The striker was an urgent problem that needed to be solved. Anelka had to leave. Although no club had made an offer for the French striker, Tang En knew that Anelka's two older brothers must be privately negotiating with various clubs. Tang En ignored them and let them struggle. There would be only one result in the end: Anelka would leave. He did not care how much money he made. He had come to realize this when he went against AC Milan. He wanted to teach the unruly striker a good lesson and let him know who was the boss in this team. At the same time, he wanted to teach those two greedy agents a lesson.
Anyway, the person who had strongly advocated for Anelka to be brought in was Allan. Tang En would not consider loosening his stance on Anelka's transfer just to give Allan face.
Putting the matter of Anelka aside for the time being, Tang En went to see Evan and Allan to show them his transfer list for this season.
The two of them were surprised to see that there were only a few lives on the short list.
"Didn't you say funds were tight? I'll bring in fewer people. In addition, the candidates that I can accept to be sold are also on this list. " Tang En motioned for them to flip the list over. There were a few names on the back, which were the people who could be sold.
Allan looked at this part more carefully. Over the past few years, due to Tang En's protective behavior, the team had been making more purchases than purchases in the transfer market, seriously affecting the balance of payments.
After looking at the list, Evan and Allan nodded to Tang En, expressing their full support.
Then, Evan also told Tang En a piece of news. The construction land for the new stadium had been obtained. It was in Clifton.
Tang En knew this place. It was southwest of Wilford, and southwest of Nottingham. He was a little worried because it was too far from the city center.
The current City Ground Stadium was in the city center. It was very convenient for fans from all over to watch every home game, and the transportation was very developed. But if the new stadium was placed in the small town of Clifton in the southwest … he was worried it would affect the popularity.
Allan smiled at his concern.
"Tony, it looks pretty far now. But when the stadium is built, you won't think it's far anymore. When the time comes, with the new stadium as the center, there will be a large residential area. The well-developed urban transportation will not make the roads difficult for fans who live in other places. "
Evan smiled and explained to Twain why he chose Clifton and not other places. "Actually, we also want to choose the city center with the highest concentration of people. But Tony, that needs more money. The construction costs are too high. Moreover … there isn't much open space in the city center that we can use to build a large stadium. Clifton was sold to us by the city council at a low price, but on one condition. The city council wanted us to cooperate with the development of the area. They decided to use the construction of the new stadium as an opportunity to develop a commercial and residential area there. Allen was talking to several tendering construction companies, hoping to find the most suitable one. I think the city government's plan is very good. We're worried that we won't be able to find a suitable company to build a stadium. If it's a new stadium and a large commercial and residential area, there will be a lot of construction companies expressing interest. "
Alan nodded, indicating that this was indeed the case.
"As for traffic, I think it will be much better than the current situation. Now, every home game, the City Ground stadium was packed with people. There were not enough parking spaces in the parking lot. Many people had to park their cars a mile away and walk over. Because it's right by the river, there's no way to let more fans enter at the same time. That would squeeze people into the river. At the same time, because it's located in the city center, it's not convenient to build more modern transportation facilities. The City Ground stadium was built more than a hundred years ago. It's too old. It's so old that it's difficult to even expand it. The new stadium's supporting transportation facilities include a tram line that goes straight to the square in front of the stadium. Fans can take the trams from various places directly to the stadium's gate. It's the same when they leave. "
Twain was convinced. Anyway, he was not as professional as the two men in terms of management. In short, he would do what they said. If it was really a new stadium and a residential area, maybe he would buy a house there in the future.
"Sounds like an exciting plan." Twain expressed his praise for Allen's work. "I can't wait to go to the new stadium to direct the game."
The other two men laughed heartily.
With the transfer plan approved, Twain left the chairman's office. He still had to busy himself with bringing in the players on the list and thinking of ways to sell the people on the back of the list.
※ ※ ※
The player to replace the vacancy left by Anelka's departure in the forward line was Russia's Zenit Peterburg team's star striker, Andrei Arshavin.
This player, who was known as the "new tsar" in Russia, was not a young rookie. He was a late bloomer. He was already 26 years old, but it was only in the recent season that he was recognized by the European football world.
Twain knew him and understood him because of Akinfeev.
After deciding to return Akinfeev to CSKA Moscow, Twain hired a Russian scout who was familiar with Eastern European football. He was responsible for tracking and observing Akinfeev's performance in the Russian League and faxing him a report every week so that Twain could keep abreast of Akinfeev's condition and situation.
At the same time, Twain did not know whether he hired such a scout for Akinfeev. He also hired him to discover some cheap and good football geniuses from the Eastern European football world represented by Russia.
