Chapter 418: A Record-Breaking Transfer That Shocked the Football World
The issue with Cruyff was just a minor interlude; this summer, everyone's focus was still on the transfer news of football stars.
Even though the contract renewal with Lin Quan had not been finalized, Manchester City remained firm in their response to any transfer news involving him. They rejected every offer that came their way. After being rejected again, Paris Saint-Germain finally faced reality and quickly completed their first major transfer deal.
On July 21, Paris Saint-Germain reached an agreement with Manchester United to sign Argentine winger Angel Di Maria for €63 million. Di Maria had transferred from Real Madrid to Manchester United last summer for €75 million. However, during the 2014-2015 season, he struggled significantly in the Premier League, with his performance stats plummeting and frequent injuries, making him a shadow of his former self at Real Madrid.
Disappointed, Manchester United had no choice but to let him go after Di Maria's persistent requests. Including his salary, Manchester United lost around €20-30 million on Di Maria in just one year. However, considering his inability to adapt to the Premier League, they decided it was better to sell him now rather than risk further depreciation.
This transfer failure was naturally blamed on Manchester United's manager, Louis van Gaal. Watching their rivals Manchester City rise strongly while their own team struggled, Manchester United fans couldn't help but miss the days when Sir Alex Ferguson was in charge. Those were the times when they dominated the Premier League and reigned supreme in Europe.
Unfortunately, those days were long gone. Sir Alex had only been retired for two years, but Manchester United felt like a completely different team, lacking the spirit of the Red Devils. Some fans even hoped for Ferguson to come out of retirement to lead Manchester United out of their current predicament. After all, Bayern Munich had successfully brought back Jupp Heynckes in a time of crisis, and the results had been promising. If Heynckes could return, why couldn't Ferguson?
However, this was just a fan's wish. Ferguson had no plans to return, and Manchester United had already signed Jose Mourinho to take over as the new manager for the upcoming season.
With the signing of Di Maria, Paris Saint-Germain officially withdrew from the prolonged battle to sign Lin Quan. Now, only Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Juventus remained in the race.
After hearing the news about Paris Saint-Germain, both Barcelona and Real Madrid breathed a sigh of relief. Although Paris Saint-Germain lacked history, their financial resources were immense, making it challenging to compete with such a wealthy club.
As for Juventus, despite their solid history, they didn't have the same financial power. It was unlikely they could match the €2.8 billion offer from Paris Saint-Germain or even the €2.5 billion offers from Barcelona and Real Madrid.
However, Juventus soon surprised everyone. Shortly after Manchester United sold Di Maria, they announced another major transfer.
On July 25, Manchester United revealed on their official website that they had reached an agreement with Juventus to sign midfielder Paul Pogba for £89 million, approximately €105 million. This transfer came out of nowhere, with only a few speculative reports from Italian tabloids beforehand. The announcement shocked the entire European football community.
"Wow, who is Pogba? He broke Cristiano Ronaldo's transfer fee record. This is insane!"
"Juventus is rising again!"
"Manchester United's money is easy to earn. Juventus signed Pogba on a free transfer and made €100 million in three years. And Pogba came from Manchester United's academy. This is crazy…"
Fans were astonished by the transfer fee. It was €100 million, more than Cristiano Ronaldo's record transfer to Real Madrid. While six years had passed since Ronaldo's transfer, Ronaldo was an established superstar, whereas Pogba, though talented, didn't have the same level of recognition or influence.
Seeing Pogba break Ronaldo's transfer fee record was hard for many fans to accept. In their minds, this record belonged to the top three superstars.
This realization made many more accepting of the two-to-three-billion-euro offers for Lin Quan from clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona. Compared to Pogba, Lin Quan was definitely worth that price.
Transfer fee records aren't exactly an honor or a title, but the current holder of the record took it very seriously. When Cristiano Ronaldo learned that his record had been broken by Pogba, he was furious. If Messi or Lin Quan had broken the record, he would have been upset but not outraged because he respected their abilities. But Pogba?
Feeling Ronaldo's frustration, some fans started mocking him online after Manchester United announced the transfer.
"Hey, Ronaldo fans, come out and celebrate. Didn't you always boast about your master's transfer fee record, claiming it showed market value? What about now?"
"Based on that logic, Lin Quan is undoubtedly the top player in football. Paris Saint-Germain offered €2.8 billion for him, enough to buy three Ronaldos!"
"Lin Quan's transfer fee record will be untouchable for the next decade."
"Only clubs backed by Middle Eastern wealth could even consider paying that much."
"Exactly. Even Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich couldn't come up with that much money."
"Player values have inflated crazily over the years. Small and medium-sized clubs won't be able to keep up."
"Even the big clubs are facing losses. Only a few German clubs are doing okay financially. Most big clubs are in the red, with Real Madrid and Barcelona losing the most. Without their large memberships, they'd be in real trouble."
While the rapid increase in player values and wages worried many about the future health of football leagues, the astronomical offers for Lin Quan made Paris Saint-Germain fans excited. They believed no club could refuse such an offer.
