Godfather Of Champions

The transfer market would only be opened on July 1st. Before that, even if Arshavin signed a contract with the Forest team, he would not be able to report to Forest. He would remain in Russia.

Twain’s heart felt more settled after Arshavin’s signing.

The arrival of the Russian let Anelka know that his days at the Forest team had come to an end. Twain did not call his agents/brothers to say, “your brother is not in my plans for next season.” He did not want to have any contact with Anelka anymore. The past season, Twain did not speak a word with Anelka, whether in training or in a game. When tactics needed to be instructed, he let Dunn speak with Anelka as he stood on the sidelines and treated the French striker as invisible.

He was that kind of man. When a relationship was good, he would laugh and joke. However, once the relationship broke down, he would just as easily be heartless.

He knew that with Arshavin’s arrival, it was time for Anelka’s two brothers to show some results.

As expected, the next day, the sports news reported that several clubs were interested in Anelka. But among them, the vast majority were mid to lower tier teams, such as Fulham and Bolton Wanderers Wanderers in the Premier League, as well as Villarreal in the La Liga.

Twain was happy to throw Anelka into these teams that would only play in the UEFA Europa League at the most, so that he could experience the capriciousness of people and harshness of society, but Anelka probably would not want to go there. Maybe Villarreal would not be bad?

When the reporters interviewed Twain, he stated, “as long as the price is right, we are happy to sell Anelka.”

On the same day, the Nottingham Forest Football Club received offers from both Fulham and the Bolton Wanderers. Twain refused the Bolton Wanderers’ offer of eight million pounds without hesitation. He had used eight million to buy Anelka in the first place. Twain thought that a striker who had been on the team for three years and won a UEFA Champions League title should increase in value.

Fulham was a little more generous with ten million pounds. Twain agreed to the offer, and then the Forest club informed Anelka’s agents that they could make a deal with Fulham.

Anelka knew what Twain had in mind. He wanted to get him in the middle and lower tiered teams. He could not let him get what he wanted, so Anelka refused without hesitation. During an interview, he said he loved Nottingham Forest, his teammates and the fans both. He enjoyed his life there. In order to prove it, he even brought up that he had bought a house as proof that he was there to play for keeps. Moreover, he said he and Manager Tony Twain did not have any contradictions at all, and that he was happy to continue to play under him.

Anyone who was aware of the story between the two men scoffed at the answer. So did Twain, but he had no way of dealing with Anelka.

If Anelka did not want to leave, he could not force him to go. He knew that Anelka was waiting for the stronger teams to make their moves. The French striker did not want to stay on the Forest team just to sit on the bench. He was not the kind of person who would be willing to stay on the bench and get paid.

After another day of waiting, it was presumed that Anelka’s agents and Villarreal had settled on their discussion, and that the Spanish club had made a formal offer to the Forest team — eight million pounds.

The offer infuriated Twain. He figured that Anelka’s agent-brothers had colluded with the club, which had contacted them in private to sound out Anelka’s intentions, and then teamed up to put pressure on the Forest team so that they could buy Anelka at the cheapest price.

Twain once again rebuffed Villarreal. In the refusal fax, he bluntly told the Spaniards, “please do not approach us again if the offer is less than ten million pounds.”

Anelka knew how to make use of the media to put pressure on him. Surely, Twain knew how to use the media to put pressure on the other side?

He took advantage of Anelka’s previous comments to counter the other side.

“Yes, I have a very good relationship with Nicolas Anelka and there is no contradiction between us. I want him to stay in the Forest team and play. As we all know, we are short of a fast striker.” Poor Arshavin was “forgotten” by Twain. “But, as Nicolas’ good friend, I will not stand in the way of his intention to pursue new challenges. If he wants to seek new thrilling horizons, I’ll let him go. However, he’s a Nottingham Forest player and a goalscorer who has just taken the UEFA Champions League title. He has to have an offer that fits his status. I don’t think the inadequate price of eight million pounds is respectful to my player and my team. If you really want Anelka, please show enough sincerity.”

This was just pretty talk. What was considered enough sincerity? It was just to offer enough sterling pounds.

