Despite being forced to dress up by Shania, Tang En greatly enjoyed his two days of vacation. While it was true that he hated being forced to do anything by other people, it depended on who those people were. He would not mind if it was Shania making him do it.
So long as it could make Shania happy, what was this little sacrifice?
At the young age of 17, Shania already had to bear the burden of working and doing something that she did not like very much. Perhaps, the only time she smiled as much was during the period of their interaction.
In front of the others, she needed to be seen as an international model and pay attention to her image. She had to be careful about every word and action. She even needed to maintain her expression at all times to preserve the perfect image in all lighting, from all angles. This was the perfect image they hoped for, but it was not the real Shania.
Only in front of Tang En, in front of the man she called "Uncle Tony," was she able to put down those masks and live in a carefree and true manner.
While the topic might be a heavy one, it was the truth.
Tang En"s two-day vacation pa.s.sed in a blink of an eye and Shania also needed to return to Milan to continue her work. In London"s Heathrow Airport, Mr. Fascal thanked Tang En solemnly. He was grateful that he had spent the two days accompanying Shania to play.
"You"re too polite. I wanted to relax too." Tang En smiled and waved his hand. "I forget all my troubles when I"m with her. I hate agents, but you"re different. You"re a good agent. No matter how famous Shania gets, she"s still a child. Please protect her."
Fascal nodded. "You can set your heart at ease, Mr. Tony. The new season is beginning. Good luck to you."
The two men shook hands.
After sending Shania and Fascal off, Tang En sat on the stairs outside the pa.s.senger terminal and called Landy, asking him to pick him up.
After putting down the phone, Tang En continued sitting on the steps, looking up at the sky disinterestedly.
Perhaps he should really buy himself a car.
An ear-splitting roar sounded. A silvery-white airplane flew across the stretch of sky above Tang En"s head.
The thought of buying a car lasted only one afternoon in Tang En"s mind. The next morning, he concluded that walking was still better during his walk to the training grounds with Dunn. On one hand, he could train his body, and on the other, he could contemplate his problems as he walked without having to worry about getting into a car accident.
The first matter to attend to after resuming training was dealing with the transfers. Anelka had yet to find a suitable club to be his new employer. Mark Viduka"s agent, however, already informed the club that his client wished to be transferred. The reason was simple, and it was one that Tang En understood. There was already no place for Viduka in the current Forest Team. Viduka himself was also unwilling to play as a subst.i.tute, so leaving the team was the best option.
Viduka knew it in his heart. When the club bought in Ruud van Nistelrooy, he knew that there would no longer be a core position for him on the team. He could not accept playing as a subst.i.tute. After all, he was still in his prime.
Tang En also knew that Viduka"s s.p.a.ce for survival was shrinking with the addition of Nistelrooy and Bendtner. By letting him go, they could still earn a sum of a transfer fee. It was not a bad idea. Middlesbrough hoped to purchase Viduka with an offered price of five million pounds. Tang En turned them down immediately.
No matter what, Viduka was a core forward on the Forest Team for the past two seasons. Forest"s current results were inseparable from Viduka"s hard work. The number-two forward in the English Premier league was only worth five million pounds? Tang En could not accept it.
However, he did not completely shut down the potential transfer. Instead, he gave Middlesbrough a chance to continue bargaining. He hoped that they would continue upping their offer. If they were truly sincere about Viduka, they had to show a sincere offer!
Back then, Nottingham Forest spent six million pounds to buy Viduka. Selling him off, how should it be put, should not be at a price lower than that.
Tang En"s benchmark was to disregard all offers lower than six million pounds.
After a round of bargaining, both parties finally reached an agreement. Middlesbrough would pay four million pounds first. Then, within 12 months, they were to pay another 2.5 million pounds in installments, totaling 6.5 million pounds for the purchase of Mark Viduka, whom they had been very keen on.
Following that, Tang En loaned out Kris Commons to Watford, who had just been promoted into the English Premier League, hoping that Commons would be able to gain sufficient appearances in the field with them. To appease Commons, Tang En even especially gave him a new four-year contract before deciding to loan him out. While his terms were not considered high on the team, it was mainly to express the team"s trust and promise to him - that in the future four years, he was still a member of Nottingham Forest.
It was not only Matthew Upson and Mark Viduka who were sold off. Forest Team"s second reserve goalkeeper, Barry Roche, was also sold for 2.7 million pounds to an EFL Champions.h.i.+p team, Leicester. Under the situation where Akinfeev would be returning in a year"s time, Nottingham Forest no longer had a position for Barry Roche.
