When Bates first heard the news from his assistant, he didn't pay much attention. Leeds United's official website was being updated every day recently, so what was there to be excited about?

He frowned and said to his assistant, "What's the rush? When hasn't their official website been updated these past few days?"

But the assistant's next words completely panicked Bates, because he said, "But today's update is about Tevez's transfer to Manchester United!"

That's impossible!

This was Bates' first thought upon hearing the news.

Manchester United have been free of any rumors linking them to Tevez for over ten days, and in a recent interview, Ferguson even mentioned that United are considering giving up on their pursuit of Tevez due to the lack of progress in negotiations.

Moreover, in the first two emails Leeds United replied to me, they no longer mentioned that other clubs were competing for Tevez; they only emphasized that my offer did not meet their target price.

While Bates was still in a daze, Blackwell was the first to react and hurriedly ran over to turn on the computer.

A minute later, a pinned article on Leeds United's official website, "Carlos Tevez transfers to Manchester United for €20 million," caught their attention.

The moment Bates saw the message, he felt a surge of excitement rush to his head.

Blackwell's head, as if a machine had stalled, slowly turned to look at Bates, his expression one of disbelief.

This shouldn't be happening. My boss was just confidently saying that he would spend a lot of money to bring Tevez to West Bromwich Albion today. I was already thinking about the tactical system after Tevez arrived, and now you're telling me he can't come?

Bates is on the verge of exploding, but he still has a sliver of hope that Leeds United staff might have made a mistake and that the transfer wasn't actually to Tevez.

With that in mind, Bates immediately shut down Leeds United's official website and started typing Manchester United's official URL into his computer.

He was so excited that his hands were trembling as he typed, and he couldn't type the correct URL. Eventually, Blackwell couldn't stand it anymore and grabbed the keyboard to get the correct URL.

A short while later, the homepage of Manchester United's official website appeared in front of the two.

The two men were greeted by the large red lettering that read, "Welcome Carlos Tevez to Manchester United."

"Bang!" Upon seeing the official announcement from Manchester United, Bates, completely enraged, picked up the ashtray on the table and smashed it to the ground. Then, panting heavily, he smashed everything he could in the office.

This left Blackwell and his companion, who had never seen Bates so out of control, speechless.

After venting her anger, Bates seemed to have exhausted all her strength. She plopped heavily onto the sofa, closed her eyes, covered her face with her hands, and remained silent.

Blackwell waited for a while, and seeing that Bates had stopped moving, he thought of going up to ask Bates what to do next.

After all, Tevez is definitely unavailable now. Before the transfer window closes, they must look for players elsewhere. Otherwise, with their current squad, they'll probably struggle to avoid relegation next season.

Blackwell paused for a moment, trying to keep his tone as calm as possible, then gently approached the sofa and said, "Boss, what do we do now? We need to hurry up and find a replacement for Tevez."

Bates seemed not to hear Blackwell's words, and instead of answering, he let out a soft groan.

Blackwell, who was also in a state of anxiety, did not notice Bates's unusual behavior. Instead, it was the young assistant next to him who seemed to have heard Bates's voice.

He leaned closer and softly called out, "Boss?"

Bates still didn't react. The young assistant sensed something was wrong, so he grabbed Bates' hands and moved them away from his face. The two of them then discovered that a strange smile was twitching at the right corner of Bates' mouth, and a little drool was also dripping from the corner of his mouth.

"Call an ambulance!!! The boss seems to have had a stroke!!!" A moment later, Blackwell's shout came from the office.

As for Li Shiguang, the culprit, his plan was simply to catch Bates off guard with this news. Ideally, he wanted West Bromwich Albion to have a poor start to the next season due to their squad issues, which would likely lead to Bates' dismissal. Once Bates was dismissed, he would certainly no longer pose any threat to him.

So in the past few days, he only instructed Allen to keep an eye on whether West Bromwich Albion had any new signing plans, and did not pay much attention to Bates.

Besides, he's been busy with other things these past few days.

Tevez's transfer to Manchester United has once again put Leeds United and Lee Shih-kuo in the spotlight.

According to some media outlets and extreme fans, Li Shiguang is a completely emotionless and extremely cold-blooded person. All the players at Leeds United are just tools for him to make money. In just one summer transfer window, he sold almost all of the key players who contributed to the team last season.

Only a small number of fans still stand with Li Shiguang, because the club's huge debts are an unavoidable situation, and these fans understand Li Shiguang's decision to sell several key players.

So for the past few days, Li Shiguang was surrounded by a large number of media outlets wanting to interview him almost every time he arrived at the club's entrance. Eventually, Li Shiguang became quite annoyed and reluctantly agreed to a special interview with the local Yorkshire Post before the start of the new season. Only after agreeing to the interview did Li Shiguang's work and life slowly return to normal, allowing him to focus on training for half a month in peace.

But at the end of July, news about Bates finally reached Li Shiguang's ears.

That day, Li Shiguang had just finished training and returned to his office when there was a knock on the door.

After Li Shiguang responded, he saw Allen walk in with a smile on his face and light steps.

Seeing Allen's expression, Li Shiguang was completely bewildered. Before he could ask any questions, Allen spoke up, "Boss, I have good news for you. West Bromwich Albion has announced that Bates has resigned from his position as club manager!"

Upon hearing Allen's news, Li Shiguang was somewhat puzzled.

Sigh! This doesn't make sense! The Premier League hasn't even started yet, and Bates is already being impeached and sacked just because they didn't buy Tevez? But didn't Allen say that most of the money West Brom used to buy Tevez came from Bates' own pocket? Even if they didn't get him in the end, there's no reason for anyone else to blame him!

As if sensing his boss's doubts, Allen continued, "According to reliable sources, on the day we announced Tevez's transfer, Bates seemed to be throwing a tantrum in his office. Later, he was somehow taken to the hospital, and then a few days ago, news came out that he seemed to have suffered a stroke!"

Upon hearing Allen's words, Li Shiguang couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Pfft! You have such poor mental fortitude, trying to play business games with me?"

But at the same time, the biggest weight in Li Shiguang's heart was lifted.

Now I have no more worries!