Chapter 365: Top Battle, Manchester City VS Chelsea
The Egyptian Pharaoh has not had an easy time at Chelsea. Since joining Chelsea during the winter break last year, Salah's days at Chelsea have become increasingly difficult.
When he first joined the team, Mourinho was very interested in him.
Salah, who led his team to defeat Chelsea in the Champions League, left a deep impression on Mourinho.
It is precisely because of this that Mourinho bought him, intending to use him to solve the team's weak forward problem.
However, Salah, who performed well in Basel, suffered from severe acclimatization problems after arriving at Chelsea.
In the 2013-2014 season, Salah still had the opportunity to play. He played 10 times in the Premier League and scored two goals.
However, this season, after Chelsea bought Diego Costa, Salah completely lost his chance to play.
So far this season, Salah has only played three Premier League games for Chelsea, all of which were as a substitute in garbage time, and he has not scored any goals or made any assists.
The Egyptian Pharaoh became frustrated due to not getting playing time for a long time.
He realized that he might have no future at Chelsea, so he began to seek to be loaned out or simply transferred away!
It just so happened that Mourinho took a fancy to Cuadrado of Fiorentina, so he planned to loan Salah to the Purple Lilies as a bonus in the transfer.
The transfer negotiations were going smoothly until Manchester City intervened.
Chelsea were surprised after receiving Manchester City's £12 million offer.
Does the other party really want to buy players, or does it intend to disrupt the transfer negotiations between them and Fiorentina?
It is said that Manchester City is looking for defenders all over the world, and Cuadrado's performance in Serie A is obvious to all. Could it be that Guardiola also has his eyes on him? For a moment, Mourinho was a little confused about Guardiola's intentions.
Chelsea spent 15 million pounds to buy Salah, but Salah's performance has declined in the past two seasons and his value has dropped a lot.
So Manchester City's offer of 12 million pounds is not too low, and there is still room for bargaining with the other party.
The final transaction price is around 15 million pounds. If Manchester City is really sincere about buying, this price is acceptable to Chelsea.
However, most teams are unwilling to sell a player with great potential to a direct competitor in their league.
Even if the price is a little lower, selling it to teams in other leagues is better than selling it to competitors.
What's more, during the winter break last year, Manchester City poached De Bruyne, who was neglected by the Blues, from them at a low price. Later it was proved that the Blues had misjudged them and suffered a great loss.
Seeing De Bruyne's performance in Manchester City getting better and better, Chelsea fans regret it! If they had known De Bruyne was so strong, they should not have sold him.
Even if it really needs to be sold, it shouldn't be sold to Manchester City!
For only 20 million euros, a core midfielder was given to Manchester City. This deal is a huge loss!
After last year's lesson, Chelsea was extremely vigilant when they received Manchester City's transfer offer for Salah.
"Let's contact Florence again. The maximum price is 30 million euros. If it's more expensive, we won't buy it!"
Mourinho didn't take Salah very seriously at first, and was almost forgetting about him.
However, Manchester City's offer made him wary, and he couldn't help but want to keep Salah and observe him further.
Maybe I was just mistaken?
Guardiola has always had a very accurate eye for people. The players he chooses must have outstanding qualities.
However, if Salah is forced to stay, Fiorentina may not be able to afford the transfer fee.
Fiorentina's psychological price was 35 million euros, and Chelsea's offer was 5 million euros lower than their psychological price, and they also withheld Salah, who was originally agreed to be loaned out.
This made Florence very dissatisfied!
They feel that Chelsea lacks sincerity, and Cuadrado's performances have been dazzling both in Serie A and in last year's World Cup.
Moreover, he is at his peak now. Selling such a player for 35 million euros is definitely a fair price.
The negotiations between the two sides were not going smoothly and were about to fail. Chelsea had to make concessions and added 2 million euros to the original amount.
Fiorentina had not intended to agree to the transfer, but Cuadrado himself was very much attracted to Chelsea. If the transfer was refused, the relationship between the club and the player would become very strained.
Therefore, Fiorentina had no choice but to agree to the transfer.
