Chapter 49 Gathering a group of "old guys" to do big things
Chapter 49 Gathering a group of "old guys" to do big things
The significance of the last two rounds of the league for Manchester United is to maintain the third place in the league and help Ronaldo win the Premier League Golden Boot.
So Li Chen was completely free to arrange his offensive tactics, and the last two rounds were a great pleasure for the fans watching the game.
At this stage, Ronaldo was no longer in a hurry to shoot and score goals. He was very experienced and played very patiently in both league games.
This patience also brought him a penalty and a goal in open play.
Plus the assists provided in the final game.
In the first season after Ronaldo returned to Manchester United, his personal league data was fixed at 25+9.
This data is enough to show that Ronaldo is in good shape now.
Scoring 25 goals in the league can be considered a normal performance for Ronaldo.
But the 9 assists show that Ronaldo does have a positive supporting and activating effect on other Manchester United frontcourt players in Li Chen's tactical system.
After a turbulent and then smooth Premier League season, Ronaldo once again proved that his age is not his biggest problem now.
Give him respect and trust, and he can still bring rich tactical returns to a strong team.
He has won the Premier League Golden Boot and the title of the strongest striker in the Premier League this season with a clear conscience, and he deserves it!
Salah and Son Heung-min, who both scored 23 goals and ranked second in the Premier League scorer list, also expressed their admiration and congratulations to Ronaldo in an interview.
Manchester United ended the season smoothly with 76 league points, third place in the league and an FA Cup title.
Manchester United fans felt happy at the end of the season.
But they are also the most frustrated fan group among the top four teams in the Premier League.
Because the man who led the team out of trouble and brought them infinite hope eventually left.
That's what he ultimately left for Manchester United fans.
It was a smiling figure with his hands on his hips.
It was a picture of him kissing the FA Cup winner.
It was the back view of him hugging a group of Manchester United players, waving goodbye to the fans and getting on the bus outside the Crystal Palace home stadium.
He left hastily and decisively, giving the Red Devils no chance to try to keep him.
After the end of the season, pro-Manchester United media and newspapers used a huge amount of news space to thank Li Chen.
Other British media are curious about where Li Chen’s next stop will be?
If he is still willing to stay in the Premier League, some of the top teams in the Premier League will definitely extend an olive branch to him.
His coaching performance in two and a half seasons has made the Premier League and its huge fans no longer doubt Li Chen's ability.
He can lead a relegation team to the middle of the league, or he can lead a turbulent giant back to the top four of the league and win a cup championship.
However, in these two successful coaching experiences, Li Chen did not receive support from the club in recruiting players.
Where can you find such an outstanding young man who doesn't spend money and can do a good job? !
However, among the top teams in the Premier League, except Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea do not seem to be changing coaches in the near future.
If we put aside these strong teams, among the remaining top teams, only Tottenham and Arsenal are still good places to go.
But Tottenham Hotspur had disgusted both Mourinho and Li Chen.
Even if Levy is willing to fire Conte and invite Li Chen, the possibility of Li Chen coaching Tottenham again is very slim.
Although Arsenal failed to make the top four after a busy season, it is obvious that they are on the right track of reconstruction.
As long as the IQ of Arsenal management is still online, they should not choose to fire Arteta at this time.
After much deliberation, the British media all felt that if Li Chen continued to stay in the Premier League, there would be no good team to take over.
In contrast, several traditional European giants are now likely to change coaches.
No matter how you look at it, it would be more appropriate for Li Chen to test the waters with those wealthy clubs.
Manchester United fans who were closely following the news of Li Chen's next club were relieved after seeing the media's analysis.
The best outcome for them at the moment is for Li Chen to leave the Premier League next season to coach traditional giants in other leagues.
The same is true for Li Chen. He can go to a wealthy club to gain experience without having to compete against Manchester United on the field. It is a win-win for everyone.
Just when many fans and media people believed that Li Chen still had to evaluate the situations of several top teams and it would take at least a week or two, or even less than a month, before making a decision to join.
