The 17-year-old Argentinian player, Agüero, transferred to Inter Milan for a sky-high price of 16 million euros. The discussion was still fermenting.
The general conclusion of the media was that Inter Milan was taking a big gamble and that the possibility of failure was high because there was a precedent. The Death of Saviola in Barcelona was the most painful lesson. In the summer of 2001, Saviola, who led the Argentinian team to win the FIFA World Youth Championship and swept the Golden Ball and Golden Boot of the tournament, arrived at Camp Nou with a record value of 36 million euros for a U20 player. Even in today's inflation, this was not a small amount of money. In order to see the real face of the "successor of Maradona," fans flocked to Camp Nou on the day of the fan meeting. It was said that the number of people who flocked to Camp Nou was more than 20 years ago.
However, at that time, Barcelona was slipping into the most chaotic period in 20 years. Internally, the Dutch group was aging day by day. In the last round, they fought to the death with Valencia and relied on Rivaldo's outburst to barely catch the last bus to the Champions League. The manager, Ferrer, was then killed by Gaspard. Externally, Laco and Valencia were in the ascendant, and Real Madrid's transfer prices were sky-high. Gaspard's bet was too big for a 20-year-old South American newcomer to challenge mature superstars like Figo and Zidane. The possibility of profit was too small. Saviola's performance in Barcelona was far from people's expectations. Now, he was constantly being loaned out. The situation of the "successor of Maradona" in the past was lamentable.
In Argentina, Agüero was also known as the "successor of Maradona." Of course, there would be one or two "successor of Maradona" in Argentina every two years.
In the media's description, Li Ang purged Inter Milan. Now, Inter Milan was also in "internal strife." Agüero's transfer fee was very high. This was similar to Saviola's situation when he joined Barcelona. Therefore, they concluded that Agüero's future in Inter Milan was bleak. This young man came to the wrong team at the wrong time and chose the wrong manager …
In this regard, Li Ang gave a tough response in the media.
When the media criticized him, he could not be bothered with them. However, when they criticized his players, he could not tolerate it.
"Agüero is the most talented player in Argentina in recent years. The heights that he can reach in the future are unimaginable to some short-sighted people. Even if Agüero were to win the Ballon d 'Or one day, I wouldn't be surprised at all because he has that kind of talent. Of course, this requires his perseverance and hard work!"
Li Ang's support for Agüero moved the young Argentinian player, who had just flown from Buenos Aires to Milan to join the rest of the Inter Milan team. He secretly vowed to perform well and not let down the manager's trust.
*****
Inter Milan sent a fax to the Dutch Eredivisie powerhouse Ajax to inquire about the possibility of bringing in their young midfielder, Wesley Sneijder.
Sneijder was one of the newest geniuses in the youth training of Ajax. In the 20032004 season, the 19-year-old Sneijder began to attract the attention of the whole of Europe. In this year, Ajax took back the Eredivisie title from their arch-rival, Eindhoven. As the core of the midfield, Sneijder's performance was even better than the other genius of Ajax, Van der Vaart. He scored 9 goals in 30 games, which showed his strength. Before the age of 20, Sneijder and Van der Vaart were praised as the "Gemini" by the Dutch media. The two of them were not only the pride of this Eredivisie powerhouse, but also the future of Dutch football.
In the last season, Sneijder scored 7 goals in 30 games, and his performance continued to be stable.
At this time, Sneijder had attracted the attention of many powerhouses.
Therefore, Ajax regarded Sneijder as the treasure of the team. In the face of Inter Milan's inquiry, Ajax didn't hesitate to reply that Sneijder wasn't for sale.
In the transfer market, there was no such thing as "not for sale". Inter Milan didn't give up and continued to ask for the Dutch midfielder.
Sure enough, Ajax replied to Inter Milan with a price of 30 million euros!
This was an exorbitant price.
After two seasons, when Sneijder was transferred to Real Madrid, the transfer fee was only 27 million euros!
It was obvious that Ajax regarded Inter Milan as a fool.
Then, after two days of negotiations, Ajax insisted that Sneijder's transfer fee was 25 million euros.
*****
Up until now, Inter Milan had brought in a large number of players and spent a lot of money.
Among them, Juan Mata, who was the best rookie in La Liga last season, had the highest transfer fee at 26 million euros.
Then there was the "Alien" Ronaldo, whose transfer fee was 23 million euros.
Then there was Samuels, whose transfer fee was 16 million euros.
The transfer fee for the Argentinian youngster, Aguero, was 16 million euros.
Then there was the transfer fee for the young player, Juan Carlos, whose transfer fee was 15 million euros.
The transfer fee for the Croatian youngster, Luca Modric, was 14 million euros.
The transfer fee for the French left-back, Patrice Evra, was 9.5 million euros.
The transfer fee for the Brazilian right-back, Mai Kong, was 6 million euros.
The transfer fee for Borriello, excluding the transfer fee for Koke, who was sent to AC Milan, was 2 million euros.
Of course, the transfer fee for Samuels and Ronaldo, after using Recoba, Vieri, and Davies to offset the transfer fee, was 8 million euros to Real Madrid.
In this way, Inter Milan had taken out a total of 96.5 million euros in the transfer market, which was close to 100 million euros. They were definitely the biggest team in the transfer market this summer.
In terms of the sale of players, Martins was transferred to Newcastle for 21 million euros, Emre was transferred to Newcastle for 7 million euros, Carlini was transferred to Getafe for 2 million euros, Karagounis was transferred to Benfica for 1 million euros, Giotos was transferred to Olympiacos for 1 million euros, Zamaria was transferred to Sampdoria for 1.5 million euros, van der Meyde was transferred to Everton for 10 million euros, and Gamara was transferred to Palmeiras for 500,000 euros. The total income was 44 million euros.
In this way, Inter Milan's net expenditure was 52.5 million euros!
During this transfer period, Inter Milan provided Li Ang with a transfer budget of 50 million euros. In other words, Li Ang no longer had a transfer budget.
Moreover, even if there was a transfer budget, Li Ang would not really spend 25 million euros to buy Sneijder. Although Sneijder was very good, Li Ang did not want to be cheated.
Therefore, now, in the attacking midfielder position, he could only target the players who were "good and cheap."
PS: First update. Urgent monthly votes, thank you, everyone.
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