Chapter 552 Kroos' transfer away shocked the football world
"Kompany is getting old, we need to buy a substitute!"
Guardiola, who was on vacation on the beach of Mallorca Island, said to Lin Quan.
"If Kompany continues to be injured frequently in the new season, I plan to let Stones partner with Van Dijk."
After listening to this, Lin Quan nodded slightly, but did not rush to express his opinion.
Kompany's attendance rate has not been high in recent seasons, especially last season.
Several injuries at the beginning and middle of the season caused Kompany's attendance rate to drop significantly. Throughout the season, Kompany only played in 22 games, including 14 league games and 8 cup games, 7 of which were as a substitute.
Last season, Manchester City played a total of 74 games in the league and cup, and Kompany's attendance rate did not even reach 30%.
According to Manchester City's internal statistics, Kompany has missed more than 80 games due to injuries since joining Manchester City in 2008.
Among all the main players, his absence time and number of games ranked first.
The center back position is different from other positions. This position tests the tacit understanding between teammates, especially the cooperation with another center back.
Kompany's constant injuries have a huge impact on Manchester City's defense.
This is also the reason why Guardiola had the urge to buy Otamendi during the winter break last season.
In the end, the deal was not reached due to Otamendi's height and Valencia's high offer, but Manchester City's demand for a central defender has not changed.
Although Stones is not well-known, he is very strong. At Lin Quan's suggestion, Guardiola has been observing him for a long time.
After observing for a period of time, Guardiola was very satisfied with Stones.
Although the price is a bit expensive, considering that he has a local household registration in England, the price is still within an acceptable range.
Furthermore, Stones has very comprehensive skills and is young, so he has a lot of room for growth in the future, allowing Guardiola to slowly train and transform him.
Last season, Manchester City's three-back system lasted less than half a season. The main reason was the lack of players in the central defender position, and they finally had to give up.
But after buying Stones, they can pick up this style of play again.
Guardiola intends to use Stones' versatility to transform him into a versatile backcourt player who can play both as a defender and as a defensive midfielder, thereby freeing up the two players in the defensive midfielder position, allowing them to boldly participate in the offense and further increase Manchester City's frontcourt offensive power.
Due to Manchester City's brilliant performance in the past few seasons, they have become public enemies in the Premier League.
No matter which team it is, they will be particularly excited when facing Manchester City, and everyone is proud to stop Manchester City.
This resulted in Manchester City frequently encountering the opponent's iron bucket formation in the league, which put Manchester City's offense under great pressure.
After all, if they are tied by these weak teams, they will most likely be left behind by other giants in the standings.
Therefore, Guardiola has been thinking about how to break the opponent's dense defense during this period.
The best solution he could think of was to increase the number of attackers in the frontcourt to further increase the defensive pressure on the opponent, and wait until the opponent made a mistake in a hurry to seize the opportunity to complete a fatal blow.
Therefore, buying Stones is not just as simple as buying a defender. It means that Manchester City's playing style will undergo huge changes in the new season.
"Cross might be leaving!"
After talking about Stones, Guardiola sighed and said to Lin Quan.
Lin Quan was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously asked: "He is going to Real Madrid?"
Guardiola was a little surprised. Could it be that Kroos had talked about this with Lin Quan before?
Otherwise, why did he guess so accurately? "Well, Kroos' agent talked to me and they are more inclined to Real Madrid, unless..."
"Unless what?"
"Unless the club can give him a substantial salary increase!"
Hearing Guardiola's words, Lin Quan frowned.
The main reason why Kroos broke up with Bayern was because of salary issues.
At that time, his salary at Bayern was very low, less than half of the team leader Ribery.
Even after signing a new contract and getting a salary increase, it is only two-fifths of Ribery's.
Kroos felt that this salary did not match his status and contribution to the team, so he had the idea of leaving.
Among the teams that had contact with Kroos at the time was Real Madrid, and the two sides had almost reached an agreement. If Manchester City had not intervened and snatched the deal with a sky-high transfer fee of 50 million, Kroos would have already been a Real Madrid player.
