Chapter 1 At First

At first, Niang thought it was just Dalglish forgetting about the winger issue, but now it looked much more complicated.

He better tell Chen Xing about this, after all, he needed Chen Xing's support and authorization next—he wanted to take back the transfer power from Dalglish. That is to say, Dalglish was no longer in charge of transfers. The coach, Dalglish, had the right to suggest who the team should buy and sell, but he didn't have the right to decide. The decision was in Niang's hands.

This was normal in Italian, Spanish, and German clubs, but an exception in England. England had a manager system, but this manager didn't refer to a general manager like Niang, but to the team's head coach, who in England was called a "manager" rather than a "coach."

In English teams, the head coach, or manager, had absolute power. They had the final say in everything from team building to the vests the players wore during training and the showerheads in the locker room.

The most important thing for them was the transfer power.

Because they often understood their own team best, they knew what kind of team they wanted, which players to bring in for this purpose, and which players to sell.

So letting them lead the transfers was beneficial to the team itself.

But everything has its pros and cons. The head coach's absolute power can easily generate combat effectiveness and stability for the team, but at the same time, it can also lead to the emergence of dictators. Especially in terms of transfer power, it can easily bring some black money benefits.

Because the team's transfers were all decided by the head coach, if he said he wanted to buy someone, the club had to pay to buy him. As for why they needed to buy this person, the head coach had many reasons, such as the club needed this player, this player was a local player, this player was willing to come, this player was cheap, this player had potential, this player... Anyway, the reasons were all made up.

The head coach could then extract his own commission from this transfer transaction to make a profit. This was actually not allowed, but it was very common in English football.

Generally speaking, the beneficiaries of player transfers were the agents, so the agents wanted players to transfer frequently. In the constant transfers, the players' value became higher and higher, and their salaries also became higher and higher. In this way, the agents could extract their own proportion from it. But a player's desire to transfer may not be successful, because if he wants to leave his old club to go to another team, he needs the consent of the head coaches of both teams.

In this way, the agent would naturally go to public relations with the head coach, promising to give them a percentage of the commission if the transfer was successful. In order to get this money, the head coaches would naturally do their best to promote the transfer transaction. They would use various means to put pressure on the club, telling the club that his team very, very much needed this player.

Accepting kickbacks is common in many industries in China. Although it is normal, it is not necessarily the right thing to do. Similarly, English coaches also directly ask player agents, or even the other club, for kickbacks when selling players and bringing in players. This is not new—is it appropriate for the head coach of a professional football club to have shares in a football agent's company and to deal directly with these agents when buying and selling players? Is it reasonable if the agents who deal with the head coaches happen to be their relatives, or even their sons?

The above is not just nonsense, but a fact that actually happened in English football. proACtive, the most famous sports agent company in the UK, used to be the largest sports agent company in the UK. The company had a number of head coach shareholders. Many head coaches and players of the team themselves had a certain number of shares in this company. Listen to the names of these shareholders—Bobby Robson, Graeme Souness, Steve Coppell, Howard Wilkinson, Kevin Keegan, Sam Allardyce... Of course, these names are all from 2002. Some people, under the pressure of public opinion, sold the shares in their hands, but no one was willing to explain to the public why they would own the shares of this company, nor did they explain why many of the transfer transactions between these coaches and clubs were completed within this agent company. A player under one shareholder transferred to another shareholder, the agent company took a commission, and the two shareholders could also profit from it. This is a typical "conflict of interest."

Even in China, many people often say "fair, open, and transparent" requirements. But in the English football circle, these things are hidden in dark corners, and no one in the circle is willing to be fair, open, and transparent for everyone to see. They think this is taken for granted, it is the rule of the game in this circle. Those who live near the mountain live off the mountain, and those who live near the water live off the water. The group that survives by football naturally eats football.

Every season, transfer fees of tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions of pounds, are circulating on the market. Professional players, especially in the Premier League, receive astronomical salaries every season. Can fans be sure that the decisions made by the club they have supported for generations in player transactions are in the interests of the fans?