Italy's authoritative sports newspaper "Torino Sports" suddenly revealed that Li Chen and his economic team had arrived in Turin!
Juventus fans who were enjoying the related news were suddenly stunned.
Turin?
Li Chen definitely did not come to Turin for tourism at this time, and he would definitely not choose to coach Turin, an ordinary Serie A team.
So Li Chen, the popular young coach, was deceived by his own management... and invited here? !
Juventus fans, who had lost interest and confidence in Allegri's constipated tactics, became excited.
Yes, Li Chen is Mourinho's favorite disciple, but there is no conflict between their hatred of Mourinho and their active welcome of Li Chen to coach the team.
Li Chen is obviously good at coaching offense, and he also pursues a balance between offense and defense, which is in line with the needs of Juventus fans.
Another thing is that Li Chen is very good at choosing the right player for the job and does not force the club to give him large sums of money for signings.
This will make Juventus' management very comfortable.
Finally, Juventus has no shortage of top-notch players with outstanding strength and talent, and its lineup structure is much more suitable than Manchester United.
Li Chen led Manchester United, which was in turmoil last season, to fight back into the top three in the league and win a cup championship.
Now leading Juventus, which has a more solid foundation, and playing in Serie A where internal competition is far less intense than in the Premier League, won't Li Chen be able to stage a strong "Renaissance"?
All of a sudden, Juventus fans straightened their backs on the Internet, and their expectations and confidence in the team's performance next season exceeded the original limit.
Inter Milan, which had finally regained its Serie A dominance from Juventus, is really getting restless.
Given Juventus' current financial situation, they can still clear out some redundant staff, free up salary space and then buy some good young attackers, even if they don't spend huge sums of money on signings.
Plus they already have a good lineup...
It would be a waste of offensive talent in Allegri's hands, but Li Chen is good at coaching players and organizing the offense!
What will Juventus do if Li Chen really leads a team with solid defense and strong offensive firepower?
The worried Inter Milan executives quickly asked around through their connections to find out what stage Li Chen was at with Juventus so that they could make preparations early.
But they haven't really taken any action yet.
Just one night after arriving in Turin, Li Chen hurriedly took a plane and left early the next morning!
Inter Milan’s top executives, who had no idea of the situation, were completely confused.
At this moment, the Juventus executives who had received Li Chen's apology response looked helpless.
Li Chen is willing to come to Turin in person to conduct the final negotiations with Juventus, which shows enough sincerity.
Basically, it is equivalent to his personal announcement that he will soon reach a cooperation with Juventus, and Juventus’ top management is also very satisfied with this.
But who could have thought that at such a critical moment, another club directly offered conditions that Juventus could never offer to Li Chen!
The generous salary is secondary. The main reason is that Li Chen simply cannot resist the temptation of having the power to recruit players!
In today's football era, no traditional giant will ever give the head coach such power.
Therefore, Juventus can no longer try to retain Li Chen.
Their competitors are essentially pinning the team's future for the next two or three seasons on Li Chen!
If Juventus really can't give such chips, it would be better to let go gracefully.
The most important thing for them now is to appease Allegri and prevent him from giving up because of psychological injury...
Li Chen, who hurried back to London by plane from Italy, was feeling very excited.
He and Mendes had already made the decision, and after declining Bayern's offer, they would speed up the negotiations with Juventus.
Among the top teams that can be joined now, Barcelona is in financial difficulties and is drinking poison to quench thirst. Bayern has big problems in the locker room and the management is too strong.
All in all, Juventus is indeed the most suitable top club for him at the moment.
The team is good, the midfield structure is relatively stable, and the individual abilities of several core front-line attackers are also relatively outstanding.
In addition to losing the position of league dominance, the management is willing to delegate appropriate power to the head coach to stimulate results.
These conditions made Li Chen quite satisfied. He was also prepared to reach a cooperation intention with Juventus and make an official announcement this week.
But many times, surprises come so suddenly.
