475 Declaration for the New Season (1/2)

Despite being forced to dress up by Shania, Tang En greatly enjoyed his two days of vacation. While it was true that he hated being forced to do anything by other people, it depended on who those people were. He would not mind if it was Shania making him do it.

So long as it could make Shania happy, what was this little sacrifice?

At the young age of 17, Shania already had to bear the burden of working and doing something that she did not like very much. Perhaps, the only time she smiled as much was during the period of their interaction.

In front of the others, she needed to be seen as an international model and pay attention to her image. She had to be careful about every word and action. She even needed to maintain her expression at all times to preserve the perfect image in all lighting, from all angles. This was the perfect image they hoped for, but it was not the real Shania.

Only in front of Tang En, in front of the man she called ”Uncle Tony,” was she able to put down those masks and live in a carefree and true manner.

While the topic might be a heavy one, it was the truth.

Tang En's two-day vacation passed in a blink of an eye and Shania also needed to return to Milan to continue her work. In London's Heathrow Airport, Mr. Fascal thanked Tang En solemnly. He was grateful that he had spent the two days accompanying Shania to play.

”You're too polite. I wanted to relax too.” Tang En smiled and waved his hand. ”I forget all my troubles when I'm with her. I hate agents, but you're different. You're a good agent. No matter how famous Shania gets, she's still a child. Please protect her.”

Fascal nodded. ”You can set your heart at ease, Mr. Tony. The new season is beginning. Good luck to you.”

The two men shook hands.

After sending Shania and Fascal off, Tang En sat on the stairs outside the passenger terminal and called Landy, asking him to pick him up.

After putting down the phone, Tang En continued sitting on the steps, looking up at the sky disinterestedly.

Perhaps he should really buy himself a car.

An ear-splitting roar sounded. A silvery-white airplane flew across the stretch of sky above Tang En's head.

The thought of buying a car lasted only one afternoon in Tang En's mind. The next morning, he concluded that walking was still better during his walk to the training grounds with Dunn. On one hand, he could train his body, and on the other, he could contemplate his problems as he walked without having to worry about getting into a car accident.

The first matter to attend to after resuming training was dealing with the transfers. Anelka had yet to find a suitable club to be his new employer. Mark Viduka's agent, however, already informed the club that his client wished to be transferred. The reason was simple, and it was one that Tang En understood. There was already no place for Viduka in the current Forest Team. Viduka himself was also unwilling to play as a substitute, so leaving the team was the best option.

Viduka knew it in his heart. When the club bought in Ruud van Nistelrooy, he knew that there would no longer be a core position for him on the team. He could not accept playing as a substitute. After all, he was still in his prime.

Tang En also knew that Viduka's space for survival was shrinking with the addition of Nistelrooy and Bendtner. By letting him go, they could still earn a sum of a transfer fee. It was not a bad idea. Middlesbrough hoped to purchase Viduka with an offered price of five million pounds. Tang En turned them down immediately.

No matter what, Viduka was a core forward on the Forest Team for the past two seasons. Forest's current results were inseparable from Viduka's hard work. The number-two forward in the English Premier league was only worth five million pounds? Tang En could not accept it.

However, he did not completely shut down the potential transfer. Instead, he gave Middlesbrough a chance to continue bargaining. He hoped that they would continue upping their offer. If they were truly sincere about Viduka, they had to show a sincere offer!

Back then, Nottingham Forest spent six million pounds to buy Viduka. Selling him off, how should it be put, should not be at a price lower than that.

Tang En's benchmark was to disregard all offers lower than six million pounds.

After a round of bargaining, both parties finally reached an agreement. Middlesbrough would pay four million pounds first. Then, within 12 months, they were to pay another 2.5 million pounds in installments, totaling 6.5 million pounds for the purchase of Mark Viduka, whom they had been very keen on.

Following that, Tang En loaned out Kris Commons to Watford, who had just been promoted into the English Premier League, hoping that Commons would be able to gain sufficient appearances in the field with them. To appease Commons, Tang En even especially gave him a new four-year contract before deciding to loan him out. While his terms were not considered high on the team, it was mainly to express the team's trust and promise to him - that in the future four years, he was still a member of Nottingham Forest.

It was not only Matthew Upson and Mark Viduka who were sold off. Forest Team's second reserve goalkeeper, Barry Roche, was also sold for 2.7 million pounds to an EFL Championship team, Leicester. Under the situation where Akinfeev would be returning in a year's time, Nottingham Forest no longer had a position for Barry Roche.

After clearing the surplus of players, Tang En successfully reached his aim of streamlining the players on the team and at the same time increasing their battle capabilities. The players who remained were all extremely capable. In comparison to the common syndrome of EPL clubs registering more than 30 players, Nottingham Forest's team list of 23 First Team players could be considered a small team. But Tang En deeply believed that all 23 of them were excellent players. Here, there was no player just scraping the barrel for a meal; everyone who stayed was surely of some use to the team.

After completion of his work on streamlining the team, George Wood's agent came knocking again.

”I'm not here to inform the club that George is transferring, but I know that the team has sold a few players recently.” Sitting on the sofa in Tang En's office, Woox crossed his legs as he casually said, ”Now that Forest's momentum is so good, only a fool would consider a transfer.”

That was the truth.

”But, as everyone knows, there are not just a few powerhouses in the European football scene that are keen on Wood. Yet Wood has turned down all of them. So…” Woox put down his legs and straightened his back, somberly saying, ”shouldn't the club show their appreciation for Wood's act of loyalty?”

Hearing his words, Tang En said impassively, ”Sure. Tomorrow I will give him a carton of milk as welfare. How about that?”

”Mr. Twain!” Woox raised his voice.

”Just get to the point if you want to raise his salary. There's no need to beat around the bush like that.” Tang En snorted in contempt at Woox's attitude.

Woox went back to crossing his legs. ”It's good that you're aware of it. If you wish to retain an important member of your team, you need to better your treatment of him and make him feel that his efforts and reciprocation are positively correlated.”

”I think that George is very satisfied with his current income.”

”That's what you think.” Woox did not back down. ”I still think his current conditions are too low. Tony, you wouldn't be unaware of the salary standards of a national player, would you?”

Generally, once a player was successfully selected for the national team, his value would shoot up under the agent's management even without playing a single match. The commensuration for taking on advertisements or becoming a spokesperson outside the field, as well as the salary and prize money given by the team internally all had to be raised. Currently, that was exactly what Woox was doing.

”He is the captain of a team that was runner-up in last season's EPL and UEFA Champions League, a selected member of England's National Team who participated in the German World Cup, a player who is most indispensable to the team, and the only core who cannot be rotated. Is such a player worth only 15 thousand pounds per week? If that number was made known, people would be laughing until their teeth fell out, Tony.” Woox's words were razor-sharp. His verbal abilities did not seem to pale in comparison to Tang En's. ”When you were spending truckloads of money in the transfer market buying one football star after another, did you not think about making a new promise to the most hard-working and most important person on the team?”

Tang En stared at Woox and did not immediately respond.

He had to admit it in his heart; Woox's words were impeccably reasoned. Tang En could barely find any reason to refute them.

”But we've just renewed our contract…”