long live football

Zvezdan Misimovic was on vacation with his family in the southern hemisphere when his agent frantically called on his cell phone.

He missed seven calls within half an hour. Since Misimovic had an agent, he had never seen the other party looking for him so anxiously.

Could it be that there was a change in the signing with Nuremberg after the end of the season?While thinking this way, Misimovic dialed his manager's cell phone.

The phone was connected as soon as it rang, and the agent hurriedly said without waiting for Misimovich to ask, "Karl Oston wants you!"

Karl Alston?Munich 1860? !

Misimovic's heart jumped immediately, and he hurriedly asked, "Really? Is it true?"

The agent nodded over the phone: "They have already made an offer to the club, and the club has agreed. As long as you agree, we can start negotiating individual contracts with 1860 Munich immediately."

After being excited for a few seconds, Misimovic suddenly remembered something, and then felt a basin of cold water pouring on his head: "But, haven't we reached a verbal agreement with Nuremberg on the transfer..."

The agent was taken aback when he heard the words, and immediately thought of this, so the two fell silent and began to think about these two transfers.

Misimovic is now playing for the Bundesliga team Bochum. He transferred from Bayern Munich in 2004 and signed a 3-year contract with Bochum. The contract expired in the summer of 07 because of his outstanding performance in the league. At the same time, he is also the core and captain of the national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina, so Misimovic has attracted a lot of attention in Germany and even Eastern Europe.

Bochum has always wanted to renew the contract with Misimovic, but Bochum has not performed well in the past few seasons and is always ups and downs on the edge of the relegation zone, so Misimovic has the opportunity to transfer after the contract expires. Thoughts of leaving.

Nuremberg approached him last month. As long as Misimovic agrees to join him on a free transfer after the end of the season, Nuremberg will give him a generous signing fee and promise him a core position in the team .

Although Misimovic is now a Bosnian nationality and plays for the Bosnian national team, his parents actually immigrated to Germany as early as the 60s. He was born and raised in Munich. Nuremberg is currently in the Bundesliga. Ranked in the top ten in the standings, it is much better than Bochum, whose performance is floating downstream. It is also a team located in Nuremberg, Bavaria, and it is quite far from Misimovic's home in Munich. Recently, coupled with the sincerity of the other party, so under the premise of no better choice, Misimovic's agent reached a verbal agreement with the Nuremberg club to transfer after the end of the season.

Did Bochum know about this verbal agreement?

The Bochum club naturally knew about it.

However, since the players did not renew their contracts with the team, they wanted to leave after the expiration, and Bochum couldn't stop them.

So when Munich 1860 just made an offer to buy Misimovic, Bochum immediately agreed without even bargaining. They probably thought that it would be cheaper now than to let Nuremberg eat for free at the end of the season. Sold to Munich 1860!

So for Misimovic, is it appropriate to move to Nuremberg after the season?Or is it better to go to Munich 1860 now?

In terms of geography, 1860, which itself is a Munich team, is naturally closer to Misimovic's home than Nuremberg.

In terms of strength, even if the Lions are distracted by the German Cup and the Champions League, they have always occupied the top three positions in the standings, and have even repeatedly challenged Bayern Munich's dominance. They can be called the most dazzling ball in the past two seasons one of the teams.

In terms of attractiveness, after the World Cup this summer, "Kicker" published an internal survey. The report revealed that for many young players in German football, Munich 1860 is almost as attractive to them as Bayern Munich. Munich is on par.

And Misimovic's agent also knows how much he wants to play under Auston-that is a magical coach who can make young players perform and rejuvenate old players who have been depressed.In fact, if Klinsmann hadn’t just left in the national team, and the Football Association had decided on the next coach candidate, the media fans would probably have struggled for a while, “Auston is suitable for the national team? Or is Loew suitable for the national team?” Woolen cloth?"

In terms of prospects, Munich 1860, which has already won a league championship and has a stronger lineup than last season, has a brighter future than Nuremberg.

In terms of treatment, Nuremberg will give Misimovic a signing fee after his free transfer, while Munich 1860 will follow the normal transfer procedure, which means that the Bochum club will get a transfer fee. Vitch himself gets no benefit.On the surface, if Misimovic chooses the Lions, he will immediately lose a certain amount of income, but in the long run: if he can achieve fame and future under Auston, and become a well-known European star, then the commercial With a steady stream of endorsements, he would regret the money?

