I build a giant in the Premier League

Chapter 65 The Chosen Son

When Yang Cheng asked for 700 million pounds, Jonathan Barnett laughed on the spot and said it was impossible.

But Yang Cheng still insisted.

The cunning agent naturally grasped Yang Cheng's meaning.

So, without further ado, he immediately passed the news to Everton after leaving the Chinese in Bayswater.

Yang Cheng had no idea what happened next.

But he began to make preparations for both scenarios.

The ideal outcome would be if Everton were scared off.

If the Toffees continue to bargain, it will prove that they are determined to get Joe Hart.

Because the winter transfer market is about to close.

Time is running out.

While Everton was hesitating, Yang Cheng started studying Manuel Neuer.

The German goalkeeper does not turn 3 until March 27.

Just as Yang Cheng had expected, he has not yet signed a professional contract with Schalke 04.

Sometimes, in addition to one's own strength, a successful star really needs some luck.

Neuer is the chosen one with great luck.

The early stage of his career was not smooth and he always stumbled.

Schalke 04's youth training is excellent and has produced many talented players, but Neuer has never been able to get called up to the first team.

In January 2006, he had even signed an agreement with Cologne, which was then in the German second division, and drafted the transfer documents.

But at this moment, Schalke 04's second goalkeeper Christopher Hemmeros suddenly decided to transfer to Borussia Mönchengladbach for 75 euros.

Therefore, Schalke 04 decided to keep Neuer as the second goalkeeper.

What is even more unexpected is that just half a year later, Frank Rost, who joined Schalke 800 for a Bundesliga transfer record of 04 million euros, had a header collision with his teammate Bernisch during training.

Both of them suffered tibia injuries. Rost had 8 stitches and will be absent for a while.

Neuer seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, made a splash at Schalke 04 and established himself firmly on the team.

If you are a fan from 2024, you will definitely feel familiar when you see this experience.

That's right.

Before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Neuer used the same tactics to counterattack Germany's main goalkeeper Adler at the time.

They were all critical moments, when competitors were injured and Neuer successfully counterattacked.

If this isn’t the Chosen One, then what is this?
God helped us at both critical moments.

Of course, it is undeniable that Neuer was able to seize opportunities at critical moments thanks to his own superb strength.

But what if there is no such luck?
Neuer will definitely not be buried, but perhaps there will be more wasted time.

Just like now.

Neuer, who is about to turn 19, has been selected for the German U19 national team, but he is not a main player in this national team.

He has a very strong rival.

Florian Fromlowitz from Kaiserslautern.

Yang Cheng investigated Schalke 04's current lineup configuration.

Neuer is currently training with Schalke 04's second team, but he actually played in the game for Schalke 04's U19.

Even in the U19 team, Neuer was not an absolute main player, and his playing time was similar to that of Dennis Ramsik.

Moreover, in this season's German U19 A Western League, Neuer had a very bad start.

In the first six games this season, he conceded 6 goals.

After being replaced by Ramsik in several games, his performance began to improve and he kept the opponents scoreless.

But even if Neuer stands out from the U19 and joins Schalke 04's second team, he will still face fierce competition.

Turkish goalkeepers Walken Anju, 21, and Manuel Lenz, 20.

Further up the line were Frank Rossiter and Christopher Hemmerross of the first team.

Judging from the current goalkeeper ranking of Schalke 04, Neuer has not played for even a minute in the second team so far.

At least he should be ranked 5th.

As for his local youth training status, it is basically the same for others.

Except for Frank Rossiter, the absolute main force today.

In this situation, Yang Cheng knew how to play against Neuer.

……

Everton's response was swift.

Because they are racing against time.

Another offer was submitted to Yang Cheng, 400 million pounds.

But Yang Cheng instructed Lin Zhongqiu to insist on the 700 million pounds.

As long as Everton is willing to counter-offer, it proves the Toffees' sincerity.

Of course, they can also choose other players or rent them for the same price.

Yang Cheng was very happy that they did so.

But Everton's general manager Michael Danforth went south in person, showing a determination to win.

Accompanied by Lin Zhongqiu, Yang Cheng met with Michael Danforth and agent Jonathan Barnett at a hotel in South Hyde Park and had dinner with them.

The two sides still failed to negotiate a price acceptable to both parties.

Everyone knows that they are playing a game with each other, and what they are betting on is psychology.

Yang Cheng will not give in easily. Once he does, he will finalize the transfer.

That evening, Everton raised the price again to £450 million.

Yang Cheng made a slight concession to 650 million pounds.

There is still a gap of 200 million pounds between them.

This is quite a big deal.

That night, Yang Cheng called Xia Qingle and told her all the details overnight. He also entrusted her to represent him and continue the negotiations with Lin Zhongqiu.

The next day, he flew from London to Düsseldorf, Germany, accompanied by the academy's chief talent officer Mike Rigg.

The two drove north directly from Düsseldorf to Gelsenkirchen, 40 kilometers away.

After experiencing its golden age at the end of the last century, the Bundesliga has been in a very difficult situation with the bankruptcy of the Kirch Group and the plummeting of broadcasting fees. It is common for all clubs to be heavily in debt.

Bayern also seized this opportunity and turned the entire Bundesliga into their rear base.

The same is true for Schalke 04.

Schalke 04 doesn't care about a young player who has performed well but has not played a minute in the second team and has not even signed a professional contract.

Yang Cheng's approach was to use courtesy before force. He did not directly contact the players or try to poach them.

Otherwise, you may not have to pay a penny.

Of course, the result may be that Schalke 04 will sue UEFA and have to pay a sum of money for youth training. Yang Cheng doesn't want to do such a thing, it is too bad for his character.