After understanding these behind-the-scenes stories, it is not difficult to understand why so many inexplicable transfer transactions that no one can understand happen every summer and winter.

Of course, taking commissions is not a patent of English football, but in other countries, the person who profits from it has changed from the head coach to the club's general manager or the director of the competitive department in charge of transfers.

Niang certainly knew those unspoken rules in this circle, and he also knew that clear water has no fish. He didn't care if the head coach made some money when conditions allowed, as long as the people they brought were helpful to the team.

Just like when Mijatovic was the manager of Real Madrid, he spent 30 million euros to bring central defender Pepe from Porto. At that time, Pepe was not well-known, and many people thought that Real Madrid was being a sucker. Later, some people speculated that Real Madrid chairman Calderón and general manager Mijatovic must have received some kickbacks in this transfer transaction, otherwise how could a central defender who was not well-known be sold for 30 million euros? In fact, they did receive money, but after Pepe arrived, he increased the hardness of Real Madrid's defense. Now he is Real Madrid's well-deserved main central defender, an iron gate.

In this way, everyone gradually forgot about the initial conflict between Calderón and Mijatovic.

Niang had the same thought. If Downing could really improve the domestic team's strength, then spending 20 million was not impossible. The problem was that he didn't think Downing would be of much use after coming to Liverpool, and the team would have to pay his high salary. Although Downing said that he especially loved Liverpool, it was impossible to expect him to join his beloved team with a self-reduced weekly salary because of love.

In that case, why would I spend 20 million to buy him? Is it fun to be a sucker?

※※※

Niang told Chen Xing about this matter in its entirety.

After listening, Chen Xing didn't slam the table and curse, but laughed: "Using PS videos as advertisements? Aston Villa is really thoughtful. I was thinking, should we also ask our own multimedia department to do such public relations? For example, players like Joe Cole can be promoted in this way... It must be more convincing than Downing, haha!"

After laughing, he said to Niang: "You are right, Downing cannot be bought, and we must gradually take back the transfer power. Now more and more English clubs are starting to let the club's general manager be responsible for transfers. The 'King' must also recognize this trend. His old routine won't work now. He can suggest, but his word doesn't count."

With Chen Xing's support, Niang naturally knew what to do—of course he wouldn't run directly to Dalglish and say to him: "Hey, old man! From now on, we are going to take back the transfer power from you! You are no longer in charge of the transfer! If you tell me who to buy, I will decide whether to buy it or not!"

That would be too stupid, he was not someone with zero EQ.

There were many ways to let Dalglish know that he could no longer make the decision. There was an excellent opportunity right in front of him!

※※※

"...Kenny Dalglish once again announced Liverpool's interest in Downing. He believes that Downing is a very talented player, and his arrival at Anfield will surely become a new legend of this stadium!"

"Liverpool's 'King' hopes to bring Downing to Anfield. Currently, the Aston Villa player is caught up in transfer rumors... Liverpool has spent a lot of money this summer to bring in center forward Chen Yingxiong. He is good at headers. Obviously, Dalglish wants to make full use of Hero's advantage in headers, so he needs excellent wingers..."

"Downing himself is flattered by Liverpool's interest in him. He said that he has been a Liverpool fan since he was a child, but he did not say that he would definitely transfer to Liverpool. He still has a contract with Aston Villa..."

In the past two days, many English media have been paying attention to the news of Liverpool coach Kenny Dalglish pursuing Downing. When Downing debuted in Middlesbrough, he was indeed amazing. The English media considered him to be the future star of England and the winger of England's next ten years. However, considering that the English media has always liked to use exaggerated and exaggerated rhetoric, Downing's true level is indeed questionable...

How did Dalglish respond to such transfer rumors?

"Yes, I am very interested in Downing. He is a very good player. I hope he can join Liverpool. That's right, we now have Hero. We need a winger who can break through and pass the ball, and Downing is the best candidate in my mind..."

Niang smiled as he looked at these remarks in the newspaper.

Is this using the media to put pressure on me?

This trick is neither new nor technical.