"Is this true? Has the boss really decided to come back? "
Before the start of training, the players gathered in groups of three to five to chat while waiting for the coach. The topic was, of course, the news that had just been announced yesterday — Tony Twain would return to coach Nottingham Forest.
Joe Mattock looked at Bale eagerly, hoping to get confirmation from him.
"Isn't it written clearly on the official website? It's also reported on the news. "Bale shrugged, but he could not suppress the smile on his face. "It's true this time!"
"Ha! I knew the boss wouldn't just stand by and watch! Now that the team's results are so bad, who can change it? Only the boss! "Mattock danced with joy.
"Shh! Lower your voice! "The defender, Nkoulou, quickly put his index finger to his mouth and made a shushing gesture. "Don't let Freddy hear!"
"Don't worry, I think he's the happiest about the boss coming back," Mattock said, shaking his head.
In front of his teammates, Mitchell put his elbow on Wood's shoulder and said to him with a smile on his face, "You're relieved, aren't you, George? The boss is finally back. "
"Just a little more than half a season," Wood replied with a blank expression.
"Don't be greedy, George. I'm very satisfied that he's back. Look at everyone, I think even if we meet Manchester United in the next game, we can still win, even if it's an away game. "
Although many people were happy for Twain's return, there were also people who did not think much of it. For example, the Italian Balotelli. He did not have the leisure to pay attention to the return of a former manager. His agent told him that it was not a good choice to leave in winter. If he could delay the transfer until the summer, he could fight for more in terms of salary. Now Balotelli's mind was filled with thoughts of leaving the Forest team. He did not care about the team's results at all. He was already 28 years old and did not have a few golden years left to waste on a team like this.
With the announcement of Twain's imminent return, the team was clearly divided into two factions. One faction was naturally Twain's former disciples, who were waiting for Twain's return with joy. On the other side were the players who had nothing to do with Tang En. They had only joined Forest in the past few seasons. They did not know how the new manager would treat them. Would they still be able to continue playing as the main force in the future? Would the fate of a player who was originally on the sidelines of the team change? These questions lingered in their minds, making them restless. Some of them had even informed their agents in advance that if the new manager did not get along with them, then they should quickly leave.
Before Tang En officially became Forest's manager, there were already turbulent undercurrents within the team. Had Tang En, who was far away in Spain, thought of all this?
※ ※ ※
The sun in Spain was much brighter than in England, and the salty sea breeze felt good on his face. Tang En sat in an open-air cafe with a cup of coffee in front of him. In front of him was the view of the beach and the sea. Although today wasn't a weekend or a holiday, there were still many tourists who came to play on the beach. The wind blew the waves onto the beach, making a crashing sound that drowned out the sounds of frolicking.
However, he was not in the mood to play in the water. This time, he did not come to Barcelona, Spain, for a holiday. Right now, he was waiting for someone.
Xia Yang, a football agent, was not far off from being complacent and smug. Four years ago, he was just a slightly famous agent in China, making a living by introducing young players to some Eastern European and South American clubs. Although he seemed to be familiar with those European clubs in the Chinese media, in reality, those relationships were only built by him humbly and shamelessly. Those agents could directly speak to the managers and chairmen of the powerhouse clubs on the phone. If he wanted to meet the manager of a Eredivisie team, he had to make an appointment in advance to see if the other party had the time or the mood. If he was not thick-skinned, he basically could not survive in this industry.
But now it was different. Although he was not as big as Mendes in Europe, he did not need to beg for help to sell his players. Every year, he would receive a number of calls from European clubs, hoping that he could recommend some cheap and good East Asian players, or help pull some strings to cooperate with China. In China, he had also become a well-known gold agent. Every year, he introduced young Chinese players to foreign clubs for trials and to play football. His goal was no longer limited to Eastern Europe and South America, where there was no money. He even set up a sports industry development company, introducing some foreign clubs interested in the China market to play commercial games in China, from which he could make a lot of money.
All these changes were thanks to the young man he had taken a fancy to.
When Chen Jian was recalled to England for the second time by the Forest team and given a place in the youth team, no media in China reported the matter. However, Xia Yang used his long-term channels in European football to hear the news. The keen sense of a professional agent made him feel that this might be an opportunity. In fact, he was not interested in Chen Jian's future, but in building a relationship with Nottingham Forest, the strongest club in Europe at the time, through Chen Jian. Long-term cooperation in the future was not an extravagant hope. Just like Mendes gave Pepe to Twain.
