Godfather Of Champions

The managers of the football clubs had already started to enjoy a short holiday. Only those managers of the powerhouse teams were required to appear in the media from time to time. Players with national team assignments were not yet able to take a break because when the league tournament was over, the national team’s games were still waiting for them.

On June 11th, the England team would play a friendly match at home with the former South American powerhouse, Uruguay. Four days later, they would face their competitor in the qualifier, Serbia at the Wembley Stadium.

After playing this game, those national footballers were then able to go on their holiday.

In the game against Uruguay, England won with a score of 2:1. Gerrard and Rooney contributed the goals. The Uruguayans relied on the Palermo striker, Cavani to score one goal in the 90th minute.

They played a rather difficult game against Serbia during the home match. After Mitchell scored the first goal in the opening eleven minutes, Serbia launched a frantic counterattack that left the tired England team only able to ward off the attacks but without strength to hit back for a time. The 1:0 lead gave the Serbians hope, so they kept launching attacks for a while.

It was not until the last minute of injury stoppage time that Agbonlahor, who came on as a substitute in the second half, made use of the gaps left by the Serbians who fully pressed ahead in hopes of equalizing the score. He dribbled the ball over a long distance to wage a long-range raid and scored the decisive winning goal. The England team continued to hold on to its top spot in the group with a solid 2:0 victory over Serbia at its home ground and took another firm step toward Spain.

Next, the European football world entered the summer transfer period.

The countless exciting scenes which the fans looked forward to, were played out in front of everyone’s eyes.

But for the Nottingham Forest fans, there were not many good memories this summer.

No matter what kind of banners they put up outside the football club, no matter how much they protested, they did not manage to make the team’s main goalkeeper and the Russian national goalkeeper, Akinfeev stay in the team. The Russian national goalkeeper who once earned a lot of glory for the team with his own two hands, was deemed as the best successor to Peter Shilton in the Forest team, had gone to Manchester United for a fee of twenty-five million pounds.

Mourinho finally got the stable goalkeeper he had dreamed of, and the Forest fans once again staged a protest against the club’s top brass.

Although the club subsequently signed on Schmeichel Jr., Kasper Schmeichel could not be compared with Igor Akinfeev on the same level in terms of both strength and fame.

Following which, it was not long before Woodgate left the Forest team for a transfer fee of thirteen million pounds and returned to Middlesbrough.

Of course, the most popular Forest players in the transfer market were still the trio of George Wood, Gareth Bale and Aaron Mitchell. If Evan Doughty was willing to, these three players could have brought him at least a transfer fee revenue of at least one hundred and thirty million pounds.

But Evan Doughty still was a little more rational. He had indicated more than once that George Wood was not for sale in the team, and a standard bearer that no amount of money could buy.

As for the other players… as long as the other party could make a crazy offer that he could not refuse, then they could all go as far as he was concerned.

Of course, some people also suspected if there was a club which would make an offer that drove the world crazy for George Wood, then Evan Doughty would not hesitate to push the Forest team’s standard bearer into the transfer market.

Unfortunately, Wood was a defensive midfielder. Those clubs that were willing to spend big money on the attacking players were not willing to waste too much euros on a defender.

Instead, Mitchell and Gareth Bale were the ones who received a number of tempting offers.

Barcelona had made a bid for Mitchell for a fee of thirty million pounds as well as throwing in the German “Super Mario” Gomez, which enticed the Forest team.

Even Mitchell wondered if he should change to a different environment to play. The sale of Akinfeev by the top brass had made him unhappy. Moreover, Barcelona was a powerhouse club, so it was not a step down for him to go there.

But Twain did not want the team, which he had personally built, to fall apart so soon. He indirectly told the tentative Mitchell in his column that the players he was considering mainly competed in the domestic leagues. After all, the foreign leagues were too far away. He could not determine the condition of the players playing abroad in time. In addition, he used Lennon as an example, telling Mitchell that going abroad to play for a powerhouse club might not really be as easy and smooth.

