Godfather Of Champions

The outside news media heard about Manchester City’s desire to acquire Nottingham Forest’s number two center forward, Nicklas Bendtner, almost exactly at the same time Twain saw the piece of news on his desk. It was clear that the Manchester City club deliberately revealed it to the outside world.

Just like how Tony Twain was close to <Nottingham Evening Post>, the Manchester City club must have been on close terms with one or two media, which could speak up on their behalf during key moments. Their reward would be to know “the insider story” earlier than any other media.

Twain was in a daze as he held the Manchester City club’s offer.

There had been news of some clubs interested in Bendtner in previous seasons, but none had come true. On the one hand, Twain would not sell his team’s future number one center forward; on the other, Bendtner’s father, who was also his spokesman, had announced more than once that his son would not leave the Forest team.

In that case, would it still be the same result this time?

He decided to wait a day and see.

One day should be enough for Thomas Bendtner to response?

Hence he stuffed the fax from Manchester City under a pile of folders.

※※※

A day later, there was more and more news in the media about Manchester City’s desire to bring in Bendtner, which was reprinted by the local media in Nottingham.

Bendtner’s father, Thomas Bendtner, was still unresponsive.

That was when Twain sensed danger in the air.

The reporters flocked to the Wilford training base, wanting to hear what Bendtner himself thought of the “rumors.”

But Bendtner remained silent and did not answer any questions from any reporter.

Bendtner was a slightly uncommunicative young man in the team, unlike Eastwood and Ribéry. Even so, his popularity was good. His silence was different from that of Anelka’s. Anelka was a loner, while the Danish handsome guy was just a little introverted.

But not saying a word was a problem.

Twain felt he should call Bendtner’s agent. He did not believe the Manchester City club would follow the rules, which were to approach the club first before they made contact with the player. The other side must have contacted the player’s agent before they made an offer to the Forest team. They learned their lesson from their experience with van Nistelrooy. At that time, Manchester City failed because they did not made clear inquiries about van Nistelrooy’s wishes.

Bendtner had two agents. One was his father, Thomas Bendtner, who was more like a spokesman. Bendtner conveyed any ideas he had through his father. He was not involved in the contract negotiations with the team and other work. But he was indeed the most important figure who could not be ignored, because his son depended on him to make decisions.

The other agent was Nicola Juric. He was a regular broker with a FIFA issued license. He carried out all the contact with the team.

Twain decided to call Juric first because the two of them dealt with each other more often than he did with Bendtner’s father.

“Mr. Twain, I know you called me for.” Juric spoke right to the point as he was a smart man. He did not waste time with Twain. He did not even wait for Twain to ask him. He revealed everything, “The Manchester City people came to me, hoping to know the possibility of Bendtner’s transfer. I told them it was very difficult, because Mr. Twain certainly wouldn’t let him go. But they said it didn’t matter. They just wanted to know what Bendtner himself thought. As long as he wants to, then…”

“Very good.” Twain nodded. The problem was simple. “What does Bendtner think?”

Juric smiled over the phone, “You can’t ask me this, Mr. Twain.”

Twain paused for a second before he reacted—if he wanted to know what Bendtner thought, he had to ask his father. Bendtner’s thoughts were conveyed through his father’s mouth to others.

Hanging up, Twain did not hurry to call Thomas. He wanted to straighten things out first.

It was clear that Manchester City lacked strikers. They were short since the start of last season to this season. Last season, Manchester City had so many strikers but not one of them score double-digit goals during the season! It could even be said to be an extraordinary shame and humiliation for a team’s forwards. In other words, after the new boss came to power, they tried to plunder strikers worldwide and messed up other teams’ transfer deals was not because they wanted to make enemies everywhere and definitely not to put on a show. It was because they were compelled by circumstances… As a result, Berbatov, Adebayor, Drogba and van Nistelrooy did not take up Manchester City’s offers at all and did not even consider this upstart at all.

Since the world’s top strikers were unwilling to “condescend”, then it made sense for Manchester City to have no choice but to…

The problem is, this is the second time they are at my, Tony Twain’s door again!

