Raphinha (Note: "Rafinha" above, due to translation problems, I used to call Raphinha, although I myself found it awkward. Today, a book friend pointed out a mistake, and the correct name is one more word than mine, and I am happy to accept this book friend's suggestion! The purchase of "Raphinha" was a very morale-boosting move, and although fans rarely paid attention to the Bundesliga, Donn and everyone in football knew that there were many, many talents in the Bundesliga, and Raphinha was one of them. His arrival strengthened the team's presence on the right flank, both offensively and defensively, with Raphinha being able to cope with it.

After reporting to Russia, Raphinha quickly threw himself into the team's regular training. Donn isn't worried about how the Brazilians fit into the team in this team, and with Pepe, a Brazilian in the country, it shouldn't be a problem.

At this point, the personnel on Donne's list are basically brought in, and there are players of equal quality in the forward, midfield and backline, whether it is the main force or the substitute. There is only one problem left that has been plaguing Donn for a long time to solve—George. Wood's substitution problem.

Last season, Don used Sun Jihai as Wood's backup, and his performance was decent, but it was only decent. Sun Jihai tried his best, but the difference in strength was too big, and his performance was not so reassuring when he played against a strong team. Moreover, with the increase of age, Sun Jihai's economic status and physical function are declining, and Sun Jihai was also plagued by injuries last season. It's not a major injury, but it's enough to be a wake-up call for Donn.

He didn't sell Sun Jihai because he recognized Sun Jihai's sportsmanship and his "jack-of-all-trades" surname that can play multiple positions, and if he sells a Sun Jihai, he may need to introduce a similar substitute in multiple positions such as right back, midfielder, left back, right midfielder, etc.

After all, Sun Jihai was not born in the back midfield, and Tang En still decided to bring in a regular midfielder to strengthen the team. The midfielder has to meet several requirements at the same time:

1. Be able to accept the fate of the substitute and not lose your temper with the coaching staff just because you sit on the bench for a few days.

2, although it is a substitute, but the strength can not be weak, it must be strong enough, and if you are a substitute in the forest team, at least the middle team in the Premier League should be the main force.

3. The salary requirements will not be high, the value will not be high, it will not increase the financial burden of the team, and once Don decides to give up, he will not be criticized for losing too much money.

4. Preferably English, to facilitate the team's registration through Champions Cup qualification. At the same time, it can also be said that he has passed the level test of the Premier League and adapted to this kind of league.

Tang En is very strict with these four points, and he will not give an inch. After all, the player's substitute position is the "waist" of the team, the most important place in the team, more important than the striker and the goalkeeper. He would rather lack than abuse.

As a result, the team has not been able to find a suitable candidate.

Until the end of last season.

If anyone still remembers George. When Wood made his first team appearance for Nottingham Forest, and who the opponent is, it won't be a strange choice.

03-04 season, second half of the English Football League One (later the Championship), George. Wood was moved to the first team by Donn and made his debut against Reading when he wore the number 33 shirt.

Reading have made a big impression on Donn's managerial career, not to mention their many encounters with Forest in the First Division, not to mention their manager Steve. Koper and Donn's personal feud, just the "football violence scandal" that shocked the world last September, caused the two teams to form a deep hatred. When the two teams met for the second time in the Super League, the police in charge of the stadium were like big enemies, and there were as many as six members of the FA referees committee who were sent to supervise the referees on the spot, and you must know that usually only two people were sent to each game......

In this context, Donne's favorite substitute is Reading's player.

Stephen. Sidwell (steven_sidell), a former Arsenal academy product, has not been reused by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, and has always been loaned to teams in the lower leagues. In January 2003, Arsene Wenger officially decided to drop the England Under-21 international and sell him to Reading for a bargain. But no one could have imagined that playing in the First Division would make Sidwell improve dramatically, and soon firmly conquered Reading manager Steve. Koper has become the absolute main force of the team's midfield.

Remember a brilliant defense from Wood on his debut? At that time, it was Stephen who was knocked to the ground alive. Sidwell.

Poor Sidwell will play George again and again whenever Forest plays against Reading because of his position on the field. Wood, the "monster", met head-on, and the better of the situation was to lose the ball, the worst was to be knocked to the ground and help the team get a free kick, and the worst was to be knocked to the ground, and the referee ignored it - because Wood didn't foul at all!

Of course, we can't judge Sidwell's ability by one-on-one with two people, but it is still remarkable to be able to sit in the main position in Reading, playing 35 games in Reading's first Premier League season, starting all of them and scoring dead goals.

