Godfather Of Champions

Two days later, there was finally a piece of good news from the English Football Association. Tang En and the Forest Team heaved a sigh of relief. Brazilian player Pepe was granted his work permit; he could sign with Forest and represent the team in various competitions. From this point on, Pepe truly became a member of Forest Team.

This was certainly fantastic news to Tang En. Like he was a piece of meat that had yet to land in his mouth, it was difficult not to be anxious about Pepe's transfer. Now that the final obstruction to Pepe's transfer to Forest was eliminated, the only thing left was for Forest to wire the transfer fee over to FC Porto's bank account. With that, Pepe would officially become a member of Forest Team. In truth, he had already joined the Forest Team for their training in Nottingham. The vacation period for Forest's players had come to its end, and everyone reassembled to prepare for the new season. They were also paying special attention to the upcoming qualifying match in late August on their home grounds for the Champions League. Their opponent was Villarreal CF, whom they had lost to during the UEFA Europa League Group Stage.

After resolving Pepe's work permit issue, Nottingham Forest again tried inquiring about the possibility for Martins' transfer from Inter Milan. The inquiry ended the same way as Tang En expected it to. Inter Milan very resolutely turned down Forest's asking price. On Martins' side, he also accepted an interview from 'La Gazzetta dello Sport' and expressed his loyalty to the team. He claimed to only belong to Inter Milan, regardless of the interest of any club. He had been trained there as a youth, made his mark there, and stepped into the European tournaments from there. It was the place where he had become a true, professional footballer. He did not think it would be possible for him to leave such a great club.

Seeing that interview, Tang En did not wish to make further remarks. He informed the club to cancel their offer for Martins, as well as other plans for the transfer. He had originally thought that he might be able to loan Martins even if a transfer were not possible. Since it was now evident that Martins wanted to express himself as a loyal subject of Inter Milan, Forest would give him that chance. Tang En just hoped that things would not develop the same way they had in his recollection: over the next year, Martins would continue to be loyal to a heartless Inter Milan.

Though it was already impossible for Martins to join Forest, Tang En still continued his pursuit of a speed-type forward.

Allan suggested that Tang En consider England's golden boy, Michael Owen, who had been rather unhappy in Real Madrid. From a timing perspective, it was doubtless a great opportunity to bring in Owen during the summer this year. From a commercial perspective, Owen had incredible value. However, Tang En told Allan to dismiss the idea of having Owen join them unless the Forest Club owned a professional medical institution at the same level as the Milan Lab. Otherwise, spending over ten million on a glass man… Tang En did not want to become a laughing stock.

With Martin's deal falling through, Tang En's substitution of choice was Darren Bent, the number one shooter from Ipswich, an English Premier League team in the previous season who had gotten relegated. Whether it was his price, ability, or potential, Darren Bent satisfied all of Tang En's requirements. However, among the many clubs interested in him, Bent leaned heavily towards Charlton. Charlton's manager, Curbishley, was the first person to see potential in him, constantly expressing his interest in recruiting Bent. To provide a main position on the team after his entry, Curbishley even let go of two of the team's forwards, Jeffers and Lisbie.

Furthermore, on their team were two former teammates of Darren Bent from his time with Ipswich. When choosing which club to go to, he even called them for their opinions; they certainly would have pushed him towards joining their own team.

As a result, Darren Bent turned down Nottingham Forest, Tottenham Hotspur, Sunderland, Aston Villa and several other clubs to join Charlton.

Currently, Forest was in an awkward position. On one hand, Forest had attained the qualification to participate in the season's Champions League, becoming a source of much allure to numerous football players. On the other, Forest was still no powerhouse; in the eyes of many football stars, Forest would not be their first choice. In this way, the situation became one in which players sought after by Tang En were not willing to come, while those who were keen were not within his considerations.

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But that was not all. While Forest was worrying over which forward to acquire, they were also faced with the problem of head hunters going after their players.

Following Forest's meteoric rise in the English Premier League last season, several players on the team were viewed as stars by various managers; George Wood especially was. If not for Forest's new contract with him, there would probably be enough European clubs coming for him to storm through the gates of Forest. Based on his outstanding performance last season, he was chosen as the Professional Footballers' Association's Young Player of the Year.

Several other young players on Forest also performed brilliantly. Chimbonda, in his position as right back, played through all the matches of the season. Although the lad was not as eye-catching as Wood or Eastwood, his steady performance was something indispensable to Forest. While fans might not notice him, professional managers and scouts did. In the summer, Manchester United put in an inquiry to Forest about Chimbonda's price. Of course, Tang En did not hesitate to stamp a "not-for-sale" tag onto Chimbonda.

