Godfather Of Champions

"Nottingham Forest spends 15 million to bring in former Manchester United forward Ruud van Nistelrooy. This deal has succeeded against all expectations…"

"Tony Twain spends big in one go! Ruud van Nistelrooy has signed a four-year-contract with Forest. This isn't good news for the teams in the English Premier League…"

"When interviewed, Nottingham Forest's fans expressed joy at seeing the main manager bring a world-class forward to the team."

"Even though our forward line is far from weak, who wouldn't want to see it become even stronger? We welcome Ruud van Nistelrooy's arrival with open arms."

"According to a market survey, Ruud van Nistelrooy's arrival has incited an enormous spike in the jersey sales for the club. 720 jerseys bearing the Dutchman's name and number were sold in the span of a day! That's an astonishing number…"

"… I think that Ruud van Nistelrooy's arrival only marks the first step in Tony Twain's ambitious plans. Nottingham isn't willing to concede with their "double runner-up" results from last season. They're hoping for a breakthrough this season. Just like all the teams who performed well last season, Forest has increased their investments in the new season. The club's boss would, of course, hope to receive some returns from the money invested, but I've seen too many teams swiftly become lost after increasing their stakes in it. I hope Tony and his team won't be similarly mediocre…"

"This is one of the most noteworthy transfers of this year. Ruud van Nistelrooy did not choose to leave England. He has chosen to stay in the EPL. We believe there will be much to see in the matches between Nottingham and Manchester United in the new season…"

"Following Chelsea's purchase of Shevchenko and Newcastle's purchase of Martins, Forest bought Ruud van Nistelrooy from Manchester United. This season's English Premier League is going to be exciting…"

The news of Ruud van Nistelrooy's transfer to Nottingham Forest dropped a heavy bomb on the year's summer transfer market.

The reaction it caused was due to Nottingham Forest's results in the previous season; it made everyone's imagination go wild. Such a massive deal was surely because of big dreams. Nottingham Forest was expanding their capabilities. Could their opponents possibly not feel terror and suspicion?

The World Soccer magazine had only just written in their new season's column proposal that Forest was a strong team when Tang En immediately used concrete actions to prove them right.

In the past two seasons, Forest's purchases, while all involving people of rather strong ability, were still of those who were slightly lacking in the fame factor. Anelka was likely the most renowned among them, but even he could not be considered at the top level in the football scene. Ruud van Nistelrooy, however, was different. Before he turned 30, he had already attained immeasurable glory both individually and as a group; Eredivisie top goal scorer, Premier League Golden Boot, UEFA Club Forward of the Year, Premier League Player of the Season, Dutch Footballer of the Year… Those individual glories surrounded the Dutchman like a beautiful shroud around him. They were something Anelka could not compare with.

The greatest evaluation Anelka got was how talented he was. While Ruud van Nistelrooy was not seen as a genius player who was brimming with talent, he had a firm and true grasp of those glories in his hands.

Brazil's famous forward, Romário, had a nickname: "King of the Penalty Zone." So, Ruud van Nistelrooy, who also excelled at scoring goals, received a similar nickname: "King of the Six-Yard Box." This nickname painted a clear image of Ruud van Nistelrooy's specialty. He was the type of pure forward whose threat became greater and greater the closer he got to the goal.

But in comparison, Tang En liked calling him a natural-born goal-scoring machine better.

He liked a killer as cold and merciless as a machine.

Tang En was elated to see the transfer of Ruud van Nistelrooy eliciting such a big reaction from the media. It was not just Nottingham Forest's media reporting the matter. English, European, and international sporting media were all to some extent reporting about this transfer.

His first aim was achieved. Why did he insist on spending 15 million pounds to bring in Ruud van Nistelrooy instead of finding a younger, less renowned, and less expensive player with more potential? If it was the latter, the transfer would not be able to create the same effect. The media's reactions were what Tang En valued.

He needed someone to pressure Anelka. If that person did not have enough weight behind his punch, it would not pose any threat to Anelka at all.

Now it was different.

