Chapter 190: Changing situation
Summer of 2003 was destined to be anything but calm. While Inter Milan made drastic changes to their lineup, the European football market was experiencing turbulence.
Real Madrid made their move first. After initial probing, Florentino Perez understood that Moratti wouldn't give up Wang Feng at this time, and Wang Feng wouldn't choose to leave now either.
The "one big star per year" plan continued. The helmsman of the Galacticos set his sights on David Beckham of Manchester United. When it came to the most influential and commercially valuable player in the world, Beckham was undoubtedly on top.
If it weren't for Wang Feng's emergence, Real Madrid's target would surely be this English superstar. This conspicuous situation naturally became a hot topic for the media. Therefore, Florentino Perez had previously stated that he would temporarily not consider buying this Manchester United star, cutting off the media's expectations.
However, circumstances change. Real Madrid didn't mind breaking their word. They hadn't shut the door completely, and at this time, due to various reasons, Beckham had fallen out with his mentor Ferguson. So, they quickly reached an agreement, and Beckham ultimately transferred to the Galacticos for 35 million euros.
The Real Madrid dressing room, already filled with stars, would become even more complex. Plus, Florentino Perez's focus was solely on star players, neglecting important role players, leading to Claude Makelele's departure. The future of the Galacticos might not be as smooth as expected.
Barcelona wasn't as "generous" as Real Madrid. Gaspart was making a final effort because behind him, Laporta was eyeing him intently. To win the presidential election, he needed to show results, so he had to successfully bring in Wang Feng.
One hundred million! According to Balmond's information, Barcelona's latest transfer offer for Wang Feng had risen to this terrifying figure. If the media got wind of this news, it would surely cause a sensation in the football world.
This offer was almost beyond Gaspart's authority, and he could only choose to pay in installments. But Moratti remained unmoved, leaving Gaspart in a dilemma.
Laporta then began his move. His plan relied on bringing in Ronaldinho from Paris Saint-Germain to rebuild the team around him. At this time, Ronaldinho was already famous, with impressive performances in the FIFA U-20 World Cup and the World Cup.
Although he hadn't yet graced the stage of the Champions League, the main reason was Paris Saint-Germain's poor level, which had little to do with Ronaldinho himself. Thus, it didn't affect outsiders' evaluation of him.
This plan impressed most of the top brass. When it seemed unlikely for Wang Feng to come, Ronaldinho became a good alternative. His excellent technical skills should be well-suited to Barcelona's possession system. Plus, he had competed head-to-head with Wang Feng before, albeit in the UEFA Cup.
The result was self-evident. Laporta successfully defeated Gaspart. His first act in office was to fulfill his promise and initiate Ronaldinho's transfer.
At that time, Paris Saint-Germain had been negotiating smoothly with Manchester United. Ronaldinho himself was very satisfied with the prospect of going to Manchester, a bustling city.
Unexpectedly, Barcelona intervened suddenly, convincing Paris's top brass with a bid of 30 million euros, much higher than Manchester United's offer. Manchester United couldn't match such a high offer for a player who hadn't yet played in the Champions League.
Ronaldinho was stunned. He was thinking about the vibrant nightlife of Manchester, and suddenly he had to go to Catalonia?
"If I'm not mistaken, Barcelona was the club originally chasing Wang Feng, right? Have I become a backup?" The Brazilian looked at his agent with frustration.
His agent certainly knew about Ronaldinho and Wang Feng's "rivalry." When Paris failed to sign Wang Feng, they bought Ronaldinho. Although he performed well, he was always criticized by the local media as not being as good as Wang Feng.
Now, if he went to Barcelona, he would surely be compared with Wang Feng again, which was simply terrible for Ronaldinho!
But Ronaldinho didn't have the right to veto the deal, and his agent could only comfort him, saying, "Ronaldinho, think about it this way. If you can lead Barcelona to good results, then you can break free from Wang Feng's shadow, right?"
"And Barcelona isn't Paris Saint-Germain. They have a solid foundation and enough funds. Their platform is even better than Inter Milan's. The new president of Barcelona promised me that you would be the core of the team, which is an excellent opportunity surpassing Wang Feng!"
Ronaldinho nodded helplessly. Why was making money so difficult? It seemed that if he went to Barcelona, he would have to stay away from the nightlife and focus on playing football.
Another major news in European football this year was Roman Abramovich's successful acquisition of Chelsea, ushering in the era of big spending in the English Premier League. They splashed money in the transfer market, bringing in many new recruits for the crisis-ridden team.
Chelsea's wizard, Deco, Parma's striker, Adriano, Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech, Ivorian "Beast" Didier Drogba, Chelsea for the new season was full of momentum.
Actually, Abramovich also wanted Claude Makelele from Real Madrid and Andriy Shevchenko from AC Milan. The former was recommended by coach Ranieri, and the latter was because of the fellow countryman's affinity.
But Makelele was ultimately intercepted by Inter Milan, and AC Milan also made it clear that they wouldn't sell Shevchenko. These two deals fell through.
While English football was still shocked by Chelsea's extravagance, a transfer that no one noticed was completed between Sporting Lisbon and Manchester United.
In a friendly match against Sporting Lisbon, Ferguson immediately set his sights on the young Cristiano Ronaldo. "He's a talented kid. With proper training, he might be able to rival Wang Feng!"
His assistant seemed somewhat skeptical, but Ferguson didn't explain further. Instead, he directly brought Ronaldo back to Manchester for 12.24 million pounds.
In Serie A, despite being the most anticipated league in the world, they weren't the protagonists in the transfer market. Inter Milan was busy strengthening their lineup, while AC Milan aimed for long-term development.
They competed with Bayer Leverkusen for the genius newcomer Kaka. In the end, the Brazilian chose the Rossoneri, as he wanted to test himself in the highest level league and, more importantly, to compete with Wang Feng!
Currently, he definitely couldn't compare himself to Wang Feng, but the young Kaka was not convinced. He wanted to know how big the gap between them was, which would be his direction for future efforts.
Juventus became the most anxious club. They only ranked third in the league, and their Champions League campaign ended in the semifinals. The team needed reinforcements to compete better. They spent 12 million euros to bring in Ajax's genius Van der Vaart to bolster the attack and brought back midfielder Stankovic from Lazio.
Lazio and Parma faced further economic pressure, with the phenomenon of losing outstanding players being very serious. The new season would probably still be difficult to threaten the positions of the "Big Three" in the north.
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