Chinese champion

Chapter 149 Everything is ready
"Ruiz, how are you?" Manzano made a call from his office.

"Coach!" Ismail on the other end of the phone said in surprise, "It's you, long time no see. I heard that you are now the head coach in Mallorca!"

"Hehe!" Manzano laughed: "Yeah, let's not talk about me, I heard that you are not doing well in Santander?"

"Yeah." Ismail lowered his voice: "Last season, I was barely relegated, and I can't be the main player."

"So, how about coming to Mallorca?"

"Mallorca?"

"That's right." Manzano said, "I can't promise you an absolute main force either. You need your own strength to fight for everything, but I can guarantee one thing. As long as you are in good condition, you will definitely be in the main lineup." A seat!"

Ismail was silent for a long time: "Coach, you know that I came out of Racing Santander's youth team. My parents and family are all here, and I don't want to leave here."

"I understand." Manzano said solemnly: "So I hesitated for a long time whether to call you, yes, I understand very well that you want to play for your hometown for the rest of your life, and I also understand that you want to play for your hometown in modern football. Loyalty that is rarely seen... But, I still called you! Why? Because I know that you have no place in Santander now. In order to appease other players, the current coach will You have been taken from the main lineup, you are still young, what you need now is to play! And Mallorca is such a place that can give you the opportunity to play!"

Ismail retorted: "Coach, you also said that I am still young, I can wait until the day when my strength is recognized by my teammates and the coach."

"Yeah, you can wait." Manzano said sarcastically: "Wait until your vitality is worn out on the bench, until your spirit disappears little by little, until you become a mediocre player, then we You can say: 'Look! Another player has died!' And when you come to Mallorca, you can work hard to play, there is a group of good teammates here, they will not exclude you, with them Together, your progress will definitely be very fast...and, here, you can also play the championship cup you dreamed of!"

Ismail was completely speechless. After a long time, he said weakly: "Okay, coach, give me two days to think about it, okay? I will give you an answer after I think about it."

"OK. I'm waiting for your good news." Manzano hung up the phone with a smile on his lips. He was already sure that Ismail would agree to his request, because Ismail, who was targeting the Spanish national team, Smale will not let go of the opportunity to perform in the Champions League, not to mention that next year is the start of the European Cup, he needs such a game to compete with Elguera, Baraja and others.

Manzano stood up and strode towards the door.

He came to the training ground and called Ferlando who was directing the players to train.

"You're so relaxed now." Before Manzano could speak, Ferrando complained to him: "You've been running around in Spain all summer, leaving all the training on me. I think you should give me half of your salary."

"Haha, Louis, don't say that, don't we have different divisions of labor? It's tiring to pick players, and I'm afraid of buying parallel imports. Then the boss will eat me?" Manzano said with a smile.

Ferrando imagined Alemani's furious look after failing to invest in players, and he couldn't help laughing. He shook his head and asked Manzano: "Didn't you come to me just to say this?" Right? Tell me if you have anything to say."

"Sure enough, he is my confidant. He knows my heart well." Manzano's personality has become more and more cheerful now, and his communication with others has also increased. This is because the old coach Aragones once said to him One sentence: "As a football coach, it's important not to put on a face from the boss, and making some jokes appropriately can make you closer to your colleagues and players. This is very important."

Manzano listened to this sentence, because Aragones is a person he respects, and this sentence really hit the point. He didn't want to fail again, and he engraved this sentence in his heart: "The chairman is in the club. Is there something I want to talk to him about, and I will probably go to Barcelona, ​​at least for three days, and I will leave the training of the players to you during this period.”

Ferrando shook his head helplessly: "What can I say? Whoever wants you to be in charge of player introduction, you can go. The chairman is at the club. I hope you can find someone you are satisfied with during this trip!"

Manzano patted Ferrando on the shoulder: "Thank you, Luis, I will treat you to coffee when I come back."

"I'd be happier with another supper, Gregorio."

"Don't be too greedy, Louis."

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Mallorca chairman Alemani has been in a good mood recently. Mallorca's scoring in this season's Champions League last season not only means honor, but also means that there will be a large amount of income to make up for the previous seasons. With a financial deficit, they can even spend part of the money to increase the strength of the team.

