"Eh?" Li Ang glanced at the quoted price on the fax and was slightly surprised.
Juventus offered 15 million euros for Marchisio.
Was 15 million euros a high price? If it was in the summer transfer window, this price would not be considered much. However, in the winter transfer window, where there were few big spending, it was considered very high.
The king of the winter transfer so far was made by the Bundesliga's overlord, Bayern Munich. There was no doubt that Bayern was the richest club in the Bundesliga. Although they only had one signing, the 18-year-old center back, Breno, from São Paulo, the transfer fee of 12 million euros was the highest in the Bundesliga. Breno was also the most expensive star player in the winter transfer so far.
In addition, Marchisio was only 22 years old. In the Inter Milan Team, he was now more of an important substitute player, not the main force of Inter Milan. From this point of view, a price of 15 million euros for a 22-year-old Italian midfielder was not low.
It must be known that this was not after 2016 when the value of players was super premium. This was 2008. At this time, a transfer worth more than 10 million euros was enough to cause a sensation in the media and football world.
At the very least, this offer showed a certain degree of sincerity from Juventus.
"How should we reply to Juventus?" Mihajlović asked.
Li Ang touched his chin, thought for a moment, and said, "Tell Juventus that Marchisio is not for sale!"
The offer of 15 million euros surprised Li Ang a little, and it was indeed a little tempting. However, it was far from truly moving him.
Italy's Total Market once estimated the value of Li Ang's Inter Milan player before the winter transfer window. They valued Marchisio at 10 million euros.
In other words, Juventus' offer was an increase of four million euros on the basis of the reasonable market price.
However, the four million euros were far from enough to make Li Ang nod his head. Marchisio played the role of a backup plan in his tactics, which was a strong support and supplement for Inter Milan's three-front battle. He was not the manager of Inter Milan, nor was he the Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger. He had no obligation to generate income for the club. He would not sell a player purely for this amount of money, which would affect the overall structure of the team.
Mihailovich nodded and left to deal with the matter.
"It seems that the Juventus people value Marchisio very much," said Banderas.
"Their midfielders are too old now, and the young one can't take on the heavy responsibility. It's inevitable that they'll bring in reinforcements," Li Ang said casually.
"I have an intuition that Juventus will not give up. They may continue to raise the price," said Banderas.
"I'm not Arsène Wenger," Li Ang sneered and mocked his French counterpart.
*****
On January 27th, Inter Milan won 1-0 against Udinese in the 20th round of the Serie A Championship.
Adriano scored the only goal of the game, helping Inter Milan beat their opponents with a goal, and at the same time, they continued to create their own record: the best start record of 20 consecutive wins in the Serie A season!
In this round of the league, Juventus also defeated Livorno in an away game with a score of 3: 1. However, this did not alleviate the dissatisfaction of the Juventus fans towards the team's poor recruitment.
On the afternoon of the end of the game, the news was broadcast on TV.
"Juventus finally made some progress before the game against Livorno. Juventus' official website later released a statement confirming that the club has signed the Swedish national center back, Erik Olof Mellberg. The contract will run from July 1st, 2008 to June 30th, 2011.
As we all know, Mellberg's contract with Aston Villa will expire on June 30th, 2008. In the past few months, Mellberg has been closely linked with Juventus, and he will finally land in Turin City for free this summer. "
"I'm very happy to have reached an agreement with Juventus," Mellberg said in a statement through Juventus' official website.
"It's very important for me to play in Serie A. Juventus is a prestigious club, and Serie A is the most influential league in the world."
"Now, I have to end this season at Aston Villa in the best way possible, but I really can't wait to join Juventus, wear the black and white striped shirt, and do my best."
Juventus' head coach, Ranieri, was also very happy to have Mellberg join the team. "Mellberg is a player I know very well. When I was coaching at Chelsea, I was already paying attention to him."
