“Mr. Twain, I think we can talk about George Wood’s new contract now.”
Twain was instantly in a bad mood upon hearing the cocky voice.
“But there are still seven years before the contract expires.”
“Mr. Twain, you must know how unfair this current contract is to George Wood!”
Twain frowned. Of course, he knew that the remuneration in the contract was too low for Wood. However, why was the person who proposed to modify the contract not Wood himself, or any other agent but Billy Woox? He always felt annoyed when Woox used Wood to threaten him.
Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Twain said, “State your terms, sir.”
“Increase his salary to 40,000 pounds and shorten the contract to four years.”
“That’s impossible!” Twain immediately refused without any consideration. It was a high asking price. None of the young players received a 40,000-weekly salary. 40,000 was the Forest team’s highest wage. No matter how well George Wood performed, he could not receive such treatment. Otherwise, the remuneration balance of the Forest team would be completely disrupted. “Do you think you’re talking to Mourinho, about his player’s new contract right now?” Twain ridiculed Woox for not thinking through his insane demand.
“Certainly not, Mr. Twain. Otherwise, I would have asked for a 100,000-pound weekly salary.” Woox did not take it lying down either.
Twain gritted his teeth in anger. “If that’s the case, then I don’t think we have anything to talk about. Either way, the contract doesn’t expire for seven years. Until then, Wood is still a Forest player. Want to talk about a new contract? Come and see me in six years!” Twain hung up the phone.
He completely realized the shrewdness of this agent. But he believed that Billy Woox, taken aback on the other end of the phone, also knew how difficult it would be to deal with him. And he would have to face him many times in the future.
※※※
Twain became busier near the end of January. He not only had to deal with Wood’s agent, but he also had to search for targets in the transfer market. The Forest team lacked a holding midfielder or a versatile, well-rounded player. After all, Albertini was more of a defensive midfielder and Ribéry preferred to play on the flank. The Forest team’s current main tactic was defensive counterattacking, which came in useful when other teams regarded them as a “weak team.” Ribéry and Ashley Young’s speed were their guarantees for counterattacks, and Albertini’s long pass was the basis.
However, as the Forest team’s achievements grew, few teams regarded them as a weak team anymore. They had to face their opponents’ intensive defense many times. At that point, their defensive counterattack became positional offense. Not having a holding midfielder really was a pain in the neck.
In that case, Twain directed his focus towards Spain. He had his eye on the Spanish midfielder Mikel Arteta, whom he had already wanted to hire last summer. And evidently, he would have to compete against Everton.
Although he had a good relationship with Moyes, Twain had thrown everything extraneous aside when it came to competition on the field. It was precisely because Everton was the Forest team’s rival for Mikel Arteta that Twain must win.
He knew that Everton would eventually finish fourth in the league this season and qualify to compete in the UEFA Champions League because of Mikel Arteta. If he could take Mikel Arteta away from Everton, it would not only boost Forest’s strength but also weaken the strength of their direct competitor and lay the groundwork for their UEFA Champions League dream next season.
Now, the UEFA Champions League was only a dream for Twain. But if he could secure Arteta, then this dream would likely become a reality.
Moyes proposed the idea of a loan to Real Sociedad because he needed half a season to test Arteta’s ability to adapt to the English Premier League. With regards to this, Twain seized a decisive opportunity and made a direct offer to Real Sociedad: three million euros.
Arteta had played for the Rangers Football Club in the Scottish Premier League last season. He was a major contributor to the team’s coronation as league champion. Therefore, after the season was over, Real Sociedad spent four million euros to bring him from Scotland back to his motherland. Unexpectedly, Mikel Arteta, who had roved about outside of Spain, could not completely adapt to Spanish-style football. He only played fifteen games and scored one goal for Real Sociedad in half a season. On top of that, he was in low spirits due to constant injuries. Real Sociedad now regretted spending four million euros to purchase such a useless player.
There had been a lot of clubs interested in Mikel Arteta last summer. However, after watching his performance over the past half-season, only two interested clubs were left: Everton and Nottingham Forest.
Nonetheless, Everton’s condition was a loan for half a season. Then, they would decide whether to buy after the end of the season. Nottingham Forest, however, directly quoted three million euros to initiate Arteta.
From the club’s point of view, the Forest team’s offer was more attractive. Was it still necessary to choose between getting cash in hand and the unknown transfer fee after half a season?
Real Sociedad rejected Everton’s loan request and agreed to the Forest team’s offer. The next step was for the Forest team and Mikel Arteta to discuss the individual contract between them.
In order to progress to that point, it was almost as if Arteta had joined the Forest team. At this stage, there was little attachment between Mikel Arteta and Everton. He would go to whichever team offered better conditions.
Moyes had hoped that the Everton board of directors would give him more money to get involved in this deal. However, the Everton board, which had just sold Thomas Gravesen, had been slow to respond. They began to wonder whether it was worthwhile to spend so much money on a demoralized player. Recalling original history, Tang En remembered that Everton had only managed to loan Mikel Arteta at the last moment before the end of the winter transfer window on January 31.
Compared with the dawdling Everton, Twain had more power. He could promptly decide everything. Based on his style, he would not delay to tomorrow a matter that could be settled today.
After Real Sociedad replied that the Forest team could negotiate the individual contract with Mikel Arteta, Twain called Arteta’s agent without delay. After a round of bargaining, both sides made concessions and Mikel Arteta agreed to come to the United Kingdom to sign the contract. The Forest team immediately booked tickets from Spain for the next morning for Mikel Arteta and his agent.
The two men arrived at the London Heathrow Airport, and Nottingham Forest’s limousine was already parked at the exit.
Everything had been discussed and settled through telephone and fax the previous day. What both sides had to do now was very simple: the physical examination and signing of the contract.
All of this was done in secrecy. When Moyes finally persuaded the board to come up with a large sum of money for him, he was ready to join Nottingham Forest in the scramble for Mikel Arteta, only to find out that his target had already been signed by Tony Twain.
On January 23, the Forest team had offered to purchase Arteta from Real Sociedad. On the afternoon of January 25, the Forest Team’s official website announced their second player to join in the winter transfer period. His name was Mikel Arteta, a Spanish midfielder. He would be wearing the number 14 jersey to compete in the English Premier League.
Everton knew that the Forest team had made an offer to Real Sociedad. But they were unaware of the private negotiations between the Forest team and Arteta, which had made them completely incapable of dealing with it. Moyes had suffered a big loss in Twain’s “lightning strike.” It was unfortunate for him that they had both had their eye on the same player.
At the press conference, Twain and Mikel Arteta stood together. They held a red Forest jersey with Arteta’s name and number. Facing the reporters, Twain smiled and said, “I know people will have questions about this transfer, but I can guarantee that Mikel will succeed here.”
In Liverpool, Moyes expressed his displeasure with the Everton club chairman. “If we had used the time and energy we wasted on board meetings on Spain, he could have been standing next to us in a blue jersey now! Mr. Chairman, you don’t realize what an excellent player the board has let go!”
Indeed, they had relinquished an excellent player and let go of even more. But Moyes did not know that yet.