If they were young, he would buy them and groom them himself. Regardless of whether they could play in a match for the Forest team, even if they were to be resold, they would still make a profit. In fact, before Twain took over the Forest team, this veteran club was already doing this. Remember the German youngster, Eugen Bopp? He was the new star that the Forest team had specially poached from Germany. It was just that their training of him ultimately failed. But such a failure did not affect the Forest Club's confidence in continuing to do so. This was the way of survival for many small English clubs. At the time, the Forest team did not know that they would welcome a group of nobles.
Allan was very supportive of his plan. As long as it could make money for the team, Allan, an American, would support it.
The bearded scout, Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev, who had the same name as the famous Russian chemist, not only gave him reports on Akinfeev's performance, he also recommended players he discovered from time to time, or players who were already famous in the Russian football world but were still unknown in Western Europe.
Andrei Arshavin was one of them.
After watching the video of Arshavin's play that Mendeleev sent over, Twain immediately took a liking to the small player. He was fast, skillful, and could play in almost any position in the front field. At the same time, he was smart, knew how to pass the ball, was willing to assist, and could create opportunities for his teammates. He was not an idiot who was self-centered, did not know how to cooperate, and did not know what "team spirit" was.
Such a person was too suitable for the Forest team.
Thus, Mendeleev later had an additional job: in addition to tracking Akinfeev, he also had to track Arshavin.
This made life difficult for the "Russian chemist," who often had to travel between the two places. Fortunately, his plane tickets were all reimbursed by the Forest club. Otherwise, he might have washed his hands of the job.
As the reports on Arshavin continued to be sent to Twain's desk, he became more and more familiar with the small player in Russia. He was so familiar that he already knew what he liked and disliked, even though he had not met him face to face.
It was at that time that Twain steeled his heart to put Anelka on the bench, because he had already found the best substitute for the Frenchman. Anelka wants to leave? Let him be!
So, as early as before the end of last season, the Forest club had made contact with Arshavin's agent, Lachetti.
It was just that at that time, Lachetti looked down on such a "small club." They were not as rich as the Chelsea led by Abramovich, nor were they as dazzling as Manchester United and Arsenal in today's football world. More importantly, they had just defeated Arshavin's favorite team, Barcelona, in the Champions League knockout round. Moreover, as the manager, Twain had said many disrespectful words about Barcelona before and after the game, which had been exposed by the media.
Twain did not mind Arshavin and his agent's cold treatment. For a player he liked, it was nothing even if he suffered a little. He knew that Arshavin would eventually belong to him, because he had a way to make the other party see him and his team in a different light.
That way was to win the most important championship title of the season.
After the Champions League final, the entire club was immersed in great joy, but some people could not rest. Twain had the club contact Arshavin and his agent at the first opportunity, and once again put forward his intention to transfer. He planned to listen to the player's personal wishes before contacting the club.
In the past, when he played the game, the rules stipulated that he could only first go to the club to make an offer, and then talk to the player. If the player himself was not willing, the hard work of bargaining with the club would be wasted. How could there be so many rules and regulations in reality? Every transfer led by Twain was to look for the opposing player first, and then the club.
This time, Arshavin's agent's tone was relaxed — he had no choice but to be relaxed. Arshavin had become the number 10 captain of the Zenit team and the captain of the Russian national team, and had a little fame in European football. However, those European clubs that were truly powerful only verbally expressed their interest in Andrei Arshavin. None of them actually took any action. Lachetti, the agent, had no way to bargain with the Forest team with the offers of other clubs.
And he also knew that the Zenit team would certainly not be able to keep Arshavin. Arshavin had told him, and the Zenit manager, Edward Carter, that he wanted to leave Zenit, leave Russia, and play in the highest level of Europe.
This was the confidence and dream of any high-level player, and Arshavin was the same.
Nottingham Forest's timely Champions League title also made Arshavin look at the team that had once defeated his favorite, Barcelona, in a new light.
He watched the live broadcast of the final. The Forest team almost completely suppressed the Italian powerhouse AC Milan in the final. Kaka's goal was a reflection of Kaka's personal ability, and had nothing to do with the performance of the AC Milan team. As a team that had just been promoted to the Premier League for only three seasons, the Forest team could completely shut out AC Milan in the final and win by a score of 3: 1, which Arshavin really did not expect before the game.
It was also this game that made him start to become interested in the team that had been pursuing him.
He first heard the name when his national team teammate, the main goalkeeper Akinfeev, announced that he had joined a team in the English Premier League, but he was loaned back to CSKA Moscow for a season. He knew the name of the team was "Nottingham Forest."
