Godfather Of Champions

The issue of a striker needed to be urgently addressed. Anelka was certain to leave even though no club had publicly made an offer for the French striker yet. Twain was aware that Anelka’s two brothers had to be working with a number of clubs in private to dissolve his contract. Twain did not care. They would have to sort it out. There was only one possibly result — the departure of Anelka. He did not care how much money they would make. When he first competed against AC Milan, he already had an awareness. He wanted to teach the rebellious striker a lesson on who was the boss and teach the two gluttonous agents a lesson, as well.

The person who had pushed for the signing of Anelka was Allan. Twain would not consider going easy on the matter of Anelka’s transfer just to save Allan’s dignity.

Putting Anelka’s affairs aside for the time being, Twain went to meet Evan and Allan to have them take a look at his transfer list for the season.

The two men were a little surprised to see only a few names on the list.

“Didn’t you say the funds were tight? I’ll bring in fewer players. Plus, I put down the players we can sell.” Twain motioned for them to turn the list over. There were a few names of the players who could be sold.

Allan reviewed it more carefully. Over the past few years, due to Twain’s fiercely protective ways, the team had more signings than departures in the transfer market, which seriously affected the balance of the ledgers.

After reading the list, Evan and Allan both nodded to Twain to express their full support.

Evan told Twain the news that the land for the new stadium had been obtained, which was in Clifton.

Twain knew of the place, which was just southwest of Wilford and also on the southwest side of Nottingham city. He was a little concerned because it was far from the city center.

The current City Ground stadium was in the heart of the city. It was convenient for the fans to watch every home game, since the public transport system was good. But if they put the new stadium in the southwestern town of Clifton, he was worried about the impact on its popularity.

Allan smiled at his concern.

“Tony, it currently looks like it’s a long way off, but once the stadium is built, you won’t feel that it’s far away. With the new stadium as the center, there will be a large residential area, and there won’t be traffic to make it difficult for the fans to travel there.”

Evan smiled and explained to Twain why Clifton was chosen. “Truthfully, we also wanted to choose the city center. But Tony, that takes a lot more money, and the cost of construction is too high. Besides there is no open land in the city center for us to build a large stadium. That land in Clifton was sold to us at a low price by the city government on one condition. The city government wants us to collaborate with the construction and development plan of that area — They decided to take the construction of the new stadium as an opportunity to engage in commercial and residential projects. Allan is in discussion with several construction companies for the bidding in the hope of finding the most suitable one. I think the city government’s plan is quite good. We had worried that we might not find the right company to just build one stadium. If it is a new stadium plus a large commercial and residential area, many developers will be interested.”

Allan nodded in agreement.

“As for the transportation, I think it will be much better than it is now. At the moment, the City Ground stadium is overcrowded for every home game and there are not enough parking spaces. Many people need to park their cars a mile away, and then walk over. Since it’s just by the river, there’s no way to let more fans enter at the same time. That would require squeezing people into the river. At the same time, because it is in the city center, it is not convenient to build more modern transportation infrastructure… The City Ground stadium was built more than one hundred years ago. It’s just so old that it is difficult to even expand on it. The new stadium’s accompanying transport facilities include a direct tram line to the square in front of the stadium, so the fans can take the trams from various locations directly to the gate of the stadium, as well as when they leave.”

Twain was persuaded since he was not specialized in business like these two men. He would go along with what they had planned. If the new stadium included a residential area, perhaps he would go there and buy a house in the future.

“Sounds like an exciting plan.” Twain complimented Allan for his work. “I kind of can’t wait to go to the new stadium to lead the games.”

The other two men laughed.

The transfer plan was approved, and Twain left the chairman’s office. He had to go get busy with bringing in the players on the list and find a way to sell the players on the back of the list.

※※※

The player who fill in the gap on the front line after Anelka left would be the current star striker from Zenit Saint Petersburg, Andrey Arshavin.

This player, who had been hailed in Russia as “the new Tsar,” was not a rookie. He was a late bloomer and already twenty-six years old. He had only been known in European football in the most recent season.

And Twain knew of him because of Akinfeev.

After he decided to return Akinfeev on a loan to CSKA Moscow, Twain hired a Russian scout familiar with the Eastern European football scene, who was responsible for the tracking and observation of Akinfeev’s performance in the Russian Premier League. He would fax him a weekly report so that Twain could keep track of Akinfeev’s status and circumstances.

Twain did not just hire the scout for Akinfeev, he also did it in order to find some cheap football geniuses from Russia.