Twain tweaked the words that Anelka had used to block him in the media, which made Anelka and his agent-brothers bitter, but they could only suffer in silence. They could not publicly announce: “We have reached an agreement with Villarreal in private and we promised to let the player help them put pressure on the Forest team to buy Anelka at the lowest price, and then we will receive rebates from this.”

In that case, Twain would be happy to charge Villarreal and Anelka’s two brothers to FIFA.

He knew that what they had done was something that could not be exposed, so Anelka’s brothers were freaked out. They had wanted to use Anelka’s comments to put pressure on the Forest club to demonstrate to Twain; they did not expect to be played by Twain.

Villarreal had thought that it would be enough to give eight million pounds to Forest for a player who had been on the bench for a year. They did not think the other manager would so ungrateful as to think that eight million pounds was patronizing! He did not consider what Anelka had become and how he was of no interest to any team in the transfer market! He was not part of the team’s main force. How could he spout nonsense as “please do not approach us again if the offer is less than ten million pounds!”

Villarreal was so annoyed that they did not offer again.

As a result, Anelka and his two older brothers were caught in the middle. They could not leave or stay.

Twain just let them suffer. He was busy with the signings for the other positions.

※※※

Anelka was in a hurry to sell himself to the big clubs, but his few appearances in the last season made a number of teams that had been interested in him hesitant.

The rest of the Forest team was not like him. The values of the players who proved their abilities went up when the Forest team won the Champions League. A number of clubs expressed interest in Forest players.

A few years ago, when the Forest team was not famous yet, no teams were interested in the players. Now the various transfer requests to the Nottingham Forest club had left Twain a little hard pressed.

The list of offers from these teams could empty almost the entire Forest team lineup.

Ribéry and George Wood were the two most popular players in the transfer market. A number of big clubs were interested in the both of them. The most substantial price so far was Real Madrid’s offer for Wood — twenty million pounds.

Real Madrid’s pursuit of Wood was not a matter of a day or two. Although the news had not yet been made public, the media already caught whiff of it.

George Wood was the captain, flag-bearer for the future, and core of the Forest team. Even if Real Madrid had made a bid for two hundred million pounds, Twain would not sell.

Ribéry’s situation was about the same as Wood’s. Ribéry was dug out of the French lower league by Twain himself and brought to England to be given a chance to become a world-class player. A lot of teams were also interested in him, but Twain did not plan to talk to those clubs.

Nottingham Forest was not a small team that had to sell its own star players to survive, nor would fall apart now that it had the title.

Furthermore, it was only one championship title. If he was content with it, then Twain would not be Twain.

Although Twain did not want to sell any players who were useful to the team, it seemed to be wishful thinking on his part in the grander scheme of things.

The morning of June 27th, Twain received a phone call from Mikel Arteta’s agent.

Over the phone, the agent told Twain that Premier League team, Everton, was very interested in Arteta. Moyes wanted to bring in the midfielder, who could not play as the main force in the Forest team. The agent wanted to hear the club’s thoughts on it.

Although conditioned to answer “no way,” Twain calmed down in an instant.

He was aware of Arteta’s situation in the team. Due to the arrival of van der Vaart, George Wood’s development, as well as the unearthing of Ribéry’s talent in the middle, the Spaniard had been unable to find a place in the Forest team’s midfield. He had a slight lack in playing as the main strength and it seemed to be a waste of his talent to put him as a substitute.

Twain had a headache over this player’s chances of playing, but he was reluctant to sell because Arteta could form an effective complement to the team’s lineup. This was from Twain’s point of view as the manager, though. He did not look at it from Arteta’s point of view as a player.

“My thoughts? I want to hear what Mikel thinks first.” He was unwilling to give a direct answer to the other party.

The agent told Twain that Arteta also wanted to leave the Forest team for Everton, where he was promised the main position.

“Mikel likes you very much, Mr. Twain. He thinks you’re the best manager he’s ever seen, but…” the agent changed tack. “He doesn’t have a steady chance to play in the Forest team. Mikel is only twenty-five years old and still has room for development, If he cannot play in games, all this talk is pointless. He wants to stay with the Forest team. After all, he’s been here for three years and is used to life here. But Mr. Twain, can you guarantee him a steady position to play?”