At the same time, he also attracted the attention of various club teams in England because of this performance. Nottingham Forest is one of them.

Although the first game of the season against Forest had very bad consequences, Sidwell was not directly involved in the entire conflict, and Donn was not afraid to be isolated in the dressing room after buying Sidwell.

This kind of buying of players from rival teams is not uncommon in professional football.

At the beginning Louis. Figo was the captain of Barcelona when he played for Barcelona, the leader of the confrontation against Real Madrid, he scored the goal of Real Madrid several times and was a hero in the hearts of Barcelona fans.

Remember what happened after Barcelona regained the league title after a few years under Rijkaard? At the championship celebration in Barcelona, striker Samuel Eto'o, who came from Real Madrid's academy, shouted in front of tens of thousands of people: "Real Madrid bastards, cowards, come and salute the champions!" ”

This angered many Real Madridians, but in fact it was Luis who first said it. Figo shouted out......

When Eto'o was nothing more than imitating his predecessors, Luiz. Figo switched to Barcelona's arch-rivals Real Madrid back in 2001.

Earlier than Figo, former Real Madrid midfielder Luiz joined the arms of his sworn enemy. Enrique, who later became the banner man of Barcelona.

Don wasn't worried about Sidwell's Reading background, and because he was a Reading player, he had to shoot him in every possible way.

Why do you say robbing?

Because Sidwell's contract with Reading expired at the end of the 06-07 season, his agent did not renew his contract with Reading, just waiting to find a team with more prospects than Reading for Sidwell.

Chelsea were the first to express their appreciation for Sidwell, with Jose Mourinho's relationship with Roman Abramovic continuing to deteriorate, and Abramovich's lack of wanting to invest in the transfer market has forced the Portuguese coach to go to players on free, including Sidwell.

Downe also contacted Sidwell's agent as soon as he heard that Chelsea were going to snatch Sidwell, telling him how interested Nottingham Forest were in the 25-year-old midfielder.

Arteta hadn't gone at that time, and Forest didn't go all out to bring in Sidwell.

Things are different now, with Arteta's departure leaving the team without a good player who can be used as a substitute in the midfield position, Sidwell is well suited to Donn's series of requirements, and Forest have stepped up the pace of contacting the opposing agent.

Without Forest's involvement, Chelsea and Sidwell might have signed individual contracts. But the addition of the European champions has given Sidwell's agent the right to talk to the clubs that are pursuing his players......

Sidwell himself is a clear-headed professional footballer who knows what he's after. When he first heard that Chelsea were interested in him, he was very excited to tell his agent that he would go to Stamford Bridge anyway because it was a big club with some of the best players on the planet.

However, when he learned that the Forest team, who had just won the Champions Cup, was also interesting to him, he immediately changed his tune...... Going to Nottingham Forest is also a good option.

Nottingham Forest, who have just won the Champions Cup, are not the country team that was looked down upon a few years ago, and they are completely quasi-giants.

Frank. Ribery, Luther. Van Nistelrooy, David. David Beckham, Edwin. Van der Sar, George. Wood ...... Which of these guys isn't one of the best players in their respective positions?

Coupled with the team's recent achievements, it's hard to get people to be uninterested in her.

The agent did not immediately reply to several teams pursuing Sidwell, saying only that they would give an answer after the break. In fact, it is clear that the other competing clubs are simply not attractive enough against Chelsea and Nottingham Forest. Now it's just a matter of choosing Chelsea or Nottingham Forest.

The Forest team left for training in Moscow early, while someone at the club continued to be tasked with contacting Sidwell's agent to negotiate a mutually satisfactory contract.

Chelsea agreed to do it again, but neither of them knew whether the conditions given by the other side would satisfy Sidwell, so they had to wait for Sidwell to say it.

On July 13, Sidwell's agent officially announced that his client, former Reading team's main midfielder Stephen. Sidwell has accepted a £60,000-a-week contract from Nottingham Forest to become part of the Nottingham Forest squad for the upcoming season, and has flown to Moscow for a medical examination before training with the squad.

Forest's final weekly salary for Sidwell was $60,000, while Chelsea's offer was $50,000, and that was the deciding factor. Sidwell wanted to earn more money while training at a high level of football, and Nottingham Forest fulfilled his wish by opting for Forest over Chelsea.

