Last season, he was loaned to Lazio by Ancelotti in exchange for Pancaro. During the winter break, Galliani clearly told Albertini, who was still fantasizing, "There's no place for you in AC Milan today, Demetrio. Pirlo, Gattuso, these youngsters have done very well in your position. Besides, we still have Kaka … "
Albertini was finally sure of one thing: he might not know where the last stop of his career would be, but it would definitely not be at the San Siro.
Just like that, in this cold winter, Albertini left Milanello alone and signed a new contract with Lazio. He would work for them for two years with an annual salary of 1.25 million euros after tax. From then on, he completely took off AC Milan's red and black striped shirt and changed into the blue jersey of Azzurri Lazio.
He did not expect his Lazio career to end after just one season. Due to financial difficulties, Lazio needed to sell a number of players. Albertini, who was considered "old and frail", was naturally on their purge list. In fact, even if Lazio didn't settle things with Albertini, his agent, Blanquini, had the intention to lay his cards on the table with Lazio.
As a matter of fact, Atalanta, who had just been promoted from Serie B to Serie A, had invited his players.
If the Englishman hadn't appeared, they might have agreed to the Atlanteans' conditions …
But now, Tony Twain came with an Italian translator and gave them an even more tempting invitation — a position as a main player in the Forest team, an annual salary that was not lower than their original salary at Lazio (various bonuses were not included), and a chance to participate in the UEFA Europa League. Also … as long as two years, and the last year of the contract would be renewed for another year depending on their form and number of appearances.
Albertini and Blanquini muttered a few words before his agent raised his head and said to Tang En, "Demi would like to know why you specifically came all the way here from England, hoping that he, who is already planning to retire, would join the team?"
Since he was willing to ask, it meant that there was a way. Tang En was overjoyed. "Although we are the same as Atlanta, we are both promoted teams. But Nottingham Forest's goal is not to avoid relegation. We have a bigger plan. Does Atlanta qualify for this season's UEFA Europa League? We do! Moreover, the Forest team is now dominated by young people. I believe your experience is what the Forest team needs most, Demetrio. Also, I think … Demi, 32 years old, it's too early for you to start thinking about retirement! Thirty-two-year-old Paolo Maldini is still AC Milan's captain. Thirty-two-year-old Rijkaard led a group of youngsters to win the Champions League title. And you, Demetrio, I'm not lying, but you have the same chance now. "
Tang En cited two important players in AC Milan's history. These were real examples that happened around Albertini, and the weight was not light.
Albertini was silent for a while before he personally asked, "I heard that the Italian players don't seem to be happy in England …"
"Oh no." Twain shook his head. "Think about Zola. Think about Vialli. Zola was the best foreign aid in Chelsea's history and was only behind Cantona in the Premier League's best foreign aid of the decade. That's quite an accomplishment, Demi. I'm sure you won't be worse than them. Besides, what does Atlanta have that appeals to you? Their jerseys only remind you of Inter Milan … "
This factor might not seem remarkable, but it might play a decisive role.
What Tang En said was right. Atlanta's home jersey was a blue-and-black striped shirt. If it were a different advertising sponsor, it would look no different from AC Milan's city rival, Inter Milan, from afar. Albertini was a staunch AC Milan supporter. Even in the 02-03 season, when the AC Milan club made it clear that they were going to abandon him, he said, "If I have to leave, I hope it's to play abroad. Because I don't want to be enemies with AC Milan. "In the end, he went to Atlético Madrid.
Although he still went to Lazio the next season, Tang En believed that it was a helpless move. No foreign teams were interested in him. In order to be able to play football, he could only choose to be loaned by Milan to Lazio in order to loan Ancelotti's favorite Pancaro from Roma City. This might be the last contribution he could make to Milan.
With better conditions than Atlanta, the manager's trust and high regard, and the psychological burden of not having to face AC Milan, Tang En firmly believed that Albertini belonged to him. So, he stopped talking and quietly waited for the answer from the other end of the table.
