Chapter 629: Fierce Competition, Earthquake
Just like Real Madrid, Barcelona also urgently needed reinforcements this summer. In order to raise funds for the transfer market, the management had to sell a large number of players.
Viya was sold to Atletico Madrid for 5.1 million euros, Thiago went to Bayern Munich for 25 million euros, while the non-renewed Valdes was sold to Monaco for 10 million euros.
The inconsistent Fabregas was sold to Chelsea for 32 million euros. In addition, players like Adriano, Dos Santos, Bojan, Cuenca, Fontas, among others, were all cleared out.
As Real Madrid gave up on Suarez, Barcelona actively contacted them and eventually brought him back to Camp Nou for a whopping 72 million euros.
"Welcome, my friend, the new strong force of the team!" Messi left a message on social media, his excitement evident in every word. He had high hopes for Suarez's arrival.
However, the Barcelona management felt bitter because just the Uruguayan star alone spent all the funds they had raised. What to do next in terms of transfers?
In deep thought, Rosell decided to leverage by selling 10% of the club's La Liga broadcast rights for the next 10 years. Due to the club's immense global influence, the buyer paid 97 million euros after evaluation, relieving the urgent need for funds.
This "leveraging" could be seen as a mortgage, which was previously used by Real Madrid President Florentino Perez in 2000, where cash was obtained by selling shares.
When the financial situation stabilized after Wang Feng's arrival, they would repurchase the shares at the original selling price plus a multiple of 29 million euros.
With this cash, Barcelona spent 15 million euros to buy Belgian defender Vermaelen, 15 million euros to bring back German goalkeeper Ter Stegen from Borussia Monchengladbach, who would succeed Valdes.
They also spent 27 million euros to bring in Belgian defender Jan Vertonghen from Tottenham and 15 million euros to bring back River Plate's Colombian midfielder Edel Baranta.
Both Spanish giants splurged in the transfer market, and other top clubs and rising clubs naturally did not want to fall behind, leading to a flurry of activity.
The most shocking move was made by Atletico Madrid's top striker, Colombian forward Falcao, who was selected for last year's FIFA FIFPro World XI ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo, choosing to transfer to Monaco in Ligue 1.
He had many top clubs to choose from, but Monaco offered him too much. His annual salary of 14 million euros was comparable to Messi's, second only to Wang Feng.
Russian billionaire Rybolovlev bought the traditional French team this summer and injected a large amount of funds into the transfer market.
Therefore, apart from Falcao, they also spent over 100 million euros to bring in many top European players, significantly enhancing their overall strength. This was one of the reasons why the Colombian was willing to join them at his peak.
Seeing this situation, PSG, Atletico Madrid's competitor in Ligue 1, did not want to fall behind. They quickly finalized the transfer of Napoli's Cavani for 64 million euros and Roma's Marquinhos for 35 million euros.
All media and fans were shocked by the flurry of money in the transfer market, making it the most explosive situation in recent years and indicating that the attractiveness of top clubs to stars was no longer solely based on "footballing reasons."
In the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich continued their tradition of "tapping up" players by paying a release clause of 37 million euros for Dortmund's core player, Gotze, bringing him back to Allianz Arena.
This prompted Borussia Dortmund to make every effort to retain Lewandowski. Otherwise, the team would completely lose its competitiveness, relying solely on Reus would not be able to support the offensive end. Thus, many clubs including Real Madrid gave up on chasing the Polish striker.
In Serie A, Juventus once again became the biggest spender, spending nearly 70 million euros to bring back Tevez, Gabiadini, Zaza, and other players.
Inter Milan and AC Milan mainly focused on patching up their squad, while other clubs had to tighten their belts, unable to keep up with the spending spree of European football giants.
In the Premier League, Manchester City, with financial power not inferior to PSG and Monaco, discreetly paid 40 million euros to bring in Brazilian midfielder Fernandinho from Shakhtar Donetsk.
Then they brought in Negredo from Sevilla for 25.3 million euros, Jovetic from Fiorentina for 30 million euros, and Jesus Navas from Sevilla for 26 million euros.
Liverpool, who performed poorly last season, followed closely behind. They spent 13 million euros to bring back Alberto Moreno from Sunderland and 17 million euros to bring in Sakho from PSG.
Chelsea, Arsenal, and Tottenham also made moves. However, Manchester United, part of the BIG6, made a lot of noise but spent very little. They only spent 32 million euros to bring in Belgian midfielder Fellaini from Everton and then stopped abruptly.
This was unexpected. Many Red Devils fans were puzzled. In the past, at this time, Ronaldo would have come out to urge the team to strengthen quickly or demand a raise. Why was it so calm now?
Maybe because Sir Alex Ferguson had just retired in May, and Ronaldo was a bit cautious in the face of a new coach, temporarily not daring to make waves. Some naive people thought so.
Just as the summer window was about to close, a shocking news shook the football world. Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo joined Manchester City for 100 million pounds, about 117 million euros, breaking the European football transfer record set by Wang Feng!
People who heard this news were all stunned. Their first reaction was that it was fake news. How could it be possible? How could the soul of Manchester United go to their city rivals?
But at the subsequent press conference held by Manchester City, the new head coach Pellegrini confirmed the news, "Yes, we are very much looking forward to Cristiano's arrival."
"The Etihad Stadium will hold a grand welcome ceremony, and he will definitely inject strong energy into the team. Please look forward to his performance in the new season."
Manchester United's new head coach Moyes also accepted interviews. He said that this transfer was based on the player's personal wishes, "Thanks to Cristiano for his outstanding contributions to Manchester United. With new pursuits, we have to support him."
This statement was tantamount to putting the Portuguese star on the fire. The internet was filled with abusive voices, and some extreme fans even burned Manchester United's number 7 jerseys.
When Figo transferred from Barcelona to Real Madrid, it caused a huge sensation. Now, Ronaldo, his successor, followed the same path, with even greater influence. Moreover, due to the rise of the internet, people discussed it more eagerly.
In the midst of all the controversies, Ronaldo remained silent. He knew there was no turning back. Manchester United was simply unable to win the Champions League, helping him achieve the highest honor in football.
Manchester City, on the other hand, was different. With vast financial resources, they were highly likely to become a new giant in European football like Chelsea. In order to make this transfer happen, he even gave up some benefits and took a pay cut, which led to the offer from the Blue Moon.
Sir Alex Ferguson, on the other hand, was in the eye of the storm. He simply went abroad for a vacation. He strongly disagreed with the deal, but both his protege and Manchester United had intentions. The two sides were at loggerheads, and neither was willing to give in.
The success of this transfer was not due to Ronaldo's personal endorsement but rather because the entire club welcomed it. Besides himself, even Ferguson, no matter how strong he was, could not prevent the collapse of the building.
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