Having lost Alan Smith, Tang En could only wish the spirited striker, who was known as Mark Hughes' successor, good luck. If he still could not escape his fate in the end, then he could only sigh helplessly.
Other than Smith, the second person Tang En had his eye on was his forward partner in Leeds United — Mark Viduka. Tang En had a deep impression of the name. When he was still in school in China, he had heard of the Australian's name. That was when Leeds United's Youth Guards were at their most glorious. The entire world knew of Australia's two talented players, Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka.
At the time, Tang En still remembered that a certain domestic football magazine had described Viduka as an "Australian bull" because he was very strong. As a result, Tang En had an intuition that Viduka was a traditional English center forward who relied on his body to make a living, had rough footwork, and could only head the ball.
Only later did he realize how wrong he was. Admittedly, Viduka's strong body was his advantage, but at the same time, he was also a very well-rounded striker. Furthermore, his footwork was far from as rough as he had thought.
The three forwards in Forest Team's forward line had a common characteristic. They were too young and lacked experience in the European arena. And Viduka just happened to have such experience. Back then, the Leeds United team he was in had eliminated AC Milan.
No matter how one looked at it, Viduka was currently the most suitable striker for Forest Team. Having made up his mind, Tang En made an offer of 4.5 million pounds to Leeds United to buy Viduka. The Forest team quickly received a response. Leeds United rejected the offer.
There were a lot of teams pursuing Viduka at the same time, such as Middlesbrough, who was closest to the Australian, who also offered 4.5 million pounds. Leeds United was very optimistic about this new buyer because the Forest team was the most active team in the transfer market this summer. They felt that 4.5 million was too little for the Forest team.
This was an obvious rip-off, but Tang En was happy to let Leeds United do it. It was not that he hoped to let Leeds United earn more money and get out of the economic crisis as soon as possible. He was not that kind. He was so generous because the club's financial situation was good. Allan also hoped that Tang En could complete a "big deal". Leeds United felt that 4.5 million was too little, and Allan also felt that it was not enough.
As a result, Forest Team made a second bid. Tang En directly raised Viduka's value by 1.5 million pounds to six million pounds for the purchase of Viduka.
The price was beyond the psychological endurance of the other suitors. Even Middlesbrough, who had been determined to win the bid, hesitated. Middlesbrough was infuriated by Nottingham Forest's habit of sticking their noses in when others were nearing the end of their negotiations. Last season, they let Twain forcibly qualify for the UEFA Europa League. Now, they even want to snatch the players they like … It's really, really … helpless!
No matter how angry they were, there was nothing Middlesbrough could do. Compared with Nottingham Forest, which had just received an injection of funds and been promoted to the Premier League, Middlesbrough was actually very poor. Their annual transfer budget was pitifully small. Why else would they have to wait for the players to be discounted before they could buy them?
Naturally, the Australians would not reject a team that could participate in European competitions that wished to bring them in. Between Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest, there was practically no hesitation in choosing which one to sign. After Viduka learned that Forest Team had raised their offer for the second time, he immediately informed his agent to terminate the negotiations regarding his personal contract with Middlesbrough and wait for Leeds United to reply to Nottingham Forest. He believed that the club, which was in a financial crisis, would similarly not reject such a good opportunity. Leeds United had already profited by being able to sell him without losing a single cent. Four years ago, when Viduka had transferred to Leeds United from the Scottish Premier League team Celtic, the latter had spent six million pounds.
As he expected, Leeds United had no reason to reject such an offer. They agreed to let Forest Team and Viduka enter into negotiations regarding his personal remuneration. For things to progress to this stage, it was very smooth. Three days later, Nottingham Forest's official website once again updated their transfer news. The Australian national footballer and famous striker, Mark Viduka, appeared on the latest transfer list.
The fans cheered for Viduka's addition to the team because Viduka had already sufficiently proven himself in the English Premier League over the past four seasons. Everyone believed that his arrival to Forest Team could increase Forest Team's attacking power. At the same time, he could also provide valuable experience to the young Forest Team's forward line.
Allan was also very satisfied with the deal. Viduka's popularity in Australia was comparable to Kewell's, and his long experience in the English Premier League gave him considerable influence in England. Such a powerful striker was clearly much better at doing business than Bendtner and Piqué, and the results were seen faster.
The excited marketing manager had even thought of the cover of the team's magazine. They would use the photos of Viduka, Hierro, Albertini, and Eastwood. The first three had just joined the team in the summer and were players with high reputations. Eastwood's selection was a necessary method to curry favor with the fans. The Romani was the "Most Popular Player" as voted by Forest Team's fans last season.
After buying Viduka, Tang En told Evan and Allan that he no longer needed to buy anyone else in the transfer market. Other than those who were certain to leave the team and were not part of his plans, Forest Team's lineup was basically fixed. If any problems were discovered in the Premier League, they could make adjustments during the winter transfer window.
Nottingham Forest, which had just been promoted to the English Premier League, had burned through 12.42 million pounds in less than two months. Tang En did not think that the money was spent too much. He felt that every penny was spent where it needed to be spent. The team's strength had undergone an earth-shattering transformation from half a year ago.
After confirming that the transfer activities would stop, Tang En gathered the players he had bought this summer and held a press conference to meet the fans.
He stood in the middle. On his left was the former Spanish captain, Fernando Hierro, Barcelona's youth team's main center back, Gerard Piqué, the Frenchman, Pascal Chimbonda, and the defender, Matthew Upson, who had transferred to Forest from Birmingham City. On his right was the former Italian international footballer, Demetrio Albertini, the young player, Aaron Lennon, the Danish rising star, Nicklas Bendtner, the unknown French player, Franck Ribéry, and the last Australian striker to join the team, Mark Viduka.
Among these people, there were experienced veterans who had won countless championships, star players who were in their prime, and youngsters who represented the future and hope.
Surrounded by these people, Twain grinned happily in the face of the reporters' raised cameras, illuminated by the flashing magnesium spotlights.
This was his team, a team he had bought exactly according to his wishes. With these people, he could look forward to even more. It was not just to avoid relegation. Forest Team's goals were even greater than they could imagine!
(To be continued, if you wish to know what happened next, please log on to WWW. CMFU. com. More chapters. Support the author. Support original reading!)
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