Chapter 250: Chapter 249: The Brazilian Player Series Whose Name You Would Never Guess (Request for Full Subscription)
Drogba had a good impression of Sporting Lisbon, and the first reason was that France’s Deschamps had just transferred from Chelsea to join Sporting Lisbon.
Drogba, with dual citizenship in Ivory Coast and France and having played football in France, was very familiar with everyone on the French team.
The second reason was that Drogba felt the assistant of Mr. Trigella, who communicated with him in French, really suited his preferences. He was very polite in conversation and understood what young players cared about.
He told Drogba outright that here was the football most suitable for Drogba. They wouldn’t focus on Drogba showing off superior skillful footwork; instead, they’d find ways to play to Drogba’s strengths.
The assistant sent Drogba some highlights from Moreirense’s games.
The way Moreirense’s striker Anderson played the game was exactly what Drogba liked.
Drogba even felt he could do much better than Anderson.
If the head coach himself favored and knew how to use a striker like Drogba, then naturally Drogba’s appearance rate and tactical status on the team were assured.
No one wanted to give up what they were good at and adapt to some new ways of playing.
On Guingamp’s part, it seemed they hoped to develop Drogba into a player similar to Trezeguet, but Drogba felt he could do more than Trezeguet.
The last point, as the assistant said to Drogba, "I know you have children, so I’ve applied for an additional housing allowance from the club for you. You can bring them over; the pressure won’t be too much."
"You could also send the money back, to help them live better."
"I think the latter is better, after all, your children are still young. Plus, I believe with your abilities, in two or three years you’ll be able to bring them to your side, no matter where you play football," the assistant added.
This greatly encouraged Drogba.
Of course, the assistant coach also reminded Drogba to cut down on junk food to avoid failing the team’s entry physical examination.
This was undoubtedly the best person Drogba had encountered, apart from his uncle Michel.
Maxa watched these transactions, too frightened to breathe.
Barzagli for a hundred thousand, you’re offering two hundred thousand.
Drogba for two hundred thousand, you’re offering four hundred thousand.
And even at the previous prices, neither seemed necessarily worth it.
What do you mean by this?
Bottom fishing?
Going all in?
Stock hedging?
Shouldn’t you at least target some young players recognized by the youth training circles as capable?
"Right, have there been any updates from the scouts in South America?" Deng Kai then remembered the club had some contacts in South America.
However, these were cooperative relationships, not exclusive ones.
"Yes, they say they’ve brought over a group of young players who are trying out here and there," Trigella said. "I’ve looked at their basic data and some videos, and I don’t think any are particularly good."
"Right, this is a newcomer strongly recommended by Corinthians, this Gutierrez, and their asking price is four hundred thousand euros."
Deng Kai glanced at it and had no impression.
Maxa said worriedly, "I’ve heard that player ownership in South America is very chaotic, and the prices are often complex. Based on Gutierrez’s performance, four hundred thousand might be reasonable, but I’m afraid we might end up paying seven or eight hundred thousand!"
Trigella nodded, this was very likely.
Many clubs buying South American footballers in the early days would only get half ownership, which led to many disputes and lawsuits over transactions.
"But they also said that if we buy Gutierrez, we can get two more players for an extra hundred thousand euros. One is Kepler Laveran Lima Ferreira, damn, that name is hard to remember, and the other one..." Maxa always loved these little perks.
When he was a cleaner for the team, he always managed to save some of the purchasing funds by buying toilet cleaner on a buy-two-get-one-free deal, and then sneaking the leftovers into his own pocket.
"Who?" Deng Kai suddenly stopped the phone call he was on.
"Gutierrez?" Maxa was startled.
Deng Kai shook his head, "No, the next one."
Maxa: "Toilet cleaner, buy two get one free, oh no, Kepler Laveran..."
Deng Kai immediately nodded, "That’s the one! We’ll take him!"
Maxa was stunned, "Huh? Even that buy-one-get-two deal, we want it?"
Deng Kai shook his head again, "No, that’s not right. We need to be cautious when doing business with South Americans. Here’s what we’ll do... Tell them we’ll take Gutierrez, but those two other players should be given to us directly, and we won’t spend a penny on them."
"In addition, make sure they are completely given to us. We need to check the ownership of these two players."
Maxa looked troubled, "But if we check Gutierrez’s ownership, the price might not be the same. There’s something fishy about this deal, otherwise it wouldn’t be our turn."
Deng Kai smiled, "Who said anything about checking Gutierrez? If they have something to hide, on our first ask, they’ll only give us the ownership documents for the two players they’re giving away."
"Once we confirm Kepler Laveran’s ownership is fine, we can complete the transaction."
"If there really is a problem with the Gutierrez deal, we’ll sell off our part of his ownership. They should be willing to buy it back for two hundred and fifty thousand."
Maxa was at a loss for words, "So after all is said and done, we lose one hundred and fifty thousand?"
Deng Kai pointed to the name written in the notebook, "Your math isn’t bad, but... don’t we also get two other players?"
Maxa became anxious, "What use is a player nobody wants? Could these two possibly be worth their weight in gold?"
Deng Kai looked at Trigella and said, "Maybe he’s the future iron defender of the Portuguese national team’s back line for the next fifteen years?"
Trigella nodded, agreeing to the plan, but with some doubt, "You’ve never been to South America, how can you be so confident about this player?"
Deng Kai evaded the question, "Didn’t my personal fund sponsor the Argentine player Messi last year? Later, I had a conflict with the Argentinians, and they tried to overpower me with various young Argentine players."
"When Brazil also launched a wave to select prodigious young footballers, I saw highlights of this player. He’s very fierce, possesses strong mental attributes, highly aggressive, and has a natural talent for defense and passing."
"He can definitely make it big, really strong... probably much stronger than Feng Te!"
Feng Te: If I have sinned, let the law judge me. But why must you shame me with the reader’s ridicule? Just because I played football in the Chinese Super League? Fuck... the logic suddenly clicks; maybe I’m not wronged after all?
Soon, the person responsible for bringing a group of young players to "scam" from South America completed the transaction with Sporting Lisbon.
They originally planned to trick Madeira Island Maritimo Football Club, praying on their lack of experience, a small club, and even if things were exposed, there wouldn’t be much trouble.
What they didn’t expect was that a bigger fool took the bait.
This bigger fool was extremely happy, joyfully completing the transaction that involved Gutierrez in a buy-one-get-two-free three-player deal.
