20demayo Chapter 174
Chapter 174
"Is this Russian crazy? The price of players is getting more and more expensive because of this upstart!" Ferguson was furious when he heard Chelsea offer 28 million euros.
In recent years, it has become increasingly difficult for Ferguson to buy good players cheaply.
There is a big difference between Manchester United and completely privatized clubs like Leeds United and Chelsea. After all, they are listed companies, and Manchester United must announce the behavior of buying and selling players that will definitely affect the stock price.
But since Abrahimovic acquired Chelsea and started to spend money lavishly, it seems that all of Europe regards English clubs as stupid people with a lot of money. Ferguson has even bought players to the point where he needs to use his influence in the players' hearts to bargain with other clubs in the past two years.
"Okay, Alex, the market has become like this, you have to learn to accept it." Li Shiguang could imagine Ferguson's expression on the other end of the phone, so he quickly comforted him, and then his tone became serious, and he asked Ferguson, "Seriously, Alex, does Manchester United really need Maicon? I think Neville is in good shape this season."
"Well, I know." Ferguson sighed, "But his age is there after all, I need to be prepared in advance. To be honest, after the media broke the news that you and Maicon were not in harmony that day, I was considering whether to contact you, but I didn't expect that the despicable Calderon got there first."
Huh?
Li Shiguang heard some resentment from Ferguson towards Calderon, so he tried to ask: "Alex, from your tone, you seem to be a little unhappy with Calderon?"
"Not really unhappy with him." Ferguson thought about it, and still talked about this matter like an old friend chatting about gossip, "I am mainly a little unhappy with Real Madrid. Do you know Cristiano's agent?"
"Mendes?" Li Shiguang asked.
"Yes, it's this greedy Portuguese. In the past year, whenever Manchester United and Cristiano talked about contract renewal, he would bring up Real Madrid to raise the price, saying that Cristiano has always had a Madrid dream, and that if Cristiano goes to Madrid, he will definitely get the team's top salary and so on." When talking about Mendes, Ferguson's tone was full of disgust, but Li Shiguang knew that he didn't lie. Ronaldo did have a dream of playing for Real Madrid.
"They are right. If you sell Cristiano to me, I will definitely give him the highest salary in the team, hahaha." Li Shiguang first teased Ferguson, and then talked about business, "Let's put it this way, Alex, you have seen how popular Maicon is now. I will tell you the truth. In my opinion, it is really difficult for you to participate in the competition now. The board of directors of Manchester United will definitely not agree that you spend so much money to buy a right back."
Ferguson did not speak. In Li Shiguang's opinion, the old man should have tacitly agreed with his statement, so he continued: "Just like last time, you do me a small favor and make two high-profile offers to help me cheat Calderon."
"What if he doesn't buy it in the end, and there is no benefit for me to help you!" Ferguson immediately refused when he heard that he was asked to help again.
Although Tevez bought after helping last time was cheated in the end, Li Shiguang did save Manchester United millions! There is no actual benefit to be gained this time, so why bother to get involved?
Li Shiguang certainly knew what Ferguson was thinking, and he quickly made a promise to the old man: "Don't worry, Alex, you know how I judge players. If you do me a small favor this time, I'll find you a cheap and easy-to-use right-back for free next summer, okay?!"
"Really?"
"Absolutely!"
Before proposing this reward to Ferguson, Li Shiguang had already thought of the candidate in his mind.
Valencia, who is currently on loan to Wigan Athletic by Villarreal, can be recommended to Ferguson.
Anyway, he will be a Manchester United player in a few years, so getting him into Ferguson's sight early can be considered a good deed.
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So less than half a day after Li Shiguang and Ferguson hung up the phone, the evening of the same day, the Manchester Evening News broke the news that Manchester United offered 32 million euros to buy Maicon, which immediately triggered the major media in England. Everyone speculated whether Ferguson was crazy and spent so much money to buy a full-back!
And thanks to the development of the Internet, Calderon in Madrid and Capello who had returned to his hometown in Italy to enjoy the Christmas holiday also got the news soon.
As expected, Calderon, who had just finished dinner,Deron immediately received a call from Capello.
"Ramon, I saw that Leeds United is selling Maicon, and Manchester United has also made an offer. Did you know?"
"Yeah, I just found out."
"But didn't you tell me before that you had almost dealt with Maicon? What's the situation now?" In a hurry, Capello's words sounded a bit unpleasant.
"Attention, Fabio, I am the helmsman of Real Madrid!" Calderon was also a little angry, feeling that Capello, this old guy, was a little confused about the big and small kings, so he first reprimanded him, and then tried to keep his tone as stable as possible to explain, "I have indeed dealt with the player, Fabio, I don't need to lie to you about this. But I didn't expect that Li would put Maicon on the shelf directly. Now the situation is indeed a bit tricky."
Calderon did not expect Li Shiguang to play such a set of combined punches.
Earlier, he thought that as long as the players themselves put a little pressure on the club, and then combined with the offer he made casually, from the perspective of club management, Li Shiguang would let him go anyway, after all, forcing Maicon to stay would only make him empty-handed in the end.
But Calderon didn't expect Li Shiguang to be so decisive. First, he directly put Maicon into the reserve team, and then publicly stated in the media that he would never use Maicon again. Today, he even put Maicon on the cleanup list, and now he has to listen to the offer of direct competitors.
And Manchester United's offer is indeed very ambiguous. Isn't it obvious that without 35 million euros, it really can't take Maicon!
Capello doesn't care how much money it will cost to buy Maicon in the end. He is now focused on getting the players he wants and improving the team's lineup. So he asked, "What should we do now? Agree to his request of 35 million euros?"
However, Calderon did not directly answer Capello's question, but asked back.
"Fabio, I will let Lopetegui go to Brazil tomorrow. If possible, do you think that kid named Marcelo can replace Maicon?"