The transfer market would only open on July 1st. Before that, even if Arshavin had signed a contract with the Forest team, he would not be able to report to the team. He would continue to stay in Russia.
After Arshavin signed, Tang En's heart was at peace.
The Russian's arrival let Anelka know that his days in the Forest team were over, even though Tang En did not directly call his agent brother to say, "Your brother is not in my plans for next season." That was also because he no longer wanted to have any contact with Anelka. This season, Tang En really did not say a word to Anelka. Whether it was during training or during a match, whenever there was a need to explain tactics, he would let Dunn talk to Anelka. He would stand to the side and completely treat the French striker as air.
He was such a person. When they were on good terms, it was fine to joke around. Once the relationship broke down, he could easily do anything, no matter how heartless.
He knew that with Arshavin's arrival, Anelka's two older brothers would also have a result.
Sure enough, the next day, the sports news reported that several clubs were interested in Anelka. But among them, the vast majority were mid-to-lower tier teams, such as Fulham and Bolton Wanderers in the English Premier League, as well as Villarreal CF in La Liga.
Tang En was happy to throw Anelka to these teams that could only participate in the UEFA Europa League, to let him experience the fickleness of human nature and the harshness of society. But Anelka probably would not be willing to go. Perhaps Villarreal CF was not bad?
When the reporters went to interview Tang En, Tang En expressed his stance. "As long as the price is right, we are happy to sell Anelka."
That day, the Nottingham Forest Football Club received offers from Fulham and Bolton Wanderers. Bolton Wanderers offered eight million pounds, which Tang En rejected without a second thought. Back then, he had spent eight million on Anelka. Tang En did not think that a striker who had been in the team for three years and won a Champions League title would not have any value.
Fulham was slightly more generous, offering ten million. Tang En agreed to the offer. Then, the Forest Football Club informed Anelka's agent that he could discuss the terms with Fulham.
Anelka, of course, knew what Tang En was thinking. He wanted him to join a mid-to-lower tier team. He could not do as he wished. So, this time, Anelka rejected it without a second thought. He said in an interview with the media that he liked Nottingham Forest very much, liked his teammates here, liked the fans here, and liked the life here. In order to prove it, he even took out the fact that he bought a house here as evidence of his desire to fight a protracted war. In addition, he also said that he did not have any conflict with Manager Tony Twain and that he was happy to continue working under the manager.
Anyone who knew anything about the two men's stories would scoff at such an answer. Tang En was the same, but he could not do anything about Anelka.
If Anelka did not want to leave, Anelka, he could not force him to leave. He knew that Anelka was waiting for the stronger teams to make a move. The French striker certainly did not want to stay on the Forest team's bench. He was not the kind of person who was willing to take a salary on the bench.
He knew that Anelka was waiting for a stronger team to make a move. The French striker would not want to stay on the bench in Forest. He was not the kind of person who was willing to take a salary on the bench.
The price infuriated Tang En. He believed that Anelka's two elder agents had colluded with the opposing club to make use of private contact with the player to probe the player's intentions. Then, they worked together to exert pressure on the Forest team in order to buy Anelka at the cheapest price.
Tang En once again rejected Villarreal. In the rejection fax, he bluntly told the Spaniard, "Please do not come again for less than ten million pounds."
Anelka knew how to use the media to put pressure on him. How could Tang En not know how to use the media to put pressure on the other side?
He took advantage of Anelka's previous remarks and counter-attacked the other party.
"Yes. My relationship with Nicolas (Anelka) is very good. There are no conflicts between us. I hope he stays on Forest to play. As everyone knows, we lack a speedy striker. "Poor Arshavin. He was" forgotten "by Tang En just like that. "But, as a good friend of Nicolas, I won't stand in the way of his thoughts of pursuing new challenges. If he wants to seek new excitement, I'll let go. But … there's a condition here. He's a Nottingham Forest player, a striker who has just won the UEFA Champions League. He has to have an offer that matches his status. I don't think eight million pounds is a sign of respect for my players and my team. If you really want Anelka, please show enough sincerity. "
Those were pretty words. What was enough sincerity? It was enough pounds.