He himself had, on numerous occasions, mentioned that Ruud van Nistelrooy was his favorite and most admired forward. Adding to that his level of fame, it was enough to unsettle Anelka.

It had been three days since the team had resumed their training. Anelka was not late for the initial regathering of the team, and he was also punctual for daily training. However, Tang En did not take the initiative to approach him, and he did not have any intention of approaching Tang En for a discussion either. Every day, there was nothing except quietly training and then returning to his residence.

On the team, Anelka had always been such a quiet person. So, the way he acted was seen as rather normal in everyone else's view. Tang En, on the other hand, was taking it all into consideration.

The next day after the press conference, Ruud van Nistelrooy appeared on Nottingham Forest's training grounds, Wilford.

Tang En personally escorted him over, clearly showing how much he valued the new player.

"Let me introduce a new friend to everyone…" Tang En pointed to Ruud van Nistelrooy standing by his side. "Actually, there's not much to introduce. Everyone's familiar with him. He's been our opponent for two seasons."

Saying so, Tang En coughed twice. "I should say, everyone, take your revenge where it's due!"

A look of surprise emerged on Ruud van Nistelrooy's face while the team rang out with raucous laughter.

David Kerslake patted his shoulders. "Don't mind it. He just can't act serious for the life of him."

Realizing that it was just a joke, Ruud van Nistelrooy started laughing too. Using such a method to introduce himself to his new teammates did manage to get rid of any awkwardness. After all, they had been opponents for two seasons. It was inevitably difficult for everyone to step out of their roles from the past. Tang En used the method of cracking a joke to bring that relationship to the surface, managing to relieve everyone's hearts of that burden.

"Hi, everyone. We'll be playing together for the next four years." Ruud van Nistelrooy greeted them naturally, receiving enthusiastic responses from his teammates.

It was the same as what he had heard, but also somewhat different from other rumors.

If a person merely relied on media sources to understand Nottingham Forest, he would surely be very troubled. What kind of team were they exactly?

Some media reports advertised Forest as a team that was united as one both internally and externally, while others made them out to be a pan of scattered sand with numerous conflicts.

Some reported the team's main manager, Tony Twain, to be a charismatic, young prodigious manager who had the talent of leadership, and others believed Tony Twain to be an arrogant, supercilious manager who was inferior to the point of conceit, had a terrible temper and often hit and scolded his players while intervening with press freedom. A scoundrel who committed many misdeeds.

All of those directly contradicting and extreme evaluations could not help Ruud van Nistelrooy figure out exactly what kind of person Tony Twain was, or what kind of team Nottingham Forest was. For one person and team, the evaluations were too markedly different.

When he was playing in Manchester United, Nottingham Forest was his opponent. As opponents, they were often made out to be hateful-looking demons. Then, he had leaned towards the negative evaluations. However, as he had just witnessed, Tony Twain was not an eccentric manager who was tough to get along with. Neither was Nottingham Forest a team filled with people split into factions plotting against each other.

After being a witness to it, he was in even greater disbelief of the media's evaluations.

He felt that the team's atmosphere was great. He would be happy to work for four years here.

Every individual was faced with choices at any given moment of their life. Ruud van Nistelrooy believed that he would not regret today's choice in four years' time.

Tang En gave Ruud van Nistelrooy a pat on the back that startled him. "Go on. It's time to prepare for training."

He walked towards the team. The person who came forward to welcome him was the team captain, Albertini.

"What I want to say comes from everyone. Welcome, Ruud, our ex-opponent."

Amid the enthusiastic, welcoming atmosphere, Tang En did not continue gazing at Ruud van Nistelrooy. Instead, he looked towards Anelka.

Anelka was unaware of Tang En watching him. All of his focus was on his new teammate.

He was not a fool. Of course, he knew the intent behind the team buying a world-class forward.

During the period when his brothers were meeting with Benítez, he had kept his cellphone switched off on purpose. He had known that Tang En would surely try to call him, so he had switched it off. He had thought that Tang En would later approach him to discuss the matter when the team's training started again. Anelka did not expect Tang En to completely ignore him, instead directly buying a strong and capable competitor, Ruud van Nistelrooy.