Newcastle, which had only had brief contact with Mendes and expressed interest in Li Chen before, offered Li Chen conditions that he could not refuse at all at the critical moment.
Generous annual salary, huge transfer fees, and the right to clear out the team's existing players.
Finally, add the power to make the final decision on signings, which is valid for three years!
It can be said that Newcastle’s senior tycoons directly placed a heavy bet, betting that Li Chen could become Newcastle’s Ferguson!
When Li Chen first received the call from Mendes and knew that Newcastle wanted to invite him to coach, he really wanted to refuse subconsciously.
But when Mendes finished talking about all the conditions offered by Newcastle, Li Chen's words of rejection that were almost on the tip of his tongue turned into "I will go back to England tomorrow to sign a contract with them!"
So the turning point came so simply and unpretentiously.
Of course, no matter what he said, Li Chen certainly couldn't go to Newcastle to sign the contract as soon as he returned to England.
That would be too frivolous.
So he chose another good day to communicate with Newcastle's management and sign the contract.
The next morning.
After signing his name on the contract, Li Chen shook hands vigorously with several Newcastle executives with a smile on his face, and then stood together to take a group photo.
Both sides were smiling happily and seemed to think that the other was a great partner.
The Newcastle fans who were protesting against the sudden dismissal of Eddie Howe by the top management a few days ago received a surprise official announcement from the club on the last day of May!
Newcastle officially announced that Li Chen will serve as the team's official head coach next season. The two parties signed a contract until 2025, plus an option for one year's renewal.
Immediately afterwards, Li Chen also stated his and the club’s top management’s long-term plans and goal ambitions for the next three seasons at the official press conference specially held for him by the club!
“It is an honour to be appointed as Newcastle manager and I am very much looking forward to the challenge ahead.
I know the history of this great club and the passion of its fans, and I am committed to building a team that can be successful..."
Li Chen, who spoke eloquently in response to reporters' questions at the press conference, once again became the most watched figure in the entire English football world.
The conditions Newcastle offered to Li Chen were not leaked, and both parties kept their mouths shut.
So at this moment, the media and fans can only speculate subjectively, did Li Chen get a very generous contract, so he chose to join Newcastle?
Otherwise it would be hard to explain why he rejected Juventus' choice at the last minute.
If the goal is to achieve results faster, it goes without saying which team you should choose to coach, a down-and-out English powerhouse with a mediocre lineup or a world-renowned traditional powerhouse with a solid lineup.
"As expected, he chose money. To be honest, I am a little disappointed with Li. An outstanding young coach like him should go to a top team to show his ability instead of thinking about making a lot of money at this age."
"Heh, former professional players and coaches might have more such thoughts, but now? Forget the championship honors, who can resist money?"
"Stop talking nonsense. Working for a club like Newcastle for one year is equivalent to working for Juventus for three years. Would you not do it?"
"I don't think it's that simple. If it's just for money, Li can just negotiate with Manchester United for another month. Even if he can't get the amount offered by Newcastle, at least it's more than the salary offered by other top teams. Why would he leave Manchester United for Newcastle?"
"Guess what? When the new season starts, just look at the results of Li's management of Newcastle. There is no point in talking about other things. Results are the only thing that matters!"
The fans' various speculations and discussions directly enveloped the entire Newcastle club, making it impossible for the current Newcastle players to enjoy their holidays.
The Newcastle first-team players who are more flexible in their thinking have already considered asking the club for Li Chen's phone number.
It's always a good idea to say hello first, at least to leave a good impression on the new head coach. Even if he doesn't plan to use you, you can still part ways amicably.
However, Li Chen was more thoughtful about this matter than they thought.
Just like he did when he first joined Manchester United.
As soon as Newcastle officially announced his joining, he began to call several Newcastle first-team players he was interested in.
Li Chen is generally satisfied with Newcastle's current lineup.
If his and the club's top management's performance goal for the new season is to strive to enter the top four of the league, he may even feel that there is no need to recruit any more players.
But the more ambitious Newcastle executives will certainly not be satisfied with just qualifying for the Champions League in the new season.