The people at Barcelona must have hated Twain to the core because even if he no longer held the position as the Forest team manager, he would still try to go against Barcelona.

No one could have more influence and status than Twain in the minds of the Forest team’s old players.

Now that Twain had indirectly expressed that he did not want Mitchell to play abroad, then Mitchell also listened and chose to stay. His agent was very disappointed but powerless because the player’s personal will had the final say anyway. Even if the Forest team had agreed to Barcelona’s offer, the transfer would not have been possible unless he could persuade Mitchell to accept Barcelona’s offer. But it was clear that Mitchell’s agent, who had been with him for a long time, did not held more sway than Mitchell’s mentor, Tony Twain.

With another loss of a huge income, Mitchell’s agent must have hated Twain so much that he might have even cursed Twain in his heart during sex with his lover.

Gareth Bale’s situation was more complicated.

Like his teammates, he had received a number of offers of interest from numerous football clubs. But he was not an English national footballer, so Twain had no right to beat about the bush and interfere with his going or staying.

Only he himself could decide whether to leave or stay.

A left back who was very good in offense and defense, was extremely popular, especially the said left back was also good at positional play.

Bayern Munich, Juventus and AC Milan were hoping to get such a good left back.

But none of the three teams could be considered generous clubs. The highest offer was from Bayern Munich for eighteen million pounds.

For Evan Doughty and Allan Adams, the highest offer was simply an insult to them. So, they turned down the offers from all three clubs, but did not close the door to any further transfer negotiations. It was still the same stance – as long as there was a crazy offer that would satisfy them, they would not be above selling.

While Gareth Bale still did not know where he would play in the future, another familiar Forest player chose to leave.

Matías Fernández had left the Forest team for a fee of twenty million pounds. He was heading to Atlético Madrid in La Liga.

Evan Doughty was not worried that his departure would affect the strength of the team because he still had Nicolás Millán who had grown up. But for the fans who followed the team through its most glorious years, every player’s departure was like an old friend bidding farewell, which they were reluctant to part with.

There were also angry fans in Wilford who had put up protest signs that said, “Mr. Doughty, how many more talents do you have to sell?”

Their protesting voices were not done yet when Jonjo Shelvey in the team was sold for eight million pounds.

Until the start of the new English Premier League season, Gareth Bale was still embroiled in the transfer maelstrom.

Although Bayern and Juventus, as well as AC Milan chose to step back in the face of Evan Doughty’s demand for an exorbitant asking price, a new buyer came in to fill the void they left.

The rich and imposing Real Madrid, the best club in the last century which had traditionally spent any money it had to repeatedly break world records in transfer fees, had made an offer of twenty-seven million pounds for Bale.

Evan Doughty was keen to build a good relationship with Real Madrid through the deal, but Allan told him that if they were to accept the offer of twenty-seven million, it would make them feel that they were too easy to deal with and the other party would lost interest. As a result, the Forest team countered with an asking price of thirty-four million pounds.

The asking price was not low for a defender… But it was not an appalling sky-high price. This amount of money was nothing with Real Madrid’s overbearing wealth.

Therefore, the Forest fans panicked. They knew they might lose another favorite player. They recognize that going to the club to demonstrate no longer worked because no one cared about the fans’ protests, especially when Evan was still the sole owner of the football club.

This time they turned to entreating the player himself.

Outside the apartment where Bale lived, the football fans began to gather on their own. Then, they sang the Forest team’s song as well as sang songs of praises which they wrote for Bale. They held up signs and posters of Bale asking him to stay.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid had already accepted the Forest team’s asking price.

It was a bad sign.

Because it meant that Real Madrid could already talk to Bale’s agent about the contract. As soon as Bale signed the contract, he would leave Nottingham Forest forever, leaving the team he had been with for twelve years.

