Inter Milan offered 55 million euros to buy Juan Carlos, Juan Mata, and Luca Modric from Sporting de Gijón, which immediately caused a sensation in the Italian football world.
After Li Ang joined Inter Milan, the media speculated about which players Li Ang would bring from Sporting de Gijón.
Sporting de Gijón, as the most dazzling dark horse in the five major leagues last season, had attracted the attention of the entire European football world. Sporting de Gijón's important players had also been analyzed by the media.
Juan Mata was the best newcomer in La Liga last season. The side attacking midfielder tactics created by Li Ang were performed very well by this young player. Mata followed Li Ang from the Real Madrid youth team to Sporting de Gijón, which naturally showed that this player was Li Ang's direct descendant. Li Ang's choice to bring Mata to Inter Milan did not surprise the Italian media.
Juan Carlos was Sporting de Gijón's midfield barrier last season. He was the player with the highest attendance rate in the Sporting de Gijón team. Sporting de Gijón's "Little Gattuso" nickname was already known by many Italians. This player was discovered by Li Ang from the slums of Madrid and was also considered to be Li Ang's direct descendant. Li Ang bringing Carlos to Inter Milan was also within the media's speculations.
However, Li Ang's choice to bring Modric to Inter Milan surprised some Italian media. In their previous judgment, Li Ang should have chosen the Frenchman Franck Ribéry. This player was discovered by Li Ang from the lower leagues in France. Last season, Ribéry and Mata, one on the left and one on the right, set off a youth storm in La Liga and the UEFA Europa League. If Li Ang brought both Mata and Ribéry to Inter Milan, Inter Milan's two flanks would fly together.
As for Modric, the Italian media did not report much. In the Italian reports, Sporting de Gijón's midfield playmaker was the veteran Albertini. Modric was Albertini's substitute. Although he had many opportunities to play in the season and performed well, he was still a little immature.
Inter Milan's offer of 55 million euros, in the Italian media's reports, the young player Juan Mata's value was about 26 million euros, the young player Juan Carlos's value was about 15 million euros, and Modric's value was about 14 million euros. This was also the estimated value of these three players by Total Market.
Objectively speaking, Inter Milan's offer was quite reasonable. There was neither a premium nor a bargain.
The Italian media was waiting to see how Sporting de Gijón would respond. Although Li Ang and Sporting de Gijón had previously announced that they had broken up peacefully, some media outlets still dug up the situation where Li Ang and Sporting de Gijón's chairman, Manuel Arango, had a bad relationship. They were waiting to see if Sporting de Gijón would agree to Li Ang's poaching.
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Just as the media's focus was on Li Ang's poaching of his old club, Inter Milan announced that the goalkeeper Carlini, the defenders Gamara and Koko, the midfielders Emre and Karagounis, and the striker Martins were on the transfer market.
Six players were suddenly pushed into the transfer market, which immediately shocked the Italian football world.
The headline on the front page of Italy's Milan Sport was, "Li Ang starts the great purge of Inter Milan!"
Turin Sport used an exaggerated tone to describe it, "Inter Milan supermarket officially opens!"
Corriere dello Sport said that pushing six players into the transfer market at once showed the ruthlessness of China's coach.
Pushing six players into the transfer market first was a decision made by Inter Milan's manager, Oriali, and Li Ang after a discussion. This could prevent panic to the greatest extent, and it could also prevent some teams from bargaining after seeing Inter Milan's "great purge."
If the Italian media knew that Li Ang's purge list was not six, but seventeen, it would definitely be a major earthquake. They would all think that Inter Milan had gone crazy.
These six players were more popular in the transfer market. Among them, van der Meyde, Karagounis, and Martins had many suitors.
Because Li Ang was ruthless enough to purge seventeen players at once, Moratti did not give Li Ang a lot of transfer funds. It was only fifty million euros. The rest of the transfer funds were obtained from the purged players.
Li Ang had no objection to this. Inter Milan's previous composition of more than thirty players was too bloated. After purging seventeen players, he only intended to bring in a dozen players. With fifty million euros as a base, plus the income from purging the players, it was enough to support his actions in the transfer market.
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Among the six players, Martins caused the biggest sensation.
The partnership between Adriano and Martins was once considered by the media and fans to be Inter Milan's forward line for the next ten years. Now that Martins was pushed into the transfer market, it really shocked many people. This was also interpreted by some media as a manifestation of Li Ang's tough tactics.
The Nigerian, who was on vacation, expressed his strong dissatisfaction when he found out that he was put into the transfer market. He angrily complained to the media, saying that Li Ang had arbitrarily excluded him from Inter Milan's future plans without even meeting him. This was a kind of contempt and humiliation for him.
The Italian media also over-interpreted this, saying that Li Ang's tough tactics were likely to cause the disgust of Inter Milan's players.
Turin Sport jumped up and down, wantonly exaggerating, trying to stir up internal strife in Inter Milan's locker room.
Li Ang did not care at all. He would not pay attention to players who were not in his plans. So what if Martins resented him?
Two days later, Inter Milan officially announced that they had reached an agreement with Sporting de Gijón on the transfer of players. Inter Milan would package 55 million euros to bring in the Spanish midfielder Juan Mata, Juan Carlos, and the Croatian midfielder Luka Modric.
In the announcement, Inter Milan was generous with their praise for the three new players. After the Italian media's previous reports, Inter Milan's fans were also very happy with the introduction of the three players, immediately diluting the uneasiness caused by the media's exaggerated reports of the purge.
Although Martins had attacked Li Ang through the media, the Nigerian also knew that he was not in Li Ang's plans and had to be busy looking for a new owner.
Martins was still relatively favored in the transfer market. Last season, he scored 11 goals for Inter Milan in the league and was the second scorer in the Inter Milan Team. This was also the reason why some media attacked Li Ang. They thought that Li Ang's decision to purge such an outstanding player was a very wrong choice.
Li Ang's reason for choosing Martins was very simple. He knew that the Nigerian's development would gradually decline in the future. Martins' Inter Milan Team now had several players who could be sold at a high price. If he did not purge them now, when would he?
Sure enough, Martins's entry into the transfer market immediately attracted some teams. There was a stack of offers on his desk.
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