Chapter 408: Disturbance, kick off
In recent years, the most attention-grabbing transfer market is not La Liga, but the financially robust English Premier League. After Chelsea acquired Deco and Bosingwa, Arsenal got Nasri and Ramsey, and Tottenham signed Modric and Bentley, the new rich Manchester City finally began to make moves.
Although the Abu Dhabi consortium has not completed all the acquisition procedures, a steady stream of funds has already flowed into the club's account, making the newly appointed CEO Gary Cook smile with joy.
They first made a bid of ��35 million to acquire Tottenham striker Berbatov, which was one-third higher than the ��22 million offered by Manchester United, so naturally, Tottenham readily agreed.
But embarrassingly, the club couldn't contact the player. After inquiring from various sources, they found out that the Bulgarian had already gone to Manchester, personally received by Ferguson at Carrington training ground.
Furthermore, Berbatov explicitly stated that he would only consider joining top-tier teams. If Tottenham disagreed, he would refuse to train and play. In this deadlock, Manchester United continued to raise their offer to ��30.75 million. Reluctantly, Tottenham had to agree. This "forced marriage" operation also became one of the topics of discussion among Premier League fans.
With money to spare, Manchester City searched everywhere for suitable targets. However, after finishing ninth in the league last season and not even qualifying for European competitions, they naturally couldn't attract big-name players. After all, not everyone is swayed by money.
At this time, the English newspaper "Daily Mirror" suddenly revealed that Manchester City had been negotiating with Real Madrid, hoping to bring in the Chinese superstar Wang Feng. For this, they were willing to pay a staggering ��200 million in a lump sum, equivalent to �250 million!
This news swept across Europe like a hurricane, leaving everyone with one thought in their minds: ��200 million? Did I hear that right? Is Manchester City crazy?
Since Real Madrid signed Wang Feng for a record-breaking transfer fee two years ago, no other player has entered that realm. Could this Chinese superstar break his own record this time?
Everyone wanted to know if the news was true, and whether Wang Feng was worth it. Upon closer inspection, as a 25-year-old superstar with immense talent and huge commercial value, it didn't seem entirely unreasonable.
Not long after, Gary Cook suddenly accepted an exclusive interview with The Times. Cook admitted Manchester City's bid for Wang Feng and stated that as long as Real Madrid agreed, the Sky Blues were fully capable of meeting their demands!
At the same time, he also indicated that the club would offer the Chinese superstar treatment far beyond what he currently receives. "Look at his achievements and performance. I believe any cost is worth it," he said.
This news caused a frenzy in the media worldwide. Real Madrid fans in Spain panicked, making banners to protest against this "forced purchase" behavior and urging the club not to waver.
Media outlets, primarily led by "Marca" and "AS," heavily criticized Manchester City's actions, even calling on UEFA to start discussions on whether policies should be enacted immediately to limit clubs' endless raising of player transfer fees.
"Wang, you must believe in the club. We will never sell you, no matter how high the offer is. I hope you can stay at Real Madrid with peace of mind," Florentino personally called Wang Feng and said.
"Of course, sir. Honestly, Manchester City did inform me that they would offer a very generous package, but I feel it's more important to stay at Real Madrid and continue the team's glory. Besides, I'm satisfied with my current salary," Wang Feng candidly replied.
Due to winning the double last season again, according to the contract, the Chinese superstar's after-tax annual salary would increase to �14.5 million, already the highest in the world. Though Manchester City offered much more, Wang Feng didn't care. The FengYao Group could bring him significant returns, and in the football world, he only wished to continue his honor.
Therefore, he did not inform Florentino of the specific treatment offered by Manchester City. Otherwise, it might seem like he was trying to raise the price. The Spaniard was very pleased with Wang Feng's attitude. "Real Madrid will continue to consider you as the core, striving for personal honors. After all, we have a say in UEFA that Manchester City can't match."
With both parties in agreement, they could finally make a statement to the public. This period of turmoil in the transfer market finally came to an end. It's worth mentioning that Manchester City failed in their pursuit of Wang Feng, but after searching in vain, they finally found a star willing to transfer, Sevilla's Robinho.
The Brazilian joined the Sky Blues, even foregoing Champions League football just for the lucrative offer they made. During the transfer process, there was a ridiculous incident.
Manchester City offered �42 million, and Sevilla gladly accepted. Robinho was also willing to move. With almost unanimous agreement from all sides, the Brazilian suddenly claimed that his value was too low.
If it weren't for the precedents set by Wang Feng and Zhu Yu, he might not have felt this way. But now, it always gave the impression of a "low-priced replacement." Although his abilities and honors were not comparable to the Chinese superstar, he couldn't be sold short!
So Manchester City had to set the transfer price at �50 million, adding an extra �8 million for no reason. Sevilla was delighted, and Robinho finally became the transfer king of the season.
The opening ceremony of the Olympics took place on the evening of August 8th, but the men's football group stage officially began on August 7th. Therefore, after the World Cup qualifiers ended, Wang Feng flew back to Madrid to spend half a month with his family before joining the national team for training.
He was greeted by the team leader and head coach of the national team, Ying Tiesheng. He said with a stern face, "Wang Feng, while it's no problem for you to spend time with your family, other players have been training and warming up for a long time. I hope you can integrate into the team as soon as possible."
Wang Feng smiled disdainfully. This was just a show of power and social etiquette. He was familiar with the taste. So he promised, "Coach Ying, you can rest assured. I will intensify my training."
When he arrived at the training ground and saw his national teammates, there were some familiar faces like Gao Lin and Chen Tao, as well as some unfamiliar ones. But every player looked at the Chinese superstar with admiring eyes.
It's not an exaggeration to say that many of them grew up watching Wang Feng play football. At only 25 years old, he had already been a star in the football world for seven or eight years.
After exchanging brief greetings with everyone, Wang Feng actively entered the training state, meticulously completing the exercises arranged by the coaching staff. Even during breaks, he would continue practicing. Even Ying Tiesheng had to admit that his success was reasonable.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