Chapter 420: As the major players prepare for war, Arsenal sets another record

Compared with Kante and Navas, Milner, who is about to leave the team, did not visit Lin Quan.

Before the end of the season, he was ready to leave the team.

Like Navas, the reason why Milner left the team was that he could not get a starting position. He wanted to go to a team where he could start.

Milner is a versatile player in the Manchester City team. He can play as a winger, midfielder, full-back and other positions. He can be called a versatile player.

Players like this are actually very popular with Guardiola, so last season, Milner played a total of 49 games in various competitions, scoring 9 goals and providing 8 assists. Not only did his statistics be very good, but his attendance rate was also very good. Also very high.

However, most of them are substitutes, and only one-third of the games are starts.

When he learned that Milner rejected the contract extension offered to him by Manchester City and planned to leave the team, Guardiola had a sincere talk with him in detail and tried to persuade him to stay.

However, after the two chatted for a while, Guardiola looked gloomy.

He knew that Milner had decided to leave and that he could not keep him.

Milner is a very calm, very intelligent player.

He has analyzed Manchester City's lineup and is well aware of the strengths of the players in each position in the team.

Manchester City currently has fixed starters in various positions, and it is difficult for him to shake these people's positions. Therefore, he can only stay on the team as a versatile player and be the best substitute.

But that's not what he wants, he wants to be the main player, he wants to play in the midfield.

And these are things Manchester City cannot give.

Therefore, faced with the huge contract offered by Manchester City with a weekly salary of 160,000 pounds, Milner chose to refuse and instead accepted the olive branch offered by Liverpool!

He definitely didn't go to Liverpool for the money.

Because Liverpool is so stingy, they only offer him a weekly salary of 125,000 pounds, which is almost a quarter less than Manchester City's salary.

For such a player who has a clear plan for the future, Guardiola cannot fool him. He can only wish him a good future with Liverpool!

Milner's personal abilities are very comprehensive, and he runs actively on the court and defends desperately. He is a player with strong work commitment and mental attributes.

More importantly, he also has a local registered residence in England, which can be said to be a huge plus for Premier League teams.

And for such a player to join his own team for zero transfer fee, it is definitely a huge profit for Liverpool.

Klopp is very satisfied with this transfer. His first signing in Liverpool has gone smoothly, making him full of confidence in his future at Liverpool.

However, Liverpool is still very weak now, and all three lines of the team need to be strengthened.

After signing Milner to strengthen the midfield, Liverpool immediately began to look for suitable forwards and defenders.

Soon, they spent 41 million euros to sign Hoffenheim forward Firmino.

It's not that Klopp doesn't want to buy better, it's really hard to find a good forward. He wanted to lure Bayern's Lewandowski, but the Bayern Lions opened their mouth and demanded 80 million transfer fees.

This kind of money is not what Liverpool can afford now, so they can only buy people from small clubs like Huocun.

After buying the forward, Liverpool still needs to strengthen the defense.

In this regard, Klopp is eyeing Manchester City's young defender Van Dijk.

This person performed very well in the Premier League and Champions League last year. Although he is young, his performance is very calm and he has the air of a general.

Klopp then offered Manchester City 35 million euros in an attempt to lure Van Dijk over.

However, such a price was simply a humiliation to Manchester City. Guardiola rejected Liverpool's offer and labeled Van Dijk not for sale.

Guardiola has veto power over Manchester City's transfers. If he doesn't plan to sell anyone, then the other party will definitely not be able to leave.

Even if the players themselves come to cause trouble, it is useless, and Van Dijk is staying well in Manchester City and has no plans to leave Manchester City.

Even if he had to leave, he would definitely be heading for higher ground. How could he go to the down-and-out Liverpool?

Liverpool has not won the Premier League for 25 years. Such a team has no hope no matter how you look at it, how can it compare with Manchester City, which is in full swing?

Besides, as Demichelis gradually recedes into the background, Van Dijk has now firmly established himself as Manchester City's main force.

