Tang En had long forgotten what he had said to Rebrov last December during halftime of the team's home game against Crystal Palace: "I'll put you on the transfer list." After half a season of integration, Rebrov was completely able to find a place in the Forest team. He had never considered fulfilling his promise.
So, when he received the fax from Dynamo Kyiv, his first reaction was shock. He had never thought of selling Rebrov. The Ukrainian was one of the few experienced players in the Forest team. Currently, the Forest team was dominated by young players. Even though they were all talented, they lacked the last thing they needed: experience. The English Premier League and the First Division were two completely different leagues. The lower leagues were often dominated by young players, and the big clubs were also happy to loan their young players to the First Division teams for training. But in the English Premier League, there were very few teams that were willing to let the majority of young players start. Many managers could not bear the responsibility of letting young players play and losing results.
Tang En had bought so many young players. On one hand, it was because of his pedophilia problem from playing Football Manager. On the other hand, it was out of helplessness. There were not many players who were experienced and worthy of playing who could still meet his requirements.
For Nottingham Forest, although Rebrov was limited by his stamina and injuries in the second half of last season and did not have many opportunities to play, his experience helped the team a lot at the last moment.
Tang En snapped back to reality and looked at the name on the fax again. Without thinking, he rejected Dynamo Kyiv's transfer request.
Before the next day's training, Rebrov found Tang En. "Sir, the chairman of Dynamo Kyiv gave me a call."
Tang En sighed in his heart. It turned out that the Ukrainian club had prepared for both.
"Chairman Surgis told me that Dynamo Kyiv needs me. I believe him. "
Tang En looked at Rebrov and said, "So, Sergei. What if I also say that I need you? Do you believe me? "
Rebrov smiled. "Of course, I believe you, sir. But Dynamo Kyiv also promised me a main position. Sir, in this season's Premier League, will I still be promised a main position? "
Tang En's question hit the nail on the head. He had indeed never considered giving Rebrov a main position. In a competitive league like the English Premier League, Rebrov's gradually aging knees became the biggest problem restricting his performance. It would be too irresponsible of him to give the main force position to an old general who might get injured frequently.
But Twain knew that if he were to speak his mind, the possibility of losing Lebrov would be as high as 80%.
After pondering for a while, Tang En asked, "Sergei, if I say that I'll promise you a main position, I'll give you the main position. Will you stay at Forest? "
Lebrov nodded without hesitation. "I will, sir. It's my honor to play under you. "
Lying could keep a player who played a certain role in the team, but once this person discovered that he had been deceived, then his relationship with Tang En would be done for.
Tang En sighed. "I really want to lie to you, Sergei. But I have to be honest with you. When this season starts, you won't be the absolute main force … "
This was an expected answer. As an old professional player who had mingled in a number of clubs, Lebrov had a clear understanding of his future. He nodded and smiled. "Thank you, sir, for not using lies to brush me off. I also want to thank you for giving me pointers during my most difficult times … "
Is this a farewell declaration? Tang En thought. Collymore had spent two million pounds to bring him from North London to Nottingham. Now, Forest had the opportunity to sell him for three million euros, earning a million. It was a very good deal no matter how one looked at it. Moreover, this offer also showed how fanatical Kiev Dynamo was about Lebrov.
The player wanted to leave, and the team wanted. The Forest team lost a veteran, but could net a million pounds …
Tang En nodded. "If you feel that returning to Ukraine will be better for you, I'll agree to you leaving the team. But Sergei, I have to remind you for the last time … When you return to that cold Eastern Europe, it means that you've said goodbye to European mainstream football … "
Lebrov, who had received the manager's approval, was in an exceptionally good mood. He smiled. "Sir, do you think I'm fantasizing about joining a powerhouse team and winning the Champions League? I've already passed the age of dreaming. Now, it's time for me to properly consider the time before I retire. "
He was right, and Tang En had nothing else to say. At Lebrov's current state, it was too unrealistic to think about conquering the world …
"Well, you win … I wish you good luck, Sergei." Tang En waved his hand.
