Chapter 485: Crouching Dragon and Fengxiao in Football, Manchester United against the odds!
June 26th.
Manchester United, Carrington Base.
Maguire, wearing a Manchester United Polo shirt, sat on the sofa slightly nervously.
Sitting next to him is the "reporter" specially sent by the club to conduct an exclusive interview with the new Xia Chuang player, and he is also the team's top player - Ling Feng!
"First of all, Harry Maguire, welcome to the Manchester United family!"
Facing Ling Feng’s opening remarks, Maguire also smiled:
"Thank you, it is an honor for me to join such a great club with a long history."
"Are you looking forward to the new season?"
"I can't wait to play!"
"Haha, as a Manchester United player, I am very happy to see an excellent player join the team, which is good for the team, and this is also a former teammate of mine who played alongside me."
"Speaking of which, where did we first meet?"
In the short interview video, Ling Feng talked about his close relationship with Maguire in front of the camera, and also shared how Maguire got a red card for standing up for him in the Europa League match against Wolfsburg. story.
With Ling Feng's "revelation", after the video was broadcast, Red Devils fans also got a preliminary understanding of Maguire.
It turns out that this big guy who looks a little stupid is actually a very loyal and real man!
Let’s not talk about whether the ability can gain a foothold in Manchester United. This kind of loyalty to stand up for teammates is worthy of their first like today!
As Manchester United's first transaction of the summer window, Maguire's transfer operation has been analyzed in many aspects by the media and football experts.
Most people are optimistic about Maguire's development prospects at Manchester United.
Especially with the help of former club teammates or current national team teammates such as Ling Feng, Kante, Rooney, Lingard, etc., Maguire will definitely be able to quickly integrate into Manchester United, and then under the guidance of Mourinho, Become a world-class central defender!
In the eyes of many people, Maguire is likely to replace Smalling and Rojo and form Manchester United's main central defender partner with Bailly in the new season to protect the team.
After successfully snatching Maguire from competitors such as Chelsea, Manchester City, and Juventus, Mourinho's next goal is to rotate the candidate for the center.
The candidate he likes is Real Madrid's young forward Morata!
In the season that just ended, as Real Madrid's striker, Morata scored 15 goals in 26 appearances in La Liga.
At the same time, this is also the first time in his career that he has scored more than 15 league goals in a single season.
The current Morata is not yet the abstract player who will be the "King of Yue" or "Double Inverse Foot" in the future.
Rather, he is one of the best young centers with great superstar potential in today's football world.
These days, centers are already very scarce.
Not to mention an excellent center who can pull the defense, advance with the ball, and provide ball support!
During his two years at Juventus, he fully demonstrated his value and ability to the world.
Therefore, this is why Real Madrid bought him back last season and Manchester United also wants him this season!
Through his agent, Mourinho knew that the player himself was very willing to join a big club like Manchester United and was willing to accept the team's role for him.
Unfortunately, they encountered a very tough attitude from the club.
Perhaps it was because Manchester United rejected Real Madrid's offer for Ling Feng, which made Lafayette really unhappy.
Therefore, in the face of Manchester United's offer, Real Madrid refused to let go of the price of 90 million euros.
He even said that if Manchester United can't come up with 90 million euros, they can exchange it for De Gea.
Of course, Real Madrid knows that Manchester United is unlikely to be willing to trade De Gea for Morata.
The reason why such a proposal was made was just to avenge the fax machine incident that year.
Even if the transfer funds provided by Manchester United's top management this season are as high as 150 million pounds.
However, Mourinho still feels that spending 90 million euros to buy a rotation forward who has only scored more than 15 goals in one season is a bit too expensive.
You know, Higuain, who has already proven himself by scoring in La Liga and broke the single-season scoring record in Serie A, only paid 90 million euros when he moved to Juventus!
Even though Morata is five years younger than him, he has an age advantage.
But with Morata's scoring efficiency, he is definitely not worth the price!
Of course, everyone knows that you from Manchester United are stupid and have a lot of money, so they all want to take advantage of you.
If you don't pay a premium, you won't be able to buy the players you want.
