A transfer fee of 16 million pounds had nearly used up half of Nottingham Forest's transfer budget for this season. Next, Tang En had to make a choice. Should he use the rest of the transfer fee to buy a heavyweight player, or buy a few players of average ability with their own strengths?
But such a choice was not a problem for Tang En.
In his heart, Nottingham Forest was bound to rise, so there was no need for him to spend all his money on ordinary players with mediocre qualities. He decided to concentrate all his "superior forces" and finish the job in one fell swoop.
He had his eyes on Valencia's David Silva …
But he faced a huge challenge, because Nottingham Forest was not the only club that had their eyes on Silva. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Liverpool, AC Milan … In this long list of suitors, Nottingham Forest was not eye-catching at all.
Tang En was determined to spend 30 million pounds to buy Silva — of course, it would be paid in installments. But Valencia did not accept payment in installments.
Last season, Valencia had a successful first half of the season. But as the league progressed, they gradually fell behind. The team's economic crisis was still not resolved, and it worsened with the advent of the global economic crisis. The Valencia club, which had originally declared that Villa and Silva were not for sale, had no choice but to consider putting these two star players on the transfer market.
As soon as the news came out, the various powerhouse clubs were like wolves that smelled blood, flocking to them.
Real Madrid temporarily ranked first in the battle to buy Villa. On the other hand, Silva was in a fierce battle.
In the end, Nottingham Forest lost due to their lack of a powerhouse's foundation and lack of wealth.
The failure of the plan to buy Silva allowed Tang En to clearly see the team's current situation — rather than hoping to poach those established and well-known star players from outside, it was better to set his sights on younger players.
He decided to make a move on those talented youngsters from England.
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While Tang En was still worrying about expanding the team's strength, his friend, "Madman" Stuart Pearce, called him. He recommended someone to him.
"I'm recommending him to you not because I can get any benefits from this transfer, but Tony." Tony, "was what Pierce said. "I just don't want his future to dim — his contract with his previous club ends this summer. But he doesn't want to stay in that League One team. He yearns for a bigger stage. I think so too. I don't think he can make any progress if he continues to play in League One. There are a lot of teams interested in him now, but I believe in you, Tony. So when he asked me for advice, I recommended you to him. "
Twain listened to Pierce talk for a long time without saying the man's name, so he asked, "Which lad is that?"
"Joe Mattock. Leicester City's left back. "
Twain suddenly understood. He had heard of this player's name many times. The English media rated him as one of the top ten most talented players in England. He was only 18 years old, but he had already been called into the England U21 team by Pearce. He had accumulated a lot of experience in the First Team in League One. He had a strong body, excellent defense, and good assists. Many clubs were very interested in him. Unexpectedly … Pierce actually sent such a person to his mouth.
"No problem, no problem. Stuart. I guarantee that you'll get an even more outstanding young man than the one you have now. "Tang En naturally promised. How could he let such a good thing slip by?
Although the team already had Leighton Baines and Gareth Bale. But considering that Bale sometimes needed to play as a left midfielder, and that Joe Mattock was very young and could be an investment in the future, this deal would be very worthwhile.
Pearce did not lie. Just two days after he called Tang En, Mattock's agent came looking for him.
What happened next was very simple. Both parties agreed on the personal remuneration and signed the contract. Nottingham Forest did not spend a single cent to get one of England's most promising left backs.
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The Forest team also made gains in other positions. Although Nottingham Forest's appeal to foreign star players had decreased and they were troubled by financial problems, it was impossible for them to compete with rich teams like Real Madrid, Chelsea, and Manchester City for famous superstars. But in the eyes of England's young players, Nottingham Forest, with its excellent recruitment tradition and unique charisma, could still attract them.
At the end of June, Charlton officially announced that their young star, Jonjo Shelvey, had transferred to Nottingham Forest for two million pounds. For a player who was not even 18 years old, the figure was not considered low. But this time last year, Shelvey's value was as high as six million pounds. If not for the economic crisis, which made many clubs more rational in their investments, it would have been impossible for Tang En to buy the captain of England's U16 national team for two million pounds.
Although Shelvey was only 17 years old, he was already a little famous in England. When he was at Charlton, he was only 16 years and 59 days old when he first played for the first team. At that time, he was replacing the injured China national team captain, Zheng Zhi. But before that, he had already won the attention of many clubs. In the 2007 Victory Shield, he was the captain, played as a midfielder, and led England's U16 national team to win the championship and scored three goals. As early as when he was in Charlton's youth team and reserve team, he became a midfield scoring machine.
Twain did not buy him because he wanted him to be able to destroy the team this season. Instead, he saw his potential and saw that he would grow into an outstanding player in the near future. Everything he did this summer was to plan for the near future, to lay in ambush and plant seedlings.
In the battle for Shelvey, what allowed Tang En to beat other teams such as Sunderland and West Ham United was only because he was Tony Twain. Tang En had been rapidly rising in popularity in the past few years. Although many people hated him, there were also many people who liked him. Especially his preference for younger players, he was even called England's "Arsène Wenger." In the eyes of many young players, playing football with Tony Twain was very exciting.
Such an advantage was not only reflected in Joe Mattock and Jonjo Shelvey.
Victor Moses, 18 years old, was a striker for Crystal Palace. Although he was born in Nigeria, his family emigrated to England when he was five years old. When he turned 16, he signed a four-year contract with Crystal Palace. Like any African player, he was extremely strong, had outstanding speed, and had outstanding skills. The only shortcoming was that although he had a height of 1.85 meters and a strong body, his header was only considered average.