As for Salah, who was originally planned to be loaned out, he was forced to stay by Chelsea because of Manchester City's offer.
This may not be good news for the Egyptian pharaoh himself.
Because at the crucial moment of Chelsea's championship race, it is difficult for a marginal character like him to get playing time.
And not having any games to play for a long time can be very disadvantageous for young players who are in a critical period of growth.
It is also because of this that Salah's attitude towards Mourinho has undergone a huge change, from respect to keeping his distance.
After being rejected by Chelsea, Guardiola did not feel much regret.
Salah's style is somewhat similar to that of Messi and Lin Quan. Since Lin Quan is already in the team, buying him is just to serve as a substitute for Lin Quan.
However, Guardiola discovered that Lin Quan had a very high attendance rate. Not only did he have few injuries, but his physical fitness was also abnormally strong.
He doesn't seem to need a substitute...
So Chelsea refused, it was no big deal. After all, he was just listening to Lin Quan and giving it a try.
Guardiola doesn't care, but Lin Quan feels a little regretful.
Salah is a big player in Liverpool. If they can be poached in advance, it would be like cutting off an arm of Liverpool.
It is a pity that the plan failed. I don’t know whether Salah will join Liverpool as originally planned after Klopp arrives in the Premier League.
During this winter break, Manchester City made a total of four transfers, selling one player and buying three players, with a total expenditure of only 5 million euros.
With this kind of expenditure, if you cover the team name, you would think it is a small team in the top five leagues! Blue Moon fans, who are used to the team's lavish spending, are a little uncomfortable with the team suddenly becoming so frugal.
Last winter, they made big news, including the transfer of Kroos for 50 million, and even became the record bidder.
As a result, this winter, their total spending was only one-tenth of what it would have cost to buy a player last year.
This is too economical!
Upon hearing the news, the club's chairman Fahim found Guardiola alone and had a chat with him: "Mr. Guardiola, the club's finances are not a problem and the transfer budget is ample. You don't have to be so frugal."
He thought Guardiola was trying to save money for the team, so he tactfully reminded him:
Manchester City is backed by the Abu Dhabi consortium. We are different from other teams and don’t have to worry about saving money.
"Haha, Mr. Fahim, you misunderstood. I didn't mean to save money for the team. I just spent the money where it should be spent. I am very satisfied with these signings."
Since Guardiola said so, Fahim couldn't say anything.
You can't just hold someone's head down and force him to spend the money!
Moreover, the winter break is indeed a bit short and the recruitment of new players is greatly restricted. Guardiola may only make big moves during the summer transfer window.
Thinking of this, Fahim stopped persuading him.
After Fahim left, Guardiola suddenly felt emotional.
The feeling between Manchester City and Bayern is indeed completely different.
When he was at Bayern, the club allocated him a very small transfer budget each year, only around 30 million euros.
With such a small amount of money, if you want to buy the right players, you have to sell players to raise money.
At Manchester City, not only did he not have to worry about the transfer fee cap, he even caused concern from the club chairman because he spent too little.
This kind of thing is really unheard of.
The Manchester City club is indeed different from what is rumored by the outside world.
He was glad that he made the right choice!
…
Read the error-free version on 6Ⅹ9Ⅹ bookⅩ bar! 6Ⅹ9 book bar first publishes a novel.
Since this is the first winter break after the World Cup, there are not many transfers in the five major leagues during this winter break.
The main transfers were completed in the summer, and in the winter there were only minor changes in certain areas.
Among the major Premier League clubs, Chelsea has the biggest transfer activity.
They sold Schurrle to Wolfsburg for 32 million euros, and then brought Cuadrado from Fiorentina for the same price.
These two transfers are the highest transfer records of this winter break, so Schurrle and Cuadrado share the title of the highest transfer.
In addition to selling Schurrle, Mourinho also sold Bertrand, who had no place in the team, to Southampton for 13 million euros.
In the end, Chelsea not only did not spend any money, but also earned 13 million euros. If they are willing to sell Salah to Manchester City, they can earn about 30 million euros this winter.