Lin Quan did not ask Guardiola how much annual salary Kroos wanted, but he estimated that it should be quite a lot. Otherwise, considering how much Guardiola values Kroos, there would be no reason for him to let him go.
A player's salary not only affects the player himself, but also directly affects the salary system of the entire team.
Although Manchester City is not short of money, they dare not easily change the salary system, which is related to the stability of the team.
Kroos' salary in Manchester City is actually not low, with an annual salary of 12 million euros, second only to Lin Quan and Aguero.
Compared with him, De Bruyne, who earns only 5.5 million euros a year, and Kante, who earns only 3.5 million euros a year, need a salary increase more.
Manchester City is actually under great financial pressure now. On the one hand, Lin Quan’s contract renewal has not been negotiated yet, and on the other hand, many players in the team are facing the issue of contract renewal.
Kanter, who performed well last season, must re-sign his contract. Otherwise, with his current annual salary, it would be easy for other teams to lure him away with high salaries.
Kante's role in Manchester City is irreplaceable. If he is lost, the defensive strength of Manchester City's midfield will drop to a lower level.
The Blues Chelsea have long coveted Kante, and Abramovich has even said that he is willing to buy Kante for 60 million euros.
To be honest, for a midfielder, especially a defensive midfielder, the price of 60 million is simply outrageous.
But who asked Abu to like it?
I have money and I am willful. There is nothing I can do about it.
As for De Bruyne, his offensive talent is beyond doubt.
Last season, De Bruyne provided a total of 32 assists in all competitions, breaking Manchester City's single-season assist record.
His creative and penetrating passes are Manchester City's only way to tear open the opponent's defense and break the opponent's goal.
Once he leaves the team, it will greatly affect Manchester City's offensive firepower.
Many teams are interested in De Bruyne, including Bayern in the Bundesliga, Barcelona and Real Madrid in La Liga, and even Liverpool has joined in the fun.
Among them, Real Madrid is the most sincere, and they plan to take away Manchester City's two core midfielders.
But De Bruyne does not have the so-called dream of becoming a Real Madrid player, and would rather stay in the Premier League and fight alongside his friends.
Therefore, the risk of him being poached is not great, but this does not mean that Manchester City can sit back and relax.
The other party's loyalty to the team is one thing, but the club cannot fail to express its loyalty.
Therefore, this season, Manchester City Club intends to offer the two a big contract, significantly increase their salary, extend the contract term, and add a penalty clause to prevent them from being poached by other teams with high salaries.
In fact, there are far more players targeted in Manchester City than these few, as Manchester City has been killing it in the Champions League and winning consecutive championships.
Many players in their team became famous and their value soared because of this, and then unsurprisingly they were targeted by many wealthy clubs.
For example, Van Dijk, the mainstay of the defense, was spotted by Liverpool coach Klopp.
There are rumors that Klopp has expressed his willingness to spend 70 million to bring Van Dijk.
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Note that the currency unit is pounds, not euros! If this deal can really be reached, Van Dijk will break the highest transfer fee record for defenders in world football and become the most expensive defender in history.
Moreover, this price will break the record in Liverpool's history and become Liverpool's record signing.
Others might scoff at this news, and few would believe it. After all, it is unbelievable to spend such a high price to buy a defender.
But Lin Quan knew very well in his heart that if Manchester City was willing to sell, Klopp would really dare to buy.
After all, in another dimension, Liverpool spent 75 million pounds to take Van Dijk away from Southampton! What's more, Van Dijk plays for Manchester City and has won two Champions League trophies with the team!
Although Manchester City seems to be in a prosperous situation on the surface, there are actually undercurrents.
…
While Guardiola was chatting with Lin Quan, in a manor somewhere in Germany, Kroos also made the final decision after a detailed discussion with his agent.
He has already won all the honors he wanted at Manchester City, and it is time to change to a new environment and start new challenges.
