The team began training, and Forest's actions in the transfer market did not stop for a moment.
In the midfield, Forest finally bought Lennon, a young player from Leeds United that they had wanted to buy during last season's winter transfer window. As Tang En expected, Leeds United was relegated to League One and subsequently declared bankruptcy. The team faced the misfortune of possibly being relegated another level. At this time, the people within the team were moved. It was normal for anyone to want to leave the team. Tang En once again inquired about Leeds United's price for Lennon. Leeds United, who was badly battered by the debt problem, did not ask for an exorbitant price for a young player. They quoted a price that Tang En could accept — one million pounds.
Lennon himself also had a clearer understanding of the fact that he could only develop better after leaving Leeds United. If he continued to stay in Leeds United, it would be impossible for him to change the team's current situation by himself. At the age of 16, he had just been able to play in the First Team matches. At this time, Nottingham Forest, who had entered the English Premier League and was very sincere towards him, was naturally the best choice.
Tang En was worried that a long delay would bring trouble. Without another word, he made the payment and signed the contract with lightning speed. From then on, England's star of hope became a member of Nottingham Forest.
When Forest announced on their official website that England's star of hope, Lennon, had joined, the English media realized that they had been paying attention to the dispute between the newly joined Chelsea, Mourinho, and Arsenal and Manchester United in the transfer market. However, they had overlooked the quietly promoted Nottingham Forest.
Even though they still did not know how Forest would perform after the start of the season, they already had the momentum to enter the transfer market in a high-profile manner.
For this, The Sun specially did a special analysis and forecast of the various clubs' actions during the summer transfer window. The pictures placed in the headlines were of several Premier League giants' managers: Manchester United's manager, Ferguson, Arsenal's manager, Wenger, Chelsea's new manager, the talented manager who had just led Porto to become the Champions League champion, Mourinho, and Benítez, who had also joined Liverpool from Valencia, Spain, as a successful player. The person placed behind them was Nottingham Forest's manager, Tony Twain.
The article analyzed that as a new team in the Premier League and a team participating in the UEFA Europa League, Forest faced the dilemma of competing on multiple fronts. But for Tony Twain, this gave him the opportunity to expand the size of his team. Up until now, the players that Forest had mainly bought were mainly young players. It could be seen that Tang En had set his sights on the future. However, the English Premier League was a top league after all, and the club's top management would have corresponding changes in their goals for the team. If they could not achieve results that satisfied them, it would be meaningless no matter how young and talented the players were.
After bringing in Gerard Piqué and Nicklas Bendtner, as well as Aaron Lennon, what other moves would Tang En's Forest team make?
※ ※ ※
The sun at the end of June was scorching and strong. At noon, the concrete floor of the dock was scorching hot. It was lunch break, and the narrow and dilapidated pier was empty. Only one person was still sitting on the shore, ignoring the scorching sun above his head.
This was the small town of Boulogne on the west coast of France. In romantic France, this was coldly regarded as "the worst town in all of France". Poverty plagued every resident of this small town. Now it was also troubling the young man sitting in the sun.
He looked down at the seawater that was constantly crashing against the dock. The long scar on his right cheek was shocking under the sunlight.
The young man frowned, thinking about something very important to him — money.
At the age of 16, in order to pursue his heart's dream of playing professional football, he moved out of his home and went to Lille. However, he was abandoned because of his low education — Lille, like most clubs in France, required young players not only to learn football functions, but also to reach a certain level of education. Five years had passed, and now he couldn't even afford the rent.
A year ago, when he played football in Arras, he only received a subsidy of 150 euros a month. He lived frugally and could not even afford to rent a house. In order to change this difficult situation, he changed to another club, Brest in the second division. However, the situation did not improve. Other than the necessary expenses, he realized that he had not actually earned a single cent by the end of the season.
His contract had expired, and the club clearly had no intention of renewing the contract with this ugly and unlikable young man. Moreover, Brest was not in a good situation either. Now he had to find another team again … But he realized that there seemed to be no future for him in France. The big clubs were not interested in him, and the money offered by the small clubs was too little.
This was really a headache … The young man scratched his head and accidentally touched the scar on his cheek.