Such a player became a member of Nottingham Forest this summer. Tang En positioned him as a "First Team rotation player," needing to switch identities between the First Team, the reserve team, and the youth team at any time.
In addition, Tony Twain also took a fancy to Sunderland's young all-round midfielder, Jordan Henderson. This player could play as a right midfielder, a defensive midfielder, and a striker. In the 07-08 season, he had led Sunderland's youth team into the FA Youth Cup final. Tang En planned to buy him and groom him, but Roy Keane did not care about friendship at this time — he was determined not to sell.
But Tang En was already very satisfied. Considering the "6 + 5" policy that had been implemented since 2012, Tang En's target for this time's purchase was targeted within England. He believed that as long as these young players were well groomed, they would be grounded, and there would be fewer injuries. They could all become talents.
After all, their potential was there.
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Unlike the previous few seasons when the Forest team made a big splash in the transfer market, in the summer of 2009, just entering July, the Nottingham Forest Football Club had already announced that it would no longer buy new players. The team's roster was also officially confirmed.
The news surprised the English media.
After all, just look at the players that the Forest team had brought in this summer.
John Bostock, Nicolás Millán, Adriano Moke, and Chris Cohen were directly transferred from the youth team. This could only be regarded as digging up their own potential, and not as bringing in new players.
The signing of former Leicester City left-back Joe Mattock for free, the purchase of England U16 captain Jonjo Shelvey from Charlton Athletic for two million pounds, and the signing of Crystal Palace's talented striker Victor Moses for three million pounds.
And Gabriel Agbonlahor, who was brought in for sixteen million pounds, became the Forest team's highest transfer expenditure this summer. He was also considered by the media to be the only player who had the ability to establish a foothold in the Forest team, as well as the possibility of performing well in the English Premier League. Because he had already proven his ability at Aston Villa, he did not need to prove anything at Nottingham Forest.
The staunch "anti-Tony En" warrior, Carl Spicer, satirized Tony Twain in his column that this summer was like a joke.
"… Marrying a supermodel girlfriend. Bustling and extravagant. Can't wait for the whole world to see the scene of him kissing Shania. However, he was timid when it came to acquiring new players for the Forest team, which saved the club money on this. Look at the players he bought … I only agree with Agbonlahor. As for the others, in my eyes … If Mr. Twain has made up his mind to sell these young players in the future to make a profit, I have to applaud Mr. Tony Twain's excellent economic foresight. Everyone knows that Nottingham Forest Football Club is having a hard time. Their stadium had just been built, and it was abandoned in Clifton. It was as if they were grinning and laughing at the American owner's overconfidence. The club needs money now. What should they do? Sell the players. Poaching those young players who looked like they had a lot of potential, nurturing them for a few seasons, and then selling them at a high price … It was really a good business.
But if Mr. Twain wanted to rely on these players to rise again, or to achieve some decent results … I'm sorry, but please allow me to laugh for three minutes. Could it be that in just half a season, Nottingham Forest had already fallen to the point where they had to pin their hopes on these kids who had not weaned yet? Or was Mr. Tony Twain's highest goal just to avoid relegation? And then occasionally go to the UEFA Europa League … Oh, right, he hasn't won the UEFA Europa League title yet, right? From the looks of it, the possibility is very high! But forgive me for being blunt, Mr. Twain. With your current lineup, it might be difficult even to play in the UEFA Europa League … "
This column full of sarcasm and ridicule, as well as distrust, and even a little insulting, immediately caused a strong reaction after it was published in the Daily Telegraph.
Everyone knew that Carl Spicer and Twain had an old grudge. However, his article was still very accurate without the strong personal words.
A team that had left Piqué, Bendtner, Ribéry, van der Vaart, and Arshavin was too young and lacked competitiveness … George Wood was worthy of everyone's trust, and Gareth Bale and Pepe had long proven their ability.
But it was hard to say whether Tiago was really suitable for Nottingham Forest.
Twain's insistence on giving Žigić a chance to continue proving himself was also a little worrying. After all, it was not as if he had never misjudged someone before.
Eastwood's ankles and knees were very weak, and no one knew when he would be lying on the operating table again.
Şahin? That kid had yet to prove in the Forest team whether he had really recovered to the level before his injury, and his performance was not very stable. Of course, objectively speaking, this also had something to do with the Forest team's terrible form last season.
Petrov? He was already a little old, and his speed was not as good as before. His offensive methods were also a little too simple.
Kris Commons? Well, to be honest, we've almost forgotten about him …
Although Tony Twain was called "England's Arsène Wenger," there was still a big difference between him and Wenger. Also, Nottingham Forest was not Arsenal. Even if it was Arsenal, look at the results last season when they played in various fronts as a youth team. They did not win the Premier League title, they did not win the Champions League title, they were eliminated in the EFL Cup quarter-finals, and they also stopped at the semi-finals of the FA Cup … For a team that wanted to win the championship, being too young was not a good thing, even if the manager had 23 talented youths whose potential was all -10.
Winning the championship more often than not required talent, nor was it an inspiring genius, but a stable performance and rich experience. Of course, luck was also indispensable.
If Tony Twain really wanted to rely on these young kids to revive the team, defending the title would be a little too whimsical!
We don't mind mocking him when he fails. Anyway, he now has a nuclear-powered heart. Even if he suddenly stops, he can still be saved.
He won't die.
Tony Twain was a scourge. Scourges generally lived a long life …
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