When Asensio signed his name on the contract, Tiger smiled and patted his shoulder, saying, "Marco, welcome to Manchester United. You will become the next Scholes."
"Thank you for your recognition, coach. I will do my best to become the top player under your guidance," Asensio said politely.
"Good," Tiger nodded. "Take a good rest and see you in July."
Watching Asensio's figure leave, Tiger felt emotional. Asensio was a future Real Madrid superstar, with outstanding skills, a broad vision, strong ball control, and often able to score in important games. He would become a key player for both Real Madrid and the Spanish national team in the future. He never thought that he could sign him for only 1 million euros. It was truly lucky.
Asensio successfully transferred with a transfer fee of 1 million euros. Now, Tiger still had 42.2 million euros in transfer funds to use.
He had just bought a lively midfield player. Tiger was delighted. He hummed a tune and walked out of the club's door, picking up a copy of the Spanish Sports Daily on a whim. Although he did not understand Spanish, it was still a language in the English language family, so he recognized some of the words.
Woodward chose a five-star hotel, and then a few people took a taxi to the hotel to check in. After resting in the room for a while, in the evening, Woodward went to the next door to call Tiger for dinner and saw King Tiger staring out the window in a daze.
"What's wrong, Tiger? Don't you want to leave this Spanish island?" Woodward said with a smile.
Tiger turned around and handed the newspaper in his hand to Woodward. "Take a look at this news."
Woodward took the newspaper in confusion and looked at the football section. The most obvious news at the top was: Real Madrid spent 30 million euros to sign Malaga midfielder Isco.
"Isco? Is he the one you're interested in?" Woodward said in surprise.
Tiger smiled bitterly, "We're too late."
It turned out that one of Tiger's targets for coming to Spain was Isco. Among the transfer targets that Tiger was interested in, except for Lewandowski, Isco's current fame is the highest. This young man trained in Valencia's youth system and transferred to his hometown team Malaga in 2011. Surprisingly, in the 2011-2012 season, Isco miraculously led this small team into the top four of La Liga and into the Champions League. In the just-concluded 2012-2013 season, Isco led the team to sixth place in La Liga and into the Europa League. Such outstanding performances have attracted the attention of many top clubs.
Tiger originally thought he could get ahead of the game and sign Isco first, but he did not expect Real Madrid to act quickly and sign Isco first, which caught him off guard.
Seeing Tiger's disappointed expression, Woodward comforted him, "Although this player is good, his 30 million price tag is a bit high. Even if you signed him first, you wouldn't have money left to buy the other players on your list."
Tiger thought about it and realized it was true. His mood improved a little, "Woodward, you better arrange a seafood feast to soothe my wounded heart tonight."
"No problem!" Woodward readily agreed.
Although their target was taken by someone else, after this incident, Woodward looked at Tiger in a different light. He had been skeptical of the young players that Tiger had listed before, thinking that they were all insignificant small roles. But he did not expect that the people Tiger had his eye on were also snatched up by the La Liga giants Real Madrid, which made Woodward admire Tiger's vision.
The next day, Tiger originally planned to take a boat southwest to Malaga, but since Isco was signed by Real Madrid, there was no need for him to go to Malaga. They changed their route at the last minute and took a ferry northward to Spain's second largest city, Barcelona.
On the way to Barcelona, Woodward excitedly asked Tiger, "Are you ready to sign Messi this time?"
Upon hearing this, Tiger replied irritably, "As long as you can give me enough transfer fee, I will sign Messi."
Woodward shook his head vigorously, "Forget it, even with 100 million euros, it's not enough to sign him given Messi's current status."
Hearing this, Tiger couldn't help but feel emotional: In the future, the value of outstanding players has already Hundreds of millions. He still remembers when Neymar transferred to Paris Saint-Germain for a staggering 220 million euros.
Looking at the sparkling sea outside the ship, Tiger smiled slightly, "Although I'm not buying Messi, I'm planning to buy someone who can stop him in the future."
After arriving in Barcelona, Tiger and Woodward rushed to the Spanish club and directly negotiated the transfer matters with the club. They were very decisive this time, using the method of paying the release clause to directly sign the player that Tiger had his eye on - Eric Bailly.
With a transfer fee of 3 million euros, they had secured Manchester United's second defensive core for the future, and Tiger was very satisfied.
Alonso, Van Dijk, Bailly, and Kimmich - these four can support Manchester United's defensive line for at least the next ten years, creating a solid defense.
With Bailly successfully transferred, Tiger still had 39.2 million transfer funds available.
Because of the lesson learned from Isco, Tiger dared not delay any further. He went directly to France because there were six players he planned to sign.
After arriving in France, Tiger headed straight to the northern city of Boulogne.
On the way, he chatted with Woodward, "Ed, guess who is the most important person on this list for me?"
Woodward didn't even think about it, "Of course it's Lewandowski."
"Why?"
"Because he has the highest value."
"Ed!"
"Haha, just kidding," Woodward laughed, "Let me guess, you said before that the goalkeeper position needs a backup, Ferdinand and Vidic need replacements, and the fullback position also needs to be strengthened. But I don't think those positions are the most urgent. The top priority is still the midfield position. Am I right?"
Tiger nodded, "Exactly. Manchester United's biggest problem right now is not the defense or the forward line, but the midfield. Since Roy Keane retired, Manchester United has not had a strong defensive midfielder. So in these past few seasons, with our strong attacking lineup and stable defense, we have been able to conquer the Premier League. However, compared to other top teams in other leagues, we are still lacking in some aspects. So when I come to Boulogne this time, I intend to make Manchester United's midfield strong again!"