After thinking about this, Misimovic himself is very willing to go to Munich 1860, but he still has a little worry: "I am already 25 years old this year, and if I want to maintain my career beyond the age of 30, it will take me a few years. I can’t play as a substitute no matter what, there are so many big-name players in Munich 1860, will I really have a place if I go there? And superstars like Beckham, Portillo, Owen, I don’t know if I can get along with them Come……"

This concern of Misimovic is in line with his own actual situation: He was born in Bayern's youth training camp. Apart from spending two seasons on the bench of "Green Hollywood", after the transfer, he played in the new team. He has always been the core of the main force, and he is also a leader in the national team. This makes Misimovic's character actually a bit domineering. He was considered the leader in the national teams of Bochum and Bosnia and Herzegovina. How many people, but if he went to Munich 1860, almost half of the best young generation in Germany gathered there, as well as superstars from abroad, did he adapt?Do you also get along with the stars in the locker room?

"You don't have to worry about this. As far as I know, the atmosphere in the dressing room of Munich 1860 has always been very harmonious. There is no gang formation, and there is no bullying of foreign players or new players." The agent thought for a while , Said: "Actually, Karl Alston mentioned this to me. He said that he understands your personality better, and you don't have to worry about integrating into it at all."

"He knows me?" Misimovich was a little flattered, but also a little puzzled: "But we haven't met at all!"

"He said he asked Dzeko about your character."

Dzeko and Misimovic are teammates of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team, and they are both main players.

1860 München looked prepared, which made Misimovic feel valued.

The agent wanted Misimovic to transfer to 1860 Munich, because he knew that the more successful the player's future, the more benefits he would get as an agent. After thinking about it, he finally added a Huo: "By the way, you've been on vacation in Australia recently, so there's something you don't know yet."

"what's up?"

"Bayern Munich sacked Felix Magath and brought back former manager Otmar Hitzfeld."

Sure enough, there was no sound from Misimovich.

The agent was very satisfied with Misimovic's reaction. He knew that the other party must be feeling ups and downs at the moment: Misimovic was born in Bayern's youth training camp and was a core player in the reserve team. After he became an adult, he joined the first team. However, because he is best at the attacking midfielder position, and the then Bayern coach Hitzfeld did not value him, so the underappreciated Misimovic finally chose to leave.

Just when Misimovic had just left Bayern, Bayern suddenly changed coaches. The new coach Magath liked Misimovic very much and wanted him to come back, but Misimovic had already signed with Bochum. After signing the contract, he had no choice but to miss Bayern coached by Magath.

Now that Magath has left again, Bayern welcomes back the old owner Heathfield. If Misimovic chooses to join Munich 1860, he will definitely stand against Heathfield in the city derby...

"I agree to transfer to Munich 1860!" Misimovic said in a deep voice a few minutes later.

The manager smiled: I knew you were unwilling and wanted revenge!

……

After quickly signing a transfer contract with 1860 Munich, Misimovic decided to make a phone call to his national team-mates.

Dzeko was not surprised to receive a call from Misimovic.

Hearing Dzeko's flat tone, Misimovic was a little surprised: "I'm going to be your teammate soon, why don't you show any surprise?"

"Because I know you will definitely transfer to Munich 1860 in the end." Dzeko said truthfully.

Misimovich became curious: "Why do you think so?"

"Because the boss wants you." After a pause, Dzeko explained in detail: "Our boss is a very capable person. As long as he wants to do something, he has never been unsuccessful."

Misimovic has also heard about this a little bit, and he feels very honored to be able to play under such a head coach.Still, "Mr. Alston called you to ask me?"

"Yes, he asked about your character."

"What did you tell him?"

"I said you're fine."

"Only these two words?"

"These two words don't work?" Dzeko felt a little uncomfortable: "Is it because I didn't do well enough that I should praise you more?"

Dzeko is an honest man, and he is often taciturn in the national team. It is enough for Misimovic to get a "very good" evaluation from him. If he talks too much, it may be self-defeating.So Misimovic immediately replied: "No, you just need to tell the truth, you don't need to say anything else." Then I started to ask Dzeko about the players in the dressing room of Munich 1860, especially the behavior of those superstars, etc. wait.

Talking about this, Dzeko talked a lot: "Beckham is very good, so is Owen, Portillo is also very good, the most popular is Koch, but he is also very good..."

Now Misimovic is sure that the Dzekoa people may really only have the words "very good" and "very good".

