Wenger has been having a tough time lately.
The reason is of course because last season’s top four results were all gone!
In the Premier League, Arsenal ultimately ranked fifth and lost the qualification to participate in the Champions League.
And this also makes Arsenal's record of entering the Champions League main draw for 19 consecutive seasons come to an end!
In last season's Champions League, although Arsenal still qualified from the group and entered the top 16 of the Champions League for the 17th consecutive year under the leadership of Wenger, they suffered another tragedy in the knockout rounds.
Arsenal's opponent is Bayern Munich again!
Then the home game was 1:5, the away game was still 1:5, the total score was 2:10 and they were double beaten, conceding ten goals!
To be honest, Arsenal fans are quite used to being eliminated from the Champions League, but conceding ten goals is really...
Then came the League Cup. They only made it to the third round and were defeated 2-0 by Southampton.
Finally, there is the FA Cup, also commonly known as the "Thermos Cup", but everyone knows the result. It was also defeated by York City in the third round when the Premier League team just came out.
Such a result puts Wenger's coaching position in jeopardy. Even at the Emirates Stadium, slogans saying "Wenger is out" can be seen everywhere!
There are rumors that the next season will be Wenger's final test. If Arsenal still fails to achieve any rebound results this season, then Wenger's dismissal will be inevitable.
Therefore, Wenger's work this summer is particularly important.
If you can't introduce your favorite players to strengthen some important positions of the team, then how can you compete with the wolf-like BIG6 with this current lineup?
For example, rival Manchester United spent more than 100 million pounds this season, directly poaching Chelsea's seven-time champion players Lukaku and Matic.
As for Liverpool, in addition to poaching Chamberlain from Arsenal, they also spent a lot of money to get Salah from Hamburg to Anfield. It seems that they are going to cause trouble in the new season.
In his second year in the Premier League, Guardiola also began a major transformation of his team.
It bought right back Kyle Walker from Tottenham for 54 million pounds, bought left back Mendy from Monaco for 52 million pounds, bought Danilo from Real Madrid for 27 million pounds, and also acquired two old players of Pan Yi. : Chelsea’s Bernardo Silva, and AC Milan’s Ederson!
Such large-scale signings are bound to greatly enhance Manchester City's strength. Gambling companies have even regarded Manchester City as the biggest favorite to win the championship in the new season.
As for Chelsea, although they have lost several players, the framework of seven championships is still there.
Moreover, Abramovich has already waved the check in his hand and is preparing to operate in the transfer market. People like Morata, Bakayoko, Drinkwater, Zampacosta and others are all their targets. .
In comparison, Arsenal's lineup is really terrible!
To this end, Wenger started the season's recruitment work early.
For some reason, the first thing he thought of was York City.
The main reason is that there are a lot of "shotai" there, and Wenger is obviously a "shota control"!
Therefore, he first tentatively offered Thomas Amang to York City. After all, this Cameroonian fast horse is indeed the type he likes.
But the reply from York City was only one word: NO!
What Wenger needs is actually more than just a striker.
Midfielder, defender, and even goalkeeper, he all needs reinforcements!
If possible, players like Rice, Kulusevski, Alphonso Davies, De Ligt, Kenyo Tomiyasu...he wants them all!
But it can be heard from the words of Pan Yi brought by York City director Horta that York City will not sell any of them.
Even if Arsenal makes another offer, the answer they get will still be NO!
As a result, Wenger could only helplessly look away from York City.
So, Pan Yi suggested that he go to Ligue 1 to find someone, did Wenger go?
In fact, he had already visited Lyon's Lacazette, but the other party's offer was a bit high, which made Wenger a little unable to decide.
Therefore, he still felt that it would be more cost-effective to go somewhere else first, find some young potential stocks, and then come back and practice.
The first place Wenger wants to visit is Ajax, known as the "star processing factory".
Among the candidates recommended to him by Arsenal scouts before was a Dutch star named Frenkie de Jong.
This guy was just transferred to the Ajax first team last season. Although it seemed a bit incompatible with the Ajax style under the then head coach Peter Botts, De Jong was not able to play in the Ajax first team because of this. The team received too many opportunities to play, playing only 11 times in all competitions and scoring 1 goal.
But from the limited video of a few games, Wenger can still see the potential of this kid.
He can see that Frenkie de Jong has a strong ability to read the game, has a killer passing level, and can also play in multiple different positions. He can play as a defensive midfielder or an offensive player. Midfield.
But the most suitable role for him is the organizational midfielder role. He has solid basic skills and delicate foot skills, can ensure a very high passing success rate, and has accurate short and medium and long-distance passing abilities.
At the same time, he also has an excellent overall view and can calmly and quickly analyze the situation on the field. Therefore, he is suitable for organizing and sorting out the offense in a relatively deep position in the midfield.
With these comprehensive abilities, De Jong's greatest tactical value is that he can become the metronome of the team like Sergio Busquets, helping the team control the rhythm of the game, and serving as a connecting point in the middle to connect the backcourt and the team. The frontcourt really connects.
And this is exactly what Arsenal needs now.