The club is also interested in signing a new contract with him, increasing his weekly salary to 150,000 pounds.

For a 24-year-old young player, this salary is already very high.

So Van Dijk is only grateful and has no intention of leaving the team.

Liverpool failed to poach, and Klopp couldn't help but feel a little regretful.

So he bought the opponent's right back Klein from Southampton for 17 million euros.

Klein's offensive ability is good and he can better implement Klopp's offensive tactics.

He didn't come to Liverpool to play defensive counterattack. He planned to bring the offensive football tactics he used at Dortmund to Anfield Stadium.

Another 5 million euros were spent to acquire an 18-year-old young defender Joe Gomez from Charlton.

This person's potential is not bad. Although he can't be used now, he can be bought as a reserve force and treated as an investment.

In line with his good habit of being diligent and thrifty, Klopp spent another 8.3 million euros to buy a young forward from Burnley.

Seeing their team's new coach making such a budget-conscious purchase, Liverpool's top brass couldn't stand it anymore.

So they gave Klopp another sum of money and helped him sign Aston Villa forward Benteke.

This transfer cost Liverpool 46.5 million euros!

Klopp is furious!

What does this mean?

With so much money, why didn't you take it out before?

If he had 87.5 million euros in his pocket before, he would definitely have offered Lewandowski to Bayern!

As a result, the money was now split into two parts to buy two strikers!

One of them is not what I want!

In Klopp's view, even if Benteke and Firmino combined, they are definitely not as good as true strikers like Suarez and Lewandowski.

Even if he has to split it into two parts, Klopp is not interested in Benteke, but another Southampton player-Mane!

Although, Liverpool's expenses this summer are not small. All players combined spent a total of 120 million euros.

…

Compared with Liverpool, the other team in the Double Red Club has made more frequent purchases in the transfer market this summer.

Manchester United not only bought Pogba this summer, but also spent 60 million on Martial from Monaco and 35 million on Depay from PSV.

In addition, Schneiderlin, worth 35 million euros, and Damian, worth 18 million euros, also joined the Red Devils this summer.

In total, Manchester United's total expenditure on buying players this summer is as high as 260 million euros. Even if the money recovered from the players sold is deducted, the net investment is as high as 150 million euros.

Since Ferguson retired, Manchester United has been waving checks to buy in the transfer market in almost every transfer period.

Fortunately, this is Manchester United and they have a strong financial background. If it were any other team, they would have been completely ruined by such squandering.

After spending huge sums of money to buy people in the transfer market for many years, if the team's record still fails to improve, it will be really sorry for the fans and the club.

Therefore, even after leaving Chelsea, the pressure on Mourinho's shoulders has not diminished at all, but feels greater.

"Manchester United is a mess that is not easy to clean up!"

Looking at the player list in his hand, Mourinho couldn't help but rub his forehead.

Although it costs a lot of money, it is really difficult to defeat Manchester City next door with such a lineup.

And Manchester United is different from Chelsea. There is no big grudge between Chelsea and Manchester City.

However, Manchester United and Manchester City are mortal enemies in the same city. In the derby between the two teams, both sides are determined to win and cannot afford to lose.

Mourinho is worried that if he leads Manchester United to lose to Manchester City in the Manchester derby, he may be drowned in the saliva of Red Devils fans around the world.

At this time, Manchester United is not the same Manchester United that was riddled with holes ten years later. During the Ferguson era, Manchester United accumulated countless fans around the world.

At this time, the Red Devils' global influence was far beyond that of Manchester United, which had been in chaos for ten years.

Although Manchester United's record has declined in recent years and some championship fans have been lost, the popularity accumulated in the past has not been lost. Manchester United fans around the world have not completely given up and still have expectations for the team.

If he can't live up to the fans' expectations, he won't be able to escape being scolded.

But, how can we fulfill the fans’ expectations?

Beat Manchester City directly?

Win the league?