He went directly to Schalke 04 and expressed his willingness to pay a sum of money to buy the player who had not yet signed a professional contract.

Schalke 04 was also very straightforward and offered a reasonable price.

50 pounds.

This is approximately equal to 75 euros.

Afterwards, Yang Cheng obtained the contact information of Neuer and his agent Thomas Klotte from Schalke 04.

The four met at a hotel in Gelsenkirchen that evening.

……

"I've heard about you."

Although he is not yet 19 years old, Manuel Neuer gives Yang Cheng a similar feeling as when he coached Bayern in his previous life.

His character has always been like this.

This is actually a good thing for Yang Cheng.

Given Neuer's personality, he will not be willing to stay in the Schalke 04 youth team.

"You just eliminated Manchester United in the League Cup semi-finals, and our media also reported it."

Yang Cheng smiled and glanced at his agent Thomas Clot standing beside him.

Thomas Klotte is a professional player and has played for Cologne, Frankfurt, Hannover and Dortmund.

After retiring, he became an agent.

Now that Neuer and others have heard of it, many things will be easier to handle.

Yang Cheng also went straight to the point and explained in detail the current situation faced by the Chinese in Bayswater.

"It was that League Cup semi-final that made us famous in Europe that led to us being about to lose our main goalkeeper."

Yang Cheng can communicate directly with Neuer and Thomas Klotte in German.

This left Mike Rigg, who was standing by, stunned.

He really didn't expect that his small boss actually had such ability.

"I trained Joe Hart for two years and hired a very good goalkeeping coach from Spain at a high price."

Having said that, Yang Cheng once again praised his capable assistant.

When Dutch goalkeeper coach Frank Hoek went to Spain with Van Gaal, he helped the Spanish Football Association reform goalkeeper training, which led to the emergence of many talented goalkeepers in Spain in recent years.

Germany also produces a lot of goalkeepers, but German football is closely related to Dutch football, and there are many similarities in the training of young players.

On the contrary, Italy's way of training goalkeepers and their usual goalkeeper training methods are very different from those of the Netherlands and Spain.

This is why Van der Sar was not able to adapt when he joined Juventus.

Yang Cheng told Neuer that if he was willing to join the Chinese team at Bayswater, there would be no problems in football training and competitions, except for language and life.

"I can guarantee that after Joe Hart's transfer, you will be our team's first goalkeeper. If you are ready, you can even represent our team in the Championship League against Derby County at home on February 2."

"In addition, I can assure you that we will be promoted to the Premier League this season and will most likely participate in the UEFA Cup next year. By then, you will also be the main goalkeeper of our team."

Yang Cheng’s biggest bargaining chip is that Schalke 04 can never give him a chance to play.

In the League Cup semi-finals, Chelsea eliminated Liverpool and reached the final.

Chelsea is currently at the top of the Premier League table and has a high probability of winning the title and participating in the Champions League next season.

If Bayswater Chinese can beat Chelsea in the League Cup final, the team will be able to participate in the UEFA Cup next season.

Yang Cheng clearly saw the excitement in Neuer's eyes.

Staying at Schalke 04 and facing competition from many youth teammates, when will he be able to stand out?

Yang Cheng’s confidence comes from his understanding of Neuer in his previous life and the strength of this German goalkeeper.

As soon as he debuted, he suppressed Germany's top goalkeeper Frank Rossiter, making him unable to make a comeback and forced to leave for another team.

That in itself speaks for itself.

"Manuel, you have to believe in yourself and never just wait for the first team to call you up. You can have better options."

Yang Cheng's words completely shook Neuer.

The German goalkeeper immediately turned to look at his agent.

Thomas Clot nodded slightly.

He had to admit that Yang Cheng's promise was very attractive to Neuer.

The only risk is whether Neuer can adapt to British life and football.

But considering Neuer's personality, it shouldn't be a big problem.

If I stay at Schalke 04, I don’t even know when I can get a professional contract.

The Chinese who go to Bayswater will not only sign a professional contract immediately, but will also get more playing time in the first team and even play in the Premier League and the UEFA Cup next season.

Anyone would probably know how to choose.

"I have two questions." Thomas Clot was still cautious.

"You said."

"According to what you said, Joe Hart may transfer to Everton. What if the transfer fails?"

Yang Cheng nodded, and now he officially got to the point.

"I can guarantee that we will give both players equal opportunities to compete and promise Manuel playing time, and even if Joe Hart doesn't leave now, we will consider selling him in the summer."

Since he had already decided to leave, there was no need for Yang Cheng to stay any longer.

There's no point in keeping it.

It would be better to focus on training Neuer.

As for local players, Yang Cheng has no shortage of them.

Thomas Klotte and Neuer were obviously very satisfied with Yang Cheng's answer.

"The second question is, why do you like Manuel?"

This is their biggest concern.

why me?
Yang Cheng was also well prepared.

"Do you still remember that in mid-September last year, the German U9 team played two friendly matches against the U19 European Championship champions Spain?"

"Of course I remember." Neuer replied.

"You played the whole game in the first game, but not in the second game. At that time, I was observing the Spanish midfielder, David Silva, and I saw your performance."

Neuer frowned when he heard this, "But we lost 0-2 in that game."

Because of this, he lost his main position.

"When evaluating a player, we can't just look at the results of the game. I think from the process point of view, you are a goalkeeper that meets my requirements very well. I like this characteristic of yours, which is also what we need."

At this moment, all doubts of both Neuer and Thomas Klotte were gone.

Neuer even began to look forward to the future.

　Sorry, there was a mistake about the qualification for the League Cup. I didn't pay attention to the details when I was writing. Thanks to the book friends who found and pointed it out, I have corrected it.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)