Chapter 300 Let him name a price directly!
Eaton Square, London.
Abramovich sat in the living room of his home, with a stack of freshly-published newspapers on the coffee table in front of him.
Without exception, the front page or important pages are all news reports about Valencia winning the Champions League.
Su Dong's name appeared in newspapers again and again, attracting Abramovich's attention.
Sitting in front of him were Chelsea's top figures. Chairman Bruce Buck was a member of the old team when Abramovich acquired Chelsea. Peter Kenyon was a capable player who was hired from Manchester United at a high salary. Female assistant Marina Granovschia was Abramovich's confidant for many years.
Anyone can see that with these three people gathered together, something big is bound to happen.
"AC Milan has rejected our offer again!" Peter Kenyon reported helplessly.
This is obviously not good news.
Abramovich had a blank expression on his face and nodded slightly to indicate that he heard it.
"This is our second offer," Peter Kenyon reminded.
Chelsea made its first offer to AC Milan in March for Ukrainian nuclear warhead Shevchenko. The first offer was 35 million euros plus Crespo, which was already a considerable price.
But AC Milan refused! AC Milan's sports director Braida even publicly responded to Chelsea in the media: "Please forget Shevchenko! Don't think about him anymore. We will not sell any top star, including Shevchenko."
This is a very clear signal.
But Abramovich was eager to recruit talented players, so after some new preparations, he made another offer not long ago.
This time he took out 15 million euros of private money directly from his own pocket and added it to Chelsea's transfer budget, with a total price of 50 million euros, plus Crespo, Hasselbaink and Mutu, and he could choose any of the three players as a bonus, as long as AC Milan was willing to let Shevchenko transfer.
Unexpectedly, AC Milan rejected him again! "What did Damiani say?" Abramovich asked with concern.
Shevchenko is a Ukrainian and has a close personal relationship with Abramovich. His agent is naturally also familiar with Abramovich. In fact, they have discussed Shevchenko's transfer to Chelsea countless times in private.
"Damiani said AC Milan is preparing a new contract to increase Shevchenko's annual salary to 5.2 million euros, which is already a very high price. Since Serie A players are generally taking pay cuts, it will be difficult for Shevchenko to refuse such a contract extension."
After a pause, Peter Kenyon continued: "He also said that if AC Milan does not change its mind, Shevchenko will continue to choose to play for the Rossoneri and does not rule out rejecting our invitation in front of the media."
After hearing this, Abramovich looked unhappy.
He understood that this meant that Shevchenko's transfer to Chelsea was becoming less and less likely, and even becoming impossible.
After the Russian tycoon landed in the UK, he waved the money in his hand and was successful in everything he did. However, he encountered many setbacks with his most valued "compatriot" Shevchenko, which made him feel very unhappy.
Turning his head to look at the newspaper in front of him, Abramovich changed the subject, "Let's talk about Su Dong!"
Everyone understood Abramovich's mood at the moment and immediately shifted the topic to Su Dong.
"Mourinho called me and asked us to speed up the introduction of Su Dong. He believed that Su Dong would be the perfect center forward candidate in his tactical map. He hoped to see Su Dong's name on the player list when he arrived at Stamford Bridge." Peter Kenyon said.
Abramovich frowned when he heard this. "We gave him the right to suggest transfers, but we didn't give him the power to order us to do anything, did we?"
No one would be happy to hear such words when they are in a bad mood.
"He's a little anxious!" Peter Kenyon explained.
"What did Valencia say?" Abramovich didn't delve into it.
"There has been no statement so far, but almost everyone knows that Su Dong will definitely transfer, the only difference is which team he will go to."
"How much are you going to sell Valencia for? 50 million euros?"
Peter Kenyon and Bruce Buck looked at each other and saw the difficulty in each other's eyes.
"What's the matter?" Abramovich was a little surprised.
Peter Kenyon looked at the chairman, then met Abramovich's gaze and replied, "He is definitely not available at this price now. According to outside speculation, Su Dong's current value is definitely not cheap. It is even possible that he will break the sky-high price set by Zidane and become the player with the highest transfer fee in history."
Abramovich was puzzled, but soon shook his head with a sneer, "Is Valencia crazy for money?"
"If I remember correctly, Su Dong is only 19 years old, right? A 19-year-old kid wants to break Zidane's transfer fee record. Is this an offer for Chelsea, or for all teams?"
It is no wonder that Abramovich is wary, because the European football world now generally has a certain attitude towards Chelsea's offer, that is: I know you have a lot of money, so I will raise the price a little bit, it's up to you to buy or not! "This is an offer for all teams," said Peter Kenyon.