However, from the other party's speech, Misimovic can hear that Dzeko's praise is sincere. He really thinks that Munich 1860 is a good team where players get along very well with each other.

An honest guy like Dzeko can thrive in the locker room, there's no reason why he can't!

In this way, Misimovic confirmed his willingness to make a career in Munich 1860.

……

Khedira never expected to receive a call from Karl Alston himself.

And the other party sincerely invited him to join 1860 Munich.

"I know you haven't signed a professional contract with Stuttgart." Karl said bluntly at the beginning: "I am now formally extending an invitation to you on behalf of Munich 1860. You can carefully consider it and discuss it with your family. It is better to continue with Stuttgart. signing, or come to Munich and play in my team."

Khedira was silent.

One is that he was shocked by these words, and he has not fully absorbed the information and recovered; two, it is because of this passage that aroused a little emotion in Khedira's heart: Khedira started from the 0607 season. He just played for the first team of Stuttgart. He has played more than 13 times in half a season. Not only that, he is even the captain of the German U20 youth team, and the number of appearances has reached 30 times...

Who can believe that Khedira, who has so many appearances, is actually free and has not signed a professional contract with Stuttgart?

German players can sign a professional contract at the age of 17 and play in the top league, but the contract does not take effect until they turn 18.

Khedira was born in 1987 and is 20 years old this year.

Stuttgart has been reluctant to sign with him for a long time. It was not until after the New Year this year that they said that they would give him a professional contract of about two and a half years at the end of January or early February. Khedira understands a little bit: the club dislikes his presence The performance on the show is too bland.

Fewer goals, fewer assists, and even fewer interceptions on the pitch.

To put it simply, he is a bit inconspicuous in the game, even if he is on the court, he has no sense of presence.

The reason why Khedira has always been able to play is also because of his natural maturity and calmness, he is easily relied on by his teammates, so the coaches will always send him when they can't find a better choice. Play because they know: play Khedira, at least it won't make the game worse.

If, if he has no merits, why would Auston take a fancy to him?

The opponent is one of the best coaches in Germany!

Thinking of this, Khedira honestly asked a silly question: "My performance on the court is very mediocre. I only scored 2 goals in half a season, and I have very few assists. The speed is not fast. Why do you want to play?" I?"

But there was a burst of laughter from the other end of the phone: "What do you need so many goals and assists for a defensive midfielder? It doesn't matter if you are not fast, as long as you have strong interception ability. As for the mediocre performance-you haven't heard a word Is it? 'For a defensive midfielder, ordinary is an advantage'."

Khedira was shocked: "But my position in Stuttgart has always been an avant-garde!"

Carl said lightly: "I think you are more suitable for a defensive midfielder." Then he carefully explained why Khedira is more suitable for a defensive midfielder: "...After watching some of your game videos, I think your Physically and technically very similar to Makelele, if he transitions to play as a defensive midfielder, he might be even better than being an avant-garde."

Claude Makelele, a typical "you can't feel good about him during the game, but he is indispensable" player.

He played for Real Madrid as Redondo's substitute from 2000 to 2003, but due to various reasons, Florentino didn't pay attention to him, so the Real chairman sold him to Chelsea, and then...Chelsea rose Yes, Real Madrid's defense paid a heavy price for their mistakes.

Stuttgart has always used Khedira as a central midfielder. The central midfielder requires a relatively high ability to organize attacks and is responsible for the connection between the front and back courts. He has a high ball quotient and a good overall view, but his speed is not very good, and his ability to respond to passes is also poor. Khedira would naturally be a little out of control.

Not only Karl could see this, but the Stuttgart club knew it, and even Khedira himself knew it very well.

For this reason, Stuttgart was hesitant to sign the contract and the length of the contract. Karl was ambitious and wanted to buy Khedira back for improvement, but Khedira himself fell into deep thought: If he changed his position as Oston said, How about playing a defensive midfielder?

... Defensive midfielders and central midfielders have different requirements for players. Although Khedira's shortcomings cannot be turned into advantages, at least they will not become his flaws in the game!

And Khedira clearly knows his physical fitness and technical strengths, he can be sure that if he is asked to play as a midfielder, his performance will not be worse than that of the forward!

Although the reputation of defensive players is generally not as high as that of midfielders and frontcourt players, and most of them do dirty work, but this is very suitable for Khedira, who is habitually low-key on the court.