This was caused by a car accident when he was two years old. He flew out of the window. Although he managed to keep his life, a permanent scar was left on his face. This was the reason why he was ridiculed and teased. It was an existence that made him feel humiliated. He wanted to take a knife and dig out this scar … Of course, what he actually wanted to do most was to find a plastic surgeon to repair this scar for him. This was a good idea. Modern technology could completely meet his requirements. The only problem was … he had no money.
This failed professional football player sat by the sea with a sad face for the whole afternoon. He had no clue about his future. Dizzy from the sun, he staggered back to his rented house, which was not far from the pier. He walked straight out of the pier, through a street, and then through a clearing full of rubbish and weeds. Then he reached his house. Opening the window, he could still see the sea outside — of course, he could only open it halfway, so the view was not very good.
This was not a luxurious seaside villa, but an ordinary four-story brick building with a gray pointed roof. The young man lived in the attic on the top floor, which was dimly lit. Every time he opened that half of the window and looked out at the sea, he would think — would it be better to leave France? He really could not see his future here. In front of him was only the English Channel shrouded in fog. What was waiting for him on the other side of the fog?
He took out the key and turned the old door. He saw the fat landlady standing on the porch, holding a phone in her hand. When she heard the door open, she turned her head and saw the person who came in was Scarface. She quickly shouted, "Franck! Come here! "
She held the phone and waved to the young man standing at the door.
"What are you waiting for? He's looking for you! What a coincidence, I was just about to tell him that you are not here. Come quickly! "
She stuffed the phone into the young man's hand, turned around, and "wriggled" up the stairs.
The young man froze for a moment, then put the phone to his ear, and whispered into the phone, "Hello?"
There was a male voice on the other side of the phone. It was obviously French with an English pronunciation. "Is this Mr. Franck Ribéry?"
"Yes … It's me."
"Let me introduce myself. I'm Arnaud Duran, the Nottingham Forest Football Club's scout in charge of the French region."
The next words of the self-proclaimed scout suddenly made Ribéry feel as if he was in a fog. He even wondered if it was because he was exposed to the sun in the afternoon that he became dizzy and had hallucinations.
"It's like this. My boss is very interested in you. He wants to know — what is your answer to the invitation to join the English Premier League team, Nottingham Forest."
Nottingham Forest? Has anyone heard of this name? Wait … What did he say? Premier League team? Is there such a team in the English Premier League?
Well … I don't care much about English football.
"Mr. Ribéry?" Durandoff, the Forest team's new scout, asked again when he did not hear Ribéry's answer.
"Ah … Ah …" Ribéry opened his mouth, not knowing how to deal with the sudden news. First of all, let's not care if this Nottingham Forest is really a Premier League team, and let's not care if this name is familiar or unfamiliar. He was just worried about rent a moment ago, and now a job opportunity has come knocking on his door! Such a good thing … Will it fall on Franck Ribéry's head?
"I'm sorry, sir … I'm just, I just can't believe it … You know, my contract with my team has just expired, and … and I'm playing in the French Third Division, so … I'm not sure …" Ribéry stammered as he tried to swallow his saliva. "Are you serious?"
After he finished asking, he heard another man's voice coming from the other end of the phone. The man spoke in English and spoke very fast. He could not understand it at all. After a while, Arnaud Duran's voice came again. "I'm really sorry, Mr. Ribéry. Just now, my boss, Mr. Tony Twain, the Forest team's manager, asked me to tell you that you don't have to doubt the authenticity of this call. We are indeed interested in you, who is still playing in the French Third Division. Nottingham Forest is a team that has just been promoted from England's second division to the Premier League at the end of last season. They also won last season's EFL Cup and are eligible to participate in this season's UEFA Europa League. Mr. Twain believes that your technical characteristics are completely in line with the Forest team's tactical needs, so he hopes to talk to you about the contract. If you agree, we will prepare a plane ticket from France to the United Kingdom for you. All the expenses will be borne by the Forest club. "
After hanging up the phone, Ribéry's ears still seemed to hear Duran's words — Premier League, EFL Cup, UEFA Europa League qualification, new contract, salary …
Am I dreaming?
(To be continued. If you want to know what happened next, please log on to WWW. CMFU. COM. More chapters. Support the author. Support original reading!)
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