Therefore, Wenger immediately contacted Ajax, hoping to discuss De Jong's transfer, but what he did not expect was that the other party's reply surprised Wenger.
"Sorry, Frenkie de Jong...he is no longer our player!" It was Van der Sar who contacted Wenger on the phone, and his answer was clear.
"What do you mean?" Wenger was surprised, even a little angry.
"He has been bought by someone at a high price, and he also signed an agreement with the other party, just yesterday!"
"Who is it? Manchester United? Bayern? Barcelona?" Wenger named several teams in one breath, but he shook his head first.
These teams often want to buy famous stars, and Frenkie de Jong did not have any outstanding performance last season, so how could he be favored by these giants?
Van der Sar on the other end of the phone also laughed: "Mr. Wenger, you are kidding. De Jong is just a substitute player in our team and just entered the first team last season..."
"Who is it? Who bought it?" Wenger even asked angrily.
He is a very possessive person, so he always likes to recruit all the young players he likes to his team.
What made him even more angry was that there was someone with more vicious eyes than him?
Anyone who can see De Jong's potential is definitely not an idle person!
Hey, wait a minute, he does seem to know someone like this, is it possible...
Sure enough, Van der Sar immediately reported the person's name: "It's Pan Yi. He negotiated with us on behalf of York City. He directly offered 10 million euros. I have no reason to refuse this business."
"What, only 10 million euros?" Wenger's eyes widened.
You know, Wenger's psychological expectation for purchasing De Jong this time has reached 15 million euros. He didn't expect that Pan Yi would snatch him away at such a cheap price!
This made Wenger even more angry.
Van der Sar, ah Van der Sar, you old boy, you were deceived by that boy Pan Yi!
"Haha, Pan Yi is our old customer, so he deserves a discount." Van der Sar said with a smile, "Of course there is one more thing. This time he not only bought De Jong, but also gave our main goalkeeper Onana to After buying it, I also directly offered 10 million euros. In other words, 20 million euros for two people!"
Now Wenger understood.
But he was even more angry!
Because Onana is also one of Wenger's goals this time!
Arsenal's current main goalkeeper Petr Cech is certainly very good, but he is older and is indeed no longer in his prime, and he himself is also thinking about retirement.
The original main player Szczesny has been transferred to Juventus because he was unwilling to be a substitute, so Wenger also needs to have reserves in the goalkeeper position.
The original main player Szczesny has been transferred to Juventus because he was unwilling to be a substitute, so Wenger also needs to have reserves in the goalkeeper position.
Wenger's teams are known to like to play the ball out from the back, so he needs a goalkeeper with good footwork.
And Onana is such a player!
His psychological quality is also very good. He can often deliver good-quality passes to the frontcourt under high pressure, and he is also a weapon to break the opponent's high-pressure defense.
Of course, Onana's performance on the goal line is also very good, which also allowed him to gradually defeat the Dutch international Cillessen in the competition for the main goalkeeper in the Eredivisie last season and become Ajax's first choice. of a door.
However, it is precisely because of Cilesen that Ajax believes that letting Onana go is not unacceptable.
It's equivalent to selling a substitute midfielder and an original substitute goalkeeper for 20 million euros. It feels like a big profit!
Both players came to Ajax in 2015. De Jong is a little more expensive. Ajax paid Willem II more than 7 million to get him.
But Onana only cost Ajax 150,000 pounds...
Considering that De Jong did not do well in his first year in the Eredivisie, there is a high probability that he will fail and then fall into his own hands. Ajax is very grateful for Pan Yi's move this time!
All in all, both the buyer and the seller were very happy with the deal!
After hanging up the phone, Wenger almost threw away the phone in his hand angrily, gritting his teeth and trying to vent his anger.
"This Pan Yi has already joined the British Championship team, and he can still steal people from me!"
However, it is not unusual for English Championship teams to go to the Eredivisie and the Portuguese Super League to buy players. Even people from the four major leagues are sometimes willing to play in the English Championship, not to mention the name of this English Championship team. "York City", the boss is called "Pan Yi".
After all, he is very wealthy!
But Wenger was still very angry and wanted to "retaliate"!
He immediately picked up the phone again, called his scouts, and asked for some news about York City.
Soon he got the latest clue. It was said that Pan Yi was interested in a young player from Sporting CP named Rafael Leao.
Since this Leo is still a reserve team player of Sporting CP and has not been officially transferred to the first team, the scouts can’t say anything. They just said that they heard that this Leo plays as a winger, is very fast and has a strong body. Strong and stuff like that.
Wenger didn't care. Anyway, if Pan Yi liked it, he would grab it! Reserve team players are definitely not expensive anyway.
And isn't this "very fast" what he wants? If Pan Yi can like it, it will definitely not be bad.
So, after going through some troubles, Wenger got Leo's phone number and dialed it immediately.
"Hello, Raphael!" Wenger tried his best to appear polite.
"Uh... hello, who are you?" On the other side of the phone, Leo was also very polite, with a smile in his words. Even Wenger could feel that this must be a boy who loves to laugh.
