721 The Young Guard (1/2)
The transfer fee of 16 million pounds had used up almost half of Nottingham Forest's budget for the season. Twain had to come to a decision over whether he should spend the remaining money on a top-class player or on several cheaper, average players who could each play at different positions on the team.
However, it was not a hard decision for Twain to make.
In his heart, he knew that Nottingham Forest was a team that would rise from the ashes and emerge as a force to be reckoned with once again. Therefore, there was no need to spend money acquiring average players. He decided that he should assemble the best 'army' possible, and bring in everything he needed to rebuild the team in one fell swoop.
He had his eyes set on Valencia CF's David Silva.
Unfortunately, he faced a huge obstacle in his pursuit of David Silva's signature, because Nottingham Forest was not the only club who had their eyes on Silva. Big clubs such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Liverpool and AC Milan were also looking at him. Nottingham Forest was not a club that stood out when compared with these other clubs.
Twain decided to use 30 million pounds of his transfer budget to purchase Silva, but he was only going to pay in installments. However, this payment method was not accepted by Valencia CF.
Valencia CF had performed well for the first half of the previous season. However, the team had gradually slipped down the table as the season progressed. The club's financial problems had not been solved, and were only made worse with the arrival of the economic crisis, which forced them to consider selling David Villa and David Silva for money—despite being adamant initially that neither player was up for sale.
When news that both Villa and Silva were available broke out, the big clubs pounced on the opportunity like a pack of wolves who had rushed in at the scent of blood.
Real Madrid led the race for David Villa's signature, whereas competition was fierce for David Silva.
In the end, Nottingham Forest proved to be no match against the other big, wealthy, and successful football clubs.
After his plan to acquire Silva ended in failure, Twain came to realize that he needed to change his mindset. Rather than pin his hopes on being able to buy established and famous players like Silva, he should look at getting younger players onto the team instead.
Hence, he decided to shift his attention onto acquiring Britain's gifted young players.
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Just as Twain was wondering how he should build up his team, his friend, 'Crazy' Stuart Pearce, gave him a call and recommended a player to him.
”I'm not recommending him to you because I have anything to gain from this transfer, Tony,” Pearce said. ”I just don't want his future to become bleak. His contract with his club expires in the summer, but he doesn't want to stay in League One. He is looking for a bigger stage to perform on. I also think that he would not be able to improve as a player if he were to keep playing in League One. There are a few clubs after him right now, but I believe in you, Tony, which is why I recommended you to him when he approached me for suggestions.”
Twain had been listening to Pearce go on and on without mentioning the player's name. Therefore, he had to ask, ”Who is he and who does he play for?”
”Joe Mattock. Leicester City's left back.”
Twain realized after hearing the name that it was one that he had heard numerous times before. The British media had hailed him as one of the top 10 youth players in Britain. He was only 18 years of age, and he had already been given a place on Britain's national U21 team by Pearce. He had amassed a great deal of experience as a first team player in League One. He was physically strong, and good at both defending and going forward to attack.
There were several clubs who were interested in getting his signature. Twain could not believe that Pearce had actually recommended him to a player of this caliber.
”No problem, no problem at all, Stuart. I promise you I will help you groom him into a much better player than he is now.” Twain naturally agreed to put the player on his team. How could he possibly say no to such a good deal?
They might have Leighton Baines and Gareth Bale on the team right now, but since Bale had to play as the left midfielder from time to time, it was a good idea to get another left back to fill in the gap on those occasions.
Additionally, Joe Mattock was very young, and would be a good investment for the future.
All in all, it was a good deal for the club.
Pearce had not lied to Twain. Just two days after he gave Twain a phone call, Mattock's agent turned up at the club to negotiate a deal.
What both parties had to do next was simple. They agreed on personal terms for Mattock, and put pen to paper straight away. Nottingham Forest acquired one of Britain's most promising left backs without spending a single penny.
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The Forest team made progress in trying to bolster their strength on other positions as well.
Even though Nottingham Forest was a team that did not appeal to foreign football stars, and was also a team that did not have the finances to compete with bigger clubs like Real Madrid, Chelsea, and Manchester City for those players, in the eyes of the local British youth players, they were a team known for their abilities to groom young players. They also had a charismatic and unique manager in charge. Nottingham Forest was an appealing team for those youth players to consider joining.
At the end of June, Charlton officially announced that their up-and-coming youth player, Jonjo Shelvey, had been sold to Nottingham Forest for two million pounds.
The fee paid by Forest was quite high, given that Shelvey was still a player who had yet to reach 18 years of age. However, Shelvey was worth 6 million pounds the previous summer. If it was not for the ongoing economic crisis that had forced many other clubs to become even more careful with their expenditures, it would have been impossible for Twain to obtain the captain for Britain's national U16 team for only twp million pounds.
Shelvey might be only 17 years of age, but he was already quite famous in Britain. He had made his debut for Charlton when he was only 16 years old. He came on as a substitute for Zheng Zhi, the captain of the Chinese national team.
However, Shelvey had already attracted the attention of numerous football clubs prior to that as well. In 2007, he had captained Britain's U16 national team, who were crowned champions in the Victory Shield. He had played as a midfielder in that game, and scored three goals. He had already been a goal-scoring machine when he was playing games for Charlton's youth and reserve team.
However, Twain did not expect Shelvey to be able to make an instant impact on the team, and score lots of goals for them. The reason he bought Shelvey was because he saw potential in him to become a great player in the future. This was in line with everything that Twain had been doing so far that summer, which was to lay the foundation needed for the future of the club.
Other teams, such as Sunderland and West Ham United, were also in the race to sign Shelvey, but what allowed Twain to triumph over them in the end was that he was Tony Twain.
Twain had made a name for himself the past few years, and there were as many people who liked as there were people who disliked him. He was called the 'Arsene Wenger of Britain' because of his preference for playing youth players on his team, and this made Nottingham Forest an attractive destination in the eyes of numerous youth players.
This advantage that he had over other rival teams was not just apparent in his acquisitions of Joe Mattock and Jonjo Shelvey. Victor Moses was another player who became a part of Nottingham Forest that summer. He was an 18-year-old forward who played for Crystal Palace. He was born in Nigeria, but his family had emigrated to Britain when he was five. He signed a four-year contract with Crystal Palace when he turned 16.