanovic, Li Ang had asked Grêmio, a Baja Liga powerhouse, to buy Mai Kong.
Now, the Baja Liga powerhouse had finally responded. What surprised Li Ang was that Grêmio did not reject him outright. Instead, they gave him a price. They wanted a transfer fee of eight million euros.
He had heard that the Brazilian clubs were all greedy for money. This time, Li Ang really saw it for himself. He directly threw Grêmio's reply into the trash can.
Li Ang had also completely given up on the idea of buying Mai Kong. On one hand, it was because the other side had asked for an exorbitant price. On the other hand, Sporting de Gijón's allocation for the right back position was relatively ample after they had Ivanovic.
Of course, there was another reason. Sporting de Gijón now had the Croatian Modric and the Serbian Ivanovic. La Liga's regulations stipulated that a team could only have three non-European players. Now that there was only one non-European player left, Li Ang had to consider carefully.
Speaking of non-European players, there was one thing that Li Ang felt was very strange. In his impression, the Brazilian Pepe had obtained a Portuguese passport in 2006 and became a Portuguese citizen. However, two days ago, Li Ang casually asked Pepe and found out that Pepe had successfully obtained a Portuguese passport a month ago and became a Portuguese citizen.
Li Ang did not know the reason for such a change, but it was a good thing for Sporting de Gijón. Pepe did not need to take up the precious non-European player's spot.
After hitting a wall with the Brazilian club, Li Ang hit a wall with Bremen.
The new Bundesliga champions said that Miku was not for sale and rejected Sporting de Gijón's offer.
Bremen had won the Bundesliga title last season. This season, they had the ambition to do something in the UEFA Champions League. Miku was their absolute core in the midfield. Naturally, they would not be willing to let him go.
Although he was mentally prepared for this result, Li Ang was still a little disappointed. Of course, the reason for his disappointment was not only because of Bremen's rejection, but also because he had a phone call with Miku's agent. The other party's attitude was very direct. Obviously, the player himself did not like Sporting de Gijón, a newly promoted Spanish team.
His request to buy Miku was unsuccessful. Li Ang had to continue looking for a midfield playmaker for the team.
Now, with six million euros in his hands, Li Ang suddenly realized that in the current transfer market, it was really not easy for him to find a reliable midfield general.
Those future midfield generals in his memory could only be said to be midfielders now. They could not play. And now, those experienced and famous midfield stars were either not affordable by Sporting de Gijón, or they did not like Sporting de Gijón. Of course, more often than not, it was Sporting de Gijón who could not afford them, and the players did not like Sporting de Gijón, a newly promoted La Liga team.
For young players, Li Ang could tempt them with opportunities to play and the qualification to participate in the UEFA Europa League. However, for those famous star players, these were not attractive. They were the main force in their original clubs, and many of the clubs could play in Europe. Li Ang did not have anything to tempt them with.
*****
On July 23, 2004, the Sporting de Gijón team set off for Italy.
They were going to Palermo, a port city in the north of Sicily in Italy, to play a friendly game with the newly promoted Serie A team. This game was discussed by both sides when Grosso transferred to Sporting de Gijón.
When he was transferring planes at the Rome airport, Li Ang picked up a newspaper and was attracted by the news in the newspaper.
It was a Corriere dello Sport, and it had the latest transfer news.
The first news was that the Spanish star player, Gaizka Mendieta, might officially bid farewell to Lazio. During his loan to the English Premier League club Middlesbrough last season, the former Spanish national footballer's performance improved. Now, Mendieta was seeking to terminate his contract with Lazio and officially transfer to Middlesbrough as a free agent.
Seeing this news, Li Ang's eyes lit up.
Mendieta, the former Valencia star player's strength, naturally did not need to be said. Mendieta's biggest characteristics were that he was full of stamina, had a wide range of motion, had outstanding skills, was good at long shots, and the ability of both his left and right feet was excellent. He could play in any position in the midfield. He was one of the main witnesses and creators of Valencia's resurgence. At the peak of his career, the club and the national team operated with him as the core. Originally, Mendieta had the potential to become a strong contender for the FIFA World Player of the Year award.