If the player was young, they could purchase and train him, whether he could play in the Forest team or not. Even if they were to sell him, they could still make a profit. The club was actually doing it before Twain joined the Forest team. The German young player, Eugen Bopp, was the rising star of the Forest team and had been brought in from Germany. They had failed his development in the end, but it had not affected the confidence of the Forest club to continue. It was the way to survive for many small English clubs; like when the Forest team did not know that they would usher in a group of talented players.

Allan was very supportive of his plan. As long as it was a plan that would make money for the team, Allan, the American, was supportive.

In addition to his reports on Akinfeev’s performance, the scout, Dmitri Mendeleev, who shared the same name as a famous Russian chemist, would regularly share his own finds of players who were well-known in Russian football but were still nobodies in Western Europe.

Andrey Arshavin was one of them.

After he watched a video of Arshavin’s play from Mendeleev, Twain instantly liked the young player. He was fast and skillful. He could play in almost all the front positions, and at the same time, he was very smart. He knew how to pass the ball and was willing to assist. He could create opportunities for his teammates and was not a self-centered idiot that did not understand team spirit or how to cooperate.

Such a player would be very suitable for the Forest team.

Therefore, Mendeleev had an additional task: in addition to tracking Akinfeev, he also had to keep track of Arshavin.

This was challenging for him, as he often had to travel between the two places. Fortunately, his tickets were reimbursed by the Forest club. Otherwise he might have had to wash his hands of it and quit.

As the reports on Arshavin continued to be sent to Twain’s desk, he was becoming more familiar with the young player from the faraway Russia. He was familiar with what he liked and disliked even though he had not been in touch with him in person.

Twain steeled himself to put Anelka on the back burner because he had already found the best replacement for the Frenchman. If Anelka wanted to leave, let him leave!

Hence before the last season was even over, the Forest club had already established contact with Arshavin’s agent, Dennis Lachter.

But Lachter was not interested in such a “small club.” They were not interested in a club that was not as rich as Abramovich’s Chelsea or dazzling like Manchester United and Arsenal in today’s football world. More importantly, they had just defeated Arshavin’s favorite team, Barcelona in the Champions League knockout. Furthermore, a number of disrespectful words about Barcelona that Twain had said had been exposed by the media.

Twain did not mind Arshavin and his agent’s cold treatment. It was nothing for him to suffer a little for a player that he liked. He knew that Arshavin would be his in the end, because he had a way of getting the other person to look at him and his team differently.

The solution was to win one of the most important championships of the season.

After the Champions League final, the entire club was caught up in the immense joy of it, but some people did not rest. Twain instructed the club to reach out to Arshavin and his agent right away and to propose a plan for a transfer again. He planned to listen to the player’s personal wishes first before getting in touch with the club to get in touch.

When he used to play the video game, the rules stipulated that he could only go to the club to make an offer first, and then talk to the players. If the player himself did not want to, all the bargaining with the club would be completely in vain. How could it be so regulated in reality? The dominant move that Twain made for every transfer had been to look for the players first and then the club thereafter.

This time, Arshavin’s agent’s lips loosened. He had no other choice. Although Arshavin had become Zenit’s team captain, the captain of the Russia national team, and known in European football, the big European clubs only spoke of their interest in Andrey Arshavin. No actions were actually taken. His agent, Lachter had no way to bargain with the Forest team with offers from the other clubs.

Moreover, he knew that the Zenit team would not be able to keep Arshavin as Arshavin had said to him, and the Zenit manager, Dick Advocaat, that he wanted to leave Zenit and Russia to play in Europe’s highest-level league.

It was the dream of any high-level player, and Arshavin was one.

Nottingham Forest’s timely Champions League title also made Arshavin view the team that had once beat his favorite team, Barcelona, in a new light.

He watched the live broadcast of the final, where the Forest team almost completely suppressed the Italian powerhouse AC Milan. Kaka’s goal was the embodiment of Kaka’s own ability, and had nothing to do with the performance of the AC Milan team. As a team that had just been promoted to the Premier League for only three seasons, Arshavin truly did not expect before the game that the Forest team could completely shut out AC Milan with a 3:1 score.

It was that game that piqued his interest in the team that had been pursuing him.

When he first heard the name, it was through a teammate of the national team. The main goalkeeper, Akinfeev, had announced that he had joined a team in the English Premier League, but was returned to CSKA Moscow on loan for a season. He knew the name of that team to be “Nottingham Forest.”

