202 The Old Soldiers Part 1 (2/2)

”Alright, you win. I wish you luck, Serhiy,” Tang En said, waving his hands.

”I wish you good luck too, Sir.”

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One day later, Serhiy Rebrov became the first person of the summer to confirm his departure from Nottingham Forest. Kyiv Dynamo had, for three million pounds, bought the Ukrainian player who had found his confidence and his forte while playing the midfielder position.

Through this, the media confirmed Tang En's ability to guide and nurture players. Rebrov had only displayed his truly exceptional performance for half a season, and that was right after Tang En had taken over and became the manager of Nottingham Forest. For a player's value to not dip but instead rise over one season was more than enough on its own to display Tang En's ability.

Rebrov's departure fortified Tang En's determination to find another experienced veteran player for Nottingham Forest's midfield. Currently, the team severely lacked players that could play in the middle lane of the midfield. The only players that were confirmed to be in Tang En's plans were George Wood and Brynjar Gunnarsson. The rest of the players would most likely be purged: either loaned out or sold to other teams.

The team needed veteran players, and Nottingham Forest, which was comprised mainly of young players, was essentially crippled. In that case, who were the veteran players out there that fulfilled Tang En's requirements?

He suddenly thought of someone.

Tang En thought that he might have to make another trip to Italy with a translator.

It was really nice to be the manager of a professional football team, as he could use the company's funds to go on a ”vacation.”

After he had informed Evan of his destination, the club immediately made all the necessary arrangements for Tang En. Bringing an Italian translator with him, Tang En flew to Milan, Italy in the afternoon of that same day.

At night, when Tang En was eating at the restaurant appointed for the meeting, there were two people seated opposite him. The first was the agent Branchini, and the second was the target who Tang En had specially flown to Italy for: Demetrio Albertini, a curly-haired man who did not look like a football star, and always had a plebeian smile on his face.

When Tang En had still been a football fan, he had not been a diehard supporter of any specific club who would support his team no matter what. Instead, he loved many teams, but would never quarrel with someone over Real Madrid and Barcelona's hundred-year feud. He liked many football stars, but he was not one to hate on other football players just because he liked some other ones.

He was not a supporter of AC Milan, and therefore would not shed tears of joy just because they won the Champions League. Still, he liked the man sitting opposite him.

He was the ex-vice captain of the powerhouse AC Milan, and was highly reputable among football fans. He was AC Milan and the Italian national team's absolute core, and had even been deemed by Maldini as someone who ”could make all of Italy catch a cold when he sneezed.” The number of glorious titles he had gotten and the number of grand occasions he had experienced were so many that they could not be listed even in a span of two days. However, all those were already things of the past.

By now, he had already been gone from AC Milan for a long time, and was currently intending to annul the contract with Lazio because the club, which had gotten into a financial crisis, could not afford his salary—one million, two hundred and fifty-thousand pounds after taxation.

For SS Lazio, which was badly battered by their financial issues, this was no small amount of money. They had just signed a two-year contract at the start of the year with Albertini, who had been deserted by Milan. With an annual contract salary of one million, two hundred and fifty-thousand pounds, two years' worth of salary would be two million, five hundred thousand pounds. However, this amount of money was still affordable by Nottingham Forest, which had resolved its financial crisis and was a newly-promoted team in the Premier League.

That was the reason why Tang En had chosen Albertini.

Tang En believed that Albertini was not so old that he could only earn his salary on the bench while he silently waited for his retirement. He wanted to give both this Milanese man and Nottingham Forest a chance—a chance to become more mature, to become stronger.

However, it was not like there were no competitors the time. Atlanta United FC's transfer market supervisor, Larini, had also met with Albertini's agent, Branchini, just a day before Tang En arrived in Milan. This was an incident that taken place in the original timeline, from before Tang En's meddling.

”Deme, we all know Lazio's current situation, and I also know that Atlanta is very interested in you. But please don't doubt Nottingham Forest's sincerity. You really believe that this is the end of your professional career? You really think that you've stooped as low as playing for a Serie A team that was at the bottom of the league?” Tang En started showing off his glib tongue in hopes of convincing Albertini to stop his negotiations with Atlanta and turn to Nottingham Forest instead.

After the Italian translator translated Tang En's words, Albertini fell into deep thought.

When he had been abandoned by AC Milan during the 02-03 season and loaned out to Atletico Madrid, he had still been hopeful that he could return back to Saint Siro Stadium. However, it was only after he spent one season in Spain and returned back to Italy that he realized that there was no place for him in Milan.