Chapter 669 126: The Premier League's Top Star! Wang Shuo Is Here! Creator of a Maradona-Style Legend! The Biggest Transfer in History

To be honest, he was leaning toward keeping Nasri, but Arsenal was in a very passive position now.

Nasri only had one year left on his contract, and his current weekly salary of 60,000 British pounds was admittedly low.

But Arsenal's prior extension offer was a weekly salary of 90,000 British pounds, and Nasri was very unhappy with it.

Later, seeing he only had a year left on his contract, both Manchester City and Manchester United got involved one after another, and things became complicated.

Especially Manchester City.

The Blue Moon were offering a weekly salary of 160,000 British pounds.

Wenger personally spoke with Nasri and raised the weekly salary to 120,000 British pounds, but there was still a 40,000-pound gap.

"I originally had an agreement with Nasri. I promised to sign a superstar and contend for the title, asking him not to make a decision so soon. But now it seems Manchester City is also getting impatient."

Wenger was helpless about this.

The transfer market was turbulent and unpredictable, with things changing by the day.

"What do we do now?" Dick Law was starting to panic.

If both Fabregas and Nasri left, what would Arsenal have to compete against other teams in the new season?

"What's the word from Lille?"

"I contacted Paquelet, Lille's managing director. Although they just won the Ligue 1 title, their finances aren't flush, so they're not against us poaching their players. Their asking price for Gervinho is 12 million euros, and for Hazard, it's 25 million euros."

"That expensive?" Wenger frowned.

Gervinho was one of the heroes of Lille's Ligue 1 title win last season, scoring 15 goals and providing 10 assists.

Hazard, moreover, was named the Ligue 1 Player of the Year.

"Ferguson has his eye on Hazard, too," Dick Law reminded him.

"He's after him too?"

"Hazard got married back in 2010."

Wenger suddenly understood.

That guy Ferguson loved buying young players who married early.

"Then what should we do?" Dick Law looked at Wenger.

Gervinho? Or Hazard?

Judging by actual performance, Gervinho was undoubtedly the better value for the money.

But Hazard had a higher ceiling.

Frankly, if it were up to Dick Law himself, he wouldn't know who to choose either.

Picking Hazard would basically be a one-for-one swap for Nasri.

But Nasri had already proven himself in the Premier League; Hazard had not, and he was too young.

"Dick."

Wenger turned to look at Dick Law, gritted his teeth, and said, "You're going to France right away. We're buying Hazard. Twenty-five million euros, just sign him!"

"Sign him just like that?" Dick Law was a little surprised.

That's 25 million euros, not 2.5 million!

"Just agree to their price!" Wenger was incredibly decisive.

"It's not just Hazard. Matuidi from Saint-Etienne, De Bruyne from Genk—we need to hurry up and sign them!"

Wenger already realized something was wrong.

Chelsea and Manchester City were poaching players from all over.

They didn't just want the established stars on the transfer market; they wanted the young prospects as well.

If Arsenal didn't act soon, there wouldn't even be any scraps left.

And most importantly, after selling players like Fabregas and Nasri, if he didn't bring in some strong reinforcements, wouldn't all those things Wenger had said to Wang Shuo be nothing but a load of crap?

"On second thought, I'll go with you." Wenger simply couldn't sit still.

"Also, Steve." Wenger looked toward Steve Lawley.

"Yes?"

"Which teams is Van Persie in contact with?" Wenger asked.

Wenger already knew that some players were in talks.

For example, Nasri with Manchester City, and Clichy and Sagna with Manchester City as well.

"Van Persie hasn't had any obvious contact with other teams yet, so we're not clear on that at the moment. But I've heard whispers that both Barça and Manchester United are interested in him. You know Ferguson has had his eye on him for a long time."

Wenger nodded. "Ferguson should be raising funds to buy Wang Shuo right now, shouldn't he?"

"Yes, but Manchester United has too many holes to plug right now. Goalkeeper is also a major issue."

Van der Sar had retired.

Ferguson was also watching Neuer, but his first choice was De Gea from Atletico Madrid.

However, the transfer fee for a goalkeeper from Atletico Madrid wouldn't be cheap.

To sign both Wang Shuo and De Gea at the same time, even a club like Manchester United would have to think twice.

As for Wang Shuo...

Recently, even though he was back home in China on vacation, the news about him was nonstop.

The hottest topic was how he had "tricked" Ronaldo and Messi into coming to China to participate in some kind of campus football charity project.

It caused a huge stir, and the European media was reporting on it daily.

Especially on the day the three superstars made a public appearance at the final, many European media outlets had flown over.

And what everyone cared about most, of course, was whether or not Wang Shuo would leave Dortmund.

If so, where would his next stop be?

Wenger had felt that his last meeting with Wang Shuo had gone quite well, but there had been no follow-up for a long time, which made him anxious. Now, facing setbacks in the transfer market, Wenger was getting even more desperate.

"We need to move quickly. We'll fly to France and Belgium today and get these transfers negotiated as soon as possible. I still need to make a trip to China!"

The moment he thought of it, Wenger realized he hadn't even arranged for his visa.

However, he immediately thought of Thomas Essien.

The visas for Ronaldo and Messi, as well as their teams, had apparently been expedited.

...

Three Superstars Appear at the Campus Football Final!

The entire event was planned and executed very successfully.

It caused a massive stir, both in China and abroad.

The campus football project championed by Gao Huairen and Jiang Pengju, in particular, sparked an unprecedented amount of discussion.