The pleas for Bale not to go became even louder. Many Forest fans used various ways in hopes that their favorite “little monkey” would listen to the fans’ voices and not choose to leave even though they were aware that the current Nottingham Forest team held no appeal to make someone stay.

“The document for the contract came from Real Madrid.” Bale’s agent, who was also his father, told him.

In the past, Bale lived alone in Nottingham, with his father and mother living together. But throughout the summer, his father had to be with him.

The sound of the fans singing and shouting continued to be heard outside the tightly closed window.

“Gareth! Gareth! Gareth!”

Bale sat on the couch, listening to those voices and feeling somewhat lost.

“The terms offered by Real Madrid are very attractive.” As a father and an agent, he always thought about his son. He looked over the contract.

His father turned to look at his son, and apparently he had not heard what he had said just now. He gave a sigh and said, “If you can’t make a decision, I think you can give a call to Mr. Twain first.”

Bale finally looked up and looked at his father.

“Well… I think maybe he has some advice, which may be better than my advice as your father.” He winked at his son.

An idea seemed to light up in Gareth Bale’s mind as well. Previously when the boss was still in the team, he would always ask him when he had anything that he could not make up his mind about. Why did he forget now?

Twain was sitting on the bed on the side, reading a book with a lamp on his bedside table. He wore black-rimmed glasses with a slight frown on his face. That appearance made him look much older than his actual age.

At this time, he and Bale were in the same city. He had also heard a lot of rumors about Bale’s transfer, but he did not expect that he would receive a phone call from Bale.

“Boss, I need help.” That was the first sentence that Bale spoke after the phone call was picked up.

“What’s the matter, Gareth?” Twain asked despite knowing what it was about.

“I’m very confused right now… I don’t know what choice I should make.” Bale’s voice sounded low and his mood was depressed.

Twain was not in a hurry to answer. He cocked his ear to listen, and found a faint noise coming from the other end of the line.

“Haven’t the fans left yet?” He turned over to take his watch on the bedside table. It was almost eleven o’clock in the evening.

Apparently, Bale also looked at the time, and he replied, “They’ll dispersed in another half an hour.” It had been like this these few days, and Bale was used to it.

Twain smiled quietly and said, “Gareth, would you like to stay with the Forest team?”

Bale shook his head and replied, “I don’t know. I used to be very determined to stay on… But after a season, I’m undecided…”

“Do you want to hear my opinion?”

“Yes, I suppose.”

Twain was silent for a moment as he removed his glasses off the bridge of his nose and put them aside. Then he closed his eyes.

He seemed to be reminiscing about his time with Bale, how he had a chance encounter with the Welsh kid, and how he brought him to Nottingham… And his interesting and nagging father.

“Gareth…”

“I’m listening, boss.”

“If I were an ordinary Forest fan, I think maybe I’d sing by your window tonight to try to make you stay…”

“So, are you saying you want me to stay?” Bale’s tone held a hint of anticipation.

“Listen and let me finish, Gareth. However, I’m a football manager and some things can’t be completely decided based on emotions. Of course, it stands to reason that it does not mean that it will be necessarily better than in the Forest team if you go to Real Madrid. There may be a better possibility than here, but there is a worse possibility than here. There are many possibilities ahead in the future, and I can’t tell you which one might be better. If I ask you to stay and the Forest team does badly, then I will be doing you harm. If I let you go and you lose yourself in the locker room of a powerhouse club, I will also be hurting you.”

Bale listened patiently.

“So, I think you should follow your original thinking. But you’re only twenty-five years old. It’s normal to want to go out and experience what’s out there.”

Twain did not give his choice because it was not any of his business.

After listening to him, Bale asked, “Boss, in terms of feelings, you don’t want me to leave, do you?”

The remark touched into what Twain had in mind. Truthfully, his feelings could not accept the reality since the first Forest player he knew was sold. So, he was trying not to pay attention to the transfer rumors associated with the Forest team.

Kompany, Pepe, Akinfeev… These people were the players who contributed and helped him forged his legacy. As a manager who had devoted all his energy to the team, he valued the attachment.