Tang En slightly changed the words that Anelka had once used to block him in the media, making Anelka and his agent brother suffer in silence. They could only suffer in silence. They could not openly say, "We've already reached an agreement with Villarreal. We've promised to let our players help them put pressure on Forest. We'll guarantee that they buy Anelka at the cheapest price, and then we'll get a discount."
If that was the case, Tang En would be happy to sue Villarreal and Anelka's two brothers to FIFA.
It was precisely because they knew what they were doing could not see the light of day that Anelka's two brothers were so furious. They had wanted to use Anelka's words to put pressure on the Forest Club and demonstrate their might to Tang En. They did not expect to be played by Tang En instead.
Villarreal had thought that offering eight million pounds to a player who had been on the bench for a year in the Forest team was already giving face to the Forest team. They did not expect the other team's manager to be so "unappreciative" that he even thought that eight million pounds was a beggar's money! Did he not see what kind of person Anelka had become? No one was interested in him in the transfer market! He wasn't even the main force of the team. How could he write such idiotic words like "please don't discuss again if it's less than ten million?"
Villarreal was annoyed and did not make another offer.
This time, Anelka and his two brothers were caught in the middle. They did not know if they should leave or stay.
Tang En did not care about them. He left them to their own devices and busied himself with contacting signings for other positions.
※ ※ ※
Anelka was anxious to sell himself to the big clubs. Unfortunately, he had too few appearances last season, which made many of the teams that were originally interested in him hesitate.
The others on the Forest team were different from him. The value of those who had proven their abilities on the Forest team had also risen along with the Forest team's victory in the Champions League. Many clubs had expressed their interest in the Forest players.
A few years ago, when the Forest team had yet to become famous, almost no one was interested in them. Now, the various transfer requests flying to the Nottingham Forest Football Club had left Tang En in a terrible fix.
Looking at the list of applications from these teams, it seemed like they wanted to empty out the entire Forest team's lineup.
Ribéry and George Wood were the two most popular players in the transfer market. Many big clubs had their eyes on the two of them. So far, the most substantial offer from Real Madrid for Wood was 20 million pounds.
Real Madrid's pursuit of Wood was not a matter of a day or two. Although the news had yet to be made public, there were already people in the media who had caught wind of it.
George Wood was the captain of the Forest team, the future flag and core. Even if Real Madrid offered 200 million pounds, Tang En would not sell.
Ribéry's situation was similar to Wood's. Tang En had personally dug Ribéry out of the lower leagues in France and brought him to England, giving him a chance to become a world-class star player. Now, there were also many teams that had their eyes on him, but Tang En did not intend to talk to those clubs that waved their cheques.
Nottingham Forest was not a small team that had to rely on selling out its star players to survive. It also did not say that it would fall apart after winning the championship title.
Furthermore, it was only a championship title. If Tang En were satisfied with it, he would not be Tang En.
Even though Tang En still did not want to sell any of the players that were still useful to the team, under such a backdrop, he appeared to be thinking too much on his own.
On the morning of June 27th, Tang En received a call from Mikel Arteta's agent.
In the call, the agent told Tang En that the English Premier League team, Everton, was very interested in Arteta. Moyes hoped to bring in the midfield playmaker, who could not play as a main player in the Forest team. The agent hoped to hear the club's opinion.
Tang En had originally wanted to answer "no" reflexively, but he instantly calmed down.
He knew Arteta's current situation in the team. He was hesitant about van der Vaart's arrival and George Wood's maturity, as well as the discovery of Ribéry's talent in the middle. The Spaniard could no longer find a position in the Forest team's midfield. He lacked the strength to play as a main player, and it was a waste for him to play as a substitute.
Tang En had once felt a headache over the player's opportunities to play, but he was reluctant to sell him because Arteta could form an effective complement to the team's lineup. But this was, after all, from Tang En's point of view as a manager. He did not look at it from Arteta's point of view as a player.
"My opinion? I want to hear Mikel's opinion first. "He was unwilling to answer the other party directly.
The agent told Tang En that Arteta also hoped to leave the Forest team and go to Everton, who had promised to give him a main position.
