January 1, 2004 was New Year's Day for everyone else, the beginning of a new year. But for Donne, there was another layer of excitement that made him excited - the winter transfer window finally opened, and he could experience for the first time what it was like to be a manager, waving a cheque and signing the player he wanted.

Of course, when you welcome some people, you will inevitably have to send some people away.

Michael. Dawson and Andy. Reid left for London on the day to join Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur for £8 million, where there was a small press conference to welcome them.

And thirty-three-year-old Ian. Jace also told Donn that while he was excited to see him back in the Forest squad, he wanted to leave the club at the end of the season and return to retirement, where he originally debuted, Aberdeen.

Don didn't keep him, because both he and Jace knew it. Jace has been playing less and less this season, and even if the team manages to be promoted to the Super League, there will be no place for him anymore. It doesn't matter how many goals he has contributed to the team, how many assists he has made, it doesn't matter. The current Forest team is not qualified to be a nursing home.

This is also the cruel side of professional football. Old men will naturally be replaced by younger ones, and with the constant infusion of fresh blood, a team can always stay alive.

Another person who is leaving the team is striker Carridge. Westerkar, at the age of nineteen, has not played much since he entered the first team, not to mention that his ability is too far from Donne's requirements. It happened that two teams applied to buy him, and although the money was not much, only 150,000 pounds, Don agreed to it. All that's left is for Westercar to negotiate contracts with those two teams himself.

Old scout Situ Lei. Moore returned from Leeds and didn't give Don the results he wanted. The Lennon family was more loyal than he had imagined, and even Moore's £100,000 signing fee would not shake their belief in staying in Leeds to sign a professional contract.

Don shrugged his shoulders and didn't blame Moore, he did his best. But he knows that if nothing else, Leeds United's relegation at the end of the season is certain, and bankruptcy is also certain. When the time comes, he will pay for Lennon, and there is no reason why he can't buy it. As for Lennon himself...... Would he rather be in the First Division or go to the Premier League? It's too easy to do this multiple-choice question.

The only pity is that it is necessary to pay a lot more than 100,000 pounds to buy Lennon, a seventeen-year-old genius. Tottenham spent £1 million to buy Lennon from Leeds United in the 05-06 season, and Donn thinks it won't be more than a million in the 04-05 season, but it's not expected to be much less.

It is dangerous to rebuild the team during the winter break, and Donn can only make some minor repairs, but the main team will remain the same, and the full potential will be realized, relying on them to play in the Super League, and then think about rebuilding plans. In fact, to be fair, these people bought by Collymore are basically very powerful, but he did not train these people well, and did not knead a team together to form a strong enough combat force. A scattered team as strong as Real Madrid can only end up in an embarrassing situation of being empty-handed for three consecutive seasons, let alone Nottingham Forest.

As for the centre-backs, Moore recommended a man to Donne, and after watching a few of his game footage, Donn decided to buy it.

Clint. Hill (clint_hill), a model of good quality and low price in the CM era defender. Originally, he was supposed to play for Stoke City this season, and it would have been difficult to buy him. But because of Donn's arrival, the ripples of influence in this world spread and changed the trajectory of Hill's career. Stoke City did not agree a transfer fee with Hill's Oldham before the transfer window closed, and Hill had to remain with second-division side Oldham. At this time, Don took advantage of the situation.

Hill, who is not very tall, is only 1.83m, but he has excellent physical attributes, and his heading, tackling and marking ability are quite outstanding, the only problem is that he lacks defensive awareness and positional sense. The pros and cons are detailed in Moore's scouting report. However, for Donne, there is no problem for such a defender to be the main force in League One, and if he is in the Premier League, he can at least ensure the position of the main substitute.

So Donn instructed the club to approach Oldham and offer to buy Clint. Hill's intentions. Although Hill is now a first-choice centre-back at Oldham, Donn knows neither the club nor the player himself can refuse his request.

Moore did not return from Leeds empty-handed, without being able to get Lennon and Don asked for no further. He judged from his experience that there was a shortage of people on the wings. So he brought back a video of a young Leeds United training game.