Don was delighted to learn that Sidwell had become his man. This recruitment can be described as killing three birds with one stone, not only did it expand the strength of the team without spending a penny, increased the depth of the bench in the midfield, but also poached Koper's most important player from the Reading team, and also dealt a severe blow to Koper's arrogance. Finally, this time it was his old rivals Jose Mourinho's Chelsea that won the transfer market.

It doesn't get much better than this.

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Sidwell also arrived at Forest's training base outside Moscow with some trepidation, as the world knows about the feud between the two teams last season, and he doesn't know what his new team-mates will think of him as a man from Reading.

Thanks to George. Wood was always promoted by the media as a simple-minded, well-limbed, short-tempered "bad guy" who would only commit frequent fouls and be sent off, so Sidwell didn't know if he would be isolated by captain Wood in the locker room.

As a result, at the training ground, after Donn's routine introduction to Sidwell's team, Wood took over and introduced Sidwell to his new teammates in the tone he had always tried to appear calm but in fact somewhat aloof.

No one spoke about the feud between the two teams last season, and Sidwell's relief was relieved that people like Franck Ribery and Eastwood had started a joke with Sidwells as soon as they met. Sidwell still has some admiration for the team that won the European championship, and he doesn't want to isolate him here because of something about his former club.

David Beckham, the team's biggest star, is also approachable, has no argument in front of Sidwell, and they get along well with him and others. Sidwell was completely relieved.

The only person with a bad face was Pepe, who was injured twice against Reading and almost missed the Champions League final for the second time. He just shook Sidwell's hand and said nothing more.

Sidwell doesn't care, it's impossible to get along with everyone in a team, there will always be good teammates and not so good teammates. He was mentally prepared for this.

※※※

Sidwell's signing didn't cost the team a penny, and Forest, who had a lot of money left, decided not to continue looking for new players. Because Donn told Evan and Allen that the current lineup of the Forest team is enough, not to mention that they have already cooperated tacitly, and there is no need to make major adjustments. In Donne's words – "It's a championship-caliber team."

Donn then began to renew the contracts of the players in the squad, and after winning the Champions Cup, the Forest team was in a position to increase the wages of the players. Sidwell, who played as a substitute for Forest, has a weekly salary of 60,000 pounds, and it is impossible for the main players of the Forest team to live with the previous salary standard, right?

Frank. Ribery, Eastwood, Pepe, Pique, Bale, Barnes, Zim Bonda...... Everyone was satisfied with a new contract, and everyone was satisfied, so they signed it.

The Forest, who won the Champions Cup, are not the poor boys they used to be, and Donn knows that these players must be offered a new contract that they are happy with, otherwise the most loyal players may be poached by their opponents with high salaries.

The massive contract extension is actually a response to the transfer rumours that are now flying all over the place.

With Forest's success in the Champions League, players in the squad have also become high-profile targets in the transfer market. Don didn't want his team to be carved up by the big clubs. Externally, his approach to various transfer rumours is simple and crude - "not for sale".

Just said that there is no such thing as a "non-sale" in the world, so he made his whole team a "non-sale".

There really is no good way to deal with such a scoundrel. He insisted on not selling, and the club stood behind him, and the players now have a relationship with the manager like a newlywed couple, like glue, how can they turn back? Either way, Forest are at their best right now and have a chance to create something even more impressive than last season.

That's what Donn says to his players, and so does his players.

A Champions Cup is not enough, after all, we have not won the league and the FA Cup yet.

Continuing to use honor to stimulate them is one of the methods that Don uses internally, and the other method is naturally the large-scale contract renewal just mentioned.

Honor will become a passing cloud in the future, and only the contract is the most effective way.

After confirming all the personnel of the first team for the new season, the whole team training of the Forest team officially kicked off, and all the new players got a close look at the legendary "Madman Originator" Brian. Clough's successor, Tony. After Donn's demeanor, he devoted himself to the training of the overall tactics of the Forest team. Defence remains a priority, and this is the Forest's 'repertoire', but there is also a greater emphasis on attacking tactics when encountering positional battles.

Next season, as the reigning champions of the Champions League, Forest will likely face counter-attacking opponents, both in Europe and in the league.

When the time comes, how to break down the dense defense and how to deal with the opponent's quick counterattack after a solid defense are all problems that Donn and his coaching staff need to solve.

But Donn doesn't have a headache, he has confidence in his team and the whole team behind him. Now that the team is in full swing, nothing can stop the forest chariot from making a breakthrough.

AC Milan can't do it, and neither can Real Madrid.

(To be continued)