“If it were possible, Gareth, I mean if it were possible… I’d rather you all don’t go.” Twain said these words with a lot of deep emotions. It was not fake at all, because that was what he really thought deep inside. “But…” He emphasized his tone and made a turn in the conversation.

Just as he was about to get ready to go on, he was interrupted by Bale quickly saying, “No more buts, boss, I know how I should choose!”

Then he hung up.

Twain stared blankly at the phone in his hand. He thought he had already guessed what Bale would do. Although he felt a little selfish, he was also very happy.

Indeed, he was very happy.

He laughed.

※※※

One day after the night, the same place, the first light, when the night wind has not yet blown away the heat of the day, here has gathered no less than a hundred people. They held up banners and portraits of Bale, sang and shouted to save Bale’s heart with the feelings of the fans.

Today’s daytime sports news and media reported that Real Madrid’s negotiations with Bale had reached a critical stage. Perhaps it might be possible to announce the matter of Bale’s signing to the team by the end of the week.

As the current vice-caption of the Forest team, Gareth Bale enjoyed a high prestige among the fans. He came out of the Forest’s youth camp and was an iconic figure like George Wood. He was optimistic and cheerful. Even when he was seriously injured, he did not give up football. He was the main player during Tony Twain’s brilliant era. The “little monkey” moniker reflected everyone’s love for him. If such a player were to leave the Forest team, then what kind of confidence could the Forest team still give the fans?

As more and more fans gathered and their singing grew increasingly louder, some people noticed that the window that had been closed for the past several days had been opened.

More and more people noticed this change, and they stopped their singing and shouting as they looked up at the window.

“Are you certain, son?”

Bale’s father stood inside the house, holding his cell phone and asked.

Bale was standing at the window. The night breeze blew and flapped the curtains. It fluttered his hair and his heart. The black figures of the crows below looked like there were more people than there were yesterday. They all lifted their heads up at him.

“Yeah, Dad. I’ve made up my decision.” Bale nodded.

He walked to the window and shook out the item he was holding in his hand. A breakout of cheers erupted below.

Because what he held in his hand was the Nottingham Forest red jersey.

Behind him, his father dialed Valdano’s number and said, “… Mr. Valdano? I am… Yes, I have his answer… My son…” He turned his head toward Bale standing at the window. He was waving to the fans below, and there was another burst of cheers.

“He is very grateful to Real Madrid for their interest in him. It is the dream of any professional player to play for a great team like Real Madrid… But my son has reiterated his love for Nottingham Forest to me. He will not sign the contract and will remain at Nottingham Forest.”

Bale put the team emblem on the Forest jersey on his mouth and kissed it. The cheers below became even louder.

“Gareth! Gareth! Gareth!”

“Forest, Forest, Nottingham Forest!!”

※※※

The next day, Bale’s father contacted the media to announce Bale’s decision to stay in the team, which completely put the Nottingham Forest fans’ minds at ease.

Perhaps the most disappointed person was the Real Madrid president, Florentino because the player whom he was interested in had turned down his offer.

The most unhappy person was probably Evan Doughty.

Bale pledged his allegiance to the Forest team, and the Forest team’s first-in-command did not appreciate the kindness in his heart. His rebuff had cost him the chance to build a good relationship with Real Madrid and also caused the loss of a lot of money…

But on the face of it, he also issued a statement, saying he was very pleased that Bale had finally chosen to stay, proving that loyalty was priceless. He assured Bale would bring glory back along with the Forest team.

But perhaps everyone was hissing him in their hearts…

Kerslake later said he was pleased that he was still able to see Gareth Bale’s name on the new season’s roster. The manager’s delight was from the heart, compared with the chairman’s hypocritical show of affection. Bale was definitely an irreplaceable player in the team. With him around, they did not have to worry about the left side of the field.

The Forest team’s most dynamic transfer drama of the summer was over, and the new season had begun…