Beast King Costa

Chapter 360 Signing Considerations
After the meeting, Fernando Santos asked the players to rest, but he couldn't rest no matter what.

The team's injury situation is so serious that Fernando Santos' mood is very messed up.

Fernando Santos, who originally felt that Benfica's current lineup is very solid and can fully cope with third-line operations, has begun to make preparations for signings in advance.

Although the winter transfer window will take more than 2 months to open, it is still necessary to find suitable candidates in advance, let the club's senior management contact potential candidates first, and negotiate the treatment of potential candidates. When the winter transfer window opens, players can be brought over immediately and registered to participate in the competition.

and so!
Fernando Santos didn't care that it was already 23 o'clock in the evening. He directly called Felipe Vieira, the chairman of the Benfica Club, and planned to do some communication work in advance on signings.

"Beep beep..."

Obviously, Felipe Vieira, as the chairman of the club, is very busy every day. He has not fallen asleep at this hour, and he quickly answered the call from Fernando Santos.

"Hey! Coach Santos, why are you calling me so late?"

"Ah... Mr. Vieira, you haven't rested yet."

"Yes, there are a lot of things about women's football, and I'm busy with coordination recently."

"Women's football also has a large area of ​​injuries?"

"That's not true. The two core players of the women's football team need to renew their contracts. Recently, they are coordinating the renewal matters. But the expected renewal salary raised by their agents is too high, which makes me a little headache..."

After all, Felipe Vieira seemed to feel that he had talked too much. He tentatively asked: "Coach Santos, is it because of the team's current extensive injury problems that you called me so late? As far as I know, Ruy, Petit, Simao and other international players will be injured for at least a month. There is also Francisco Fonseca, it is said that the injury is not optimistic! During this period, the row The deployment of soldiers must be stretched."

"Yes! The worst part is that the team's rookies can't make it up! Hey..."

After Fernando Santos sighed helplessly, he continued to say slowly: "Manu and Joao Kumbra are not yet able to adapt to the rhythm of the Portuguese Super League. Paul Jorge is on the rise, but the team The wing is still relatively stable at present, and there are not many opportunities to give Paul Jorge. However, Diego Souza and Yu of the B team have given the coaching staff a lot of surprises. But unfortunately, Diego Souza Both Sa and Yu can only represent the team in the Portuguese Super League and the Portuguese League Cup, they are not even registered for the Europa League.”

"Yu??? This is???"

"A young man from China, Dabao Yu—oh! Maybe according to the Chinese addressing habits, I should call him Yu Dabao, right?"

"Oh! Yu Dabao, a Chinese player from team B! I have a little impression..."

Felipe Vieira on the other end of the phone suddenly said: "Yu's signing was completed by the person in charge of the marketing department, so I couldn't remember it just now. But some time ago I went to watch the game of Team B and heard that Team B The coaching staff of the team are full of praise for this young Chinese player, although he is still too young to be able to take the lead, but according to his potential, it is entirely possible to gain a foothold in the main position of the first team in the future."

"However, that is also the future! With the current situation of the team, if we have to fight for results in the third line, there are only two possibilities-either the main lineup is exhausted; or the third line collapses! Our current team is completely unable to support The team will fight on the third front and compete for the championship."

A shrewd businessman like Felipe Vieira doesn't need Fernando Santos to explain clearly at all, and he can basically understand what Fernando Santos means.

I saw Felipe Vieira tentatively asking: "So, Coach Santos, what kind of support do you hope the club will give you?"

"Mr. Vieira, I think our club should prepare for the winter transfer window in advance! All three lines of our team need immediate reinforcements!"

After all, Fernando Santos continued to add quite directly: "At present, although the team has enough frontcourt personnel, there are not many options for immediate combat power. Like Fabrizio Milico, currently in the team's The role is very embarrassing, I think it is completely possible to let him go back to Italy directly during the winter transfer window! Then, the team re-introduces a technical player who can play multiple positions in the frontcourt!"

"Then... Coach Santos, do you already have someone in mind?"

"The ideal candidate for the frontcourt, this one really exists!"

I saw Fernando Santos said seriously: "I think the 'clown' Pablo Aimar, who played for Valencia last season and just transferred to Real Zaragoza in the new season, is a very good choice. During the preparation period, our team played a warm-up match against Real Zaragoza in Spain. At that time, I felt that Pablo Aimar's frontcourt organization ability and offensive ability in the back are quite good Yes, it is very suitable for our team's tactical system!"

"Pablo Aymar?"

The reputation of "Joker" Pablo Aimar is still very famous in Europe, and it is impossible for Felipe Vieira not to know him.