Although his career scoring efficiency is not high, he cannot be called an efficient shooter.
However, Morata's tactical support role as a center is very obvious.
If there is Morata running in and out of the frontcourt without any effort, pulling in support, it will definitely be able to further liberate Lingfeng's offensive ability!
This is what Mourinho values.
After all, as long as Ling Feng is comfortable, this Manchester United's offense will be able to go anywhere!
After a rigorous value analysis, in the view of Mourinho and Manchester United's transfer department, 80 million euros is the highest acceptable price.
If it’s more than 80 million, you might as well buy someone else.
Of course, in order to avoid hanging from a tree, while negotiating with Real Madrid, Manchester United also turned around and joined the war with Chelsea for the "little monster" Lukaku!
This season, Lukaku has dominated the Premier League, scoring 25 goals and ranking fourth in the Premier League scorer list.
What is the concept of being able to score 25 goals in the Premier League?
Henry, Drogba, Shevchenko, Michael Owen and other superstars who have left a big name in the Premier League may not be able to score 25 goals in a single season.
With such a number of goals, he could surely win the Premier League Golden Boot in previous years!
It's a pity that Lukaku, who was in his explosive period, met three perverted guys:
The short-lived Kane!
Ibrahimovic is crossing the river! !
And the terrifying Ling Feng! ! !
However, as a member of the Premier League, his speed and impact in the frontcourt, as well as his tough physical confrontation, made the nickname "Little Monster" he received when he joined Chelsea finally become well-deserved!
Before the season is over, Lukaku has become the favorite of major giants.
Everyone knows that clubs like Everton can no longer retain players like Lukaku.
And it was Chelsea who took the lead!
Conte looks down on the "beautiful man" Diego Costa and tried to purge the bulldog-like striker as early as the winter window.
Even though he scored twenty goals in the Premier League!
Therefore, adding a center is the top priority for the Blues in the summer window. What they are looking for is "Little Monster" Lukaku, who has had a relationship with the club and played the peak of his career at Everton last season.
It just so happens that Lukaku also has an open attitude towards returning to the Blue Bridge.
Originally, in the eyes of many football experts and the media, Lukaku's return to the Blues was a done deal.
However, the sudden addition of Manchester United suddenly made Lukaku's next club confusing.
After all, Chelsea has no advantage over Manchester United, which just won the Triple Crown.
And after hearing the news, Ling Feng, who was on vacation in Italy, couldn't help but complain:
Damn it!
The aircraft carrier here has just sailed into Manchester Port, is it about to take down the professional soup cook over there? !
Are Manchester United crazy?
Do you want to bring together the Wolong and Fengxia of football? !
If you add in the team's original "pressing king" Ibrahimovic, "horse factory director" Martial, "Lin King" Lingard and many other talents (wonders), this lineup is simply heaven-defying!
Of course, complaints are complaints. He is not surprised at all by the transfer rumors that Manchester United is interested in Lukaku.
Compared to Morata, he actually thinks Lukaku is better.
Although Lukaku is a fool, sometimes he has no brains.
But at least he is strong and fast enough, and he can make soup, turn a rhinoceros, and shoot with his left foot quite reliably!
Ling Feng only complained about Manchester United's potential forward signing targets.
However, for Rooney, Manchester United's major signings on the front line are a major matter related to their own interests!
In fact, after Ling Feng joined this season, Rooney, who had sunk under Van Gaal, directly rejuvenated his career.
Under the influence of the two superstars Ling Feng and Ibrahimovic, Rooney, who came to the right, got more opportunities to get the ball, scoring goals and assists.
Fans also exclaimed: Lu Xiaopang is back at the top!
However, as Mourinho transformed the team's tactics and placed more emphasis on frontcourt pressing and quick attacks, Rooney began to be unable to keep up with the team's rhythm.
Especially in the Champions League, where the opponents are stronger and the pace is faster, Rooney's body reaction, corroded by alcohol all year round, has become more cumbersome and sluggish.
This made the Red Devils captain even more difficult to play.