The professor's Arsenal still adheres to the style of spending little money to achieve big things. They bought two players, Bielik and Gabriel, for 2.5 million euros and 15 million euros respectively. One of them is a midfielder and the other is a defender, both of which are areas that Arsenal needs to strengthen.
Among them, Belik is only 17 years old and is still an underage demon.
It seems like the professor still can't change his habit of buying little demons!
The Red Army Liverpool has not made any moves. I don't know whether they are saving money to make big news in the summer or what they are thinking about. Logically speaking, they are the team that needs reinforcement the most with their poor performance now.
Manchester City's neighbor Manchester United was also very quiet during the winter break, with no one buying anything.
There were rumors that Manchester United had taken a fancy to Juventus midfielder Pogba, but for some reason, there was no further movement.
Van Gaal is not having a good time at Manchester United. He spent so much money in the summer, but the results are so bad.
Affected by this, it is estimated that the Manchester United board of directors is unwilling to give him money to spend recklessly.
Although the investment in the five major leagues is not large, the expenditure of the world's sixth league, the Chinese Super League, is not small.
This winter, Guangzhou Evergrande spent a huge amount of money in the transfer market to introduce two players, Paulinho and Alan. The two players cost Evergrande a total of 26 million euros.
If this investment were placed in Europe, it would rank among the top three, only after Wolfsburg and Valencia.
It seems that the money-driven football in the Chinese Super League has not only not been curbed, but has become more and more serious.
When the transfer period was about to close, Lin Quan received a call.
This is his old teammate from Werder Bremen - center forward Arnautovic! "Hey, Lin, have you seen the news?"
On the other end of the phone, Arnautovic sounded very excited.
"What's the news?"
Lin Quan was confused and had no idea what the other party was talking about.
“Ahem, I was pursued by many Premier League teams and finally joined Stoke City Club for a high price of 5.5 million pounds!
How about it, isn’t it great? "
“Awesome!”
Lin Quan was stunned for a moment, then he reacted and complimented with a smile.
"Hey, it's good for you to know. I've seen the schedule. There will be a direct match between our two teams next month. I will treat you to a meal then. Remember to bring De Bruyne along.
This guy, since leaving Bremen, he hasn't even called me. I haven't contacted him for a long time!"
"Okay, I'll inform De Bruyne. If he refuses to go, I'll call you and drag him off the bus!"
"It's settled!"
After hanging up the phone, Lin Quan felt a sense of emotion.
Arnautovic also came to the Premier League, one and a half seasons later than originally planned. Was this also influenced by yourself?
With Arnautovic's physical fitness and mental attributes, it doesn't seem very difficult for him to gain a foothold in the Premier League. It can even be said that the rhythm of the Premier League games is most suitable for him to perform.
I just don't know if this guy will go to the Chinese Super League to make money in the future...
…
Time flies so fast, and January is over in the blink of an eye.
On February 1, the Premier League war reignited.
In this round of the league, Chelsea's top battle against Manchester City at home is definitely the top priority.
It is for this reason that the Premier League officials scheduled the game time in the prime time of the last day, separating it from other games in order to avoid spectator diversion.
Chelsea and Manchester City are currently ranked first and second in the standings respectively. This game may directly determine the final winner of this Premier League title.
If Chelsea can defend their home ground and beat Manchester City at home, they will be able to extend the lead to 6 points.
With only 15 rounds left in the league and no direct encounters between the two teams, this lead is very large. Unless Chelsea makes consecutive mistakes, Manchester City will have no chance of catching up.
But on the contrary, if Manchester City beats the Blues at Chelsea's home, the two teams will be back on the same starting line.
As a result, the ownership of this season's Premier League championship will become even more confusing.
Precisely because this game is so important, it has attracted the attention of countless fans across the Premier League before it even started.
Before the game, the Fleet Street media interviewed a number of football celebrities and experts and asked them about their views on the game.
Among these legends, most people think that Chelsea has a high probability of winning or drawing in this game.
Less than 30% of people are optimistic that Manchester City will beat Chelsea away.
Stamford Bridge is a famous devil's home ground. It is not so easy to break through! (End of this chapter)