On the list of players submitted by Gao Shen earlier, there was one name unfamiliar to everyone at Manchester City.
Kevin De Bruyne, a 19-year-old midfielder playing for Genk in Belgium.
He was a regular starter for Genk last season but only scored one goal. The team finished twelfth in the Belgian First Division, which was far from a good result.
Following the instructions from upper management, Gary Cook, Brian Kidd, and others flew across the English Channel to Belgium to contact Genk. To their surprise, the Belgian club was even more eager than Manchester City.
Why?
Because the entire football world knew that Manchester City was loaded.
Genk, as a Belgian club, was far from wealthy. Being able to cash in on one of their players was a great deal.
Belgium had seen a recent surge in youth talent, especially with the influx of young players from Africa. Talent was not in short supply.
During talks, Genk chairman Herbert Houbrechts didn't even try to drive up the price. Instead, he actively recommended more young players to Manchester City.
For example, Brazilian center-back João Carlos, who had been a regular for two seasons and was rumored to be attracting interest from Russian side Anzhi. But if Manchester City was willing to make an offer, Genk would prioritize selling him to them.
Carlos's market value was around 3.6 million euros, and that was exactly Genk's asking price.
There was also a young goalkeeper named Courtois. He had only been promoted to the first team in the second half of last season, but as a member of the Belgian youth national team, he had massive potential and was highly regarded. His price was low, only 1 million euros.
As for De Bruyne, Genk's asking price was modest as well.
His market value was 2 million euros, and Genk was asking for 3 million. A slight markup.
…
"You bought them both?"
Inside the Etihad Stadium's meeting room, Gao Shen had just returned and was visibly surprised by Brian Kidd's report.
He originally only wanted De Bruyne. He didn't expect Courtois to come with him.
If he remembered correctly, the two would end up joining Chelsea together in his previous life.
"Since we already signed Boateng, we didn't go for João Carlos. But we got both De Bruyne and Courtois," Brian Kidd laughed.
When Gao Shen mentioned De Bruyne, he had also spoken highly of Courtois, so Brian Kidd had no reason to turn the young keeper down.
Everyone knew, if Gao Shen had picked them, they must be quality.
Gao Shen found himself in a dilemma.
Neuer's position as first-choice keeper was untouchable. Bringing in Courtois would mean the young Belgian would sit on the bench with little chance to play for the time being.
And if Courtois spent too long on the bench, could he still develop into the Belgian number one in the future?
"Genk made a request as well," Brian Kidd continued.
"What is it?" Gao Shen asked.
"They want to loan both players back for next season." Brian Kidd gave a helpless smile after saying it.
Gao Shen sighed internally. So that's what they were after.
Sell the players to Manchester City, have City pay their wages and other costs, and Genk still gets to use them for a full season.
Classic.
Many smaller clubs do this when dealing with giants.
Someone might ask, "Aren't big clubs smarter than that? Why would they agree?"
But in reality, many do.
Because each side values different things.
What a smaller club considers valuable might be trivial to a top club.
Manchester City wanted the future development rights of De Bruyne and Courtois, to lock them in early. Whether they played at Genk for a season didn't matter that much to City.
Of course, Gao Shen had no intention of loaning De Bruyne back.
Courtois, on the other hand…
"Tell Genk De Bruyne will stay with us. Courtois will join pre-season training, and once the season starts, he'll be loaned back," Gao Shen decided on the spot.
This 2–3 million euro deal was pocket change for Manchester City.
If it weren't for the futures of De Bruyne and Courtois, Gao Shen wouldn't have spent more than a minute thinking about it.
He wondered, if the two weren't kept together, would their grudge from the previous life still happen?
As for De Bruyne, Gao Shen planned to use him as a rotation option off the bench.
It was a pity the kid had ended up at Chelsea in his past life and played under Mourinho.
Gao Shen had always believed Mourinho didn't know how to use this kind of midfielder. That wasn't bias. It was just a fact.
…
For the left-back position, Gao Shen selected Leighton Baines of Everton, taking various factors into account—especially the number of homegrown players in the squad.
Baines wasn't tall, but he was fast, technically sound, and a strong attacking full-back with excellent delivery. A rare quality among local players. Gao Shen had been watching him since last season, but hadn't made a move for various reasons.
Now, with rumors that Bayern Munich was interested, Gao Shen had no reason not to act.