After clearing the surplus of players, Tang En successfully reached his aim of streamlining the players on the team and at the same time increasing their battle capabilities. The players who remained were all extremely capable. In comparison to the common syndrome of EPL clubs registering more than 30 players, Nottingham Forest"s team list of 23 First Team players could be considered a small team. But Tang En deeply believed that all 23 of them were excellent players. Here, there was no player just sc.r.a.ping the barrel for a meal; everyone who stayed was surely of some use to the team.
After completion of his work on streamlining the team, George Wood"s agent came knocking again.
"I"m not here to inform the club that George is transferring, but I know that the team has sold a few players recently." Sitting on the sofa in Tang En"s office, Woox crossed his legs as he casually said, "Now that Forest"s momentum is so good, only a fool would consider a transfer."
That was the truth.
"But, as everyone knows, there are not just a few powerhouses in the European football scene that are keen on Wood. Yet Wood has turned down all of them. So…" Woox put down his legs and straightened his back, somberly saying, "shouldn"t the club show their appreciation for Wood"s act of loyalty?"
Hearing his words, Tang En said impa.s.sively, "Sure. Tomorrow I will give him a carton of milk as welfare. How about that?"
"Mr. Twain!" Woox raised his voice.
"Just get to the point if you want to raise his salary. There"s no need to beat around the bush like that." Tang En snorted in contempt at Woox"s att.i.tude.
Woox went back to crossing his legs. "It"s good that you"re aware of it. If you wish to retain an important member of your team, you need to better your treatment of him and make him feel that his efforts and reciprocation are positively correlated."
"I think that George is very satisfied with his current income."
"That"s what you think." Woox did not back down. "I still think his current conditions are too low. Tony, you wouldn"t be unaware of the salary standards of a national player, would you?"
Generally, once a player was successfully selected for the national team, his value would shoot up under the agent"s management even without playing a single match. The commensuration for taking on advertis.e.m.e.nts or becoming a spokesperson outside the field, as well as the salary and prize money given by the team internally all had to be raised. Currently, that was exactly what Woox was doing.
"He is the captain of a team that was runner-up in last season"s EPL and UEFA Champions League, a selected member of England"s National Team who partic.i.p.ated in the German World Cup, a player who is most indispensable to the team, and the only core who cannot be rotated. Is such a player worth only 15 thousand pounds per week? If that number was made known, people would be laughing until their teeth fell out, Tony." Woox"s words were razor-sharp. His verbal abilities did not seem to pale in comparison to Tang En"s. "When you were spending truckloads of money in the transfer market buying one football star after another, did you not think about making a new promise to the most hard-working and most important person on the team?"
Tang En stared at Woox and did not immediately respond.
He had to admit it in his heart; Woox"s words were impeccably reasoned. Tang En could barely find any reason to refute them.
"But we"ve just renewed our contract…"
"That"s not important. The value of a player is constantly s.h.i.+fting. A year ago, who among us expected George to have the achievements he"s got today? Clearly, we have underestimated his abilities, and in turn, underestimated his value. Now is the time to correct that mistake."
Tang En sighed. Although this agent was hateful, he was at least not egging Wood on to consider transferring. No matter what, Wood was the most important person on Forest right now. He was both the future for Tang En and his team. Evan had also mentioned before that if Wood was to become tempted by the outside world, they had to retain him at all costs.
A weekly salary of 15 thousand pounds for Wood was indeed a little too low.
"Alright. State your demand, Professor Woox."
Hearing such mockery, Billy Woox was not perturbed. Instead, he smiled as he stated, "A weekly salary of 75 thousand pounds."
Even though he was already prepared in his heart, Tang En still sighed upon hearing the numbers.
"Are you surprised, Tony?" Woox c.o.c.ked his head and looked at Tang En. "I think that number is very reasonable. Ruud van Nistelrooy currently draws the highest salary in the team, 85 thousand pounds. Shouldn"t the team captain enjoy the same level of treatment?"
"So, I should be grateful that you didn"t ask for a weekly salary of 140 thousand pounds at one go?" Tang En said, laughing coldly.
"I wouldn"t want to destroy the salary balance in the club," Woox replied with a smile.
"Thanks for your concern for the club"s financial status," Tang En said with an unhappy face. "But now, negotiations of players" contracts are no longer under my purview." He lied. He suddenly thought of someone who was more suitable to deal with this insatiably greedy fellow before him. "Especially contracts for important players."
"Hm?"
"You can look for Mr. Allan Adams to discuss raising George Wood"s salary. He"s currently in his office. I"m sure he"ll be happy to have you."
Looking at Tang En"s smothered smile, Woox knew that this must be a strategy of his. However, he could not do anything even if he knew it. Tang En evidently did not wish to discuss this issue with him, but he did not turn him down, only changing someone else for the discussion.