After that, he kept hearing the name "Nottingham Forest" and their character manager, "Tony Twain," but did not take it to heart. After all, England and Russia were too far apart. Until he received a call from his agent, Lachetti, telling him that Nottingham Forest was interested in him.
※ ※ ※
After the final, the Forest Club contacted Arshavin's agent, Lachetti, but the other side did not give them a clear answer. He just said that his player needed to seriously consider playing abroad.
Hearing this answer, Twain knew there was hope. Although he did not give an immediate answer, it was also human nature. Who would immediately nod or shake their head in such an important choice? If there was, it must be a rash person. Twain would not want the Forest team.
So, he happily went on vacation to Brazil with Shania. When he returned, he asked about the transfer progress again and heard that Lachetti had not contacted the club. He knew that Lachetti was stalling to see if there were any other teams in the transfer market that would make an offer. If there was one, he would have the confidence to bargain with the Forest.
To this end, Twain specifically went to understand the current European transfer market. There were indeed teams interested in Arshavin, but there was not a single club that had the weight to compete with the club and clearly expressed its desire to bring in Arshavin.
This time, Twain's heart was completely settled. He knew that the "new tsar" of Russia could not escape the palm of his hand.
After understanding all the situation clearly, Twain decided not to give Lachetti a chance to make waves. He personally called Arshavin's agent, Lachetti, to show him his sincerity, his understanding of Arshavin, and his fondness for him. Then he once again asked about Arshavin's intentions to transfer to the Forest team.
When the Forest manager called, Lachetti could not refuse. He knew what kind of person Twain was. He told Twain that Arshavin did have plans to play abroad, but if the Forest team's conditions could not satisfy Arshavin, then they would rather stay in Zenit.
"… After all, Andre has a lot of affection for this team he has played for since he was a child."
His words were high-sounding, and all agents liked to do this. Twain was not a rookie dealing with agents for the first time. The next day, he sent a fax to Zenit in the name of the Nottingham Forest Club, asking to buy their number 10 core player, Andre Arshavin.
This time, the Forest team offered ten million pounds.
Nottingham Forest was the first club to make an offer for Arshavin, and Zenit was not surprised. They had long been mentally prepared to sell their core player. After all, this was something that many small and medium-sized clubs and teams in Europe's second and third-rate leagues had to face.
Those talented and outstanding star players could not be willing to spend their careers in leagues that were not at the highest level. If a club in Europe's top leagues issued an invitation to them, these people would not be in the mood to train or play. Their minds would be filled with the top leagues.
Arshavin was one of them.
Ten million pounds was not a low price. Zenit pretended to refuse once. The Forest team's offer was a million pounds higher than the first offer, and Allan told Zenit's boss that if he did not accept it, this would be the final offer. As the newly crowned European champions, they had too many better options in the striker position.
Zenit's boss certainly knew that there was no shortage of strikers in the football world today. If they let go of this opportunity, who knew if there would be a next time? Those big European clubs kept saying that they were interested in Arshavin, but they never made an offer, as if they were just saying it casually. Maybe they still did not think highly of Russian players?
Zenit's boss hesitated for a moment and accepted the offer with a half-hearted refusal.
Since the club had agreed, the problem of the player himself was easily solved. Tang En knew that Arshavin liked Barcelona and wanted to play there the most, but Barcelona did not think highly of the Russian player. For the La Liga giants, they had too many world-class options in Arshavin's position. It was not worthwhile to spend so much money and energy on a Russian league player — in the eyes of the Catalans, Arshavin was not a world-class player.
Finally, after four days of negotiations, Arshavin signed his name on the personal contract.
The next day, June 23rd, the official websites of Nottingham Forest and Zenit, as well as Arshavin's own official website, announced the news at the same time —
Nottingham Forest brought in their midfield core, number 10 captain, Andre Arshavin, from Zenit in the Russian Premier League for eleven million pounds. The transfer would officially take effect on July 1st.
This was the first transfer announced by the Forest team for the new season, and it attracted a lot of media attention. Arshavin's name and his baby face appeared on a large scale in the pages of many European sports media for the first time. England's Mirror was very concerned about the new European champion's transfer move. After the deal was confirmed, they used this headline on the sports page to introduce the Forest team's first signing of the season to their readers:
"The Tsar Arrives!"
There were countless other reports about him.
The 26-year-old Russian captain finally tasted the sweetness of joining a top team in a top league.
With the announcement of this news, Anelka also knew that his days at Nottingham Forest were over.
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