200 Forest in The Transfer Market Part 1 (1/2)

Chapter 200: Forest in The Transfer Market Part 1

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

The team had started training, and the Forest team's movements in the transfer market did not stop for a moment.

For the midfield section, the Forest team finally bought Aaron Lennon, the young player from Leeds United whom they had wanted to buy during last season's winter transfer period. As Tang En expected, Leeds United was relegated to League One, and had then immediately declared bankruptcy. The team faced another terrible misfortune in the form of a possible relegation to another level. At that time, the minds of everyone on the team were in turmoil, and it was normal for any player to want to leave. Twain once again asked Leeds United for a quote on Lennon. Leeds United, who was beleaguered with debt, did not ask a high price for the young player. They quoted a price which was acceptable to Twain: one million pounds.

Lennon himself had a clearer understanding of the fact that he would be better off if he left Leeds United. If he stayed on Leeds United, his own strength would not be nearly enough to change the status of the team. At the age of sixteen, he had just begun to play in First Team games. Nottingham Forest was naturally the best choice due to the club's sincerity towards him and the fact that he was able to enter the Premier League at this juncture.

Tang En was worried that things might change if they took too long. So, without further ado, the payment was transferred, and he quickly signed the contract with Lennon. From then on, England's star of hope became a Nottingham Forest player.

When the Forest team announced on its official website that Lennon was joining the team, the English media realized that, while they had been paying attention to this summer's clash between Chelsea's newly appointed Mourinho, Arsenal, and Manchester United in the transfer market, they had ignored the quiet, newly promoted Nottingham Forest.

Even though it was not yet known how the Forest team would perform after the start of the season, they had already made tremendous, high-profile headway in the transfer market.

With regards to this, The Sun had a special topic in their article to analyze and forecast every club's movement during the summer transfer period. Placed in the headline photographs were several Premier League managers: Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, Chelsea's newly appointed manager, the talented José Mourinho (who had just led the Portuguese FC Porto to become the champion of the UEFA Champions League), and the just as successful Rafael Benítez, who had just joined Liverpool from Spain's Valencia CF. And the man placed behind them was the manager of Nottingham Forest, Tony Twain.

The article analyzed that, as a new entrant to the Premier League as well as a competitor in the UEFA Europa League, the Forest team faced the predicament of battling on multiple fronts. But to Tony Twain, it was a chance to expand the size of his team. So far, the players that the Forest team had bought were mainly young players. It was obvious that Twain had set his sights on the future. However, the Premier League was the top level after all, and the goals of the club's higher powers would change accordingly. If they were not able to achieve results that were to their satisfaction, then it would all be meaningless, no matter how young and talented the players were.

After introducing Gerard Piqué and Nicklas Bendtner in succession, as well as Aaron Lennon, what else could be happening in Twain's Forest team?

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It was end of June, and the sun was scorching and intense. At noon, the concrete ground of the pier was baking. It was lunch break and the narrow, run-down pier was empty. Only one person was sitting on the shore, ignoring the sweltering hot sun above.

This was in Boulogne-sur-Mer, a small coastal town on the west coast of France. In France, people callously labeled it as ”the worst town in France.” Poverty had afflicted every resident in the small town. Now it was troubling the young man sitting in the sun, too.

He looked down in a daze at water below his feet crashing into the pier repeatedly. The long scar along his right cheek looked ghastly under the glare of the sun.

The young man was frowning, thinking about something very important to him: money.

At the age of sixteen, in pursuit of his dream of playing professional football, he had moved out of his house to Lille. However, he had been rejected due to insufficient academic qualifications; like most clubs in France, the young players were not only required to learn football, but also to achieve a certain degree of education. Five years had passed, and now he could not even afford to pay his rent.

He had played in Olympique Alès a year ago. On a monthly subsidy of one hundred and fifty euros, he lived frugally. He could not afford to rent a house. In order to change his impoverished situation, he had switched to another football club, Stade Brestois 29 in Ligue 2. But his situation still did not improve. Apart from the necessary expenses, he found that he had not earned a single penny by the end of the season.

When his contract expired, the club obviously did not intend to renew the contract with this unsightly, unlikable young man. The Brest team was not in a good position either, so he had to look for another team again. But he found that he did not seem to have a future in France. None of the big clubs liked him, and the small clubs offered too little money.

It really was a headache. The young man scratched his head, accidentally touching the scar on his cheek.

It had happened when he was two years old, due to a car accident. He had flown out of the car window. He had survived, but a permanent scar was left on his face. This used to be the reason that he was ridiculed and teased; its existence made him feel ashamed. He wished he could get rid of the scar by scraping it off with a knife. Of course, what he really wanted to do was find a plastic surgeon to help him fix the scar. This was a good idea; modern medical technology could fully meet his requirements. The only problem was that he had no money.