Chapter 201: Recruiting for the Champions League
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According to common sense, after a "small team" like Hoffenheim managed to perform well in a competition at this level in the Champions League, it was definitely not a more brilliant rise that followed, but a disintegration. The Champions League www.biquge.info is like a stage to show the big clubs what they are capable of, and the club is putting them up for sale based on their performances. Therefore, the Champions League is both happy and distressing for small teams, and those small teams who have seen their fate clearly early will generously say that as long as the buyer can come up with a price that satisfies them, the stars in the team will be whatever they want.
Therefore, Eduardo's departure is considered to be a signal for the opening of the "Hoffenheim supermarket". In the eyes of the rest of Europe, Hoffenheim are on the verge of falling apart.
But Dietma, who hasn't been seen for a long time. Hope came forward to give an interview to the media, saying that his team is not going to sell people for money. "We have our plan, it's a long-term plan. We have our own business strategy, and we don't sell people for money. Hoffenheim are doing well, we're financially healthier than most European clubs, so why should we do that when they don't have to sell for money? ”
Then the team's big player Salihovic also came forward to say that he would not leave Hoffenheim, and the rumors about his transfer are nonsense. He has two years left on his contract with the club and he is looking forward to a renewal at the club and he doesn't want to go anywhere but Hoffenheim.
When it comes to loyalty, there is no one in Hoffenheim who can match Salihovic.
Chu Zhongtian is the tactical core of the team, and he must pay attention to having a good relationship with Salihovic. Because Salihovic's prestige in the team is really high. Last season, he couldn't get used to Eduardo's free and loose style, and bombarded Eduardo, who didn't even dare to say a word, and caused a big rectification of the team. It shows how important he is in the team.
Salihovich came out for an interview and made this remark, in fact, to reassure people. He knows that after the team's good performance last season, there will be a situation where people's hearts will fluctuate, which is normal and impossible not to happen. What matters is how to solve it after it appears. Salihovic can't stop anyone else from moving, but he can use this gesture to ease the restless atmosphere in the dressing room.
The news that Chu Zhongtian did not successfully renew his contract with the team caused some commotion in the locker room, because in their opinion, Chu Zhongtian was the most likely to leave the team, after all, his performance last season was really good.
Later, Chu Zhongtian explained to his teammates in the locker room the reason for not renewing the contract, and everyone understood. Chu Zhongtian is also for the good of everyone and the team. In fact, many players have the same idea as him, hoping that the club can pay for quality players and strengthen the team, so that they can go further in a competition like the Champions League. Last season, the team bought the likes of Ruud van Nistelrooy, Métzeld, Simunich, Sana and Kolarov, and the team finished in the last 16 of the Champions League.
It's just that many people don't have the qualifications like Chu Zhongtian to make such a request like the club. Generally, those who make such a request must be the absolute core of a team, the number one star, and the person the club absolutely does not want to lose, so that they can agree to such a request. Otherwise, anyone will say to the club: "If you want me to renew my contract, you have to pay how much money every year to buy new players and strengthen the team." "What do you see the result? The club will tell the player to "go well or not send it".
If the contract renewal fails, few players will think that it is Chu Zhongtian's problem.
The influence of Chu Zhongtian's unsuccessful contract renewal gradually disappeared in the locker room.
※※※ Rangnick is looking for the type of player who meets Chu Zhongtian's advice in the transfer market, first of all, he must be fast.
There are a lot of fast players, and modern football has higher and higher requirements for physical fitness, and speed is also a kind of physical fitness.
Bundesliga teams have a habit of looking for good seedlings from Eastern Europe, and Rangnick is no exception. He has his sights set on the Czech First Division, where he is targeting left winger Hlosek (adam_hlousek), who plays for the Slavs Prague. The young man who is currently in the limelight in Czech football is known as "Nedved's successor". He's fast, has good ball control and has a good cross. His ability to break through under high-intensity confrontations does already have the demeanor of Nedved, and like Nedved, his strong body will help him. He is able to deliver very accurate crosses at high speeds, but his only problem is that his shooting skills are not mature enough and his scoring ability is weak. But that's enough for Rangnick.
The scoring ability can be practiced slowly, but speed is a talent and cannot be practiced.
Hoffenheim and the Slavic Club in Prague came into contact. Slavic Club Prague also knew they were destined to keep Hlosek, and during this time it has been revealed in the media that many European clubs are interested in the young player who is not yet 21 years old.
But Hoffenheim was the first club to make an offer.
Hoffenheim quoted two million euros.
This price was rejected by the Prague Slavic Club, which considered it too low to accept.
After some haggling, Hoffenheim bought Hlostek for five million euros.
Hlosek is also looking to join the likes of Hoffenheim, a team that has had a good first two seasons, having impressed European football with successive Champions League victories over Manchester United and Inter Milan last season. Hlostek knows all of this, and Hoffenheim's young but energetic style of play has won his heart.
In fact, the most important factor is qualification for the Champions League, and Hoffenheim qualified for the Champions League, which means he can show his ability on the best stage in Europe.