"Mellberg is a center back, but he can also play as a right back, just like he did this season. He has a very strong physique, but he is also very fast and agile. Given his ability and rich experience, he will make a great contribution to Juventus. "
"Mellberg has been the backbone of Villa's defense since he transferred from Racing Santander to Villa in 2001 for five million pounds. He has played in almost 250 Premier League games, and has represented the Swedish national team in more than 70 games. I believe that the arrival of this veteran will make the Juventus fans happy. "
On TV, the host's words caused the Juventus fans in the bar to be dissatisfied. A 30-year-old veteran joining for free, and he can only join in the summer!!! It would be strange if the Juventus fans were satisfied!
"What do we want such an old guy for?"
"Is this the club's ambition? To bring in some old guys who don't want money! "
"What is Pessoto doing?!" A fan shouted!
"I'm going to Vinovo to protest and let those blind guys feel our anger!" A fan who was obviously drunk shouted.
Let's go together!
Let's go together!
Immediately, it attracted even more responses from people!
*****
The news that Juventus had brought in Mellberg for free did not win the favor of the Juventus fans. Instead, it caused them to be extremely angry.
About an hour later, a large number of Juventus fans gathered outside the Vinovo training base again. They strongly protested against Juventus' inaction in this winter's transfer.
"Damn it!" Pessoto could not help but curse as he pulled down the blinds and looked at the angry fans outside the training base. He was not scolding the fans, but someone in Inter Milan.
Juventus had raised their offer for Marchisio to sixteen million euros, but Inter Milan still did not relent. According to the information they received, the main reason was not the manager of Inter Milan, Oriari, who was in charge of the negotiations. It was Li Ang who was not satisfied with the price tag and insisted on not letting Marchisio go.
"What do you think Inter Milan's price is?" Pessoto asked his assistants.
"I think it should be around eighteen million euros," someone said after thinking for a while.
"Impossible!" Pessoto shook his head. "Eighteen million euros for a 22-year-old young man is too expensive!"
At that moment, the ESPN host's voice came from the TV. It was an extra piece of news.
"We just received the news that the latest bidding king in this winter's transfer market has been born! Valencia chose to fill in the midfield after getting rid of the old players like Albelda. The transfer of the young player from Boca Juniors, Banega, to Valencia has been completed. In the end, Valencia spent eighteen million euros to sign the 19-year-old talented midfielder from Boca Juniors. His value is higher than the total value of all the players brought in by the other teams in La Liga so far this winter … "said the host with beautiful blonde hair and a beautiful face.
The atmosphere in the room suddenly became awkward.
"Are the people of Valencia crazy? A 19-year-old young man who has not been tested by the European League is worth eighteen million euros! "someone exclaimed.
Pessoto glanced at the person, but his heart sank. In the football transfer world, the transfer of a player was not independent. It would affect the overall situation of the transfer market.
He was worried that Valencia's deal to bring in the 19-year-old Banega for eighteen million euros would provoke Inter Milan. That Chinese man would definitely ask for a higher transfer price now!
Damn the people of Valencia, do they have money to burn?!
Pesotto cursed angrily.
*****
Although Juventus had many top-class football stars in its history, in reality, Juventus rarely had expensive signings. In essence, Juventus was not a team that spent a lot of money in the transfer market.
Looking at the history of Juventus' signings, the three most expensive signings so far were in 2001. The Zebra Calcio signed Buffon, Thuram, and Nedved for 52.88 million euros, 41.5 million euros, and 41.2 million euros, respectively. In the following years, Juventus' most expensive signings were the 28 million euros purchase of Emerson.
It must be mentioned that more than half of the money Juventus used to bring in Buffon, Thuram, and Nedved was provided by Real Madrid. They sold Zinedine Zidane to Real Madrid for the highest price in the football world, which brought Juventus 150 billion lire. Then they used all the money to strengthen the team. In the end, they bought Buffon, Nedved, and Thuram, and the team continued to win.
Therefore, it was really rare for Juventus to spend money to buy players without selling them.
