The first thing Tang En did when he started work was to reject offers from other clubs for George Wood, Gareth Bale, Pepe, Kompany, and the others. Real Madrid's offer for van der Vaart was also rejected. But unlike the previous few rejections, the reason this time was not that Rafael was not for sale, but that Real Madrid's offer was not high enough.
Tang En decided to sell van der Vaart after much consideration. First, van der Vaart himself did not have the intention to stay in Nottingham Forest. Second, he could be sold for a good price. Third, Tang En had already prepared a way out.
If van der Vaart left, there was still Şahin. If Şahin was too young, there was still Tiago. In addition, George Wood was no longer the midfield engineer who only knew how to defend.
Although the global economic crisis had affected the financial situation of football clubs, Spanish teams were different from English Premier League teams. They were membership-based clubs and never had to worry about how to make money — they couldn't because they were non-profit organizations — they only had to think about how to spend their money. For the rich and imposing Real Madrid, this was hardly a problem.
Since Real Madrid saw Nottingham Forest as a supermarket for players, Tang En did not mind ripping off a few more customers.
His answer was not to talk to him for anything less than 30 million euros.
He was not afraid of scaring Real Madrid away. Anyway, if van der Vaart did not leave, he had nothing to lose. He might even be a little happy to see it happen.
Real Madrid did not respond to the new offer for a while. They only knew that Tang En would not stop van der Vaart from leaving. So, the next step was nothing more than a matter of money.
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Seventeen-year-old John Bostock and 17-year-old Nicolás Millán each received a call from David Kerslake, the assistant manager of the First Team. He informed them that they did not have to return to the youth team after the start of training for the new season, but to report directly to the First Team.
The news made the two little guys wild with joy. They had trained in the youth team for a year and finally got a chance to play for the First Team. The team was now in a crisis of having no money to buy players. It might not be good news for the club, but for young players, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. As long as they grasped it, they could go straight to the top. Success and recognition would not be a problem.
Although Millán is a Chilean, there is no problem of him not being able to play because he does not have a work permit. In the past year, Nicolás Millán had obtained Italian citizenship. Now he was a dual citizen of Chile and Italy, so he did not need to rely on a work permit to play.
In Tang En's new plan, Bostock and Şahin would take on the heavy responsibility of organizing the midfield, while Milan would become the team's forward, helping Forest to attack and take out their strongholds.
Bostock had already been selected for England's U18 team. He had represented Nottingham Forest's U18 team several times last year in the FA Youth Cup. His performance was outstanding and he had already been named by the English media as one of England's ten most promising and promising rising stars under the age of 18. Arsenal's Jack Wilshere was ranked first and John Bostock was ranked seventh. He had once caused Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United to fight over him, but in the end, Tony Twain reaped the benefits. After putting him in the youth team for a season, the future member of the England national team finally ushered in the opportunity to prove his strength at a higher level of competition.
With Nuri Şahin, who was about to turn 21, George Wood, who was 22, Aaron Lennon, who was 19, and John Bostock, who was 17, Forest's midfield for the new season could be considered the youngest in the whole of England.
This could more or less show Tang En's determination to set off a storm of youth.
Nicolás Millán had already caused a sensation in Chilean football when he was in Chile. He played for Chile's Colo-Colo First Team at the age of 14 years and nine months, setting the record for the youngest player to play for Colo-Colo. His subsequent performance attracted the attention of many teams in Europe. But in the end, it was Tony Twain who made the first move and brought Millán to England.
Millán's technical characteristics were somewhat similar to Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo. He liked to use the flanks to attack the opponent's defensive line, using his speed and skills to bypass the defenders, and then directly threaten the goal. At the same time, he liked to ride the bicycle, just like Robinho.
After training in Forest's youth team for more than a year, Greenwood successfully made Millán understand one thing — liking to move around the flanks did not mean that he should limit himself to the flanks. He needed to make himself more well-rounded, otherwise he would not be able to survive in the cruel European professional league.