Nicklas Bendtner is my anointed future number one center forward. Manchester City, you have a big appetite…

After thinking things through, Twain then realized that he had been at loggerheads with Manchester City this summer.

First, they parted on bad terms due to Richards. Following which, because of van Nistelrooy, Twain aggravated the situation and caused a din, which put Manchester City in an awkward situation. Now the other side specifically came for Bendtner. What did that mean? Did they want to get back at me?

No way!

Twain picked up his cell phone to find the number for Bendtner’s father, Thomas, and dialed it.

※※※

The Forest players came to the training base in succession to get ready for the day’s training.

Every summer, the “transfer rumors” would be discussed in the locker room. Outside, the reporters and fans racked their brains to find out the story behind every transfer rumor and the related inside story. But in here, these could be used as jokes in discussion.

Van Nistelrooy was the focus of much debate and butt of jokes some time ago. The boss’s actions at the press conference also made everyone happy for a long time. Now it was Bendtner’s turn.

“Hey, do you want to guess how the boss will reject Manchester City again?” Wes Morgan, who was naked, bounced around in the locker room while changing his clothes.

Everyone turned to look at him.

“Burn the check?” Bale said.

“I heard there was no blank check this time.” It was Baines who answered him.

“Well…” Eastwood knitted his brows and said, “A direct rejection is not fun…”

Bendtner listened to people talking about things related to him, but he quietly changed clothes at the side. When Wes Morgan was still swinging his dick around in the locker room, he began to sit down and tie his shoelaces.

At last someone remembered that the person involved was by his side. Lennon’s locker was on Bendtner’s right, and the two were next to each other. He patted the back of Bendtner who bent over to tie his shoelaces and asked, “Nick, did they look for you?

Bendtner did not look up and continued to tie his shoelaces as he said, “No.”

※※※

“Mr. Tony Twain, I don’t want to lie to you. Actually, they did look for me.” Thomas Bendtner answered Twain’s question on the phone.

It was not unexpected at all. Twain’s expression did not even change. He continued to ask, “I’m not going to ask you exactly what you discussed about. I just want to know what Bendtner’s thoughts are on this.”

To fight back against Manchester City, he naturally had to know what Bendtner himself thought. In this way, he would have his targeted countermeasure to deal with the situation like how he dealt with van Nistelrooy.

Twain thought he’d hear things like “He doesn’t want to leave”, like what his father had said in response to the previous rumors. He did not expect this time he would hear Thomas said clearly, “He wants to leave.”

“That’s good…” Twain’s brain had not register for a while and just reflexively spoke before he realized something was amiss. He hurriedly corrected himself, “No, I mean … What? Leave?”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Twain. I don’t want to lie to you, so I have to tell the truth. My son, Nicklas Bendtner, wants to leave Nottingham Forest.”

Twain froze for a while and found that his brain was a little out of order. “What do you mean?”

“My son often complains that he cannot obtain an important position in the team, Mr. Twain. He wants to go to a team that can give him a main core position. As luck would have it, Manchester City have agreed to all his terms.”

Twain felt cold all over. He never thought it would be like this. The future main center forward whom he always regarded highly, placed unlimited hopes on, spent several years of hard work on, actually felt he was not put in an important position in the team, and wanted to leave!

I’m hearing things, right?

Or I haven’t woken up yet?

Or has Thomas the old man not woken up yet, and his mind was confused from a fever yesterday?

※※※

The locker room was very lively since the boss had not appeared on the training ground anyway. There was still time before the training would start. Everyone did not mind staying here to talk about private topics. For example, they continued to guess what their boss would do to Manchester City.

Lennon was still chatting with Bendtner. This time, he half-jokingly asked, “You’re not leaving, are you Nick? I heard that Manchester City is very rich and can give you a very high salary.”

Bendtner shook his head and said, “I don’t care how high the salary is.”

Lennon smiled.

“I just want to play the main position.” Having said that, he got up and went straight out of the noisy locker room.

Lennon watched his back disappear behind the door in puzzlement.