Therefore, joining Hoffenheim is a good choice. Hlosek is eager to play in a competition like the Champions League against the big guys.
Hlosek, who joined the team with five million, became Hoffenheim's first signing of the season.
The German media and the Czech media both believe that Hoffenheim is taking advantage of it, and it is very cost-effective to buy the core of the future Czech national team for five million, and the Czech media believe that the transfer to Hoffenheim is definitely a correct choice for Hlostenheim himself, he can get full training in that team, and Czech football will definitely benefit. The reaction of the European media was calmer, after all, Hlosek is still young, and finding players from Eastern Europe is also a characteristic of Bundesliga teams.
※※※ After Hlosek arrived, Rangnick did not stop looking for wide players. This time he set his sights on Inter Milan.
Inter Milan have two players he is interested in, one is the young Jonathan. Biabiani (jonathan_biabiany) is regarded as the fastest wide player in Serie A, playing as a right winger, right wing-back and forward. The other is Ricardo, who is depressed at Inter Milan and still can't find the feeling after being loaned to Chelsea. Quaresma (ricardo_quaresma).
The tentative side of Biabiani was soon over, Inter Milan changed their manager, and the new head coach Rafael Benitez was reluctant to take Biabiani. And Biabiani himself does not want to leave Inter Milan, he has been out on loan for three years, and after returning to Inter Milan this season, he hopes to be successful at Meazza and will not go anywhere until then.
As a result, Quaresma became the target of Rangnick's key strategy.
Speaking of this Quaresma, Chu Zhongtian had heard of his name for a long time, and he became famous at a young age. At the age of seventeen, he played in the main team of Sporting Lisbon, and C. Ronaldo was a talented player cultivated by the youth of Sporting Lisbon, Ronaldo was still a little immature at that time, while Quaresma was the core player of the team.
Then in 2003 he joined a big club like Barcelona. He scored in his first game with the team and was very good with Ronaldinho, who joined the team. Everyone thought it would be the beginning of a wonderful story.
But then his performance at the giants was not satisfactory, because of the conflict with the head coach Rijkaard, just one season later, he was sold to Portugal's Porto as a bargaining chip for Barcelona to bring in Deco. Unexpectedly, he returned to China, but regained his feeling, under the careful tutelage of Dutch coach Adrianse, he shined in Porto, helping Porto win the domestic league championship for consecutive seasons, and he was also elected Portugal's domestic footballer of the year for two consecutive years.
With such a phoenix-like performance, he was able to move to Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan, and he became Inter's transfer champion that season. Also in the first game had a great performance, scoring a goal. Everyone thought that he could finally prove himself again at Inter Milan, but he once again showed the problem of starting high and going low, and he couldn't find his form at Inter Milan at all.
In his first season with the team, he won the Golden Tapir Award for "Best Parallel Trader" from an Italian radio station. In the second season, he was only narrowly behind Merlot, who finished first. He also spent the second half of the season on loan at Inter Milan at Chelsea, where he still failed to find form.
Inter Milan won the treble last season and had nothing to do with him.
This summer, his departure is already a foregone conclusion.
It is said that Besiktas is interested in him at the moment. In recent years, Besiktas has liked to buy players who are in the waning stages of mainstream European football to support their retirement. For example, Roberto. Carlos, Guti, etc., but Quaresma is only twenty-six years old, so going to Besiktas at such a young age will still be a little unwilling, right?
Rangnick thinks that Quaresma is the type of player he needs, but from a technical point of view. He didn't find his place at Barcelona and Inter Milan, which shows that he is not the kind of player who suits the big teams, where the competition is too fierce and the pressure is too high, and no one takes him seriously, so he can't play at his level. The reason why he was successful in Porto was because Adrian treated him as a core and doted on him like a child.
To be honest, Quaresma was originally a child who had not yet grown up, not to mention that he was already twenty-six years old, and his mental age seemed to be only eighteen. As a gypsy, he was free and loose.
Rangnick doesn't think it's a problem, he can give Quaresma the attention he needs, and he can treat Quaresma like a pampered child. Anyway, he was the youth team coach in the first place, and he has his own experience in how to deal with these extremely talented but flawed players.
The point is that Quaresma himself wants to leave Inter Milan and is also interested in joining Hoffenheim, although Besiktas and Hoffenheim can both participate in the Champions League, but obviously Hoffenheim is in the Bundesliga, which belongs to the top five European leagues, and is considered a mainstream circle, and Besiktas is far behind, and joining Besiktas will always give him a feeling of a discount...... Inter Milan also want to get rid of Quaresma's baggage, and with all three parties willing to do so, it will be much easier to negotiate.
Soon, Hoffenheim finalized the transfer deal, Quaresma transferred from Inter Milan to Hoffenheim for a transfer fee of 7.5 million euros, and before July, Hoffenheim made two transfers in a flash. You can see Hoffenheim's ambitions, they don't want to be a supermarket, they aim to go further in the Champions League.