Twain was dumbstruck by the question.

He did not want Arteta to leave, but he had never thought to give Arteta a main position. He had been using the Spaniard as a substitute. And in that regard, he had a different view from Arteta.

After a moment’s silence, Twain shook his head and replied, “no, I can’t make that commitment. I pick out players based on the circumstances and not their names…”

His excuse was interrupted before he even finished.

“That’s right, you see, Mr. Twain, that’s just it. Consequently, Mikel will have to leave his favorite team and go to a team that can guarantee him the main position, such as… Everton.”

Twain kept quiet for a moment and decided to accept reality. A strong base would always have a steady stream of soldiers. A team would always have players coming and leaving. Whether it was Anelka or Arteta, their departures were normal in this circle.

“Very well, just like a breakup between a couple after a love affair, it’s better if we make this amicable. As long as Everton’s offer is not too low, I’ll allow him to transfer,” Twain said with a sigh. “I’ll say the same thing. My player must leave Wilford at a decent price.”

“Thank you, Mr. Twain. I’m sure Everton’s offer won’t disappoint you.”

The agent was right. As Twain’s old friend, Moyes gave the Forest team plenty of face. Unlike Manchester United with Liverpool, Nottingham Forest did not refuse to sell its players to its competitors in the same league. As long as Twain’s reputation and the interests of the club were taken into account, Twain was happy to do business.

Moyes knew his friend well, and in Twain’s words, the price offered by Everton this time was “very sincere.”

Ten million pounds were used to buy the Spanish midfielder, Mikel Arteta.

Twain did not hinder anything and nodded in agreement to the deal. Ten million pounds was not considered a small amount to put up for a substitute player. Not everyone’s current economic situation was good. The Forest team had bought Arteta from Real Sociedad at the cost of only three million euros, which was approximately two million pounds. Two and a half years had passed, and they had made nearly eight million pounds. Once Allan was informed of the news, he would be very happy that Twain completed the deal and did not reject Everton like he did AC Milan.

There was another reason why Twain had readily agreed. Everton had groomed Wayne Rooney. Who knew whether there would be any other geniuses in their youth training? The Forest team’s youth camp was about to replenish their new seedlings. For now, the Forest team had expanded their search for brilliant potential across the United Kingdom.

With things settled between the clubs, the contract negotiation between the player and the club was no longer Twain’s concern. From his conversation, he knew that Arteta’s agent must have been in contact with the Everton people early on. They might have even signed an informal agreement in private and just waited for the Forest manager to assent so that they could complete the deal.

There were plenty of cases whereby the clubs got in contact with the players first in the current football world these days. Did Twain not often do that too? It was just that everyone’s quiet mutual understanding.

The pace of the progress in negotiations between Arteta and Everton confirmed Twain’s speculation. The next day, Everton did not wait to announce their first deal this summer on their official website — ten million pounds to buy the midfielder, Mikel Arteta from Nottingham Forest.

Moyes excitedly announced at the press conference that he would make Arteta the core of Everton’s midfield. He finally got the player he had dreamed of, albeit two and a half years later.

Arteta’s departure had become the Forest team’s most significant transfer out in the past few years. It seemed to have broken the claim that Twain previously stressed, which was that “the Forest team does not sell players.”

Numerous football clubs that had been interested in Forest players appeared to have been encouraged to step up their quests for the players.

On June 29th, two days before the summer transfer market opened, two different clubs put in their transfer applications for two different players on Tony Twain’s desk.

The one on the left was from Italy. Juventus, which was ordered to enter Serie B due to the “Calciopoli” incident, and then had been promoted in advance, had offered the Forest team twelve million pounds to buy Anelka.

The one on the right was from England. Thailand’s former prime minister, Thaksin, had made a strong bid for Manchester City. Just like Abramovich, he wanted to be powerful in the Premier League. To this end, he had to raise his team’s competitiveness. In addition to hiring Eriksson to coach the team, he also shopped around for talent. This time his target was the newly minted European champion’s main right winger, Ashley Young.