Last year, after Serie A's Napoli completed their domestic treble, they opened the doors to their "supermarket," selling players at will. Combined with Florentino's return to Real Madrid and Gao Shen's management of Manchester City, it created a massive tsunami across the entire transfer market.
Perhaps, many years from now, the transfer market frenzy of last summer will be difficult to replicate.
It will be a memory remembered and discussed by countless fans.
But this year, the transfer market has clearly become much calmer.
Manchester City won the Premier League title with five rounds to spare last season, proving their overall strength. This meant that the Blue Moon would not repeat the frantic spending of the previous summer. Instead, the focus would shift to strengthening the depth of the squad.
By June, Manchester City had finalized only two signings: Jerome Boateng and Fernandinho, with a total cost of 25 million euros. While not insignificant in the European transfer market, it was far less outrageous than last summer.
The same was true for Real Madrid.
As soon as June began, the Galácticos couldn't wait to announce a managerial change. Pellegrini was dismissed, and Inter Milan's head coach, Mourinho, officially took charge at the Bernabéu.
This wasn't surprising at all.
After Gao Shen turned down Real Madrid, there were very few world-class managers left for the club to choose from. Mourinho was one of the few options available, and his situation at Inter Milan was far from ideal.
Moratti had invested heavily, but the team failed to produce results in two consecutive seasons. Tensions had begun to rise between Mourinho and the locker room. Breaking up at this point was the best outcome for both sides.
After Mourinho took over, Real Madrid's transfer strategy became more pragmatic. Star signings were few and far between.
Now that the two biggest spenders were prioritizing value for money, the tone of the entire transfer market was set.
Looking specifically at the Premier League, the purchasing power of the entire league had clearly declined.
As the most commercially developed of the top four European leagues, the Premier League had been hit hardest by the economic crisis. Although it remained well ahead of Serie A and La Liga, it was far more sluggish than in years past.
Even though Manchester United reached the Champions League final, just as Ferguson said, it was difficult for the Red Devils to free up funds for transfers this summer. They could only make small adjustments.
Chelsea also made no major moves. Their biggest signing was Ramires from Benfica. However, center-back Carvalho was likely to be sold to Real Madrid, as Mourinho wanted to bring in the Portuguese defender.
In addition, Chelsea had begun clearing out their first-team squad.
Players such as Ballack, Joe Cole, Belletti, and Deco were all expected to leave, with many departing on free transfers.
This would undoubtedly affect Chelsea's squad.
Depth is critical for any team competing on multiple fronts. But maintaining a large squad is expensive, which posed a problem for Abramovich, whose wealth had been significantly affected by the financial crisis.
More importantly, Chelsea had yet to achieve financial independence despite years of effort. They had invested heavily in their youth academy but failed to establish an effective talent pipeline.
All of this posed serious long-term risks.
If Gao Shen remembered correctly, Ancelotti was dismissed by Abramovich despite a string of wins, only for the situation to take a drastic turn shortly afterward.
Liverpool, by contrast, were in a better position. They finished third in the Premier League last season, which was a solid result. Their continued participation in the Champions League was the biggest reassurance for the Reds. Unlike in Gao Shen's previous life, Benítez had managed to keep his job.
Likewise, players like Mascherano and Benayoun would remain at Liverpool. The Reds would remain competitive in the new season, and if they could make a few smart signings, Gao Shen believed they could pose a real challenge to Manchester City.
In comparison, Arsenal's situation was far worse.
Missing out on the Champions League for consecutive seasons meant more than just losing tens of millions of euros in revenue. More importantly, it had a deep impact on sponsors and players.
Why had Arsenal's management been bold enough to build the Emirates Stadium and invest in real estate projects in Highbury?
Because Wenger made the call at the crucial moment, believing he could guarantee the team's Champions League qualification.
And history had proven him right. For many years, Wenger consistently led Arsenal into the Champions League and into the Round of 16.
Gunners fans could criticize him all they wanted, but they could not ignore his contributions.
But now, the circumstances were clearly different.
The rise of Manchester City had caused Arsenal to miss out on the Champions League for the first time in over a decade. This wasn't just a financial loss, but also a blow to the club's confidence.
Sponsors paid top dollar because they believed Arsenal would play in the Champions League every year. Players remained with the Gunners because they knew the team would compete in Europe's top tournament no matter how poorly they performed.