※※※

“How can he not be put in an important position? He played twenty-seven games last season! Almost half the number of games. He’s my second center forward. Doesn’t that clarify the issue?” Twain was a little agitated because he felt that Thomas’s reason was bullshit and insufficient. He had a lot of data to overturn this “not been put in an important position” excuse. “He scored ten goals and had eight assists! With such excellent data, if he were to be at Arsenal, perhaps he might not get it at all!”

“Mr. Twain, that’s the problem. You say he is the second center forward. My son, he wants to be the number one center forward. And I too think he has the ability.”

It turned out that he was not willing to be van Nistelrooy’s substitute. “Van Nistelrooy has more experience than he has. Moreover, according to my plan, he will officially replace the Dutchman as the number one center forward, come one more season!” That being the case, Twain was confident of making Bendtner stay.

“No. My son is too impatient to wait. Mr. Twain, do you still remember what you said to him when you first met Nicklas?”

That remark stopped Twain. How could he remember so clearly what happened four years ago?

Seeing that Twain did not answer, Thomas chuckled. This sound made Twain frown, and he suddenly felt incensed.

“You see, you don’t remember, Mr. Twain. In order to have my son refused to go to Arsenal at that time and come to your team, you promised that he would be the main player and the core of the forward line. Am I wrong in saying that? Or maybe you were just casually saying it. I can understand. After all, in order to attract players to play for the team now, you managers always have to write blank checks and make promises that are impossible to fulfill. But my son always remembers these words. He came to the Forest team and trained hard to compete, working towards that goal…”

“Mr. Thomas Bendtner…”

“It’s a shame that four years on, after Viduka had gone, came van Nistelrooy. You said next season belongs to Nicklas? To be honest, I’m doubtful. My son is a nice young man who always trusts others easily. But I’m not a twenty-year-old kid. I’m older than you, Mr. Twain. I know this is just an excuse for you to buy time. When the Dutchman can’t play, you’re going to find another center forward from the transfer market, right? With so many good center forwards now, I don’t want my son to be a lifelong substitute. I never doubted my son’s ability, but I doubt you can give him the chance to play to his full potential. Nicklas can be the best striker in the world, provided he doesn’t play as a substitute for someone else at Forest. You want to keep him; I would never agree.”

With the other man said so much in one breath, Twain’s brain gradually calmed down. He asked, “Have you finished? Mr. Thomas Bendtner?”

“I have said all there are to say, Mr. Twain. I know you like people to be honest with you, so I’m being frank.”

Twain took a deep breath, and then slowly spoke the words, “Thank you for your honesty. I think I need to consider everything you said.”

“When you’ve thought about it, you’re welcome to give me a call.”

This time Twain did not throw the phone. He hung up and sat alone on the chair in a daze.

He knew that he sometimes deliberately suppressed Bendtner’s desire, but that was due to his worry that he would become too proud. He was aware of what kind of person Bendtner was. This talented young man was proud and arrogant. Sometimes he had his eyes above his head. He did not want a genius with talent and a great future to end up average due to some psychological and character issues. So, he tried to create a less-than-smooth environment for Bendtner and never told him what he really thought. He wanted Bendtner to be able to experience it for himself.

The Chinese’s reservation and the English’s reservation were all embodied within the fake Caucasian body of Tony Twain.

He did not want to lay it all bare because he felt that would lose the meaning of experience and growth. Now it seemed that he was wrong.

Bendtner was not the kind of patient person who was willing to experience growth. His thinking was typically Western—since I have such a great foundation, environment and conditions, why do I have to go through some shitty growth? Why can’t I be the main core right away? I have the ability, so I want it!

Twain felt like it was all wishful thinking on his part before…

I’ve spent so much efforts and hard work to focus on the development of this striker only to have him think that he has not been put to an important use.

It was a great irony for Twain, who liked to control everything with his own hands.

He leaned back on the back of his chair and looked out of the window at the sunny training ground, where Bendtner and his teammates appeared on the field one by one.

He really wanted to know what Bendtner was feeling at the moment.

You think you’ve been deceived?

I feel cheated instead!