novelraw Chapter 632 - 437: Searching for Blue Moon’s Iniesta! Spending €230 Million in the Transfer Market!
Chapter 632 - 437: Searching for Blue Moon’s Iniesta! Spending €230 Million in the Transfer Market!
On this day, Guardiola was sitting in his office, staring at the computer, muttering to himself, saying who knows what.
His close scout, Raymond, walked straight in.
Without knocking, he went directly to the coffee machine, made a cup of coffee, and sank into the sofa, naturally acting as if he were in his own home.
If anyone else from the coaching staff dared to do this, it would surely catch Guardiola’s eye;
but Raymond had his privileges.
He was also born from La Masia and has known Guardiola since their youth training days.
Early retirement and a journey following Guardiola have made him the scout Guardiola trusted the most, especially in assessing young, potential players. He helped Guardiola a lot.
Holding his coffee, he walked behind Guardiola and glanced at the computer.
"Watching Tang’s videos again, you really never get tired of it, do you? Tell me, Pep, what do you see?" Raymond said with a smile.
"I’m thinking, now that Tang Long’s position at Manchester City has been advanced, who will supply Tang with ammo? If logistics aren’t done well, how can the soldiers on the frontline fire? Don’t you think so, Raymond?"
Guardiola cupped his chin with both hands, staring blankly at the screen, mesmerized by Tang Long’s series of god-level passes.
To transform Manchester City, you must start from the midfield!
Guardiola explained his idea to Raymond.
A 4-3-3 formation, three midfielders, he wants to transplant Barça’s configuration.
Ranocchia, transformed from center-back to defensive midfielder, following the template of Busquets;
Gundogan’s technical characteristics are very similar to Harvey.
Now, the only thing lacking is to find Manchester City’s own Iniesta!
"The best candidate is Manchester United’s De Bruyne," Guardiola sighed, "but don’t even think about it. Pellegrini would never let him go unless he’s completely insane or foolish to let such a talented midfielder go."
Raymond laughed, "Just say it, which Bayern midfielder are you thinking of bringing over?"
"Thiago, definitely Thiago," Guardiola said decisively, "when I left Bayern, Thiago told me he wanted to come to Manchester City with me."
Spanish midfielder Thiago is Guardiola’s favored disciple.
Born in 1991, he stands 174 cm tall, and at 25, he’s in his prime.
Every head coach loves to take their loyal troops with them when they leave a team and move to a new one.
In 2013, Thiago followed Guardiola to Bayern to play football, with a transfer fee of 25 million euros at the time.
Thiago’s passing technique is superb, with an extremely high passing accuracy. Whether it’s short, medium, or long passes, he can accurately find teammates;
his footwork is delicate, and his ball control strong. When receiving the ball in midfield, he can evade defenders’ entanglement in tight spaces, keeping the ball firmly at his feet. Even when facing multiple opponents pressing, he can calmly protect the ball and find passing lines.
Raymond nodded, "Thiago is a good player. Compared to Gundogan, his passes are imaginative and penetrating, often able to deliver threatening direct passes at the right timing, tearing open the opposing defense, an excellent choice for supplying ammo to the front line."
In the recently concluded 2015-2016 season.
Thiago made 42 appearances for Bayern in all competitions, contributing 4 goals and 7 assists, being the core of Bayern’s midfield.
However, due to factors related to recovering from injuries, only 28 of these appearances were starts.
"I really like Thiago, but his recurring injuries are still a concern. You know, the season before last, he spent most of the time recovering from injuries, appearing in only 13 matches. Injuries limited his talent, which truly makes me feel regretful."
Guardiola showed a look of lament.
"So you need another player of Thiago’s caliber. Pep, Mkhitaryan from Dortmund, this person is worth considering," Raymond added.
Mkhitaryan?
Upon hearing the name, Guardiola’s eyes lit up, and he and Raymond exchanged a firm high-five, feeling a sense of shared vision.
Armenian midfielder Mkhitaryan, born in 1989, is 26 this year.
Last season, he made 52 appearances for Dortmund, starting 48 of them, contributing 18 goals and 22 assists.
This player’s characteristics are similar to Thiago, both being technically solid and passing with precision.
However, Mkhitaryan is more versatile, not only capable of playing midfield but also as a winger;
the most commendable aspect is that he rarely gets injured, consistently appearing around 45 times in each of Dortmund’s last three seasons.
Guardiola suddenly laughed.
"Raymond, you know when I was at Bayern, I poached Lewandowski and Götze from Dortmund, and now that I’m at Manchester City, I still want to poach Mkhitaryan from Dortmund. Won’t Dortmund hate me?"
Raymond burst into laughter, "Why would they hate you? This is perfectly normal. We’re buying Mkhitaryan, not taking him for free!"
"Raymond, I feel like we understand football very similarly. Why don’t you become my assistant coach?"
"Assistant coach? No, Pep, I still prefer flying all over the world, being a scout."
...
To extensively support head coach Guardiola, Manchester City’s management secured a considerable transfer budget from the Abu Dhabi Consortium.
Reportedly, they have a 200 million euro check to spend this summer!
Guardiola hopes to complete most of the transfers by the end of July and doesn’t want to drag it into August.
The executive team is also decisive, carrying out transfers according to Guardiola’s plan.
Soon, two announcements arrived as expected!