"Oh, let me introduce myself. I am Arsene Wenger, the manager of Arsenal. I believe you have heard of me and the name of our club. I have noticed your performance and hope you can take time to come to Arsenal. Come here and treat it as a trial!"
Leo was obviously stunned on the phone, which made Wenger think Leo was surprised, especially his silence.
After all, this is just a child who has never seen much of the world. Faced with the temptation from Arsenal, few can resist it!
Especially Wenger, he himself knows that his reputation for using young players is very famous in world football, and he is especially attractive to young players.
As for trial training, Wenger is still more cautious.
Even if Leo is the player that Pan Yi likes, there is a high probability that he will not be good at it, but after all, Wenger has never watched Leo's game once, not even the video highlights...
If he is determined to buy him just like this, it would be too inconsistent with Wenger's personality.
So give it a try and see how good it is before you decide to buy it. It won’t be a big problem, and you can even determine the purchase price.
As for Leo, after all, he is just a reserve team player. As Arsenal inviting him for a trial training, there is definitely no "insulting" feeling. On the contrary, it should be an honor!
"How about it? If you agree, I will talk to Sporting Club de Portugal immediately!" Wenger felt that he had a chance to win.
There was a conversation between Leo and an unknown person on the other side of the phone. The other person was obviously asking about someone. Leo told him that it was Wenger from Arsenal. These conversations made Wenger guess that Leo was probably talking to Talk to your agent.
"Let me tell him, Raphael!" said the man.
This made Wenger couldn't help but laugh. He felt that Leo's agent did this to prove that the transfer was successful.
This manager's voice sounds familiar. Could it be that he is an old friend who has worked with him before? It would be better to have friendship!
"Hello, Mr. Wenger!" The person on the phone seemed quite polite.
Wenger deliberately and proudly remained silent for about two or three seconds, and then responded: "Hello, are you Leo's agent?"
But the man over there laughed: "Oh, no, Mr. Wenger, I think you misunderstood, I am not Leo's agent. I am Pan Yi, haha! I am here to invite Leo on behalf of York City today. Mr. joined the team!”
When Wenger heard this, he was stunned and suddenly didn't know what to say.
Shame, anger, shame, embarrassment...all the emotions rushed into Wenger's mind.
Then, he hung up the phone very irrationally, which was the only way he could avoid this disaster.
——
That's right, Pan Yi has already completed his trip to Italy and the Netherlands, and now he's in Portugal.
After taking care of Tonali, he successively visited Barrera, Bastoni, DiMarco, Scamacca and others and took care of them one by one.
It's very simple. Serie B teams like Varela currently playing for Cagliari and Scamacca playing for Cremona are really not enough for Pan Yi.
Bastoni and DiMarco are a little more troublesome because they have a common competitor: Inter Milan.
Bastoni just played for Atlanta's first team last season, and his performance also attracted the attention of Inter Milan, who made contact this summer.
As for Di Marco, he was originally trained by Inter Milan, but was later sold to Switzerland. He played well and gave Inter Milan the idea of repurchasing him.
At this time, York City's disadvantage as a British Championship team is reflected. After all, no matter how popular you are and how good your results are, you can't compare to the traditional giants Inter Milan.
So Pan Yi started to persuade from the perspective of cultivating young players.
It's very simple. When you two go to a team like Inter Milan, are you really confident that you can play in the game?
In fact, even in his previous life, DiMarco didn't really gain a foothold in Inter Milan until around 2022 and became the team's main force.
After being bought by Inter Milan, Bastoni has been renting out for training, and he only officially started playing for Inter Milan in the 2019-2020 season.
So this kind of talking technique is definitely tried and true, especially when the person who says this to you is Pan Yi.
After taking care of the five Italian generals, Pan Yi went to find his old friend Edwin van der Sar.
For De Jong and Onana, they are of course what York City needs at the moment.
Especially Onana, such a ball-playing goalkeeper has always been Pan Yi's favorite, and the current main goalkeeper Isaacson is about to retire, and he is only a traditional goalkeeper, so it must be updated. of.
As for directly throwing away 20 million euros, firstly, it is because there is absolutely no loss in buying these two players, so it is regarded as financial management;
The second reason is because the two players Westerman and De Ligt bought from Ajax are really useful!
It's easy to talk to and it's not difficult to buy again!
It is definitely beneficial to have a good relationship with a "human trafficker" team like Ajax!
As for De Jong and Onana, one is not very good at playing in the team, and the other is just able to play as the main force, and his position is not very stable;
Under Pan Yi's warm invitation, everyone was naturally moved.
Anyway, they are not purely Ajax youth training like De Ligt, and their feelings for the team are not that complicated.
So done!
Then came to Portugal to find Rafael Leo.
This future "Qinxiao Gong" really loves to laugh, and he couldn't stop laughing after hearing that Pan Yi was interested in him, and he readily agreed to go to York City to start his new adventure.
As for the later episode of Wenger's phone call, it will naturally not affect Leo's decision.
To be honest, in terms of current appeal to young players, Pan Yi's name is definitely the number one in the world.
Not to mention Wenger, even if Ferguson calls, it may not be useful...
(End of chapter)