After listening to Twain's words, Albertini closed his eyes. For him, the seemingly uneventful future had changed again. What should he do at the end of his career?
There was no exciting goal in going to Atlanta. Maybe he would wear the captain's armband, play for two years, and then announce his retirement in obscurity. Only then would people remember — Ah, so Albertini from the Milan dynasty is still playing football!?
What kind of evaluation would he get when he decided to retire three years later? He would go to a strange team in a strange country for a brand-new challenge and lead a group of young lads toward a goal higher than the UEFA Europa League?
Should he choose to die in obscurity, or try a new adventure? Perhaps he would succeed, or perhaps he would still leave in obscurity …
Perhaps it was a long time, perhaps it was only a half-minute pause. Tang En finally waited for Albertini's reply.
The Italian, who had curly hair and a slightly pale face, nodded lightly, "I think … Mr. Tony Twain, even though I'm not familiar with your team, and I'm not even familiar with English football. But I think … this might be a choice worth taking a risk for me. You trust me, and I won't let you down! "
In that instant, the dejected Albertini disappeared. In his place was a young man who had regained the glow of youth, bursting with boundless energy and competitiveness. That's right, the Englishman was right. It was too early to consider retirement at the age of 32!
※ ※ ※
Three days later, Demetrio Albertini's name was not on Lazio's official list of gold-digging players in Japan. The next day, Lazio Football Club announced that they had terminated Albertini's contract. The club thanked Albertini for his contribution to the team in the past year and wished him the best of luck.
That afternoon, Nottingham Forest's official website was the first to announce that the team had brought in the Italian midfielder Demetrio Albertini, who had terminated his contract with Lazio, for free. Both parties had signed a two-year contract. In the last year of the contract, it would depend on Albertini's performance and appearances to decide whether to extend the contract for another year.
On the news was a photo of a curly-haired Italian and Tony Twain standing together, holding a Forest jersey in their hands. The number on the jersey was the same as Albertini's number in Milan — number 4. The only difference was that there were no traces of black on it other than red.
※ ※ ※
After dealing with Albertini's transfer, Twain continued to set his sights on the experienced veterans. They were the people that the Forest team needed the most now.
Another person who entered his sights was the former Spanish national team captain, Hierro, who had just left the Qatar League and was the captain of the La Liga powerhouse Real Madrid.
Unlike Albertini, Hierro left Real Madrid not because of his age and declining competitive form, but because he had offended the club's top management. So in the summer of 2003, Real Madrid had just won their 29th league title. The next day, Hierro was kicked out by Florentino.
When the news was announced, it caused quite a stir. Hierro, who had left the team, followed his agent's advice and went to play in the rich Qatar League. But after a season, he could not tolerate the days of playing in Qatar just to make money, or rather, he felt that he had not fallen to the point of going to the Qatar League to make money. So after a season, he decisively terminated his contract with the Qatar League team and decided to find a European team with some strength.
At this time, the Forest team and Bolton Wanderers approached Hierro's agent at almost the same time, and the results were the same as the previous times. Nottingham Forest, who had much better conditions than Bolton Wanderers, won Hierro's favor. The former Real Madrid captain thought that Tony Twain's Forest team was a team that really wanted to do something big, and that he did not lose out by coming here. In other words, he had the chance to slap the Real Madrid chairman, Florentino, in the face in such a team.
The outside world had a lot of opinions about the choices of Albertini and Hierro. Among them, the more popular view was that the two had reached the end of their careers and hoped to come to a team to play their remaining energy and then wait to retire. No one would believe that they came here with great ambitions and dreams of success.
This was understandable. After all, losers always thought that everyone in the world was like them.
They would not have the chance to hear Twain's words when he introduced the two veterans during team training: "Boys, from now on, if you don't work hard, your positions will be taken by the old guys!"
(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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