Now, Pessoto had to face a tricky problem. Should he insist on bringing in Marchisio? If he decided to continue negotiating the deal, how much money would Juventus have to spend, and how would he persuade the club's top management to fork out the money?
As Pessoto expected, the transfer of Banega on the Iberian Peninsula stimulated Inter Milan. This time, even Inter Milan's president, Oriali, whose attitude had softened previously, became tough. Banega, a 19-year-old who had not been tested by the European League, was worth eighteen million euros. Then, how much was Marchisio worth?!
"What did Marchisio's father say?" Pessoto asked his assistant.
Juventus contacted Stefano Marchisio, Marchisio's father and his agent, in private. After promising the main position and high salary, they received good news. From the old Marchisio's mouth, they learned that Marchisio did not reject returning to Juventus, which made Juventus very happy. Then, they communicated with the Marchisio family again, hoping to use the Marchisio family's feelings for Juventus to affect the transfer. It would be best if they could take the initiative to put pressure on Inter Milan.
"Mr. Stefano Marchisio rejected our proposal!" the assistant said. "According to the information we received, they don't want to be on bad terms with Li Ang."
In short, Marchisio did not reject the transfer to Juventus, but he would not take the initiative to participate in it. If the Juventus Football Club could deal with Inter Milan, then he would let nature take its course. If they could not deal with Inter Milan and Li Ang, Marchisio would not transfer. It would be good to play in Inter Milan peacefully. In short, they were not willing to jump out at the risk of angering Li Ang.
Pessoto had a headache and was a little angry. He did not want to play riddles with Inter Milan anymore. He asked the staff to contact Inter Milan immediately to find out what Inter Milan meant. How much was the price for Marchisio? Name a price and continue to negotiate if they could. It was too much. Juventus could only give up. The winter transfer window would close in four days. They did not have much time. At the same time, Mohammed Sissoko, who was a spare tire, was impatient and urged Juventus to complete the transfer quickly. Otherwise, he would have to consider other teams. Seeing that the transfer window was coming to an end, Sissoko, who was still in the dark, was naturally anxious.
*****
Li Ang did not know about Pessoto's resentment against him at Juventus. Even if he knew, he would not care.
At this moment, a closed-door meeting was being held in the conference room at Inter Milan's Pininati training base. Li Ang, his coaching staff, and the manager of Inter Milan's football club, Oriari, were present.
"We can start." Li Ang nodded to his assistant, Pablo Banderas.
Banderas pressed a button and began to play the edited material.
"On September 26, 2007, in Bayern Munich's 5-0 victory over Energie Cottbus in the Bundesliga, Kroes replaced Ze Roberto in the 72nd minute. This young player, at the age of 17 years and 265 days, set the record for Bayern Munich's youngest player to appear in a league game. It is worth noting that Kroes helped Bayern complete two goals with two assists in this game! " As Banderas spoke, the edited video began to play. The image of a young player with a slightly immature face galloping in the game began to appear.
"On October 4, 2007, in Bayern's UEFA Europa League away game against Villanueva Reims, Kroes replaced Sebastian Schweinsteiger in the 81st minute and made his European debut," Banderas continued.
"On October 25, 2007, in Bayern's UEFA Europa League game against Red Star Belgrade, Kroes scored his first professional goal and helped Bayern reverse the situation with a 3-0 victory." Banderas pressed the pause button and said, "In this game, Tonique Kroes was a substitute, but his performance was outstanding."
"On November 10, 2007, in Bayern's Bundesliga away game against VfB Stuttgart, Kroes was given the opportunity to be in the starting lineup," Banderas continued. "Bayern Munich still values this young man."
Li Ang sat in his seat and did not speak.
Oriali had been listening to Banderas's introduction and did not speak. However, he glanced at the silent Li Ang and knew that in the head coach's heart, he had already made up his mind to bring in this young German player. In Inter Milan, Li Ang had a lot of power in the transfer of players. Even if he, as the manager, did not agree, Li Ang had the ability to push for the purchase of a player if he wanted to. Of course, so far, the two people respected each other and worked well together.
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