Now, he began to consciously develop towards the middle. After all, what Tang En needed was a striker, and not a pure winger. But this kind of change still needed time, and it had to be done slowly. Cristiano Ronaldo had also gone from a winger who could only use fancy techniques to entertain the audience on the flanks to a killer who scored more than 40 goals in a single season. It had also taken five seasons.
Tang En also did not expect Millán to explode with dazzling brilliance and become famous in one fell swoop this season. Since he had decided to mainly use more young people, he was certainly prepared to bear the side effects brought about by the young people. Rebuilding the team required time.
In addition, the right midfielder, Adriano Moke, who had been out on loan for two seasons, was also included in Tang En's First Team plan this time. He would be a substitute player for Lennon. Greenwood did not find it difficult at all in this regard. Originally, among this batch of players, Moke's level was already outstanding. Greenwood believed that as long as he used him well, Moke would definitely surprise Tang En. The only problem was Moke's injury-prone physique. After being out on loan last season, he had been injured for two months. That injury was a blow to him.
Along with Moke, Tang En also called the left midfielder, Chris Cohen, into the First Team's pre-season warm-up training camp. Cohen was already 22 years old. After being promoted from the youth team to the reserve team, he did not have any outstanding performance. Last season, he was loaned to Sheffield Wednesday, but he suddenly broke out and appeared in 31 games in the English Football League Championship, often performing well. So much so that when he returned to Nottingham Forest after his loan period ended at the end of the season, Sheffield Wednesday's fax came hot on Cohen's tail, asking if Nottingham Forest could sell Cohen to them. Such a move aroused Tang En's interest. He planned to keep Cohen by his side and observe carefully to see what changes had happened to the previously unremarkable player, and what strengths he could use.
Compared to Moke, who was more talented and had more outstanding speed, Cohen's various technical indicators were very average, and he was not easily injured.
In previous seasons, Tang En rarely transferred so many players from the youth team to the First Team for inspection. He still believed in the players who had already proven their ability. Even Lennon and Bale, it was because they had long proven themselves in the world before Tang En's transmigration.
This time, Tang En completely cast aside the so-called super awareness. In fact, he did not have any advanced awareness. His ignorance of the future excited him instead. How many of these people could ultimately succeed and eventually grow into the popular stars of the football world in the future? Tang En was filled with anticipation when he thought of the various possibilities that existed in the future. This gave him a greater sense of accomplishment than signing Lennon and Bale by cheating.
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Transferring four players from the youth team to the First Team at once did not mean that Tang En would not make a move in the transfer market.
Real Madrid made a second bid of 30 million euros to buy van der Vaart. This time, Tang En waved his hand and agreed! The people from Real Madrid went to discuss personal terms with van der Vaart's agent. As for whether or not it could be negotiated, Tang En did not care. He only cared about how many of the 25 million euros could be used to buy players.
Arshavin was also tempted by Italy. Juventus wanted to bring in the new Russian tsar for 18 million euros. And Arshavin also revealed his desire to make a career in the new league in an interview with the Italian media. For him, even if Nottingham Forest won two UEFA Champions League titles, it was still a small temple. A traditional powerhouse like Juventus was more attractive.
After Tang En learned of Arshavin's stance, he rejected Juventus' offer — not that he did not want to sell, but that the money was too little — and offered an offer he could accept: 26 million euros. It was up to him to buy or not to buy.
Juventus flinched.
Although Juventus shrunk at the crucial moment, Bayern Munich stepped up. They offered 25 million euros for the Forest team, hoping to bring in Arshavin. Tang En insisted on a minimum of 26 million. Either we make a deal, or we go our separate ways.
Bayern Munich hesitated for a while and finally agreed to the price.
Although he did not go to Serie A's traditional powerhouse Juventus, it was good for Arshavin to go to Bundesliga's traditional powerhouse Bayern Munich.
On the day van der Vaart signed his personal contract with Real Madrid, Arshavin also reached an agreement with Bayern Munich.
The three clubs announced at the same time. Van der Vaart joined La Liga's powerhouse Real Madrid for a transfer fee of 30 million euros, signing a four-year contract and wearing the number 23 jersey. Arshavin transferred to Bundesliga's giant Bayern Munich for a transfer fee of 26 million euros, signing a four-year contract.