Announcement: Diego transfers to Manchester City for a fee of 32 million euros!
Announcement: Mkhitaryan transfers to Manchester City for a fee of 40 million euros!
Since Guardiola isn’t fully confident in Caballero’s footwork, it just so happens that Barça is promoting Gernshtegen, and Bravo was also earmarked by Guardiola to be bought to Manchester City for a fee of 18 million euros.
Although Bravo is already 33 years old, Guardiola is very satisfied with this goalkeeper transfer.
He believes Bravo possesses strong immediate combat capabilities; amid Europe’s football scarcity for goalkeepers capable of passing, Bravo can at least serve as a transitional asset for the coming year.
Moreover, having coached in the Bundesliga for three years, Guardiola is familiar with the league and named Sane from Schalke 04 as a potential signing, with a transfer fee of 52 million euros!
Manchester City is spending money like water, splashing 150 million euros in the transfer market in just a few days!
But the spree hasn’t stopped.
With Ranocchia’s preconditions, Manchester City urgently needs a ball-playing center-back.
They spent 55 million euros to acquire England’s leading center-back Stones from Everton!
Although Andy Robertson, a left-footed fullback, is not highly valued, Manchester City only spent 5 million euros to buy him from Championship side Hull City, but at 22, he has a strong impact on the flanks, complementing the experienced but less fit Kolarov.
Meanwhile, internal cleaning continues.
Dzeko was permanently transferred according to contract terms after the loan period in Rome, for 11 million euros.
Joe Hart, who has grown with Manchester City, ultimately couldn’t stay at his beloved Itihad, joining Turin on a loan-to-buy deal.
As of now, Manchester City has completed the entire midfield renovation.
Guardiola still needs a central forward.
During his time at Barça, Guardiola didn’t favor using tall forwards;
Eevee left Barça merely after one season.
However, after three years in the Bundesliga, seeing Lewandowski’s outstanding performance as a forward, Guardiola began to reassess his tactics with tall forwards in a team.
Bony’s foot skills are too rough, not fitting the tactical requirements. Guardiola initially intended to keep Dzeko returning after his loan period.
But Rome insisted on executing the previous agreed loan-to-buy contract to secure Dzeko.
Guardiola is forced to look for suitable candidates in the transfer market again.
At this time, Tang Long’s agent Ronaldo intervened, recommending Bonazzoli, Tang Long’s junior from Inter Milan, to Guardiola.
With Ronaldo’s connection, Bonazzoli’s attitude is very proactive!
Firstly, his mother is still receiving treatment for her leg condition in a Manchester nursing home; playing for Manchester City would allow him to be closer to her, making it easier to take care of her;
Secondly, transferring to Manchester City not only promises higher wages and guidance from world-renowned manager Guardiola but also reuniting him with Tang Long!
Feeling excited, Bonazzoli called Tang Long:
"Tang, I’m begging you, help your little brother. No matter what, you must convince Guardiola to take me from Inter Milan to Manchester City!"
In fact, Tang Long didn’t even need to persuade; Bonazzoli’s performance at Inter Milan had already made it onto scout Raymond’s evaluation shortlist.
This tall forward, younger than Tang Long, scored 17 league goals in the recent season representing Inter Milan, becoming the team’s top scorer.
Standing at 1.85 meters tall, with a solid build and developed muscles, he is effective in ball handling while having his back to the goal.
Bonazzoli’s foot skills are not weak compared to peers;
After receiving the mysterious Ronaldo videotape gifted by Tang Long, his dribbling skills suddenly advanced significantly!
"This kid’s step-overs are somewhat reminiscent of Ronaldo back in the days, he has quick footwork, decent speed, and a reliable shot, a promising central forward talent."
This was Raymond’s note on Bonazzoli following the Champions League Round of 16 match between Manchester City and Inter Milan.
Guardiola believes Bonazzoli’s current level isn’t sufficient to be an absolute starter at Manchester City;
However, he possesses great potential with a promising future.
Having been teammates with Tang Long in both Inter Milan’s youth and senior teams, their relationship is quite good, suggesting Bonazzoli’s arrival at Manchester City could lead to considerable growth.
Guardiola immediately decided Manchester City would acquire him from Inter Milan for 28 million euros.
As soon as Bonazzoli’s plane landed in Manchester, he shouted towards the sky upon exiting the bridge:
"Manchester, here I come!"
In merely over 10 days, Manchester City completed their team overhaul, and CEO Belgistan proudly announced they are the fastest moving team in the entire Premier League, thus closing Manchester City’s transfer market!
Manchester City’s 2016 Summer Transfer Summary:
In: Stones (Everton, 55 million euros), Sane (Schalke 04, 52 million euros), Mkhitaryan (Dortmund, 40 million euros), Diego (Bayern, 32 million euros), Bonazzoli (Inter Milan, 28 million euros), Bravo (Barça, 18 million euros), Robertson (Hull City, 5 million euros)
Total spent: 230 million euros
Out: Bony (Manchester United, 25 million euros), Dzeko (Rome, 11 million euros), Sagna (Norwich, 4 million euros), Klichy (Galatasaray, 3 million euros), Joe Hart (Turin, 2.3 million euros loan), Mangala (Valencia, 1 million euros loan), Toure (Olympiacos, free transfer), Fernando (São Paulo, free transfer)
Total received: 46.3 million euros
Net expenditure: 184 million euros