After thinking about it, those possibilities and the future made Khedira's eyes shine, and he was already a little ready to move.

But naturally calm, he told Carl: "I need to talk to my family again."

"No problem." Carl could already hear some meaning from the other party's tone, so he smiled confidently: "My mobile phone is activated for you at any time."

Khedira turned around and informed her parents of Karl's call.

Although he has always had his own ideas, Khedira has always respected his parents' opinions.

His football talent was discovered by his parents himself; in 2005, he suffered a serious trauma during training, for which he even considered retiring, and it was his parents who helped him keep him going; Khedira's father is Tunisian, His mother is German, and he himself has dual citizenship. It stands to reason that he can join the Tunisian national team and the German national team. It was his father who made him choose Germany, because German football is healthy and advanced.

After telling his parents all about his conversation with Oston, Khedira's parents talked all night, but they only told him one sentence the next morning: "The most important thing in a professional player's life is to meet a good coach. .”

Khedira immediately called Carl back and said, "I am willing to join."

Carl smiled contentedly.

"However, there is one more thing I want to ask." After hesitating for a while, Khedira still chose to speak.

Carl was responsive at this time: "What is it?"

"I haven't signed a professional contract with Stuttgart yet, but after all, I have been trained by the club for several years. If you take me away from the Mercedes-Benz Arena, will you give me training fees from the previous team?" Choosing to change jobs when signing a contract made Khedira feel a little sorry for the Stuttgart club.

There is a common rule in German football. If a club poachs a youth player who has not been signed by another team, it is reasonable to pay the youth team a training fund to thank the team for training that player.

Of course, the club can also choose not to give it, so the training money will be passed on to the players themselves. If the player becomes a star in the future, the youth training team will probably file a lot of lawsuits for the training money and the star.This kind of thing happens endlessly in football.

"Of course." Carl said frankly, "I will give Stuttgart a generous compensation." A humane team is always more likable than a miser-like team, and it is also appropriate to give Stuttgart a compensation , which can save you a lot of trouble later on.

Khedira was indeed a little happy: "Then I can sign a contract with you at any time, Mr. Auston."

……

Poached away the future star of Stuttgart, and intercepted Humisimovic from Nuremberg.

The two transfer transactions made by Karl Oston in early January made the entire German football world sigh once again for his quick and fierce shots!

What's more amazing is that before the success of these two transactions, no reporter heard the word of mouth in advance. This only shows two situations: either Munich 1860's confidentiality work has been achieved to the extreme, or Oston made a single blow and immediately Among them, the success rate is [-]%, so fast that no one can react in time.

Of course the truth cannot be the former.

Since the beginning of this year, every transfer season, 1860 Munich has become the focus of journalists from all over Germany and even Europe. The club chairman, manager, and even scouts are paid attention to when they travel every day. With more contacts, how could the media with a sensitive sense of smell fail to detect any abnormalities?

So the truth can only be the latter.

At the press conference held by Munich 1860 for the two new aids, Zvezdan Misimovic and Sami Khedira also admitted that Karl Oston is the one they would choose to sign with the Lions. important reason.

"When I knew that Mr. Auston made an offer to the Bochum club for me, I was already yearning for the Allianz Arena." Misimovic said into the microphone: "How could I refuse such an offer? What about someone’s proposal? I would love to play for 1860 Munich and play under Mr. Alston.”

Khedira's answer was more succinct: "Mr. Alston and I talked on the phone once, and I decided to come."

"Only one phone call?" The reporter was stunned: "Is this too hasty?"

"We met when we signed the contract. But the sincerity is not only in face-to-face conversations, I can also feel it on the phone." Khedira said without squinting: "I like the future that Mr. Auston has outlined for me. , so here I am."

The media in the audience was a little speechless: Are the two players attracted by Karl Oston's personal charm?Let him continue to be so insolent, won't all the rising stars in Germany go to his bowl!

Searching the entire Bundesliga, the only one who can keep pace with the attractiveness of the Munich 1860 coach is probably only the national team coach Joachim Loew's "hands-on-hand" skills.

However, in the second day's "Bild", there is a sentence that is good:

"Some teams rely on money to attract players, some teams rely on background to attract players, some teams rely on promises to attract players in the future, and some teams rely on the head coach to seduce people... The transfer period is originally a time when the eight immortals cross the sea and show their talents. If Auston didn’t spend a penny more and only relied on his personal charm to attract stars to join him, it would actually be a true skill that no one else would envy.”