Despite Chimbonda's excellent performance, he was not considered Forest's most successful transfer of the season. After the season ended, his French comrade, Franck Ribery, was widely regarded by the media to be the best transfer in England for the 04-05 season. Comments by the media were as follows:

Manager Tony Twain has a pair of eyes that warrant our inquisition. He did not only find players like George Wood and Chimbonda; the most exciting transfer in the last season was the young man he brought back from Ligue 2: Franck Ribery. It was a free transfer that did not cost Forest a single penny. Now, a conservative estimation of his value has already risen to ten million euros. Assists, scoring, as well as the speed and demeanour he displays when he takes the ball on a breakthrough in the wings; those are the qualities that placed Ribery on the same star-player level of discussion as Giggs in the Premier League. When Forest qualified for the Champions League, Manager Mourinho commented that Forest and their manager had ridiculous luck. But looking at it now, is it mere luck to be able to gather up so many young players with such potential?

After Arsène Wenger, we now have another manager to look out for during the yearly transfer market. In this year's summer transfer, Tony Twain pulled out all the stops, activating the "Exceptional Player Clause" to bring Brazilian center back Pepe in. What kind of player will he be? No one has heard of him before, but he will surely show us something new in the upcoming season. Why? Because he's valued by Tony Twain.

Rumour has it that SI, who has a cooperative relationship with the Forest Club, would consult Tony Twain on some of the players' abilities and potential in the making of the FM game series! This is astonishing. Everyone knows that SI has around 2500 data researchers gathering information on various players. This is truly a marrying of the strong.

It was a glorious time for Ribery. Ashley Young, on the other side of the wings, also received a commendable evaluation. Although he had only scored three goals throughout the entire season, including the EFL Cup matches, his total passes to the center took first place on the team. Compared to scoring goals, it seemed that he preferred assisting.

A few other young men like Pique and Bendtner performed in a less striking manner, but were still similarly remarkable. Pique did not showcase any spectacular performances, conforming to the norms and expectations and instead displaying the most important quality of a defensive player: stability. He performed and grew steadily, with much anticipation accompanying each of his steps.

Bendtner's performance mid-season was brilliant. Following that, his appearance on the field was reduced due to Forest's strategic requirements; among the four forwards, he was last in line. However, the five goals he scored, his incredible physique, and his exquisite technique revealed his unlimited potential.

With so many outstanding players, it was natural for them to attract the attention of wolves.

Ribery, Chimbonda, George Wood, Bendtner, Ashley Young, Crouch… All of them received invitations from other teams.

Among them, Liverpool's reported offer of 7.5 million pounds to buy Peter Crouch came within Tang En's expectations. In his memory, it was this summer that Liverpool ended up purchasing Crouch. Crouch's performance in the last three months of the league had managed to capture Benítez's attention; after Eastwood's injury, Crouch had managed to score several crucial goals. However, this was not the real reason behind Benítez's resolution to buy him.

Just like Tang En had, he saw value in Crouch because he was a tall center-forward who possessed top-notch footwork. With that, his presence could greatly enrich the strategy of the team. He was essential to enabling greater variation in a team's offense. Liverpool was lacking exactly such a center-forward. After becoming the recent victors of the Champions League, The Reds hoped to be even better in the new season; such a center-forward was indispensable to their goal.

Forest's initial purchase of Crouch had cost 1.8 million pounds. After a single season, his value had risen to 7.5 million! However, that increase was unable to satisfy Tang En. He rejected Liverpool's offer. After the rejection, he immediately contacted Nottingham Evening Post's reporter, Pierce Brosnan, for an interview. In the interview, the two naturally segued into a conversation regarding recent news of Crouch's transfer. Tang En then made a big splash about the unique abilities of Crouch. He made it sound as if all of England's clubs required such a "tall, technically outstanding, and selfless player who could pass to his teammates as well as score goals on his own." Finally, after listing out Crouch's various positive attributes, Tang En stated that the player was an important member of the Forest Team. Under the situation where Forest had to play in multiple leagues, Tang En was not prepared to give up a player with such unique abilities.

But honestly? Upon receiving Liverpool's first offer, Tang En had already decided to sell the towering player. On one hand, Evan was no Abramovich, and Nottingham Forest was no Chelsea. The finances of the club could not possibly be only incurring losses without any profit. After purchasing so many players two years in a row and hardly selling any of them, Forest needed to adequately cost-save through such sales.

On the other, Tang En was also aware that he had too many tall center-forwards on the team: Viduka, Bendtner, and Crouch. Having all three of them was a bit excessive. The best way to resolve that was to sell one. In the current transfer market, there were not many parties interested in Viduka. Bendtner was a player Tang En absolutely refused to sell because of his youth; he could still represent Forest for a very long time. Crouch was the only suitable candidate.

Tang En was just a little disdainful about Liverpool's offer of 7.5 million.