Otherwise, why would they fire Eddie Howe, who also had the confidence and ability, and turn around and spend more money to hire Li Chen?
Therefore, it is imperative to recruit reinforcements and the elimination of redundant staff must be put on the agenda as soon as possible.
During this process, Li Chen does not need to be responsible for everything.
He only needs to appease some of the first-team players he wants to keep, and the rest of the work will naturally be done by Newcastle's uniform team.
So before the summer transfer window officially opened, when other Premier League giants were still flirting with their signings, Newcastle quickly announced that it was going to clean up its first team!
The Newcastle executives, who are not short of money, only care about the efficiency of the team's clearance and whether Li Chen is satisfied with the speed of clearance.
Based on this premise, Newcastle's uniform team seemed very straightforward when contacting other clubs that were interested in picking up bargains.
Bargaining is a sheer waste of time, so don't bother trying. I'll just give you a psychological bottom line price.
If you can accept it, discuss personal terms with the players you want in advance. Once the deal is reached, you can take the players away as soon as the summer transfer window opens!
Upon receiving the news, the mid- and lower-level Premier League teams and the top Championship teams excitedly contacted Newcastle to prepare to "purchase goods".
Li Chen has not been idle during this period. He has been making phone calls one after another to calm down players such as Guimarães, Joelinton, Trippier, Chris Wood, etc.
He then began his plan to recruit talent, using the connections he had accumulated over the past decade and contacting his old friends according to tactical needs.
Yes, Li Chen does not intend to use the generous transfer funds prepared for him by the club's top management to rudely snatch players from the market.
At least there is no need to spend a lot of money at this stage.
If you want to build a team in a short period of time and quickly achieve results, you cannot rely solely on young players, especially in the midfield and backcourt.
"Outdated" veteran stars who are both experienced and capable are very cost-effective targets for recruitment.
Even if they still want to fight for the last contract of their career, the asking price will not be too high.
In addition to money, they also value the way the head coach employs them and the overall atmosphere of the team.
And these are exactly what Li Chen can boldly promise them.
In early June, Li Chen, who had drawn up a list of potential signings, took Carrick directly to Porto, Portugal.
But it was different from what the media who followed his movements had guessed.
He came to Porto this time not to get in touch with Fabio Vieira or Otavio, who are currently being hyped by the Porto club.
The names of these two Portuguese midfielders were not on his transfer list.
Instead, the first thing written is Pepe, who has just celebrated his 39th birthday.
Li Chen, who had already contacted the Porto Club in advance, went straight to Pepe, who was still on vacation in Porto and had not returned to Brazil.
When old friends meet again, there is naturally a round of warm and familiar greetings.
However, Pepe did not know the real purpose of Li Chen's visit to Porto, and he even joked with Li Chen, asking which "young talents" in Porto Newcastle had taken a fancy to.
"Vitinya, I want to take him to England."
"Oh, you have a good eye, Lee, but Ferreira's loan journey at Wolves was not so pleasant. He may need a full season to adapt to the Premier League."
"It doesn't matter. Buying him now is investing in the future of the team. Before him, I wanted to take you to the Premier League. How about it? Are you interested in going to the Premier League with me?"
"I?"
"Yes, that's you."
"Don't joke, Li. I'm staying in Porto now just to enjoy the last years of my career. Your team needs younger and better central defenders. Why do you need an old man like me?"
"I'm not kidding, Pepe. Silva, who is only one year younger than you, won another Champions League trophy with Chelsea in the Premier League. Your experience and your current ability are exactly what I need.
Moreover, I have also contacted Sergio and Marcelo, what do you think, are you interested in doing something big again! ”
"Are you serious?! Sergio and Marcelo are also planning to go to the Premier League again?"
"Of course!"
"Shit! They're crazy! This is insane... Lee, you have to let me think about it!"
After almost fooling Pepe, Li Chen left him, still a little disheveled, and flew straight to Seville, Spain.
The meeting with Ramos was inevitably accompanied by a round of pleasantries.
