"Has this Russian gone mad? The ever-increasing player prices are all thanks to this nouveau riche!" Ferguson was furious when he heard Chelsea quote 28 million euros.
In recent years, it has become increasingly difficult for Ferguson to buy good players cheaply.
Manchester United is quite different from fully privatized clubs like Leeds United and Chelsea. As publicly traded companies, they are bound to disclose transactions that affect their share price, such as player sales.
But ever since Abramovich took over Chelsea and started spending lavishly, it seems that all of Europe regards English clubs as fools with too much money. In the past two years, Ferguson has even had to use his influence among the players to negotiate with other clubs.
"Alright, alright, Alex, the market situation has changed, you have to accept it." Li Shiguang could imagine Ferguson's angry expression on the other end of the phone, so he quickly offered a few words of comfort, then his tone became serious as he asked Ferguson, "Seriously, Alex, does Manchester United really need Maicon? I think Neville is in great form this season."
“Sigh, I know,” Ferguson sighed. “But his age is a factor, and I need to prepare in advance. To be honest, after the news broke in the media that you and Maicon were at odds, I was considering whether to contact you, but I didn’t expect that despicable Calderon to beat me to it.”
Um?
Li Shiguang sensed a hint of resentment from Ferguson towards Calderon, so he tentatively asked, "Alex, judging from your tone, you seem to be a little unhappy with Calderon as well?"
"It's not so much that I'm unhappy with him," Ferguson thought for a moment, then brought up the matter as if chatting with an old friend. "I'm mainly a little annoyed with Real Madrid. Do you know Cristiano's agent?"
“Mendes?” Li Shiguang asked.
"Yes, it's that greedy Portuguese guy. For the past year, whenever Manchester United and Cristiano Ronaldo have been negotiating a contract extension, he's brought up Real Madrid to drive up the price, saying that Cristiano Ronaldo has always dreamed of playing in Madrid, and that if Cristiano Ronaldo went to Madrid, he would definitely get the team's top salary, and so on." Ferguson's tone was full of disgust when he talked about Mendes, but Li Shiguang knew that he wasn't lying; Ronaldo did indeed have a childhood dream of playing for Real Madrid.
"He's not wrong. If you sell Cristiano to me, I'll definitely give him the top salary in the team, hahaha." Li Shiguang teased Ferguson first, and then got down to business. "Look, Alex, you've seen how sought-after Maicon is right now. To be honest with you, it seems to me that you're really unlikely to be in the competition right now. Manchester United's board of directors will definitely not agree to you spending so much money to buy a right-back."
Ferguson didn't speak, and Li Shiguang thought the old man had tacitly agreed with his statement, so he continued, "Just like last time, do me a small favor, make two more high-profile bids, and help me rip off Calderon."
"What if he doesn't buy it in the end? Besides, there's no benefit for me in helping you!" Ferguson immediately refused when he heard that he was being asked to help again.
Although the Tevez deal they made last time turned out to be a bad investment, Li Shiguang did save Manchester United several million euros! There's no real benefit to be gained this time, so why get involved?
Li Shiguang, of course, knew what Ferguson was thinking, and he quickly offered the old man a promise: "Don't worry, Alex, you know my eye for players. If you help me with this small favor this time, next summer I'll find you a cheap and reliable right-back for free, okay?!"
"real?"
"Absolutely authentic!"
Before offering Ferguson this compensation, Li Shiguang already had a candidate in mind.
Valencia, who is currently on loan at Wigan Athletic from Villarreal, could easily be recommended to Ferguson.
Anyway, he'll be a Manchester United player in a few years, so bringing him into Ferguson's sights sooner is a good deed I can do.
····
So less than half a day after Li Shiguang and Ferguson hung up the phone, the Manchester Evening News broke the news that Manchester United had offered 32 million euros to buy Maicon. This immediately set off a media frenzy in England, with everyone speculating whether Ferguson had lost his mind and would spend so much money to buy a full-back!
Thanks to the internet, Calderón, who was in Madrid, and Capello, who had returned to his hometown in Italy to enjoy the Christmas holidays, also received the news shortly afterward.
As expected, Calderón received a call from Capello immediately after finishing dinner.
"Ramon, I saw the news that Leeds United have put Maicon up for sale, and Manchester United have made an offer. Did you know that?"
"Yeah, I just found out too."
"But didn't you tell me you'd almost got Maicon sorted out? What's going on now?" In his haste, Capello's words sounded rather unpleasant.
"Your choice of words, Fabio, I am the one in charge of Real Madrid!" Calderon was also a little angry. He felt that Capello was a bit confused about who was in charge, so he first scolded him, and then tried to calm his tone as much as possible to explain, "I have indeed settled the player, Fabio, I have no reason to lie to you about that. But I didn't expect that kid Lee would put Maicon on the market so directly. Now the situation is indeed a bit tricky."
Calderon really didn't expect Li Shiguang to launch such a series of attacks.
He had previously thought that as long as the player put some pressure on the club, and then combined with the offer he made, from the perspective of club management, Li Shiguang would release the player no matter what. After all, forcing Maicon to stay would only result in him getting nothing in the end.
Calderon didn't expect Li Shiguang to be so decisive. First, he directly demoted Maicon to the reserve team, then he publicly stated in the media that he would never use Maicon again, and today he even put Maicon on the purge list. Moreover, he is now listening to offers from direct competitors.
Moreover, Manchester United's offer is indeed quite ambiguous. Isn't it just a blatant way of telling themselves that they really can't sign Maicon without 35 million euros?
Capello wasn't concerned about the final cost of Maicon; his only focus was securing the players he wanted and improving the team's squad. So he asked, "What do we do now? Agree to his demand of 35 million euros?"
However, Calderon did not answer Capello's question directly, but instead asked a question in return.
“Fabio, I’ll send Lopetegui to Brazil tomorrow. If possible, do you think that kid Marcelo can replace Maicon?”
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