Li Ang asked Inter Milan to book a plane ticket for him. He was going to Munich in person.
Just before his departure, Li Ang received news that Barcelona's Portuguese star player wanted to play for Li Ang through his agent.
In fact, even though Barcelona rejected Inter Milan's offer for Decaux, Inter Milan still kept in touch with Decaux in private.
Private contact between a club and a player had always been a gray area, because according to Article 18.3 of the FIFA Player Transfer Regulations, "If a club is interested in bringing in a professional player, they must inform the club of the player in writing before starting negotiations with the player!"
Why was it a gray area? It was because the key word here was "start negotiations," not "contact."
Last summer, before Klose's transfer to Bayern, Hoeness and Hitzfeld had a meeting with Klose. Bayern was investigated by the Bundesliga at the time, and the final conclusion was that there was no penalty. The reason was that Bayern and Klose were only "exchanging information," not formal negotiations. In the transfer of various leagues, it was normal for interested clubs to inquire about the player's intentions before informing the other clubs.
For example, this time, Juventus wanted to bring in Marchisio and had private contact with Marchisio. Both Li Ang and Inter Milan were aware of this, but they did not stop it.
"Actually, there's a gray area here," Leon once told his new assistant, Mihajlović, about this matter. "If a club adheres to the rules, then it's not impossible for them to sign a player. A transfer without sufficient communication is really difficult. "
"How does the club know if the player is interested in joining? If they don't know, then why waste time? Spread all the cards on the table? There may be a hundred reasons why he doesn't want to come, "Li Ang said.
"This kind of private contact can be harder to detect than a private meeting behind closed doors. The line between right and wrong is very blurred."
Mihailovich listened to Li Ang respectfully. Interestingly, he even took out a small notebook and recorded Li Ang's words.
"Are we still going to Munich?" Mihailovich asked. "Or are we going to Barcelona?"
If they could bring in Decaux, then there would be no need to bring in a youngster like Tonikos.
"Let the club continue to contact Barcelona and Decaux for negotiations," Li Ang said. "We'll go to Munich as planned!"
*****
Li Ang was preparing for both eventualities, which was also the safest method.
Decaux was a veteran who was used to big situations. He would not be affected by Li Ang's personal trip to Barcelona. The only criteria for such a veteran's decision was whether it would benefit his career and personal benefits. He would be very calm. Now that Decaux had stated that he wanted to come to Inter Milan, it meant that Decaux had thought about it carefully. There was no need for Li Ang to do anything.
But it was different for Tonikos. This 18-year-old player could be said to be a nobody. For him, a world-class manager like Li Ang was simply an existence that he could only look up to. Li Ang personally invited him. This showed that he valued him. It was very important for this young player and his family! This was the attitude of the world-class manager, Li Ang, who valued him! This was very important for a young player!
If it had been half a month ago, Li Ang would have caused trouble for Tonikos by privately meeting with his family. But it would not happen now because Tonikos was already 18 years old.
Just last year, in order to prevent clubs from poaching young players under the age of 18, FIFA began to set up the Transfer Inspection System (TMS) and stipulated a series of provisions to protect young players. The most important one was Article 19, which stipulated that players under the age of 18 must meet three additional conditions for a transfer. First, the young player's parents must be engaged in work unrelated to the club in the country where the club is located. Second, the transfer must take place within the European Union and the young player must be at least 16 years old. Third, the young player's home should be within 50 kilometers of the club's training base.
In addition, there was another point to strictly crack down on third-party clubs' 'abduction' of young players under the age of 18.
According to this logic, when Li Ang was at Sporting de Gijón, he had poached Benzema from the Lyon team. This was a serious violation and would be punished by FIFA. However, at that time, there was no clear punishment and rules for this kind of thing. Li Ang took advantage of a loophole.
Now, Tony Cross was already eighteen years old. As long as Li Ang didn't have any evidence that could be used against him to prove that he was discussing a transfer with Tony Cross and that it was just a private meeting, he wouldn't be punished.
*****
Accompanying Li Ang to Munich was a scout from Inter Milan. His name was Massimiliano Mirabelli. Mirabelli was very excited to accompany the team's manager, Li Ang, on a business trip.
Li Ang was not only the king in the hearts of the Inter Milan fans, but he was also regarded as a legend by many people in the sports industry. An unknown China man had become one of the best managers in the world of football in just five years in a football world dominated by Europeans and Americans. This was an unparalleled inspirational story.
"Sir, I have already arranged to go directly to Tonikos' home. He and his family are waiting for us … But …" Mirabelli said to Li Ang. He looked a little hesitant, as if he wanted to say something.
"But what?" Li Ang asked.
"Should we communicate with the Bayern Munich club first?" Mirabelli said.
"No need!" Li Ang shook his head. "On the fourth of this month, Tonikos will be 18 years old!"
Mirabelli was stunned, then nodded to show that he understood. At the same time, he felt a little ashamed that he had not noticed such an important detail.
"As long as we can convince Tonikos and his family, Bayern Munich will have no choice but to let him go. They did not sign a professional contract with Tonikos in time, which is their biggest mistake," Li Ang said.
"Isn't this … a little … uh …" Mirabelli looked at Li Ang and did not continue.
"Are you saying that Bayern Munich groomed Tonikos, and that we are doing something immoral?" Li Ang asked.
Mirabelli nodded first, then shook his head. This kind of thing was actually not rare in the football world. Not to mention youth players, even adult professional players were very fierce and unscrupulous in the dark. Take Bayern Munich for example. They treated the other teams in the Bundesliga as their second team. As long as other teams had good players, Bayern Munich would forcefully poach them. Moreover, they were used to getting the players first, then using a very small price and transfer fee to complete the transfer. Some teams that hated Bayern Munich even angrily called Bayern Munich the cancer of the Bundesliga. They meant that with Bayern Munich around, the other teams in the Bundesliga would never be able to develop.
"Okay, don't think so much. Our goal is to convince Tonikos! "Li Ang said with a smile.
There was one thing he did not say, which was that Bayern Munich's interests and feelings had nothing to do with him.
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