When Li Chen used the same rhetoric to try to convince Ramos, the former Real Madrid captain who was still recovering from injury was also dumbfounded.
"God... don't lie to me, Li! Have you really convinced Pepe and Marcelo? Do they really plan to play in the Premier League for another season or two?"
"Of course! Don't you still believe me, Sergio? I need you to help me quickly improve the defense. People say Pepe is old and you are no longer good after your injury, but I know you both still have the ability to play in the top league, and you don't need to get used to each other when you work together. How about it? Let's do something big together!"
"But my contract with Paris Saint-Germain..."
"I will try to get the club to contact Paris. Don't worry. We will also offer you a two-year contract, but the annual salary can only be half of that of Paris. However, the club will compensate you with the signing fee."
"Damn it, I always feel like you're fooling me, you bastard. Are you still as crazy as when you asked me to play as a center forward in the injury time... Let me think about it."
"That's as it should be. You need to consider your family and your life, but... my old friend, this is our last chance to reunite in a new team. Promise me that you will give it serious thought and call me back!"
"Oh, I'm really going crazy..."
After leaving Ramos's residence in Seville, Li Chen felt relaxed and drove with Carrick to the hotel they booked in the city.
It was already late. After successfully completing the meeting with Pepe and Ramos today, Li Chen planned to stay in Spain for one night and return to Newcastle tomorrow morning.
Carrick, who witnessed Li Chen's "acting first and asking for permission later" today, and fooled Pepe and Ramos with the rhetoric that they had already agreed to join Newcastle, now gave Li Chen a thumbs up while sitting in the car.
"Didn't you think about the fact that they would call the other party right away and expose your lie?"
"How can this be a lie? I just told them what they were thinking in advance. Besides, they won't do that."
"why?"
"Because they still have the desire to return to the top league. I am their trusted old friend and I have extended an olive branch to them. How could they undermine me?"
"Ramos is absolutely right. You are indeed a jerk who understands human nature."
"Hey, thanks for the compliment."
Li Chen took out his cell phone with a smile, made a silence gesture to Carrick and the driver of the economic team, and then made a call.
"Hey! It's me. How have you been lately, old buddy? I'm not kidding you. I'm just waiting for your nod to join me. OK, OK, you should discuss it with your family. I'm waiting for your good news..."
Li Chen only stayed in Portugal and Spain for two days in total.
After he left, Portuguese newspaper Sporting CP was the first to break the news that Newcastle was interested in Porto midfielder Vitinha.
After returning to England, Li Chen did not deny the incident when interviewed by reporters.
To be more precise, he did have a great interest in Vitinha. When he talked to Porto about Pepe's transfer, he also asked about the possibility of introducing Vitinha.
But whether the latter can be introduced is not very important to Li Chen. He has already instructed the club's transfer department and asked the relevant person in charge to follow up on the negotiations with Porto.
For Porto, the more important business is naturally to sell Vitinha.
Pepe is indeed one of the team's main defenders now, but he is too old.
If they can complete the Vitinha deal and earn a transfer fee of around 40 million, then it won't be difficult for Porto to do a favor to Newcastle and give Pepe as a bonus.
For a while, a large number of fans were attracted by the transfer rumors released by Porto.
However, they are not concerned about how much weight Vitinia can play in Li Chen's team building plan for the new season.
Instead, I want to see whether Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle, two clubs run by Middle Eastern tycoons, will have some friction because of their simultaneous interest in Vitinha.
Amid the hot transfer news, the news that Real Madrid will hold a farewell ceremony for Marcelo on June 6, which was published in the newspaper the next day, did not cause much public opinion.
In contrast, the news that Paris Saint-Germain and Ramos terminated their contract early, which suddenly broke out almost at the same time, caused a heated discussion among fans.
After all, Ramos' traffic is much greater than Marcelo's.
Moreover, Ramos has been injured frequently since his transfer last season, and he has only played 13 games for Paris Saint-Germain, which really affects the mentality of Paris fans.
