I build a giant in the Premier League

Chapter 22 I found a treasure in the English Premier League

Ewood Park Stadium, south of Blackburn City in northern England.

Head coach Graeme Souness walked quickly into the office building from the parking lot in the office area north of the stadium.

Everyone recognizes this famous local coach and is even more aware of Souness's violent temper.

We had a smooth journey and arrived directly at the CEO's office on the 2nd floor.

Souness didn't even knock, he just pushed the door open.

This startled Blackburn chief executive John Williams, who was sitting inside.

When he saw it was Souness, Williams, who was about to curse, had to suppress his anger and forced a smile instead.

"What brought you here, Graeme?"

Williams stood up from his office chair with a smile, walked out, and asked Souness to come and sit down, while asking the secretary who was at a loss outside to quickly make a cup of coffee.

Only then did he return to Souness's side.

"If you have something to ask, just call me directly. Why bother coming here in person?"

It sounds sweet, but deep down John Williams was almost cursing.

This guy has a straightforward temper and is very difficult to deal with.

But in Blackburn, these guys from Liverpool are very prestigious.

Blackburn is located in the northwest of England, north of Liverpool and Manchester. The three cities are like an equilateral triangle, so Blackburn is also deeply influenced by the two red football cities.

As the most powerful dynasty in England in the 80s, Liverpool's football had a huge impact on Blackburn.

The late owner Jack Walker was a famous British steel tycoon and a Blackburn fan. He served as the club's vice chairman since 1986 and even donated money to build the [Steel Walker Stand] at Ewood Park.

In 91, Jack Walker took over the relegated Blackburn Rovers and the following year he paid a large sum of money to hire Liverpool legend Dalglish as the team's head coach.

Over a three-year period, Walker invested heavily in Blackburn Rovers and also won a Premier League title in 3.

More than a decade has passed since the establishment of the Premier League, and the championship has always been the exclusive preserve of Manchester United and Arsenal.

The only Premier League title that belonged to Blackburn was in 95.

This is Blackburn's glory!

After winning the championship in 95, Dalglish retired, Walker's input was not as good as before, and Blackburn's performance began to fluctuate.

They were even relegated in the 98/99 season.

The head coach at that time was Brian Kidd, who was poached from Manchester United.

But he only led the team until November before being fired by Jack Walker.

In 2000, Jack Walker sadly passed away and handed the club over to a trust, with John Williams continuing as chief executive.

But the last appointment he made before he stepped down was to hire Graeme Souness as the team's head coach.

Souness was the captain of Liverpool during their glorious era and later became the head coach of Liverpool.

Everyone in Blackburn firmly believes that under Souness's leadership, Blackburn will be able to reproduce the glory of Dalglish's era in the 90s.

Sure enough, in his first season as coach, Souness led the team back to the Premier League.

In the 01/02 season, Blackburn not only successfully avoided relegation, but also finished 10th in the Premier League.

In the 02/03 season, Souness's team went one step further, finishing 6th in the Premier League and was once close to the Champions League zone.

More than a decade of ties and excellent results have given Souness a very high prestige in Blackburn.

The team's performance has plummeted this season and no one will blame Souness.

Blackburn didn't spend much by selling Duff and David Dunn for more than 20 million pounds.

Not long ago, Souness expressed his hope that the team would buy Jonathan Steed.

The reason is simple, Blackburn's forward attack is seriously weak now.

The Black Wind Duo, Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke, have scored 16 and 5 goals respectively in 2 Premier League games so far.

This is a very bad thing.

What's even more outrageous is that Dwight Yorke's private life was seriously indiscreet and caused a lot of controversy, which seriously affected his own condition and Blackburn's image.

Souness believes that the team must make changes and introduce a high center forward like Jonathan Steed to change the team's offensive style and abandon the traditional 442 double forward tactics.

This is called keeping up with the times.

"I came here this time just to ask you, how is Jonathan Steed's negotiation going?"

Souness's tone was like a sharp sword, straight to the point.

John Williams still had a smile on his face, "We are talking, we are always talking."

"But why did I hear that Chelsea also made an offer?"

"It seems... that's the case."

"like?"

"It's just a rumor in the media, nothing has been confirmed."

“How much do they open?”

"£700 million."

Souness frowned immediately, "Did that English League Two team agree?"

"It seems hesitant."

It seems again.

This is why Souness dislikes the transfer market the most.

Everything seemed to be shrouded in clouds and mist, and could not be seen clearly.

But now, the situation waits for no one.

"I have to remind you, John, that we are in a very dangerous situation now. I am not sure we can avoid relegation with the players we have now."

Souness said seriously.

Relegation would definitely be a nightmare for Blackburn.

The relegation in the early 90s was supported by the steel tycoon Jack Walker, and the last relegation was also backed by this boss.

But now?

A statue of Jack Walker was erected on the north side of the stadium, directly opposite the office building, as a memorial.

If they are really relegated again, from John Williams to Souness, none of them will be able to escape, they will all be finished!
"You know, John, that bastard York is now obsessed with women, not football. Grabbi and Jansen, one scored zero goals, the other scored 2 goals." "I have 4 forwards, all added up, the number of goals scored is not even a fraction of Jonathan Steed's. Tell me, how do we play?"

It was not the first time Souness had vented his anger.