However, in the summer of 2001, Mendieta's transfer to Lazio was considered a rare and important transfer failure in Spain. After leaving Valencia, he was far away from the peak of his football career. At that time, Real Madrid wanted to buy Mendieta, but Valencia was unwilling to let the team captain transfer to a direct competitor in the league. The failure of the transfer to Real Madrid for 24 million euros also brought Valencia's anti-Real Madrid doctrine to its first peak. After that, Valencia was attracted by Lazio's offer of 48 million euros and agreed to the transfer. However, the transfer of Lazio could be said to be a lose-lose deal for both the Bat Corps and the Azzurri.
Mendieta could not replace Juan in Lazio's tactical position, and Valencia did not expect Lazio's installment payment to be a blank cheque. Valencia never received the huge transfer fee, and the players who came as collateral for Mendieta's transfer fee, such as Corradi and Fiore, had mediocre performances. Mendieta unexpectedly became a spectator in Italy's matches. The Spanish media even said that in Italy, Mendieta was a prisoner enjoying a high salary.
*****
Li Ang began to ponder whether he could get Mendieta to join his Sporting de Gijón.
The key to the problem was Mendieta's attitude. According to his understanding, Lazio, who was heavily in debt, wanted to get rid of Mendieta's high salary burden. In the end, Lazio agreed to terminate the contract with Mendieta. Therefore, Mendieta's attitude determined his choice.
Currently, the biggest obstacle was that Mendieta performed well when he was on loan at Middlesbrough last season. The Spanish superstar was willing to continue staying at Middlesbrough. Mendieta's unforgettable experience at Lazio made him cherish his time at Middlesbrough. In Li Ang's memory, Mendieta even rejected the offers of several West European clubs and chose to go to Middlesbrough in the end.
In addition to the news about Mendieta, Li Ang also saw news about the former AC Milan star, Demi Albertini. After Lazio gave up on renewing the contract with Albertini, the Atalanta club was currently trying to persuade the Italian veteran to join them.
Li Ang fell into deep thought when he saw the news.
If he could persuade Albertini to join them, it would be a great help to Sporting de Gijón. Similar to Mendieta, who was about to terminate his contract with Lazio, Albertini was now a free agent. This meant that the two veterans did not need to spend a single cent on transfer fees. If they could save some money on the midfielders, the team would be able to invest in other positions.
Unlike Mendieta's style, Albertini was best at controlling the rhythm of the game.
No matter which of these two veterans was obtained, it would solve Sporting de Gijón's midfield problem.
Li Ang even had two plans in his mind at this moment. How would Sporting de Gijón play with Mendieta, and what would Sporting de Gijón look like with Albertini?
He was so excited that he even began to write and draw in his notebook. Assistant manager Banderas, who was sitting next to him, turned his head to take a look. When he saw that it was full of arrows and tactical diagrams, he shook his head. Li Ang was really a workaholic.
Li Ang was busy for a while. He rubbed his temples tiredly and then looked at the results of his work. However, he was the first to laugh. The arrival of Mendieta or Albertini had not been set in stone yet. He had not even gone to talk to the two players. He was too impatient.
After the failure to buy Miku and Mai Kong, Li Ang now began to worry about his gains and losses. He began to realize that Sporting de Gijón was not attractive now. This was really annoying.
He decided to contact Mendieta first to ask about the situation. In comparison, Mendieta was younger. In his memory, after Mendieta joined Middlesbrough this summer, he played for this Premier League team for several seasons, especially in the first two seasons. His performance was good. Although he did not recover to the level he was at at Valencia, his condition had improved a lot compared to when he was at Lazio. There were rumors that Lazio regretted agreeing to terminate the contract with Mendieta. Moreover, Mendieta should be more familiar with the Spanish league.
"Pablo." Li Ang put away his notebook and said to his assistant, Banderas, "Help me contact Mr. Agent."
Banderas turned his head to look and saw Li Ang pointing at Mendieta's profile picture in the newspaper. He looked at Li Ang in surprise. "Gai Zika?"
Li Ang nodded.
PS: Regarding the arrangement for Pepe to get Portuguese citizenship in advance, this was also considered. Pepe transferred to La Liga. If he did not become a Portuguese citizen in advance, it would be impossible for him to get a Portuguese passport because he worked in Portugal, and he would not be able to represent Portugal in games. This changed a lot of things, so a small setting was made.
Fourth update, and guaranteed second update. Mendieta, Albertini, or anyone else, do you have any good suggestions to share? To be honest, I have hesitated for a long time about the midfield choice. I am stuck here.
Please give me a monthly ticket.
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