But he still has some different opinions on the choice of Pablo Aimar.

After seeing Felipe Vieira hesitated a little, he tentatively asked: "Coach Santos, don't you think that Pablo Aimar, regardless of his age or his previous serious injury history, is more...uh Is it a problem with a relatively high risk? If there is any injury, at Aimar's age, it will be very difficult to recover to [-]%!"

"No, no, no! Mr. Vieira! I don't think you can only look at it from the perspective of a businessman every time, and only consider the commercial value of players!"

Fernando Santos' tone was full of contempt: "Commercial value is important, but Pablo Aimar's experience is a very important addition to our team's young personnel structure! More importantly, Pablo Aimar is suitable for our tactical system! The arrival of an experienced veteran means that he can plug and play. We can save a lot of time in training players and a lot of time in running the lineup!"

"Well, Coach Santos, you are right..."

Although that is what he said, as a shrewd businessman, Felipe Vieira must have something to say: "As for the transfer of Pablo Aimar, I will talk to the marketing staff tomorrow. Do some research before making a decision on the next step? I can’t give you a definite answer right now.”

"Of course it's fine."

After all, Fernando Santos continued: "In addition to the need for manpower in the frontcourt, the midfield and backcourt! Especially the backcourt! We urgently need immediate combat power! Now the team's central defender positions are only Luisson and David Luiz's two Zhengyin central defenders are available, once they get injured or suspended, the consequences will be disastrous!"

"But for central defenders in the market now, the transfer fee is really rising! You know, when our summer transfer window is about to close..."

"Mr. Vieira! Don't think about money anymore! The team only has 2 central defenders! Only 2! Although Kaliaka can top one, he is the only one in the team after all. The choice of a defensive midfielder! Many tough battles that require us to defend to the death require Kalyaka to appear in the midfield, not the central defender position!!!”

Fernando Santos was almost roaring and talking to Felipe Vieira. After all, from the perspective of a head coach, there is nothing more important than the team's record.

After the rant, Fernando Santos realized that he might have been a little too aggressive, so after his emotions stabilized, Fernando Santos slightly lowered his tone and said: "I'm sorry, Mr. Vieira, I was a little too aggressive just now, I I apologize to you."

"It's okay, Coach Santos, I can understand all of this."

The tone of Felipe Vieira on the other end of the phone did not change.

After all, he has been the chairman of the Benfica club for so many years, and he has been with many head coaches. Felipe Vieira understands very well that the out-of-control roar of Fernando Santos means that he is responsible for the team's record. Responsibility, this is also the attitude that the chairman of the club wants to see.

"So, Coach Santos, who do you think is the right candidate for immediate combat power in the midfield and immediate combat power in the back court? You can tell me first, and I will discuss it with the marketing department tomorrow morning, and wait for you to lead the team from Seville After Leah's triumph, we can have a more in-depth discussion directly."

"Ah! Good!"

Fernando Santos spoke out his favorite candidate very excitedly: "The midfield position, I think Joao Moutinho is indeed a very good choice. Pettit is getting older year by year, obviously in the second half In the last 10 minutes of the game, there will be fatigue. Joao Moutinho is very young, and he is a great addition to the vitality and creativity of the team's midfield. I think we should talk to Joao Moutinho Moutinho's agent, Jorge Mendes, has had serious discussions about bringing the young international midfielder back to the Stadium of Light."

QNMB! ! !

Ok……

Felipe Vieira almost cursed at that time.

The old guy!During the offseason, the club had already negotiated with Jorge Mendes to bring Joao Moutinho from the Jose Alvalade Stadium to the Stadium of Light, and it turned out to be Fernando Santos He said no, he insisted on bringing in his direct descendant Carter Solanis from the Greek League, and now it is "really delicious", and he said he wanted Joao Moutinho!I really don't know what to spray her with!
After all, he is the chairman of the club. No matter how dissatisfied Felipe Vieira was in his heart, he still recovered his composure and said to Fernando Santos very seriously: "About Joao Moutinho, we need to talk to Howard. Mr. Erge Mendes discussed it more seriously, because during the offseason, Joao Moutinho had completed a 4-year contract extension with Sporting Lisbon, and now Joao Moutinho, in addition to Except for the giant teams in the five major leagues, it is basically impossible to leave Sporting Lisbon."

When Felipe Vieira talked about the "rich teams in the five major leagues", he deliberately emphasized his tone.

It is equivalent to emphasizing with Fernando Santos: You missed Joao Moutinho in the offseason before, and now you want to introduce Joao Moutinho again, but it is very, very... very difficult So, don't be delusional.

"Like This……"

Fernando Santos fell silent for a moment.