Many times, he is unable to hold the ball in the frontcourt, and his movements are slow to connect. He can only act as a defensive player to allow his teammates to gain more space.
Therefore, since entering the knockout rounds of the Champions League, Rooney's number of goals and assists has dropped sharply. He often starts without making much achievements and is replaced by Lingard.
Lingard's vitality after his appearance and the changes in the team's frontcourt offense are also obvious to all.
Originally, Lingard had already played a lot of playing time in the right wing position.
If the team purchases young forwards such as Morata, Lukaku, and Belotti, his playing time will only be further compressed!
Unless he moves deeper and plays in midfield.
However, he doesn't want to play in midfield!
This is also an important reason why Rooney had conflicts with Ferguson as early as the Ferguson era and after the arrival of Robin van Persie, and even almost left Manchester United!
Besides, even if he moves his position back to the midfielder, he can't compete with Kanter and Herrera, and he will be destined to be a substitute.
Therefore, he is now faced with perhaps the last critical choice of his career:
Or stay on the team as a substitute!
Just like Carrick did last season, he led the young people in the team to play a role in the last years of his career;
Or just transfer and leave!
Find a team that can guarantee the main position, so that he can seek new challenges at the end of his career!
During his years at Manchester United, he won every championship and broke the club's scoring record.
Recalling the Champions League final, when he just watched the team defeat Real Madrid and win the Big Ears Cup from the bench, Rooney already had a premonition.
He knows very well that he no longer has the main position in this Red Devils formation that is undergoing reconstruction.
As he gets older and his competitive status declines, he can no longer play the entire game like he used to, or become the hero that determines the outcome of the game.
But he is still young, only 31 years old!
He was unwilling to waste the few minutes of his career on the bench!
As the double top scorer of Manchester United and England, his inner arrogance makes him unwilling to sit on the bench with the highest salary in the Premier League!
He doesn't want that "handout" or the feeling of powerlessness that comes with not being able to contribute to the team.
Thinking of this, Rooney has already made a decision!
So, he went directly to the Carrington base and knocked on the door of the head coach's office:
"Boss, I want to talk to you!"
Rooney also got straight to the point, asking Mourinho directly if he was included in the team's plans for next season.
Mourinho affirmed, but also said that he could not guarantee his main position.
After receiving the expected answer, Rooney expressed his decision directly without any reservation:
In order to get more playing time, he is ready to leave the team!
Moreover, he has already found his next home!
His agent has already met with Everton's senior management, and Everton is very willing to welcome his return.
Originally, Mourinho was still struggling with how to deal with Rooney's playing time.
After all, as the team captain and locker room leader, Rooney's status in the team no longer matches his actual ability.
In addition, Rooney's personal data this season is good. If he rashly puts Lingard into the starting lineup, it will definitely cause Rooney's own dissatisfaction and an uproar in public opinion.
Now, hearing that Rooney offered to leave the team, he actually breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.
In his mind, Rooney's departure is more in line with his future plans for Manchester United than staying on the team.
Even if Rooney is a true Red Devil who has played for the team for thirteen years, he is even the spiritual totem of this Manchester United!
Professional football is so cruel!
The capable live there and the fittest survive!
Last season, the reason why Manchester United unexpectedly won the Triple Crown was closely related to new players such as Ling Feng, Kante, Ibrahimovic, and Bailly.
This means that without the introduction of capable newcomers, relying on Rooney, Martial, and Mata, it is impossible to complete the Triple Crown.
And upgrading is a problem that every club will face.
What's more, he took over Manchester United not to mess around, but to shoulder the important task of bringing the Red Devils back to the top of Europe!
Of course, even if I feel in my heart that Rooney's decision has done me a big favor.
But considering Rooney's influence on Manchester United and British football, Mourinho still tried to persuade him to stay.
It's a pity that Rooney has decided to leave in order not to spend the last part of his career on the bench!
Soon, when the time came to July 9, 2017, Manchester United dropped a bombshell to English football, and even the world football:
Red Devils captain Wayne Rooney, who has played for Manchester United for 13 years, will leave the team and return to his former parent team Everton!
(End of chapter)