Chapter 385: Chapter 384: Barca’s Cunning Scheme Disturbs the Port Stadium
Barcelona and their fans started a game of cat and mouse.
The fans wouldn’t take to Barcelona’s inconsistency.
Saying Quaresma is Quaresma, what’s the deal with finding a bankrupt version?
Seeing they couldn’t fool the fans, Barcelona’s top brass had to bite the bullet and re-enter negotiations with Sporting Lisbon.
This time, they offered 15 million euros + Simon.
Although Simon had struggled at Barcelona, he still showed moments of brilliance, and his talent and ability were evident to the naked eye.
His value wouldn’t soar, but it shouldn’t plummet either.
A fair price would be 15 million euros. Even with a discount for club relationship issues, it’d still be around 10 million euros.
Barcelona thought their offer was a sincere one.
Especially considering Simon was a product of Sporting Lisbon’s academy, returning there would only improve his form. For Sporting, whether they used Simon to solidify their dominance in the Primeira Liga or polished him up for a high-priced sell, it would be a solid deal.
Over at Sporting, the transfer deal was wholly managed by Trigella’s right-hand man, the current club president, who rejected the proposal immediately.
Because Simon’s return would make positioning difficult.
On the field.
Even more so in the dressing room.
Simon was once Sporting’s star player, always the core in the youth national teams, and he had even been promoted early to the senior national squad, showing signs of heavier responsibilities.
As the genius big brother, how could you expect him to play second fiddle to Deng Kai?
Keep in mind that in the national team system, Deng Kai and Ronaldo still looked up to Simon.
But taking down Deng Kai?
What a joke.
Even if Deng Kai agreed, Trigella wouldn’t.
No other team’s core has been as valuable to Trigella as Deng Kai, neither in the past nor in the future.
In terms of tactical proficiency, almost no player could match Deng Kai.
Trigella would dare to say this even if Zidane came.
He stood by his words!
Hence, Barcelona’s offer was almost immediately refused.
This left them unable to resort to media for public opinion propaganda.
If Sporting had hesitated even for a day or two, and Barcelona released the news, with the will of Portuguese fans at their backs, Sporting would have had to take Simon back whether they liked it or not.
With the new king crowned and the old king returning, wouldn’t Sporting be primed for an internal power struggle?
Barcelona would not only have avenged the markup in the Quaresma deal, but also the grudge for being eliminated in the semi-finals of the Europa League; they’d be over the moon.
But now...
Barcelona: So what exactly do you want? Can we settle on 25 million euros in cash?
Sporting Lisbon: Sorry, it’s 28 now.
Barcelona: Are you playing me?
Sporting Lisbon: What if I am?
Barcelona unilaterally closed the transfer window with Sporting Lisbon.
Without this butcher, do I really need to eat unshaven pigs?
Ridiculous!
Barcelona turned around and contacted River Plate of the Argentine Primera División.
Soon, Barcelona completed another heavyweight trade.
Breaking! 36 million euros! Barcelona brings in talented winger Javier Saviola from River Plate!
South American reinforcements continue to grow! Argentina’s "Little Rabbit" Saviola is an upgraded version of Quaresma!
Barcelona captures South American stars, the future is promising! Saviola and Giovane are the most outstanding young players from Argentina and Brazil!
Diario Sport: "Barca fans should be satisfied now; they wanted a Quaresma, and the team brought them two Quaresmas!"
However, the fans’ reaction was unexpected for Barca.
AS Newspaper interviewed two hundred Barca fans, and the most common response was, "This bunch of Barca suits reminds me of my parents. You can’t say they don’t love me, but they really don’t understand me."
"I just wanted a pair of Anta, and they bought me a pair of Nike and a pair of Adidas instead!"
"I’m not saying the latter two pairs of sneakers are good or bad, I just wanted my White Moonlight!"
In response, Barca said, you must be a Chinese fan.
In any case, seventy million was spent, and the fans were still not satisfied, Barca was truly crying to death.
In the end, Barca gave up struggling.
But they didn’t have much cash left for the transfer window, they might have a significant amount coming back in a month, but now they were short on money.
Quaresma, meanwhile, became the daily newsmaker in the Premier League and Serie A media, reportedly very close to joining Manchester United.
Barca had to painfully negotiate with Liverpool, offloading Simon for a mere six million euros.
They took a ten million euro hit on Simon in just two years.
A huge, massive loss.
Because of this, some of Simon’s fans were angry.
Because Barca could have sold Simon to Manchester United, which the player himself preferred.
Barca’s move must be an act of revenge against Simon.
Indeed it was, but Barca claimed externally that it was because if United acquired Simon, they could become stronger, and Barca did not want to sell a player to a Champions League rival.
This statement had United fans laughing for a long time.
Who is your Champions League rival?
Haven’t my United been one of the top four teams most likely to win the Champions League these past few years?
You Barca can’t even make heads or tails of the Europa League, what Champions League are you talking about?
Barca was so ridiculed that they virtually spat blood.
But this time, they could finally land their White Moonlight.
Barca made another official bid for Quaresma.
Sporting Lisbon was puzzled by the offer. Didn’t you unilaterally close the window on us?
Barca’s staff, somewhat embarrassed, said that they did close it, but now they had unilaterally reopened the trading window.
Sporting Lisbon laughed.
Well then, in that case, let’s also act unilaterally for a moment.
Unilaterally announcing that Quaresma’s price has risen again, it’s now twenty-eight million euros.
Oh, and there’s an additional condition, we want to borrow your young midfielder Motta and young goalkeeper Reina, remember, it’s the kind of loan with an option to buy.
Truth be told, Barca really got angry.
An increase in price again?
F*ck!
But this was all their own doing.
If they had started with a direct offer of twenty-five million, perhaps settling for twenty-three million euros, all this trouble could have been avoided, right?
Barca analyzed Sporting Lisbon’s demands in detail, trying to turn the situation around.
Sporting Lisbon’s loan for Reina must be to groom Reina as Schmeichel’s successor.
But Schmeichel has been in peak form this year, looking at his condition, Reina taking over would be a matter for at least two years from now.
If Barca only loans Reina to Sporting Lisbon for a year, they can completely play Sporting Lisbon.
If Sporting Lisbon doesn’t buy out Reina this year, it would be as if they helped Barca train a goalkeeper for free; next year, Barca just won’t loan him to Sporting Lisbon, and will screw them over.
Right, they can also include some appearance requirements in the loan terms, to ensure Reina gets plenty of training.
They might even cause Schmeichel to be dissatisfied with the team, stirring up some internal strife.