After that, he kept hearing the name “Nottingham Forest” and their idiosyncratic manager, “Tony Twain,” but he did not take note. After all, England and Russia were too far apart. Until he received a call from his agent, Lachter who told him that Nottingham Forest was interested in him.

※※※

After the final, the Forest Club people contacted Arshavin’s agent, Lachter, but the other party did not give them a clear answer. He just stated that his player needed to seriously consider the matter of playing abroad.

When he heard the reply, Twain knew that there was potential. Although there was no immediate answer, it was also understandable. Who could immediately nod or shake his head for such an important decision? If that had happened, he had to be stupid, which was not what the Forest team or Twain wanted.

Therefore, he happily went on a holiday with Shania to Brazil. He inquired about the progress of the transfer again when he returned and heard that Lachter had not been in touch with the club. He knew this was Lachter buying time to see if any other teams in the transfer market would make an offer. If there was one, he could at least have some bargaining chips to negotiate with the Forest club.

Twain did some specialized study of the current European transfer market. There were teams which were interested in Arshavin. However, any with enough clout to compete with the club, and had clearly demonstrated the desire to sign Arshavin… there were none.

This completely settled Twain’s mind. He knew that this “new Tsar” would not be able to escape from his hands.

After he clearly understood everything, Twain decided not to give Lachter a chance to make waves. He personally called Arshavin’s agent, Lachter, to show him his sincerity and his knowledge of Arshavin about his interests. Then once again he asked about Arshavin’s intention to move to the Forest team.

Lachter could not refuse a call from the Forest manager. He knew what Twain was like, and he told Twain that Arshavin did have the intention to play abroad, but that if the Forest team’s conditions did not satisfy Arshavin, then they would rather remain in Zenit. “After all, Andrey has a lot of regard for the team he has played for most of his youth.”

All agents liked to use this method. Twain was not a rookie when it came to dealing with agents. The next day, he sent a fax to the Zenit team in the name of the Nottingham Forest Club to make an offer to buy their number 10 core player, Andrey Arshavin.

The Forest team offered ten million pounds.

Nottingham Forest was the first club to make an offer for Arshavin, and Zenit was not surprised by it. They had been mentally prepared to sell their core player. After all, a lot of small and medium-sized clubs and the teams in the second or third tier European league had to face it.

The star players who were talented and performed well were unlikely to be willing to spend their careers in a league that was not at the highest level. If there were clubs in the top European leagues that invited them, the players would not be in the mood to train and play. Their heads would be filled with thoughts of being in the top leagues.

Arshavin was one of them.

Ten million pounds was nothing to be sneezed at. Zenit pretended to reject it once, and the Forest team offered another million pounds. Allan told Zenit’s boss that if they did not accept, this would be their final offer. As the new European champion, they had plenty of better options for the striker position.

The Zenit owner knew that there was no shortage of strikers in the football world. If he let go of this opportunity, who knew if there would be another? The big European clubs had stated that they were interested in Arshavin, but did not make any offers. It appeared as if they had just said it casually. Perhaps they were not interested in Russian players after all.

The Zenit boss hesitated for a moment and accepted the offer after making a show of resistance.

The club had agreed which made it easier to deal with the player himself. Twain was aware that Arshavin liked Barcelona and wanted to play in Barcelona the most. But Barcelona was not interested in the Russian player. The La Liga powerhouse club had too many world-class options in Arshavin’s position, and did not need to spend so much money and energy on a Russian league player — Arshavin was not a world-class player in the Catalans’ view.

Eventually, after four days of negotiations, Arshavin signed his name on a personal contract.

The next day, on June 23rd, the official websites of Nottingham Forest and Zenit, as well as Arshavin’s personal official website, announced this news at the same time.

“Nottingham Forest had signed on Andrey Arshavin, the midfield core and number 10/team captain from the Zenit team in the Russian Premier League for eleven million pounds. The transfer will take effect on July 1st.

This was the first transfer of the new season announced by the Forest team, which attracted a lot of media attention. Arshavin’s name and his baby face were splashed across many sports media outlets in Europe for the first time. England’s Daily Mirror followed closely on this transfer move by the new European champion. After the deal was sealed, they used this headline on the sports edition to brief their readers on the Forest team’s first signing of the season:

“The Tsar’s arrival!”

There had also been innumerable reports about him.

The twenty-six-year-old Russian captain finally tasted the sweet taste of joining a top team in a top league.

Following the announcement of this news, Anelka knew that his days at Nottingham Forest had come to an end.

Even though he had picked up the UEFA Champions League trophy for the second time as a player, it was sardonic that he did not have much to do with this second trophy.