As a sensible person, Fernando Santos also understands that he can only blame himself for what happened to Joao Moutinho.

If it weren't for the offseason, I felt that the team's midfielder was already very sufficient, so I rejected the club's suggestion to introduce Joao Moutinho, and advocated using my own favorite Carter Solanis to make up for the midfielder. The field is vacant due to the departure of Fernandez Manuel.

But now it seems that Carter Solanis' performance can only be called quite satisfactory.

Although Kate Solanis is the core midfielder of the Greek national team and the core midfielder of the 2004 European Cup champion, Kate Solanis' creativity in the Portuguese Super League is too ordinary, and there is no way to spread it All kinds of imaginative passes to the strikers in the frontcourt.

At that time, the club rejected the introduction of Joao Moutinho, also because Fernando Santos was very optimistic about the results of Joao Kumbra's trial training.

At that time, watching Joao Kumbra's trial training, Fernando Santos even felt that Joao Kumbra would become the future of the midfielder of the Portuguese national team. With such a good embryo to cultivate, the future of the team's midfielder What is there to worry about?
But now it seems...

The trial training can really only be used as a reference. Joao Kumbra's performance in actual combat is really terrible. Even if there are occasional flashes of passing, as a midfielder, Joao Kumbra even the most basic The ability to protect the ball in the midfield is terrible, so can we still hope that he often has flashes of inspiration?

Impossible!
"Cough cough..."

Since it is no longer realistic to still want Joao Moutinho, Fernando Santos decisively changed the subject: "Mr. Vieira, why don't you put aside the matter about Joao Moutinho. Let's talk about signings at centre-back?"

"No problem! Coach Santos, it's the same as before, you just say your favorite candidate."

"Okay! I think the German Westermann and the Belgian Van Buyten are my favorite types. Their height, confrontation, and competition experience are all great! I think their header ability can not only Protect the team's backcourt, and even bring a lot of header attack help to the frontcourt, and..."

"Etc., etc……"

This time, Felipe Vieira couldn't help it: "Coach Santos, are you sure, Westerman, Van Buyten, can we introduce central defenders of this level? They are the giants of the Bundesliga. Central defenders, what attraction does Benfica have for them to shoot?"

"This……"

Ok……

Fernando Santos was silent on the spot. He had to admit that Benfica was indeed not attractive enough to attract world-class central defenders like Westerman and Van Buyten.

Felipe Vieira on the other end of the phone even told Fernando Santos with some bitterness: "Coach Santos, I have to confess to you that many players now want to introduce Louison. And before the start of the new season, Louison, His agent has already negotiated with our club: Luisson hopes to play for one of the five major league giants. This season will be Luisson's last season for Benfica. As for Luisson's next home, there is a high probability It would be Chelsea, the Premier League giants."

"what???"

Fernando Santos lost his voice on the spot: "Our team's only world-class defender, Louison, is leaving too?! Then the team's backcourt, isn't it completely empty!?"

"So! Our top priority is not to introduce world-class central defenders. Not only are they unwilling to come, but we can't keep them either!"

Felipe Vieira was very calm about the issue of players transferring out or transferring in: "I have already considered it. Since Louison is not in Cao Ying, let him go! The team Introduce two more young and promising central defenders like David Luiz and continue to train them. We will take the route of sustainable development and self-generated blood, so as to ensure that the finances will always be in a healthy state.”

"Perhaps, Mr. Vieira, you are right!"

Fernando Santos suddenly felt very tired, very tired.

I thought that by coaching Benfica, a Portuguese Super League team, I could build a lineup that fully fits my skills and tactics.

But what I didn't expect was that after leaving Portuguese football for about three or four years, it seemed that there was some information asymmetry about the situation in Portuguese football?

Whether it was Porto's way of winning the Champions League as a dark horse, dismantling and selling the entire championship team, even the head coach Jose Mourinho did not keep it and sold it to the five major leagues, or Benfica's unexpected move The poor financial situation of the team was unprecedented when I was still coaching in the Portuguese Super League.

Even Sporting Lisbon, after sending away the talented wide player Cristiano Ronaldo, won a high transfer fee and did not add any immediate combat power, but has been tapping the potential of the youth training, but Lisbon Athletic is lucky, they tapped Nani in their own youth training.

"Maybe, I overestimated the current financial environment in Portuguese football."

After Fernando Santos said these words bitterly, he sighed helplessly: "Hey! All right! Regarding the matter of signings in the winter transfer window, let's talk about it later. It's too late, it's all early have a rest."

I am really tired!

Fernando Santos just wants to sleep well at this time and stop thinking about signings.

(End of this chapter)