During Chen Jian's years in the Forest team, his relationship with the Forest team did not progress as smoothly as he had imagined. Even though the domestic media hyped up Chen Jian's own fame because of his relationship with the Forest team. Later, Tony Twain shockingly announced his resignation after winning the Treble. Chen Jian's future and his own aspirations were all in vain. In desperation, he accepted Chen Jian's opinion and did not talk to Nottingham Forest about renewing his contract. Instead, he let the Forest team loan him out again while slowly looking for a suitable team to take him in. As a player under him and a player who had brought him a lot of fame, Xia Yang really hoped that Chen Jian could have a good home. In the end, the Forest team found a team in the Eredivisie for him and loaned him out again.
No one expected that Chen Jian, the kid who was looked down upon, would actually fight his way out of the Eredivisie. After the end of the first season, Xia Yang received numerous transfer inquiries from clubs in different national leagues. This included a fax from RCD Espanyol in the Spanish Primera Division.
After further communication, Xia Yang was even more surprised to find that RCD Espanyol definitely did not want to buy Chen Jian on a whim. When Chen Jian was still playing in FC Volendam, their scouts had already noticed him. After observing him for three seasons, they finally decided to make a move. At that time, Chen Jian's contract with the Forest team had also expired. The Forest team did not intend to continue to offer a contract to this worthless Chinese player. If they transferred Chen Jian at this time, they would not have to spend a penny on the transfer fee. This was a very tempting condition. Xia Yang also took the opportunity to play the cheap card, describing Chen Jian as a model of "good quality and cheap price", an investment with absolutely no risk.
At that time, the Eredivisie team that had loaned Chen Jian also wanted to sign a contract with him, but after discussing with Chen Jian, Xia Yang felt that it was time to move on to a bigger stage. In this way, Chen Jian freely joined RCD Espanyol, who was ranked in the middle of the Spanish Primera Division at that time.
At that time, RCD Espanyol's football director, Garcia Gonzalez, compared Chen Jian to "a smaller George Wood", believing that Chen Jian's tenacious fighting spirit and clear mind in the midfield were exactly what RCD Espanyol needed.
Therefore, if a Chinese player wanted to make a name for himself in European football, it was far from enough to rely on his own strength. He also needed luck and opportunities. Chen Jian's opportunities were quite good. First, he was spotted by Nottingham Forest, and then by RCD Espanyol's football director. Without these opportunities, no matter how strong he was, he was afraid that he could only continue to hang around in the lower leagues.
After about half a season of adaptation in RCD Espanyol, Chen Jian gradually played his own strength and sorted out RCD Espanyol's offense and defense in the midfield in an orderly manner. He gradually established his position as the main starting force in this La Liga team.
For a Chinese player, it was already a great achievement to be able to play as the main force in a team in one of the four major leagues. Those players who only occasionally came on as substitutes in lower-league teams could get a lot of coverage and continued attention from the Chinese media, not to mention Chen Jian, who had completely won the trust and love of his teammates, coaches, and fans by relying on his own strength and not playing as the main force in a mid-tier La Liga team for Chinese sponsors.
In fact, Chinese fans were very self-aware and did not want Chen Jian to become a world-class star player. It was enough as long as he could secure a position as the main force in a team.
Every weekend during the live broadcast of the La Liga, RCD Espanyol received even more attention than the two traditional La Liga powerhouses, Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Although he initially wanted to start his career in professional football at Nottingham Forest, he did not expect to eventually fulfill his dream in RCD Espanyol.
Now, the five-year contract was about to expire in a season and a half. Xia Yang was not in a hurry to discuss the contract with RCD Espanyol.
These four seasons had not only improved Chen Jian's reputation and strength, but also broadened Xia Yang's horizons. In any case, RCD Espanyol could not even guarantee a participation in the UEFA Europa League (the former UEFA Europa League) every season. Xia Yang now somewhat disliked that their level was not high enough. Chen Jian was 28 years old this year, which was the golden age of a professional player. He also did not want his trump card to grow old in such a team. If there was a better choice, why not leave?
Therefore, since a season ago, Xia Yang had asked for a sky-high price in the negotiations with RCD Espanyol. Not only did he ask for the highest standard of salary in the team, but he also asked for a large signing fee. After all, RCD Espanyol was only a small team and could not meet Xia Yang's requirements, so the two sides were in a deadlock. It dragged on until this summer, and there was still no solution. RCD Espanyol now seemed to have figured it out. The Chinese player obviously wanted to play in a higher-level team. Originally, selling players that other clubs were interested in to make money was the way for clubs like RCD Espanyol to survive. Although Chen Jian was the team's midfield core, if a club could offer the right price, he was definitely not an unsellable player.
RCD Espanyol simply did not talk to Xia Yang about renewing the contract and waited for other clubs to make an offer. Of course, on the surface, everyone still had to announce, "We are still working hard to keep Chen," "Of course Chen Jian wants to stay with RCD Espanyol, but he needs to get a contract that is worthy of his contribution," and so on …
Xia Yang was not worried at all that he would end up with nothing. Chen Jian's performance in RCD Espanyol over the past three seasons was obvious to all. Many European teams had privately contacted him as an agent, so he knew that there was still a lot of potential in Chen Jian.