The media had different opinions on the two transfers. Arshavin's departure was understandable and acceptable. After all, he had not been the core of Nottingham Forest's offense. But van der Vaart's departure was considered Tony Twain's mistake. How would Nottingham Forest play next season after losing the core of the offense in the midfield? Would they beat Žigić with a long pass? Or would they completely walk the flanks?
Nuri Şahin was not on the same level as van der Vaart in the eyes of the public. It was a pipe dream for him to replace van der Vaart and play the role of the Dutchman. As for Bostock? He was still too young.
So, for Tang En to let van der Vaart go so easily for 30 million, what was he thinking in his heart?
In fact, Tang En did not think much of it. He did intend to let Şahin take over and assist him with Bostock. But if it turned out that Şahin was still too inexperienced to take on such an important responsibility, Tang En still had a backup plan. This backup plan would take a greater risk and would certainly be scolded badly by the media. But for Tang En, that sense of accomplishment was also the greatest.
The backup plan was simple. It was not at all new and not necessarily brilliant. He would let George Wood be responsible for organizing the offense.
Exciting, right? To turn a blue-collar worker into a white-collar or gold-collar worker. This was the highest expectation Albertini had for George Wood when he was still around. Tang En thought that after so many years of training, it was time to give Wood a chance.
If Wood succeeded. An all-rounder in the midfield who could attack and defend, an attacking midfielder who could not run to death and could counterattack in the front field, if he was allowed to practice shooting well … it was really fantastical just thinking about it.
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Arshavin's departure forced Tang En to continue adding players to the forward line.
Nicolás Millán had talent, but he was too young and lacked the experience of playing in European football. Therefore, he absolutely could not have too high expectations of him. Van Nistelrooy was still recovering. It was estimated that there was no hope of him returning to the field before the end of the year. Even if he returned to the field, it was not known how useful he would be. Žigić naturally had to be nurtured with emphasis. But just one Žigić was clearly not enough. Eastwood was currently the most stable fighting force in the team's forward line. Although he would occasionally suffer some minor injuries, it did not affect his goal scoring rate. He was the type of striker who always scored at the crucial moment to save the team.
He was the striker that Tang En was most at ease with.
Apart from that, he also needed a striker who was fast and had great impact.
Tang En set his sights on Aston Villa. He took a fancy to Gabriel Agbonlahor, who had performed well last season and appeared in 30 games for Aston Villa, scoring 10 goals and assisting 6 times.
Agbonlahor was very fast, especially with his starting speed. He could easily shake off the defenders who were marking him. Moreover, he could play as both a center forward and a winger, which was very much in line with Tang En's desire for the players to be all-rounded.
Aston Villa certainly would not let go of such a player easily. Tang En decided to throw money at him.
In any case, Evan had said that since the construction of the stadium was temporarily suspended, the club would naturally fully support Tang En's actions in the transfer market.
No matter how much money was required, as long as the club could afford it, they would do their best to support it.
For this, Tang En was quite grateful to Evan. He knew that Evan was counting on the club to make money. He was thankful that Evan was a smart businessman and had a long-term vision. Otherwise, he might have sold the club during this economic crisis. Even though it was hard to say how many people would still be interested in buying a football club at this time.
Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa had reached an impasse over the issue of Agbonlahor.
Aston Villa was determined not to sell. Their attitude was as unyielding as when they rejected Liverpool's offer to buy Captain Barry last summer. Tony Twain, on the other hand, was tirelessly praising Agbonlahor's outstanding performance last season in the media. He was not stingy in expressing his appreciation for the player. He was actually waiting for his own people to deal with Agbonlahor's agent. As long as Agbonlahor himself showed that he had made up his mind to leave, then Villa would have to seriously consider whether to let go of the speedy player.
Just as Forest and Villa were engaged in a secret battle, Sun Jihai's future was also placed on Tang En's desk.
The player's fate was not as simple as Tang En had previously thought.
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