At that time, the old coach Aragones recommended Manzano to be the actual head coach of Mallorca. I also reassured myself that the budget bill passed by the board of directors in the summer provided a transfer budget of 500 million for Manzano, plus the 500 million for the transfer of Franco, a total of 2000 million euros. It can be at the disposal of Manzano, but up to now, Manzano has only made three transactions. Pei Wei and Potenza each spent 200 million euros on loan, and Anderson is simply a pie that fell from the sky. , because he is not a professional player, so the club does not need to pay a penny of the transfer fee, but paid him a signing fee of 100 million euros when signing the contract, and only spent 500 million euros in total. It is worth, it is worth it!
"If this continues, I should be able to save a lot of money." Alemani thought happily. He opened the drawer and took out some tea. The thing called "tea" brought by that boy is really good. Well, the fragrance is tangy, and compared with coffee, each has its own advantages.

He just picked up the cup and brought it to his mouth when someone knocked on the office door three times politely.

"Come in!" Alemani knew who it was, and Manzano knocked like this every time he came.

Manzano opened the door and walked in, sitting down in front of him.

"What's the matter? My dear coach." Alemani greeted happily.

"Sir, now I need a goalkeeper." Manzano said straight to the point.

Alemani was stunned for a moment: "Isn't there still a lot of transfer budget left? You can handle it at your own discretion."

"The problem now is that there are not many good goalkeepers in the transfer market, and I also have to take into account the financial support of our club and the limit of non-EU players, although both Ibagaza and Delgado have EU players. Passports, but Pei Wei, Eto’o and Wang Xiaomin have filled up the quota for non-EU players, we can only look for European players and those with EU passports, we don’t have many choices.”

"Then what's the use of telling me this?" Alemani was very puzzled: "I can't solve this matter."

"I heard that you have a good personal relationship with Laporta, the new president of Barcelona. I hope you can make a call with Mr. Laporta. I want to visit him tomorrow." Manzano said with a smile.

"You really know everything." Alemani grunted and nodded: "Okay, I will tell him, you go to Barcelona tomorrow, I think he will definitely send someone to contact you. "

"Thanks for your support."

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Due to the poor performance of Barcelona during the three years in office, and the team's economy has also been hit hard, with debts as high as 2 million U.S. dollars, so in March this year, Gaspart had no choice but to resign as the chairman of Barcelona. After the end of the season, Barcelona held a new general election. The new chairman Laporta took office. The first thing he did after he took office was to sign the world champion with a transfer fee of 5 million euros. Neo.

It is the new leader of Barcelona that Manzano is going to visit today, and his goal is to sign Barcelona's Argentine goalkeeper Bolano.

Last season, due to the outstanding performance of Barcelona's local star Valdes, who rose from the youth team, Bolano, who had already been squeezed to the bench by Turkish goalkeeper Rustu, completely lost his position. It is unbearable for the goalkeeper who can play the main force of the team.

The first thing Manzano has to do is persuade Bolano to come to Mallorca.

Bolano agreed very happily. What the goalkeeper fears most is that there will be no games to play. He doesn't want to stay like this anymore, not to mention that he can also play in the Champions League in Mallorca, which can provide him with a chance to be accepted by the national team again.

Manzano is very happy. In his opinion, there is no problem with Bolano's strength. The reason why he can't play the main force in Barcelona is determined by his technical characteristics.

Barcelona is a traditional giants, and their style of play has always been based on offense. This determines that the goalkeeper who can gain a foothold in Barcelona must be the kind of player who has a wide range of activities, is good at attacking, and treats the entire penalty area as his own field. Goalkeepers, such as the former Baia, such as the current Valdes.

It's a pity that Bolano is not such a goalkeeper. What he can do is to guard the goal steadily, instead of becoming a No.5 defender. His front-goal skills are impeccable, but the timing of his attacks is not good.

Having convinced the player himself, all that remains for Manzano to do is communicate with Barcelona's managers.

What Manzano didn't expect was that it was Barcelona's chairman Laporta himself who came to negotiate with him!
Manzano was surprised but also a little puzzled, is this deal important?Even the chairman himself went out?

"There must be something wrong," Manzano thought.

Sure enough, after the negotiations started, Laporta kept talking about him, and did not have a positive answer to the conditions proposed by Manzano.

Manzano took a deep breath and asked: "Mr. Chairman, do you have any questions about the purchase conditions of our club?"

Laporta smiled: "Bolano is also in our plan for next season. It is difficult for us to give up. You can consider our Turkish goalkeeper Rustu. His strength is not inferior to Bolano. "

"Unfortunately, Turkey is not a member of the EU. He will use one of our non-EU indicators. Our three non-EU indicators are already full, so we cannot accept him."