"This is impossible. No one would be willing to pay such an outrageous price for a 19-year-old player!" Abramovich said angrily. He was dissatisfied with such an outrageous price.
Peter Kenyon also knew that such a transfer fee was indeed outrageous.
They had already thought that Abramovich's offer for Shevchenko was very high, but now it seems that Su Dong's transfer fee may be even higher, which is definitely hard to accept.
Of course, judging from his performance, Su Dong is indeed the most capable and promising player among the younger generation in world football today.
"Maybe Valencia just wants to take advantage of the current popularity of Eastern Europe and make a huge sum of money. If no one really buys it, the price will probably drop next summer." Bruce Buck said lightly.
This is usually the case in a market economy.
"What if someone buys it?" Peter Kenyon reminded.
Bruce Buck was speechless.
What makes professional football completely different from other industries is that professional players can be considered a unique asset.
When this player is bought by someone else, it becomes difficult for other teams to find a replacement.
Therefore, the transfer of players is full of risks, and the transfer operations of clubs are equally high-risk.
Especially a transfer of a superstar like this.
It is not uncommon for a property to be sold at a discounted price next year if it cannot be sold at a high price this year. There are also many people who think that the other party’s asking price is too high and misjudge the situation, and end up being beaten to it by others, which they regret later.
In a word, if you want to transfer, you have to finish the negotiation even if you cry! If Chelsea thinks Valencia's price for Su Dong is too high, then they can choose not to buy him, but they have to consider whether Real Madrid and Barcelona are willing to pay the money. Once Su Dong transfers to Real Madrid and Barcelona, it will be basically impossible for Chelsea to buy him again.
In this kind of situation, it is difficult for Peter Kenyon and Bruce Buck to make a decision, and they can only look to Abramovich.
The Russian tycoon was also hesitant, after all, this was a huge sum of money.
At this moment, Marina Granovskia, the female assistant who had been sitting like a specimen and had not spoken a word from beginning to end, suddenly said: "With the same offer, we can basically sign Shevchenko, right?"
These words seemed to remind Abramovich and made the Russians' eyes light up.
Isn’t it?
For the same price, why not sign Shevchenko, but instead go for the sake of buying a 19-year-old kid?
"Moreover, as far as I know, Su Dong's agent seemed to have said that he wanted a promise from our club, that is, to become the team's top star. So what if we sign Shevchenko in the future?"
Abramovich looked at his trusted female assistant and nodded, thinking that her analysis was very timely.
You know, he has privately promised Shevchenko that he would make him Chelsea's number one star, with a status above key players such as Terry and Lampard. But if he signs Su Dong and gives him such a promise, how can he sign Shevchenko?
If the choice is between Shevchenko and Su Dong, he will not hesitate at all, it must be Shevchenko!
He firmly believes that Shevchenko will succeed in Chelsea, lead Chelsea to win the Champions League and become a top club! As for Su Dong, maybe he is very strong, but he can't compare with Shevchenko.
"That's what we'll do!" Abramovich decided on the spot.
"Continue to contact AC Milan and increase the offer for Shevchenko. It's better to tell Braida that we are determined to get Shevchenko and let him name the price directly!"
Abramovich is really eager to recruit talented Ukrainian "fellow countrymen".
"Also, when we contacted Valencia, we told them that we couldn't offer Su Dong a very high transfer fee. We also told his agent that we wouldn't promise him the position of the team's top star, but we could make some concessions on his annual salary."
Abramovich believed that using money to resolve the gap in status was a sign of his sincerity.
Of course, the annual salary he promises to Su Dong now and the contract he promises to Shevchenko will definitely be more generous.
"It may be difficult to convince Valencia and the Soviet Union." Peter Kenyon's premonition was not good.
Abramovich nodded and said with a smile: "Peter, you have to believe that there are not so many rich people in European football. Su Dong is not worth such a high transfer fee. Don't look at Valencia's shouting now. Just wait, during the winter break, or at the latest by next summer, they will definitely sell at a discount!"
Maybe Abramovich is right.
Peter Kenyon was not very confident either.
After all, the richest Real Madrid and Valencia are sworn enemies, so if they want to bring in Su Dong, it would be a huge undertaking.
As for Barcelona, now that Deco has been basically confirmed, are they really willing to sell everything they have to bring in Su Dong?
If we can’t sell it this year, we’ll have to offer discounts next year!
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