It seemed like Ruud van Nistelrooy was more easily welcomed by his teammates than when he had first entered the team.

He moved his gaze away from the new player and looked towards Tony Twain. He saw Twain saying something to his two assistant managers in laughter. Were they feeling joy because of the new player?

"Tony, Anelka's looking at you," Dunn suddenly said while they were chatting.

Tang En nodded but did not turn his gaze to look at Anelka. "I know."

"That's right. I've wanted to ask you, Tony." Kerslake took a glimpse at the French forward, swiftly sweeping his gaze across his face without any pause. "You've bought Ruud van Nistelrooy, so how do you plan on dealing with Anelka?"

"Put him on ice for a while. Are there any clubs making offers for Anelka?"

Kerslake shook his head. "No. Liverpool seems really uninterested. I don't know how his brothers discussed things with Benítez."

Tang En chuckled. "Anelka and his brothers are infamous. It's not that easy to find a buyer who isn't inferior to us."

If Forest had not gained the sort of results they had in the previous season, then Anelka might have easily found a new master. However, getting runner-up in both the Premier League and Champions League had set a benchmark in Anelka's heart that was far from low. If he were to transfer again, he certainly would not accept club invitations from those whose results were not on par with Forest's. But who, among the rich and powerful clubs comparable to Forest in team strength, would want to bring in such an unstable time bomb?

Anelka had once played in Liverpool for a short period, half a season. He was a loaned player. At Liverpool, his performance was commendable. But even though everyone had thought that Houllier would choose to sign a transfer contract with Anelka at the season's end, he abandoned the untamable forward and instead found another French comrade of his, Cisse.

Why? No one knew what had trespassed behind doors, but Tang En believed it surely had to do with Anelka's unsociable character and his greedy brothers.

Anelka succeeded in the Forest Team. Suddenly, he became more attractive in the eyes of the other teams. But this was a dual-edged sword. At the same time, this made him significantly increase the demands of his personal treatment. In the past, he could still accept the reality of playing in Man City. Now, other than the top five in the EPL, no other teams were even in his sights.

Regarding the foreign leagues, both teams in the Spanish Leagues and Bundesliga showed little interest in the forward. Perhaps only the France Ligue 1 still had expectations for this world-class shooter coming from France. Of course, Fenerbahçe S.K. Club from the Turkish Leagues must be dying of regret by now. But it was practically an impossible mission to bring Anelka back to Turkey once more.

In Serie A, Inter Milan had benefited the most after Juventus was penalized with a relegation. Not only did they get their hands on the long-absent Coppa Campioni d'Italia, but they also took in numerous players from Juventus, one of which was young prodigy forward, Ibrahimović. Adding to that an Argentine forward, Hernán Crespo, who was loaned from Chelsea, and their original forwards Cruz, Adriano, etc., and Inter Milan had no lack of forwards. In fact, to shed weight for their bloated forward line, they sold Martins to Newcastle.

A.S. Roma was keen but could not afford Anelka.

AC Milan, however…

This was still the same as Tang En's memories. Shevchenko had already transferred to Chelsea. This way, AC Milan had no choice but to look for another forward. In truth, they had already begun searching all over the world. When the time came, would they be looking for Oliveira, who was not in the least suited for Serie A, or Anelka? That remained unknown.

It was just that Tang En had recently heard some news from the grapevine. Someone had told him that Anelka's brothers had appeared in Milan. As to whether they were there for touring and shopping or to meet with particular people, Tang En could not be certain.

"Alright, lads!" Kerslake shouted as he walked onto the field, blowing on the whistle. "Chatting time is over. Training is starting!"

Under the leadership of the two assistant managers and their managerial team, the players returned to the training grounds to begin a new day of practice.

Tang En alone stood on the sidelines, donning dark sunglasses to block out the somewhat piercing glare from the sunlight. No one knew who he was looking at with his eyes hiding behind those sunglasses.