"Mikel likes you very much, Mr. Tang. He thinks you're the best manager he's ever seen, but … "The agent changed the topic." He doesn't have a stable chance to play in the Forest team. Mikel is only 25 years old. He still has a lot of room for development. But if he can't play in the matches, all this is just empty talk. Of course, he hopes to stay in the Forest team. After all, he's been here for three years and is used to the life here. But, Mr. Tang En, can you promise to give him a stable position to play? "
This question rendered Tang En speechless.
He did not want Arteta to leave, but he had never thought of giving Arteta a main position. He had always used the Spaniard as a substitute player. And in this regard, he definitely had a different opinion from Arteta.
After a moment of silence, Tang En shook his head. "No, I can't make that kind of promise. The players I choose to play are all based on their form, not their names. "
Before he could finish his "excuse," he was interrupted by the other party.
"That's right. You see, Mr. Tang En, that's how it is. So, Mikel will have no choice but to leave the Forest team that he likes and go to a team that can guarantee him a main position, such as … Everton. "
Tang En was silent for a moment. He decided to accept this reality — a military camp made of iron, a flowing stream of soldiers. There would always be people coming and going in a team. Whether it was Anelka or Arteta, their departures were all too normal in this circle.
"All right. Just like a couple who break up after a passionate love, let's be friendly. As long as Everton's offer is not too low, I'll allow him to transfer, "Tang En said with a sigh. "I still stand by what I said. My players must leave Wilford at a decent price."
"Thank you, Mr. Tang En. I believe Everton's offer will not disappoint you. "
The agent was right. As Tang En's old friend, Moyes also gave Forest face. Nottingham Forest was not like Manchester United or Liverpool. They would not sell their players to direct competitors in the same league tournament. As long as they took Tang En's face and the club's interests into consideration, Tang En would be happy to do business with them.
Moyes understood his friend very well. In Tang En's words, Everton's offer this time was "very sincere".
Ten million pounds to buy the Spanish midfielder, Mikel Arteta.
Tang En did not obstruct it. He nodded and agreed to the deal. For a substitute player, ten million was not a small amount. Everyone's economic situation was not good now. It was not the era of soaring transfer fees in the past. Back then, when Forest bought Arteta from Real Sociedad, they had only spent three million euros, which was about two million pounds. Now that two and a half years had passed, they had earned nearly eight million pounds. When Allan found out about this news, he would definitely be very happy that Tang En had completed the deal and not rejected Everton like he had rejected AC Milan in the past.
There was another reason why Tang En agreed so readily. Everton had produced Rooney before. Who knew if other geniuses would emerge from their youth training? When that time came, Forest's youth training camp would be able to replenish their fresh seedlings. Currently, Forest had expanded their scouting team for young players. They were searching for outstanding seedlings all over the United Kingdom for Tang En.
The matter between the clubs had been resolved. Tang En was no longer concerned about the small matter of the player and the club's negotiations. From his conversation with the agent, he knew that Arteta's agent must have contacted Everton's people in advance. They might have even signed the agreement in private and were just waiting for him, the manager representing Forest Football Club, to give the nod to complete the deal.
In today's football world, there were too many cases of bypassing the club to first contact the opposing team's players. Didn't Tang En often do that? It was just that everyone had a tacit understanding with each other.
The speed at which Arteta and Everton's negotiations progressed verified Tang En's guess. The next day, Everton eagerly announced their first deal of the summer on their official website — the purchase of the midfielder, Mikel Arteta, from Nottingham Forest for ten million pounds.
At the press conference, Moyes excitedly declared that he would turn Arteta into the core of Everton's midfield. He had finally obtained the player of his dreams, even though it was two and a half years late.
Arteta's departure also became the Forest Team's most significant transfer in recent years. It also seemed to have shattered Tang En's previously emphasized statement that "the Forest Team does not sell players."
Many clubs that had always been interested in the Forest Team's players seemed to have received encouragement and stepped up their pursuit of these players.
On June 29th, two days before the summer transfer market opened, two transfer requests for two different players from different clubs were placed on Tony Twain's desk.
The one on the left was from Italy. Due to the "Calciopoli" incident, Juventus, who had been ordered to be relegated to Serie B and then promoted ahead of schedule, made an offer of twelve million pounds to the Forest Team to purchase Anelka.
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