Or do you want him to lead Manchester United to another Champions League crown?

These three goals are each more difficult than the last, especially with Manchester City, even the first one is difficult to achieve.

Mourinho summed up the experience of Chelsea's collapse last season and knew that if he wanted to win the league, the two direct duels with Manchester City were very crucial.

Even if you can't win Manchester City, you can't lose to the opponent.

Last season, Chelsea was beaten twice by Manchester City, causing them to be tied by the opponent at the end of the season. This led to the team's collapse and collapse at the last moment.

If Chelsea lost one game to Manchester City last year, the final result would definitely be completely different.

Manchester City's home stadium is difficult to play at. The Etihad Stadium is a notoriously devilish home stadium. Mourinho has no expectations of defeating Manchester City here.

If Manchester United goes to the Etihad Stadium as a guest, he will choose conservative tactics and try not to lose.

As for playing at home, we need to strengthen our defense and never let Manchester City win.

I just don’t know if I would be booed by my own fans if I set up a bus at Old Trafford?

…

While other giants in the Premier League have started to buy and buy, buying people in the transfer market, Arsenal fans can only drool in envy from the sidelines.

This summer, Wenger was very calm. He didn't buy anyone. He seemed to be planning to save the money and deposit it in the bank to earn interest.

When reporters asked him why he didn't buy anyone, Wenger said the best players were already in his squad.

Wenger actually has people he likes, Cavani of Paris Saint-Germain, Benzema of Real Madrid, and Lin Quan of Manchester City.

Arsenal is short of a forward, a good forward who can lead the team to attack the city.

Everyone knows this!

Since his failed attempt to introduce Suarez last year, Wenger has scouted many forwards for Arsenal, but these people have ultimately failed to join the team for one reason or another.

After Suarez went to Barcelona last season, his performance was like cheating.

The regret in Wenger’s heart!

If I had known better, I would not have been obsessed with the figure of 40 million pounds. If I had compromised and given Liverpool an extra 5 million pounds instead of one pound, the result might have been completely different.

With Suarez's strength, if he joins the Gunners, the Gunners' striker will be directly reborn and greatly strengthened.

The Gunners' current midfielder is not weak, but the forward line is really not good enough.

That's why Wenger is so eager to buy an excellent, preferably a famous striker who has proven himself in a wealthy team.

There are actually many such people, including Cavani, Suarez, Lewandowski, Benzema, Higuain, etc.

However, the worth of these people is very high, with a starting price of 70 to 80 million euros. This is really too expensive for Arsenal, who are careful about their budget and would like to break a penny in half.

It was precisely because they did not want to spend big money on signings that Arsenal missed Higuain and Suarez one after another, and could only watch them join other teams.

The professor is actually very conflicted in his mind. He is used to being thrifty and managing his family, but he is not used to spending money lavishly.

But on the other hand, he also knows that at his current age, he may not be able to work at Arsenal for too long.

Therefore, he hopes to lead the team to win another championship before retiring, and it is not a championship like the FA Cup and League Cup, but a Premier League championship or even a Champions League championship!

However, without the superior lineup strength of these two championships, Arsenal would have no chance to get involved.

Therefore, Wenger fell into a dilemma:

Are you following your old habits and spending money wisely?

Or should he go crazy and spend all his savings over the years to buy a super forward?

He inquired and found out that the price offered by Paris to Cavani was 75 million euros.

Real Madrid offered Benzema 90 million, while Bayern offered Lewandowski 85 million.

These three forwards are all very strong, and any one of them can take Arsenal away.

But their prices are too expensive. Arsenal's historical transfer record is only 50 million euros. If these players are bought, it will significantly refresh the Gunners' transfer record.

If these players become unacclimated in the Premier League, just like Di Maria did at Manchester United, Arsenal may lose all their money!

Wenger's cautious character kept him hesitant and never made a decision.

The transfer period passed little by little, and until the end, Arsenal still didn't sign anyone.