"I wish you good luck too, sir."
※ ※ ※
A day later, Sergei Lebrov became the first confirmed person to leave Forest this summer. Kiev Dynamo bought the Ukrainian, who had played with confidence and form in the midfield position, for three million pounds.
The media fully affirmed Tang En's ability to train players. Lebrov's true performance had only been outstanding for half a season, starting from when Tang En took over as Forest's coach. His value did not fall but rose in one season, which was enough to explain the problem.
Lebrov's departure strengthened Tang En's determination to find an experienced veteran for Forest's midfield. Currently, the team was severely lacking players in the middle of the midfield. Only George Wood and Branya Gunnarsson were confirmed to be in Tang En's plans. The others were likely to face the fate of being purged — if not on loan, then sold.
The team needed veterans. A team full of youngsters was equivalent to a limp. So, which veterans were more suitable for Tang En's requirements?
He suddenly thought of someone.
He thought that he might have to take a trip to Italy with his interpreter.
Being a professional team's manager was great; he could travel at public expense!
After informing Evan of his destination, the club immediately arranged everything for Tang En. Bringing along an Italian translator, Tang En flew to Milan, Italy, in the afternoon.
In the evening, when he was having dinner at the restaurant they had arranged, the two people sitting opposite him were his agent, Blanquini. The other was Tang En's target for flying to Italy this time — the curly-haired man who did not look like a celebrity at all and always had a commoner's smile on his face, Demetrio Albertini.
When he was a fan, Tang En was not a die-hard fan of a certain team who would support the team of his choice, rain or shine. He was the philanthropic type — he liked many teams, but he would not quarrel endlessly with another person because of the century-old feud between Real Madrid and Barcelona. He liked many football stars, but he would not hate a particular player just because he liked that player.
He was not an AC Milan supporter, nor would he shed tears of excitement for Milan to win the European Championship once. But he liked the man sitting in front of him.
He was once the vice-captain of the Serie A powerhouse AC Milan and had a high reputation among the fans. He was the absolute main force of AC Milan and the Italian national team, and was considered by Old Maldini to be "a sneeze and the Italian national team would catch a cold." The honors he had received and the big scenes he had experienced were probably not enough to be recounted in two days and two nights. But that was already in the past.
Today, he had long been kicked out of AC Milan and was now planning to terminate his contract with Lazio because Lazio, which was deep in financial crisis, could not afford to pay his salary — 1.25 million euros after tax.
For Lazio, which was badly battered by financial problems, this was not a small sum of money. They had just signed a two-year contract with Albertini, whom Milan did not want, in January of this year. 1.25 million a year, that was 2.5 million over two years. But for Nottingham Forest, the upstart of the English Premier League, which had completely shaken off the economic crisis, they could still afford the money.
This was why Tang En had chosen Albertini.
Tang En believed that Albertini was not so old that he could only muddle through his salary on the bench and quietly wait to retire. He wanted to give the Milan man a chance, and at the same time, he wanted to give the Forest team a chance — a chance to become more mature and stronger.
But he was not without competitors this time. The day before he came to Milan, the head of the Atlanta club's marketing department, Larini, had just met with Albertini's agent, Blanquini. This was an event that was in line with the normal course of history. Well, I mean, if Tang En had not interfered …
"Demetrio, we all know Lazio's current situation, and I also know that Atlanta is very interested in you. But please do not doubt the sincerity of our Forest team. Do you believe that your career is over? Do you think you have reached the point where you have to go to a lower tier team in Serie A to survive? " Tang En began to use his silver tongue, hoping to persuade Albertini to terminate the negotiations with Atlanta and switch to the embrace of Nottingham Forest.
After waiting for the Italian translator to translate Tang En's words, Albertini fell into deep thought.
When he was abandoned by AC Milan in the 02-03 season and loaned to Atlético Madrid, he was still full of fantasies about returning to San Siro. But when he returned to Italy after spending a season in Spain, he found that there was no place for him in Milan.
(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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