No one will criticize Ramos' attendance rate in this situation, after all, the player himself does not want to get injured.
But this embarrassing situation obviously makes Ramos' transfer seem very uneconomical.
Originally, many fans who were just watching for fun thought that Paris Saint-Germain was going to pay Ramos two years' salary for nothing and support him until he retires.
But now Ramos's initiative to terminate his contract with Paris Saint-Germain and give up the last year's salary in the contract has indeed greatly exceeded their expectations.
"Shui Ye is a real man!"
"I won't take a cent of the salary I don't deserve. I support Ramos this time. He is a real man."
"I apologize for saying last season that Ramos came to Paris Saint-Germain to cheat on his salary!"
"This is the situation between Real Madrid and the former captain of Spain. If he doesn't work out, then go back to Real Madrid. I think the old man will give Ramos some respect."
"We can't go back. Alas, we are all trapped in the memories of winning four championships in five years and can't get out..."
The news of Ramos' contract termination gave Real Madrid fans mixed feelings.
Combined with the news that Marcelo is about to leave the team, it is impossible for the Melcos not to feel sad.
The two Real Madrid captains, both former superstar defenders in the football world, did not get a peaceful retirement from Real Madrid in the twilight of their careers, which is really regrettable.
However, Ramos and Marcelo, who they thought should be in a bad mood in recent days, were in a very relaxed mood.
On June 6, Marcelo was only sad for a while when he gave a speech at the farewell ceremony. He was still quite optimistic throughout the ceremony and did not seem to be worried about his next club.
On the afternoon of June 6, "Marca" published photos taken by its reporters of Pepe, Ramos and Marcelo meeting for dinner in Madrid.
The picture of the three of them laughing and having dinner together immediately made Real Madrid supporters all over the world feel better.
Come to think of it, it has been a while since they have seen these three brothers meet in public.
After no longer being in the same club, it is always difficult for old friends to reunite.
So Real Madrid fans are very grateful that they can still see the three of them in the same frame.
Some Meilingge are sighing at the beauty of the reunion, while others are regretful that the BBC group has not yet reunited, and they don’t know whether they will be able to see a photo of the three of them in the future.
At this time, some sharp-eyed Real Madrid fans saw that Li Chen liked the news picture of the reunion of Pepe, Ramos and Marcelo on the official Twitter of Real Madrid.
Many American fans who learned the news left joking messages on Li Chen’s personal social media, asking him when he would return to Madrid to see his old friends.
The more enthusiastic Meilingge directly asked Li Chen when he planned to take over Ancelotti's coaching position at Real Madrid.
Li Chen picked a few Real Madrid fans to make friendly responses, and then updated the status on social media.
"Remember to watch the news tomorrow, there will be a surprise."
His mysterious news immediately attracted the interest of sports newspapers and fans from all over the world.
You know, the Premier League summer transfer window has officially opened today.
Fans also know that Newcastle will definitely make big signings in this summer window.
So they all thought that the surprise Li Chen mentioned was that Newcastle was about to officially announce the first star they would introduce this summer.
For a time, all the big stars involved in transfer rumors seemed to be linked with Newcastle.
With the previous example of Paris Saint-Germain's forced purchase of Neymar, fans will no longer simply think that rich teams cannot buy top stars.
On the morning of June 6th, impatient fans finally waited for Newcastle to officially announce the transfer deal involving the Sanming star.
It’s just that these three stars are not the type they imagined, and their age... is really too old!
But Li Chen obviously didn't see it that way.
At the press conference, he took a photo with his three old friends, arms around each other.
The reporters at the scene were both excited and puzzled.
There is no doubt that the news that Pepe, Ramos and Marcelo have joined Newcastle will definitely bring them plenty of traffic in the near future.
But they really don’t understand Newcastle’s intention of introducing three veterans at once!
However, in the face of their slightly questioning siege and interview, Li Chen gave his answer firmly.
"I will prove to you that the club has done an excellent job with three signings. Wait and see, we are going to do a great job in the new season!"
(End of this chapter)