Along with the transfer fee, Paris Saint-Germain prepared a lucrative contract for Lin Quan, offering a five-year deal with an annual salary of €35 million, a €100 million signing fee, and a €250 million loyalty bonus. If he stayed for the full five years, he would earn €625 million, averaging €105 million per year. This was far higher than Manchester City's offer.
But Lin Quan had no interest in Paris Saint-Germain. He knew about Messi's tough experience there and didn't want to risk the same. Moreover, with the potential of facing France in the World Cup, he didn't want to end up being booed by fans if Spain defeated France. He preferred not to join Paris Saint-Germain at all.
Additionally, he was unimpressed by the way Paris Saint-Germain, backed by Qatari wealth, handled team building. Unlike the professional approach of the Abu Dhabi group with Manchester City, the Qatari-backed Paris Saint-Germain seemed disorganized and focused only on star power without a long-term plan. Lin Quan saw how this lack of professionalism affected the team's balance and didn't want to be part of it.
Keeping his distance from Paris Saint-Germain, Lin Quan attended the La Masia event as promised, reuniting with his national team teammates and meeting La Masia's founder, Johan Cruyff.
Manchester United and Juventus's recent transfers made Real Madrid and Barcelona nervous. Initially, they didn't see Juventus as much of a threat, but now, they couldn't underestimate them. Juventus had been dominating Serie A, winning the league four times in a row. Unlike Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus wasn't a nouveau riche; they had a rich history. For decades, Juventus had been a top club in Italy and one of the elite in Europe. This genuine heritage made them far more attractive than a club like PSG.
Moreover, it had been 20 years since Juventus last won the Champions League. After ruling Serie A, they became ambitious for European glory. Their pursuit of Lin Quan wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision; it was well-planned. Initially, Juventus might have faced financial difficulties, but after selling Pogba to Manchester United for a high price, their funds became plentiful. Now, Juventus probably had more cash on hand than Real Madrid and Barcelona, which increased the pressure on these two Spanish giants.
As a result, Real Madrid and Barcelona intensified their efforts to contact Lin Quan's agent and even Lin Quan himself, hoping to quickly reach a private agreement and finalize the transfer before any more unexpected developments occurred.
Bothered by these constant visits, Lin Quan decided to leave Spain and return to Manchester early. Just as he arrived in Manchester, he received a call from an unknown number. Thinking it might be another bothersome call from a club, he was surprised to find it was Sun Jihai, a former Manchester City player.
Sun Jihai had played for Manchester City and was well-remembered by the fans for his excellent performance, making him one of the club's legends. Due to his six-year tenure at City, Sun Jihai had a deep affection for the club, and City often invited these legends to watch games. This time, Sun Jihai called Lin Quan for two main reasons:
First, Sun Jihai had been shortlisted for the English Football Hall of Fame, and there was a good chance he would be inducted. Second, it concerned the group of Chinese players heading to Europe. After negotiations with their clubs, the first group of 22 players, mostly born in the '90s, was ready to go abroad. The Chinese Football Association (CFA) aimed to get them playing time in Europe. Given their skill levels, the CFA didn't aim for the top five leagues. Forcing them into top leagues might just make them benchwarmers. Instead, they targeted secondary leagues like Portugal's Primeira Liga, the Netherlands' Eredivisie, Belgium's Jupiler Pro League, and even lower-tier leagues like Spain's Segunda Division, England's Championship, Germany's 2. Bundesliga, and Italy's Serie B. If needed, they could even go to leagues like Portugal's LigaPro or Belgium's Challenger Pro League. The key was to get them out and playing games.
However, the CFA lacked the connections in Europe to place so many players at once, so they turned to Lin Quan for help. Sun Jihai knew it was a difficult task and thanked Lin Quan, saying that any help would be appreciated, and they wouldn't push him too hard. Lin Quan agreed to help as much as he could.
Meanwhile, in Barcelona, Laporta was busy trying to sign Lin Quan when trouble struck. After abandoning their pursuit of Lin Quan, PSG focused on Neymar. Both parties had previously reached an agreement, and PSG just needed to activate Neymar's release clause to sign him. On August 2, PSG officially offered €190 million to take Neymar from Barcelona.
Thanks to a warning from Florentino Pérez, Laporta had already investigated and found that Neymar's agent had indeed been in contact with PSG. But since PSG hadn't contacted Neymar directly, there was little Barcelona could do. Now that PSG had activated the release clause, if they could convince Neymar to join, Barcelona couldn't stop the transfer.
The entire football world watched Neymar's decision closely, especially fans of PSG and Barcelona. Although this transfer wasn't as massive as Lin Quan's potential move, the €190 million fee was still staggering. If Neymar left, Barcelona's MSN trio would be history after just one year, causing a seismic shift in the football world.
(End of Chapter)
Friends, if you like the novel, you can buy it at my p*treon
As we are close to finishing the month, if you buy a book, if you use this code: 102024, you can save up to 30% off. The promotion ends at the end of October.