139 The Winter Transfer Part 2 (1/2)

Chapter 139: The Winter Transfer Part 2

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

With their two consecutive acquisitions of midfielders, the Forest team's left wing was set. Now it was the right wing that gave Tang En headaches. He originally envisioned that he would be able to persuade Lennon to transfer to Nottingham Forest, which would solve the problem of their right wing. He had not even considered that the plan might fail. Plus, the performance of Brian Cash was disappointing; the kid seemed immersed with himself and his own dribbling, and had no regard for the team's overall tactics. After a full year, he had made no progress. Tang En deleted his name from his future plans.

Therefore, after leading the team for a month, he still had not found Nottingham Forest the right player for their right wing.

The team's offense was now seriously leaning to the left. That was a big disadvantage. A team like that might as well be walking with a limp.

At that time, the old scout, Moore, helped him out again. He recommended a young player to Twain. Even though he had played in one match on the First Team, as soon as he heard his name, Tang En decided to buy him no matter the cost.

Moore's recommendation to Twain was an eighteen-year-old midfielder who had just been moved to the First Team by the Watford club: Ashley Young.

The young man was a strong player in the making in FM, and was not bad in reality either. In the 06-07 season, Aston Villa spent eight million pounds to take him away from Watford. He could play both left and right wings of the midfield, his passing and dribbling were outstanding, and he had a beautiful free kick and goal shot.

Any player who could be spotted by Moore, the Forest team's chief scout, would surely be highly valued by the other team as well. If he did not pay the right price, Tang En would not be able to bring the young player to the City Ground. But Tang En believed the other club's stance would not be a problem. Purchasing Clint Hill had cost three hundred thousand pounds, and Kris Commons had cost another three hundred thousand, adding up to six hundred thousand. Meanwhile, the transfer fund that Tang En had at his disposal was eight million pounds. There was still a balance of seven million, four hundred thousand pounds remaining. This money was a huge sum for a League One club. Tang En was sure that Watford would be unable to resist such an onslaught of money. The only uncertainty was the attitude of the Young himself. If Ashley Young was another Lennon, then no amount of money would be enough. Tang En knew how to spend his money, provided that the player's feelings were clear.

Naturally, it would violate FIFA's regulations to circumvent the club and contact players privately. But as long as one was not so blatant and obvious that everyone knew, it was permissible.

If Ashley Young could be convinced, the Forest team's right wing problems might be solved.

In addition to the continuous good news coming from the transfer market, there was another thing that kept Tang En's spirits high.

Because he had scored two goals in the Sunderland match and become the number one contributor to the team's victory, Eastwood could receive a goal bonus according to the contract. Plus, the media's opinion on him had changed overnight.

Even the harshest media outlets, when faced with two goals and that beautiful long shot, had no choice but to restrain their discriminatory views and acknowledge that Eastwood's performance had been a great surprise.

Of course, two goals were considered insignificant in the grand scheme of a long season, and there was no guarantee that Eastwood would continue to score in future games. But this at least gave him a good start on the Forest team and lead the Forest fans to immediately accept the new player. For a striker, there was nothing more pleasing to the fans than a goal.

As Eastwood became famous, his treasured colt was also became a star before long. The pet store which it was placed in the care of not only decided to help Eastwood raise his horse free of charge, but also advertised it in the newspaper. The full text of the advertisement was as follows:

”The House of Pets” offers the best service to Freddy Eastwood's darling horse!

At these words, the shop became incredibly busy. There was a steady stream of people who came every day to see Eastwood's horse. So, naturally, the store launched a ”photo with the star player's darling horse” promotion. It only cost a pound to stand outside the railing and take a photo with the horse.

It was common to take a photograph with a star player; but suddenly, taking a photo with a star player's horse had attracted the interest of countless fans.

Eastwood was not jealous of his horse, but he did make an agreement with ”The House of Pets” that they needed to ensure the horse's health. The stipulated working hours stated that it could only ”receive customers” for five hours a day at most, and that they needed to use a minimum of 30% of the revenue to improve the horse's daily treatment. He believed in his horse's ”professional ethics,” and was confident would be no incidents of biting or kicking its fans. After all, he often rode it along the shoulder of the A127 highway with cars coming and going; what couldn't it handle?

It was fairly accurate to describe the horse as steady and calm, experienced and knowledgeable.

Unsurprisingly, when this matter appeared in the newspapers, it became a new joke among the team about the Romani.

Everyone on the team liked Eastwood very much. Even though the two goals accounted for a large part of the reason, that was not all. Eastwood's character was great. He was warm and cheerful, and got along well with everyone. Coupled with his low-key personality, even Gareth Taylor, whose main position was threatened by him, could find no reason to dislike the man.

Nevertheless, Eastwood, despite his popularity, had one exception in his attitude towards his teammates.