Seeing that the winter transfer window was about to open, he had recently received calls from several clubs. Among them were teams from the Premier League and teams from Serie A. Of course, most of them were teams from La Liga. After all, they played against RCD Espanyol twice a season, so they were most familiar with Chen Jian's level. The current Xia Yang simply looked down on the goodwill of teams in the lower leagues. Apart from the top three leagues, he did not consider other places at all. Even the teams in Ligue 1 and Bundesliga were not worthy of his attention.
Just as Xia Yang was about to sell Chen Jian to the highest bidder, he and Chen Jian received a long-awaited phone call.
The call was to Chen Jian, but when a Mandarin with a British country accent appeared on the phone, Chen Jian immediately knew who the caller was.
Tony Twain called him as the manager of Nottingham Forest, which suddenly evoked the memories of four years ago that had been sleeping in the depths of Chen Jian's mind. With Twain's resignation, he had thought that he would never have a chance to cross paths with that red team in his life. He did not expect that fate was so magical. Tony Twain was actually reinstated!
Thus, there was the scene of Xia Yang and Twain meeting …
※ ※ ※
"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, Mr. Twain. There was a traffic jam on the way … "Xia Yang, dressed in an Armani leisure suit, appeared in front of Twain with an apologetic look. In fact, he was late on purpose. There was no traffic jam. Today was not the weekend, and the appointment time was not the rush hour. He drove like a snail on the highway just to arrive late and let Twain wait a little longer. It was not easy for him to see this man in the beginning. He did not pay attention to him at all. At that time, he really had to humble himself and beg. Now it was different. Now it was not me who begged you, but you who begged me, Mr. Twain! How could he regain his lost self-esteem if he did not put on some airs? I believe you won't mind, right?
Sure enough, Twain smiled and shook his head. "It doesn't matter. The scenery here is beautiful. I just want to enjoy it."
"After so many years, I did not expect Mr. Twain to still speak Mandarin so fluently. Ha!" Xia Yang's tone made people think that he and Twain must be old friends who had known each other for a long time. This was also Xia Yang's deliberate pretense. After all, Twain was a famous European manager who had just led the England team to complete the Grand Slam of the national team. If he was friends with him, wouldn't his status also improve?
Twain did not mind the deliberate intimacy of this China agent.
"Let's get straight to the point, Mr. Xia. What is Chen Jian's reaction to the Forest team's invitation? "Twain asked directly.
"Uh …" When it came to the point, Xia Yang hesitated. "You also know, Mr. Twain, Chen Jian is very happy in RCD Espanyol. Jian is now very happy in RCD Espanyol. He is the core of the main force and has a good relationship with his teammates and coaches. The fans also like him very much and hope that he can continue to play for RCD Espanyol … You know, just this summer, we turned down the invitation of Kaiserslautern … "
Twain sneered in his heart. Now who did not know that Xia Yang wanted Chen Jian to leave RCD Espanyol, which did not have much development prospects? What was the reason why the contract renewal negotiations were always not going well? Wasn't it because the man in front of him was asking for a sky-high price? The conditions proposed were simply not met by RCD Espanyol. He did not want Chen Jian to stay here at all. He even said that "Chen Jian is now very happy in RCD Espanyol" … This kind of nonsense could be used to scare a three-year-old child, but it was too childish to use it to fool him.
"Kaiserslautern is a team that just returned to the Bundesliga last season and barely avoided relegation. It's normal that you don't like it." Twain quietly satirized Xia Yang, reminding him that he was not an idiot and not to use idiotic reasons to brush him off.
How could Xia Yang not understand the meaning of Twain's words? He suddenly felt a little embarrassed, but fortunately, he was thick-skinned and immediately put on a smile on his face. "Of course, of course. As Chen Jian's agent, I also hope he can have a better stage … You know, he is only 28 years old now, which is the time for him to achieve great things … I hope he can go to a team that can steadily participate in European competitions every year, whether it is the Champions League or the Europa League … Chen Jian himself also thinks so. "
This agent had been trained through many years of hardship. Twain satirized him, and he also satirized Nottingham Forest's current situation, that they might not even be able to participate in next season's Europa League …
Twain looked at the agent in front of him again. He was dressed like a dog, and his temperament had changed a lot compared to four years ago. The most important thing was that he was more confident. He found that this Mr. Xia was a little more difficult to deal with than four years ago … The agent from four years ago had no right to speak in front of him at all. Now, he could even oppose him tit for tat.
Nottingham Forest was now ranked 16th in the league, one step away from the relegation zone. It was really not easy to participate in European competitions next season.
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