Although he was reluctant to leave his Manchester City teammates, the bad weather and even worse food made him suffer.
In the two and a half years he has played for Manchester City, Kroos can't remember how many times he has played on cold, wet and rainy days.
The weather in Manchester is as changeable as a woman's mood. It is sunny sometimes and rainy sometimes. Moreover, the rain starts suddenly without any warning.
Fighting in the rain is a very painful thing for the players, especially in winter.
What’s even more painful is that there is no winter break in the Premier League.
As a player who has won four Champions League trophies, Chris has no regrets in terms of club honors.
In this case, we need to think carefully about how to make our lives more comfortable.
Moreover, Real Madrid itself is not weak in strength, and it has greater fame and historical heritage. If he goes to Real Madrid, he can not only continue to gain honors, but also gain greater fame and more benefits.
In that case, what is there to hesitate about?
After the player made his decision, the only remaining obstacle was on the Manchester City club's side.
Considering the outstanding contribution the player has made to the team, Guardiola finally chose to fulfill his wish after repeated attempts to retain him failed.
So, Real Madrid began to make an offer to Manchester City.
After Real Madrid signed the player, they did not want to spend too much money. After all, in their opinion, Kroos was already in their pocket.
As a result, Real Madrid's first offer was only 30 million euros.
This offer was really too outrageous. Even if Manchester City wanted to take care of its meritorious players, it would not do business at a loss, so they directly rejected Real Madrid's offer.
After being rejected, Real Madrid didn't care too much. The other party certainly would not accept the price of 30 million. After all, Manchester City spent 50 million to buy Kroos.
Any offer from Real Madrid lower than this figure will most likely be rejected.
With the idea that it would be foolish not to take advantage of a good deal, Real Madrid's second offer was based on the bottom line of 50 million euros, and they increased it a little bit, raising the offer to 52 million euros.
Not surprisingly, this offer was also rejected!
Real Madrid is not a small club, you are the Galacticos, the top club with the strongest historical heritage in Europe! Are you kidding me about the price of 52 million? Manchester City did not want to argue with the other party and directly said that if it was less than 70 million, there would be no discussion.
The other party asked for a high price and paid a low price. Since the other party had made an offer, Real Madrid would naturally bargain.
After many rounds of negotiations, the two sides finally reached an agreement that Kroos will transfer to Real Madrid for 65 million.
In fact, Manchester City is not satisfied with this price. When Kroos' contract was only one and a half years away, they spent 50 million to buy him. Now Kroos' contract has two and a half years left. According to market conditions, the transfer fee cannot be less than 70 million! Besides, Real Madrid is rich and powerful. They spent 85 million to buy James Rodriguez. Kroos is much better than James Rodriguez. But he is cheaper than James Rodriguez. How can this be justified?
But there is no way, who asked the other party to get the players in advance?
Moreover, Manchester City is not Tottenham, and they will not do the same as Tottenham, which would turn against them if they don't get paid. They will force Bale to stay even if the players go on strike.
Neither Manchester City nor Guardiola wanted to take things to the extreme, so even if they suffered a little loss, they let him go for Kroos's sake.
Real Madrid was overjoyed after successfully signing Kroos.
On July 19, Real Madrid held a press conference to publicly announce another transfer completed by the club.
When Kroos appeared at the press conference, he immediately ignited the whole audience and made all the reporters present exclaim in surprise.
The deal between Real Madrid and Manchester City was carried out very quickly, and there was no news about it beforehand, so much so that when the deal was reached, many people felt it was a bit unreal and suspected it was a dream.
As expected, after the news came out, the transfer quickly shocked the entire football world.
It’s not that everyone was shocked by the high transfer fee, Kroos is definitely worth the price of 65 million.
What shocked everyone was that Manchester City would actually sell its core midfielder.
Does this mean that Manchester City’s player supermarket is about to open?
Thinking of this, the big clubs immediately couldn't sit still and immediately made offers for their favorite players in Manchester City, fearing that they would be snatched away by others if they were a second late! (End of this chapter)