"Okay then." Laporta sighed: "It cost us 800 million euros when we bought Bolano. He has been with us for two years, so let's subtract 200 million euros. How about 600 million euros?"

"What?" Manzano didn't expect the other party to ask such a wild price: "I'm sorry, Mr. Chairman, two years ago was the time when the European transfer market was burning money crazily. The price at that time is no longer feasible now. We are A small club cannot pay such a large amount of money for a goalkeeper! We cannot accept this request."

"Then let's do this." Laporta's eyes flashed with a cunning light: "If your club can sign an agreement with us, although the price of 600 million cannot be changed, we can send another player as a bonus. How about Luis Garcia, the team's all-rounder in the frontcourt?"

Manzano's heart is moved. Garcia is also a product of Barcelona's youth training. He has excellent skills and a strong sense of the ball. In particular, he is also a rare all-rounder. He can play three positions in the frontcourt: forward, midfielder and left midfielder. This will be an excellent addition to the frontcourt for Mallorca, who has a weak bench. He and Bolano only need a total of 600 million euros, which is really worth it.

"What kind of agreement do you want to sign with us? Mr. Chairman?" Manzano asked calmly.

"We hope to introduce your striker Samuel Eto'o next year. We need your guarantee that we have Eto'o's right of first refusal!" Laporta said surprisingly.

"This..." Manzano was stunned, he really didn't expect Laporta to make such a request.

"I don't want to forcefully buy Eto'o from you, all I need is a guarantee that when you are preparing to sell Eto'o, the first buyer will be us." Laporta means very much obvious.

"But Mr. President, Eto'o is not entirely our member, half of his ownership is in Real Madrid." Manzano reminded.

"Of course I know." Laporta said, "If Real Madrid pays more than half of our money, this agreement will be automatically voided. It won't make it difficult for you. How about it?"

"I...I want to ask the chairman for instructions." Manzano hesitated for a moment, this matter cannot be decided by him alone.

"Please." Laporta raised her hand gracefully.

Looking at Manzano who walked into the room to make a phone call, Laporta smiled. Based on his knowledge of Alemani, he was sure that Alemani would definitely agree to this request!

Sure enough, when Manzano told Alemani about this, Alemani made a decision almost at the moment after listening to it, and agreed to Laporta's request.

Just kidding, of course I agreed, and I can save at least 300 million euros, and the price paid is just an illusory "right of first refusal"!Moreover, Eto'o's full ownership is not yet in Mallorca, that is to say, if Real Madrid does not agree to this matter, this agreement will be invalidated. Is it still afraid to agree to this kind of thing?
When he saw Manzano coming out from the inside, Laporta knew that he had succeeded!

As a representative of Mallorca, Manzano signed the contract, two more players under his staff, a reduction of 600 million euros in the account, and ... an additional agreement that may cost Mallorca the top scorer .

Laporta...

On the way back to Mallorca, Manzano kept thinking about the man he had been dealing with all afternoon.

This chairman is not simple. On the surface, this agreement seems to be a disadvantage for Barcelona, ​​but Manzano also vaguely knows that UEFA is going to issue a regulation next season, prohibiting two teams in European football from owning one more team. Such a thing as half ownership of players.

If this regulation is really introduced, Eto'o will definitely not be able to continue like this. He must choose between Mallorca and Real Madrid, and Real Madrid already has Ronaldo, Raul and Real Madrid on the front line. Morientes, the three first-class strikers, Eto'o will not be willing to be a substitute in Real Madrid, and his non-EU status is also a big trouble, and Mallorca can't pay such a large transfer fee to get Eto'o all Buyout, then Barcelona will become a new choice for Eto'o.

You know, it is not easy for Barcelona to poach people from Real Madrid, but with this agreement, Barcelona's poaching will be much easier.

What Barcelona paid was just two players they didn't want.

At this time, Manzano's phone rang, and he pressed the answer button, and Ismail's voice came from the phone: "Coach, I want to come to Mallorca."

Manzano laughed happily.

Two days later, Mallorca officially held a press conference, at which three newly joined players were introduced, namely striker Garcia, midfielder Ismail and goalkeeper Bolano.

Manzano looked at the three newcomers and heaved a sigh of relief. The lineup in his mind was finally complete.

Everything is ready, just waiting for him to show his great success!
(End of this chapter)