"Stephen. McPhail (stephen_mcphail). The 24-year-old Ireland international has scored one goal in seven appearances. You can play in both the left and middle of the midfield. He's a very creative player, he's good at passing and crossing, and I think if Taylor is the main striker then he can come in handy. Moore pointed to the Leeds player on the TV screen who was breaking through with the ball.

Don nodded in agreement with Moore, the little man's individual skills were indeed excellent, even ...... Better than Reed, who left the team. Although Lennon was not acquired, if he was added, there should be no problem on the left side of the midfield.

"But...... His worth must not be low, right? That's Donn's biggest concern, and he's got £8 million for himself this season and he's going to have to save a little bit of money.

Moore nodded, then shook his head. "Four million pounds sterling. But I'd suggest you go on loan, Leeds United and he wants to get a chance to play through the loan. The only problem is that Leeds United want us to cover 90 per cent of his salary. ”

Donn frowned, is Leeds United so poor that they can't even afford to pay their players' salaries? "How much is that?"

"Nine thousand pounds a week."

Donn's eyes widened as he turned his head to look at Moore. "Just let Liz rob the bank. In the Forest team, only Rebrov earns more than 10,000 a week, and he has to pay me 9,000 a week for a short-term loan...... Forget it, don't. I'm not without a left midfielder. ”

Hearing Donn say this, Moore was also interested. He found that the manager doesn't seem to know a lot of players as well as he does, such as Eastwood, which Donn discovered. So he asked, "Which one do you like again?" ”

Don took out the sticky notes and pen he had with him, wrote down his name on them, and handed them to Moore: "Mr. Moore, you help me go to Stoke City to see how this man is doing." ”

"Chris. Commons (kris_mons)? Moore stared at the name, then nodded sharply, "I know who it is." Do you have a crush on him? ”

'Well, his team played against us last season and he was brought on at the last minute and it caused a lot of problems for my team. His team ended up losing to us by six goals in that game, but he was the only Stoke City player whose name I remembered. Donn nodded, "Breakaways, crosses, long shots, powerful free-kicks...... A very good left-sided midfielder. And I don't think it's too expensive, so we don't necessarily have to be the guy who earns nine thousand pounds a week. ”

On the TV footage, McPhail is beautifully singled out with two people on the wing, and then in a very imaginative way, he picks the football between the two and accelerates around it, and his opponents are still stunned at this point, not knowing where the football has gone. Then came a beautiful cross that set up a team-mate to score.

Seeing this scene, Don coughed a few times: "Well, it's actually not bad to loan him, after all, Cummons doesn't know if he can stick to every game, no injuries or illnesses...... Well, it looks like we need to have a good talk with Leeds......"

A smile appeared on Moore's face next to him.

At this moment, the cell phone in Donn's pocket rang, it was the doorman Ian. MacDonald called.

"Tony, I've got a guy here looking for you, and he says he's a new signing for Forest, but I think he's like a liar......"

A fast, high-pitched voice came from the other end of the phone: "I'm not a liar! I'm a professional footballer! Do you want me to give you the original agreement? Damn it! Serem, help me find that agreement! Then came the cry of a baby.

Hearing this, Donn laughed, and he asked MacDonald, "Ian, did you say that the 'liar' you are talking about is coming in a yellow station wagon?" ”

"That's right, Tony, it's almost going to block the door! I've never seen a 'pro' who has his home in a station wagon...... What do you say he is not a liar? And ......"

"Having said it, I'm not a liar! I have proof! The shrill voice rang out again. The sound was heard even by Mohr.

Don and Moore looked at each other in tacit understanding and laughed.

"Ian, you're doing a good job, I'll come right over."

When Don and Moore arrived at the base gate, Eastwood was still with Ian. MacDonald was so troubled that the dutiful old janitor listened to Donn's instructions and resolutely refused to let him, a gypsy who didn't look like a professional player, enter the training base. Eastwood, on the other hand, had no choice but to wave his arms at MacDonald because his wife couldn't find that agreement. His wife, Serem, was coaxing the child, and the little baby was clearly frightened by his father's sharp quarrel, and was crying and struggling in his mother's arms.

It's so hilarious!

(To be continued)