Now, all of that was gone.
Logically, in this situation, Arsenal should invest heavily in the transfer market, bring in top players, shore up their weaknesses, and regain competitiveness in the Premier League to reclaim a Champions League spot.
But that was the problem. Arsenal had no money.
Gao Shen had heard plenty of jokes about Arsenal in his past life, about them being stingy, saving billions, and always selling their captain. These were expressions of the fans' frustration with the club.
The truth was, Arsenal's debt at the time amounted to 70% of the club's total assets.
Basically, if you sold Arsenal now, you might not get a penny in return. Every cent would go toward debt repayment.
The real estate project at Highbury was like a noose around Arsenal's neck, threatening to choke them at any time. Fortunately, that loan would be paid off next year.
It had taken eight years.
Arsenal might have significant cash reserves, but that didn't mean they could spend freely on players.
These were two different concepts.
It was like a person earning a monthly salary of 100,000. Just because they had cash flow didn't mean they were willing to spend 10,000 or 20,000 to upgrade an old laptop or replace a phone they'd used for years.
Why?
Because they had to repay their mortgage, car loan, credit cards, kids' tuition, and household expenses. They even needed to keep some cash in reserve in case next month's income dropped sharply.
After all that, they might not have a cent left or might even fall into the red.
That was Wenger's situation now.
Gao Shen didn't know if Arsenal fans in 2022 would miss Wenger even more after he left. But from Wenger's own perspective, Gao Shen believed he was truly relieved.
…
While vacationing in China, Gao Shen had been remotely overseeing Manchester City's transfer activity in Europe.
After signing Jerome Boateng and Fernandinho, recruitment continued.
As the pre-season approached, the pace of signings began to accelerate.
In late June, Gao Shen ended his vacation and returned to Europe.
Just one day before his return, a bombshell transfer shook European football.
David Villa joined Barcelona from Valencia in a 40-million-euro deal.
The move triggered shockwaves throughout European football.
David Villa was Spain's leading striker and had drawn interest from Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United, and Chelsea. But just as the new Barcelona president took office, he wasted no time in sealing the deal.
In mid-June, as Gao Shen had witnessed in his previous life, Rosell indeed defeated Laporta and became Barcelona's new president, with Bartomeu appointed vice president.
This proved that Gao Shen's butterfly effect wasn't enough to change the outcome of Barcelona's presidential election.
Signing David Villa was part of Rosell's superstar campaign strategy. But Villa wasn't his only target. Arsenal's Cesc Fàbregas was also in his sights.
Immediately after taking office, Bartomeu lashed out at Arsenal, accusing them of creating obstacles to Fàbregas' return. After all, Fàbregas had been taken from Barcelona's youth academy.
In addition to Fàbregas, Rosell was actively pursuing Agüero from Atlético Madrid. The Argentine striker had just helped Atlético win the Europa League and was also on Real Madrid's radar. Guardiola, however, was particularly keen on him.
To free up salary space, players such as Hleb, Cáceres, Henry, and Márquez would be offloaded.
Also, two key players, Eto'o and Yaya Touré, were once again placed on the transfer list.
Meanwhile, after selling David Villa for 40 million euros, Valencia announced the signing of Spanish midfielder Dani Parejo from Napoli for 20 million euros.
Parejo had performed well for Napoli last season. Especially after the departures of Rakitic and Biglia, he carried the burden of organizing the team's midfield. He was the undisputed core of Napoli's midfield setup.
Having sold their stars for two consecutive summers, Valencia, seeing the rise of Sevilla, Atlético, and Villarreal, finally decided to invest and strengthen.
This deal also netted Gao Shen an unexpected bonus—20% of the transfer fee.
At present, most of Napoli's players had been introduced and developed under Gao Shen's tenure. Revenue from sell-on clauses like this would likely continue to flow in. Players like Hamsik, Cavani, Pastore, and Benatia were all valuable assets who could fetch high prices.
Leaving Serie A behind, Gao Shen took an Emirates flight to Dubai, then continued to Abu Dhabi to meet with Mansour. It was an invitation from Mansour, who hadn't had time to meet Gao Shen when he previously visited to film commercials.
After flying from Dubai to London, Gao Shen continued north.
Upon arriving in Manchester, consultant Brian Marwood personally greeted him at the airport and briefed him on Manchester City's latest transfer developments.
(To be continued.)
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