Speaking to the media after signing Quaresma, Rangnick said it was just the beginning, "Hoffenheim won't be a player supermarket as some have said, we're going to move on. ”
With five players on the flanks at Hoffenheim, including Salihovic, Hlosek, Weiss, Azavag and Quaresma, there is plenty of reserve for wide players. Rangnick's next goal was to increase the thickness of the bench even further.
In the position of the back, the depth is not enough, Vossa is not useful, Zucurini is still too young, in fact, the team's back is only Chu Zhongtian and Sana, once one of these two people is in trouble, it may lead to the team losing. Chu Zhongtian and Sana are both important, and in order to avoid some injuries, they must also have their replacements.
Last summer, Real Madrid's purge brought two high-level players to Hoffenheim, Metzelder and Ruud van Nistelrooy, who were not the absolute main force at Hoffenheim, but contributed their strength, especially Ruud van Nistelrooy, who scored eight goals in the league and four goals in the Champions League, which was definitely a first-class performance.
Therefore, Rangnick, who has tasted the sweetness, has also targeted Real Madrid this season. Jose Mourinho is at the Bernabeu and is in charge of the transfer, so there are a lot of players in the squad who don't meet his requirements and will definitely be on his fire sale list, depending on whether there is a suitable buyer.
Although not all Real Madrid players want to leave this big team, the situation is pressing, and I am afraid that they will have to leave if they don't want to. Then there are people who move the dead and the living, look at Sneijder and Robben, they are their role models, they left Real Madrid last season to join Inter Milan and Bayern Munich, and as a result, their teams reached the Champions League final, walked around the Bernabeu in style, and both of them played a very important role in their respective teams.
With the introduction of Khedira by Jose Mourinho, Mohammed. Both Diarra and Gago were put on the purgeed list. Real Madrid now has too many high-level players in the midfield position, but there are only two people who can play. Alonso is certainly the main force that cannot be beaten, he is in charge of the rhythm of the team, he is the core. Another partner with him is likely to be Jose Mourinho's signature Khedira, the German defender who made a name for himself at the World Cup by making people forget about Ballack, who was absent due to injury.
Rasena. Diarra's ability to rob and adapt to multiple positions may also be able to occupy an important place in Jose Mourinho's team. But Muhammad. Both Diarra and Gago have lost their space to survive.
Rangnick looked down on Muhammad. Diarra, because since the team's style next season is fast, then the slow-paced big Diarra obviously does not meet the team's requirements, his speed on the field is too slow, he can't keep up with the team's requirements, but will become a drag on the team.
Gago is very much in line with his requirements, first of all, Gago can't play in Real Madrid, and he himself has the intention to leave. Secondly, Real Madrid is also willing to let go of Gago, as long as the price is right, in fact, Florentino has long wanted to sell Gago and Higuain, the players introduced by former chairman Calderón, but Higuain's state is too good, he keeps scoring goals, and has become the darling of the Bernabeu, he doesn't dare to move Higuain or Gago? In his third debut, Gago was known for organizing attacks, so he was helpful to the team in terms of offense. Fourth, in the past few years at Real Madrid, he has practiced defensive skills, and his physical fitness and defensive ability have been greatly improved. Fifth, Gago's young man has the advantage of speed and can keep up with Hoffenheim's fast football. Sixth, his mental will is commendable, Real Madrid is a big team, the competition is very fierce, Gago in order to be able to get the opportunity to play, every game to do his best, he is one of the best runners in the team. No matter what kind of trouble the team is in, he always keeps running. This point was very appreciated by Rangnick, and he remembered that Chu Zhongtian and Sana were such people, and they might be able to get along well...... The only thing to worry about is Gago's injury-prone body, which has been fine for the first few years at Real Madrid, having experienced several injuries since the start of last season.
But as a rotation player, it's not too much of a problem. In Rangnick's mind, the team's starting backs are still Sana and Chu Zhongtian, and Gago, because of his offensive and defensive skills, can be used as a substitute for Sana or Chu Zhongtian, and will also have a lot of opportunities to play.
Hoffenheim made an offer of €8 million to Real Madrid for Gago, which was outright rejected by Real Madrid. Jose Mourinho has made it to the media that Gago is a very important substitute in his plan and that he will not sell the Argentine defender easily.
Hoffenheim then increased the price to 10 million euros.
At the same time, Gago's agent also had a showdown with Mourinho saying that Gago was unwilling to stay at Real Madrid and that he wanted to go to a team that could give him a chance to play.
This time, Mourinho relented and said that there was no 20 million euros not to talk about.
Real Madrid had spent €20.5 million on Gago, and now they want to lose a little less.
After some haggling, the two sides finally agreed on a price of 18 million euros, and Hoffenheim and Gago signed a four-year contract.
The Argentine duo who joined Real Madrid together have now taken a different path, Higuain has become Real Madrid's main striker with his outstanding performance, firmly pressing Benzema on the bench, and has also been selected for the Argentine national team, with four goals in the World Cup in South Africa. However, Gago, known as "Redondo II", had ups and downs between the bench and the main force, not only losing the characteristics that made him famous, but also losing his main position. Now he can only be forced to leave Hoffenheim, ending a dream-like journey to a wealthy family.
(To be continued)