John Williams also knew that management did not give him enough support in this matter.

At the beginning of the season, their advice was to use the Black Wind Twins first and just try to avoid relegation.

But now?

"Graeme, if we want to snatch someone from Chelsea, we have to pay a higher transfer fee," John Williams sighed.

"Will he be taller than Alan Shearer back then?" Souness asked sharply.

"When Mr. Walker signed Alan Shearer from Southampton against all odds and even paid a transfer fee higher than Shelingham's, how much controversy did it cause?"

"There was also the center forward Christopher Sutton, who was transferred from Norwich for a huge transfer fee."

"But it was precisely these two center forwards who won Blackburn the only Premier League title in the club's history in 95!"

"Have you forgotten all of this?"

At that time, John Williams had not yet joined Blackburn.

But he had heard of the legend.

In fact, the reason why he joined Blackburn was because of this history.

"Are you so optimistic about Jonathan Steed?" asked John Williams.

Souness looked the CEO straight in the face without giving in. "I don't know, but in the current transfer market, do you have anyone better than him?"

……

In the 22nd round of English League Two, which was also the eve of the last game before Christmas, Bayswater Chinese received four offers at the same time.

This surprised both Yang Cheng and Lin Zhongqiu.

But Brian Kidd thought it was nothing new.

"In the Premier League, most clubs follow the trend when signing players."

Among these four offers, Fulham increased the transfer fee to 4 million pounds.

The West London team is obviously very sure that Chelsea has not made an offer of £700 million at all.

Charlton's Curbishley were also interested in Jonathan Steed and had plenty of cash on hand after selling midfielder Parker to Chelsea for a big fee.

So, they offered 700 million pounds, hoping to use Steed to make up for the team's shortcomings in the front line.

Newcastle also offered £700 million.

Both clubs are probably unsure whether Chelsea will make an offer, but they are willing to follow up on Chelsea's offer.

Or rather, the price the Chinese in Bayswater are asking.

Blackburn made an offer of £750 million, slightly higher than Chelsea.

This also shows Blackburn's urgency.

"What should we do now?" Lin Zhongqiu asked with a frown.

He found that although he had run the football club for several years, he was not as good as Yang Cheng who had just taken over the team.

So now, whenever it comes to making a key decision, he would habitually ask Yang Cheng for his opinion.

"Give Blackburn a return of the asking price, £800 million!"

……

When Blackburn received the fax from the Chinese in Bayswater, they were obviously hesitant.

They wanted to bargain.

This is normal when doing business.

But in the 22nd round of the English League Two, Bayswater Chinese defeated the visiting Notts County 3-0 at home.

Jonathan Steed gave the Chinese team the lead with a wonderful long shot in the 28th minute of the first half.

Afterwards, Yang Cheng replaced him in the 75th minute.

Center forward Lambert, who came on as a substitute, scored twice in the 82nd and 86th minutes.

Yang Cheng clearly felt that as Jonathan Steed's transfer signs became more and more obvious, Lambert was eager to seize the opportunity to improve his role in the team.

But what people outside saw was that Steed had scored in eight consecutive games.

The day after Bayswater Chinese defeated Notts County, when the British media was once again hyping Jonathan Steed, Blackburn quickly agreed to Bayswater Chinese's asking price.

£800!
Blackburn CEO John Williams and Vernon, chairman of the trust fund behind Blackburn, took their team south to London to negotiate with the Chinese in Bayswater.

Yang Cheng did not show up and entrusted Lin Zhongqiu with full responsibility.

As a result, the two sides had a disagreement on the payment method.

Blackburn wanted to pay in installments, but Yang Cheng demanded the full amount be paid in one lump sum.

The two sides discussed this issue for three days, and finally reached a formal agreement before Christmas.

Blackburn had to agree to the request of the Chinese in Bayswater and signed Jonathan Steed for a high price of 800 million pounds in full.

On Christmas Eve, Blackburn officially notified the media and announced the news.

This immediately caused widespread heated discussion in the British media.

Back then, the fledgling Alan Shearer joined Blackburn and was trained under Dalglish.

Now, Jonathan Steed has also gone to Blackburn to play under Dalglish's "apprentice" Souness.

Isn’t this a kind of reincarnation?

When the whole of Britain was immersed in the news of Jonathan Steed joining Blackburn, no one noticed that Bayswater Chinese, who were in the English League Two, signed the 15-year-old center forward Dave Kitson from Cambridge United in the English League Three for 24 pounds.

No one knew that when the Chinese in Bayswater signed Dave Kitson, Steve Coppell, the head coach of Reading in League One west of London who had just jumped from Brighton on October 10, was furious in his office.

"This is so fucking bullying!"

"They just made 800 million pounds here, and now they're trying to snatch players from us in the English League Three?"

"The football environment is so transparent nowadays, is it easy for me to find a treasure?"

"Bayswater Chinese, don't let me see you on the field!"

"Otherwise, I'll kill you!"

　During the new book period, my update speed is pretty good, two updates a day, each chapter is 3K words. Although my pace is usually slow, it should be quite fast this time, so please don't worry, our follow-up reading is a bit poor. I promise to work hard to write and save the manuscript, and then it will explode on the shelves! Begging for collection! Begging for all kinds of votes! ! Thank you very much! !
　　
　
(End of this chapter)