As a football agent and as a successful individual with some achievements in the market, Woox had long heard of Nottingham Forest Club"s current marketing manager and knew he was not a character easily dealt with. It seemed like Forest was unwilling to fork out that sum of money so readily.
While Woox was in a stupor, Tang En picked up his phone and called Allan Adams to inform him about this. Allan agreed to take the matter off his hands.
"Mr. Woox." Tang En hung up the call, "I"ve already informed Mr. Adams. He hopes for you to go over to his office to discuss the matter now."
At that point, what else was there to do? Was he going to just turn and leave, refusing to further discuss the salary raise? That would not do. Woox decided he would have to meet this Allan person.
Of course, he did not forget to give Tang En a thumbs up before leaving. "A beautiful pa.s.s, Tony."
Tang En smiled as he waved his hand. "Thanks for the praise. Goodbye, Mr. Woox."
After pa.s.sing the ball of raising Wood"s salary over to Allan Adams, Tang En was going to wash his hands of it. All his focus was on leading the team"s training and the final two warm-up matches.
The new season was coming.
Initially, Billy Woox and Allan Adams" negotiations were progressing slowly. Allan did not seem in a hurry to reach an agreement with Woox. After all, there was still a few years on Wood"s contract. The club"s att.i.tude was, "of course his salary has to be raised, but not that high." To be honest, Forest was still not some rich and powerful team who could spend money like water. They needed to have strict control over the salary structure of the players.
But Woox felt that the team was not showing their sincerity. If they were already so stingy with their future captain, could they be expected to be generous with the other players?
Both parties were at an impa.s.se until the media suddenly revealed that George Wood was in current negotiations about his contract renewal.
Tang En originally had no interest in such topics; it was like watching dogs fighting each other. He only cared if George Wood"s condition in training was affected. But he soon found himself to be wrong.
Getting media exposure was a move by Woox. He wanted to blow the matter up so that it was not only an issue involving Wood alone but something that the whole team was concerned about; how did Nottingham Forest Club treat the players serving her?
If Woox got his way, there would be an unstable situation at a crucial point when the new season was about to begin. The morale of the team would be negatively influenced. This was not something Tang En wanted to see.
This move was out of Tang En and Allan"s expectations. It was rather beautiful as well.
The media was an expert at stirring things up. With their addition, any issue would become complex. In this way, the club would have no choice but agree to Woox"s demands.
Tang En also hoped to settle discussions of the matter before the season began and not let such messy matters impact the team"s preparations for battle.
Finally, both parties managed to reach an agreement. George Wood and his team would sign a new contract with an increase in his weekly salary from 15 thousand to 70 thousand pounds. This was five thousand pounds lower than his initial demand, but Woox did not care. He was very satisfied with the result. Allan, on the other hand, made a point to remember the guy.
What comforted Tang En greatly, other than reaching a consensus about the new agreement, was that the matter seemed almost unrelated to Wood. The boy was not in the least affected. If some ignorant reporter asked Wood for his thoughts about the salary raise, he would deftly throw all the questions to his own agent; "Please approach my agent for this." If asked about his feelings regarding training, he would respond, "Feels great. Everything is as usual." Such answers were clearly unable to satisfy the media but were immensely satisfying for Tang En.
After following Woox for a year, he had indeed learned something. He now knew how to deal with the reporters. Faced with reporters, he was no longer as uneasy as before.
August 13, Cardiff Millennium Stadium.
The English Premier League champions, Chelsea, lost 1:2 to FA Cup winner Liverpool in the Charity s.h.i.+eld. The final warm-up match before the new season of the EPL ended.
In the interview after the match, Mourinho proudly talked about the defeat of this match. "I think this is a good sign. The League champions.h.i.+p of the new season still belongs to Chelsea. A third in our streak of the Premier League champions.h.i.+p. Furthermore, we also want to attain a breakthrough in the Champions League."
This was the reigning champion"s declaration for the new season. Thanks to the advancement of live broadcasts, the other 19 managers of the rest of the EPL teams all heard his brave words.
No one would show approval of his words. Mourinho pushed his own team into the teeth of the storm. He wanted to make some waves, but this depended on if his opponents would give him that opportunity.
The next day, in Tang En"s column, he announced his aims for the team in the new season:
"Mourinho said that his team wanted to attain a breakthrough in the new season of the Champions League. I regret to see what a gutless person he is. In the new season, our aim is to become the champions of the UEFA Champions League. I know what you want to say, but you are not reading it wrong. In the new season, our aim is indeed to become the champions of the Champions League. What"s mine is mine. If you"ve taken what"s mine in the last season, it"s time to cough it up."