"Baines' market value is currently 8 million euros. When he moved from Wigan Athletic to Everton in 2007, the fee was 6.75 million euros. We've already offered 10 million euros, but Everton still refused to negotiate," Brian Kidd reported.
Gao Shen nodded in affirmation.
"What are Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea, and Bayern doing?" he asked.
He was mainly concerned that someone might swoop in. If a bidding war broke out, the player's price would go through the roof.
"United have Evra. Arsenal have Clichy. Chelsea have Ashley Cole. They're all interested in Baines but none of them are moving. Bayern made a bit of noise. Rummenigge told the media Baines reminded him of Lizarazu."
"Did they make an offer?" Gao Shen asked.
Brian Kidd shook his head. "Nothing so far."
In fact, of the Premier League's top teams, Liverpool were the ones who needed a left-back most.
With Suárez gone, they had no one solid at left-back. Aurelio was constantly injured, which left Benítez with no choice but to target Dossena from Napoli.
But Gao Shen wasn't worried about Liverpool. Liverpool and Everton were bitter local rivals.
Everton would never sell Baines to Liverpool.
"Increase the offer, one million at a time, up to 15 million euros," Gao Shen instructed.
Given the current situation, as long as other big clubs didn't move, Everton would be willing to sell somewhere between 12 to 15 million euros.
Brian Kidd understood what Gao Shen meant.
It didn't mean that Manchester City wouldn't go over 15 million. It just meant that Gao Shen's authorization only went up to that point.
In other words, no need to check in with the higher-ups unless the bid exceeded 15 million.
"Understood," Brian Kidd nodded.
According to Gao Shen's plan, Gareth Bale would mainly play as an attacker. His position would be fluid—sometimes full-back, sometimes wide midfielder, maybe even as a winger. Relying on Felipe alone on the left wouldn't be enough. That's why Baines was a necessary addition.
…
De Jong, Bridge, and Micah Richards had all been listed for transfer by Gao Shen. Plenty of teams were interested. For example, AC Milan was eyeing De Jong.
He'd been an expensive signing back then, but now that they were looking to sell, City was bound to take a loss.
There was no way around it. Manchester City under Mark Hughes had been throwing money around like crazy.
If Micah Richards left, only Zabaleta would be left at right-back.
Gao Shen wanted someone to compete with Zabaleta. His top pick was Lichtsteiner, a player he had admired during his time at Napoli.
Due to the sensitivity of the situation, Gao Shen did not participate in negotiations. Instead, Gary Cook and Brian Kidd spoke with De Laurentiis and Marino, but talks weren't going well.
The reason was simple: Napoli's asking price was too high.
"We offered 25 million euros for Lichtsteiner, but De Laurentiis still said no," Gary Cook reported with an awkward smile. "He said…"
He trailed off, looking a bit embarrassed.
Gao Shen and Mubarak both turned toward him, prompting him to finish.
"He said that amount is only enough to buy one of Lichtsteiner's leg hairs."
Gao Shen burst out laughing.
That sounded exactly like De Laurentiis.
At least he didn't mention other parts of the body. Very courteous of him.
Mubarak was a little uncomfortable.
Lichtsteiner was one of Gao Shen's key targets, but things had turned out like this.
"Gao, how about you go and talk to him yourself?" Gary Cook suggested.
Brian Kidd agreed.
Everyone knew Gao Shen had a close relationship with De Laurentiis and Marino. If he stepped in, negotiations would definitely go more smoothly.
"Forget it. You two keep negotiating. Considering the scarcity of full-backs in today's market, our offer might really be too low. If it's not acceptable, we'll move on to other targets."
Kolarov, Lazio's left-back, could be priced as high as 25 million euros. That said a lot about how inflated the market for full-backs had become.
It was only natural for De Laurentiis to try and take advantage of Manchester City's need.
But Gao Shen didn't want to give others any reason to accuse him of favoritism.
"Gao, we've studied him thoroughly. From both a performance and team-building perspective, Lichtsteiner is an excellent candidate. We really believe in his potential here," Gary Cook emphasized, catching Gao Shen's hesitation. He then turned to Mubarak. "I think we should let Gao handle this one personally."
Mubarak gave it some thought, then agreed.
Gao Shen still tried to refuse but couldn't stand the pressure from everyone. In the end, he reluctantly agreed to make the call.
(To be continued.)
***
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