Free Web NovelChapter 535: Chapter 107: Another Record Broken! Half-Season Champion! A Zero-Angle Goal! Another Reward, How Nice! Tremble, Bayern
Dortmund’s reaction this time was swift.
Everyone from the club’s upper management and coaching staff to the player’s agent immediately stepped forward to clarify the situation with the media, warding off Chelsea’s exploratory inquiries.
This swiftly quelled the public speculation before it could escalate.
In the end, what the fans saw was just another run-of-the-mill news story.
Chelsea is interested in Wang Shuo?
Is that really so strange?
Dortmund’s fans could proudly declare: All the giants of Europe are drooling over Wang Shuo!
It’s just that Chelsea was being a bit more obvious about it!
Wang Shuo didn’t make a public appearance this time. Instead, he had his agent issue a statement, actively cooperating with Dortmund to quash the rumors. This earned him a great deal of goodwill.
The team was at a critical juncture, pushing for results, and the fans certainly didn’t want to see a player—especially a core player like Wang Shuo—kicking up a fuss about a transfer.
Besides, just six months ago, Dortmund had given Wang Shuo the highest annual salary in the Bundesliga.
Dortmund’s swift action quickly put the matter to rest, preventing any major waves in the public sphere.
However, within the European Football Scene, it caused a massive stir.
As Strus had said, the European Football Scene is essentially a semi-closed circle.
Both Dortmund and Wang Shuo had publicly stated their position: there would be absolutely no transfer during this year’s winter break!
This was tantamount to sending a signal to the entire scene.
Want to buy Wang Shuo?
Fine. Come talk next summer.
This presented a dilemma for a powerhouse club like Chelsea, which was desperate to reinforce its squad with new signings during the winter break.
Should they wait?
Shen Qinghe had her team closely monitor, record, and analyze the dynamics of the transfer market.
For a team like Chelsea, if they wanted to salvage their season, making new signings was a must.
Would they bring in a transitional player? Or a high-caliber one?
If it was the former, it would mean that the Blue Army would still be in the race for Wang Shuo next summer.
But if it was the latter, it meant Chelsea would likely lose all interest in Wang Shuo.
Of course, if Chelsea decided to sacrifice their performance this season, make no signings, and hold out until next summer, it would show they were extremely serious and had high hopes for Wang Shuo.
The European transfer market is a treacherous, ever-shifting landscape. It wasn’t just clubs that needed to record and analyze this data; players did too, especially a player of Wang Shuo’s caliber.
He needed a clear picture of his own standing in the European Football Scene.
And don’t for a moment think this was common sense, something that everyone did.
Quite the opposite, in fact. At this stage, the vast majority of agents, and even most teams, didn’t bother with such things.
For them, transfers were simple: if the team had a need, they’d go shopping in the transfer market, see who was suitable, and pay the going rate, whatever that might be.
Wasn’t that how the center-back drought of those years came about?
The story in the Sun Newspaper also triggered another chain reaction.
The number of teams and agents contacting Thomas Essien began to multiply.
And they were almost all powerhouse clubs.
Bayern from the Bundesliga; Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester City from the Premier League; Juventus, AC Milan, and Inter Milan from Serie A; and Barça and Real Madrid from La Liga...
And it wasn’t just one representative per club; often, multiple people would be representing the same team.
It was a bit like matchmaking.
After all, no one ever said a marriage could only have one matchmaker.
Wang Shuo knew that before Ronaldo’s transfer to Manchester United, Arsenal had come to terms with both Ronaldo and Sporting Lisbon. There was even a verbal agreement, which was why Ronaldo had bought a plane ticket to London.
But after that friendly match, Ferguson simply refused to leave Lisbon!
Mendes’s genius lay in his ability to mobilize numerous agents in just a day or two. They all exerted pressure simultaneously, attacking from all sides, convincing Sporting Lisbon to change its stance, persuading Ronaldo to agree to Manchester United, and at the same time convincing Ferguson and Manchester United to keep increasing the transfer fee.
Sporting Lisbon got more money, Ronaldo got a better contract and more favorable conditions, and all the agents made a fortune.
It wasn’t until years later, when an agent sued Mendes over an unfair cut, that everyone learned the truth: in that entire transfer, Mendes himself had earned very little—even less than several of the other agents involved.
But that one deal completely opened up the Premier League for him.
After connecting with Manchester United in 2003, the stage was set for 2004. After Porto won the Champions League, Mourinho became Chelsea’s manager, and a wave of Portuguese players flooded into Stanford Bridge!
But Thomas Essien was no Jorge Mendes.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have run to Wang Shuo and Shen Qinghe to complain about his phone being blown off the hook, clearly overwhelmed by it all.
...
"Thomas is a reliable, honest man!"
Back in Wang Shuo’s office, after seeing Thomas Essien out, Shen Qinghe found the situation somewhat amusing.
"If this were any other smooth-operating agent, he’d be using this opportunity to aggressively expand his business, reaching out in every direction and building connections with all the major players. That would be a huge boost for his future career."
But what about Thomas Essien?
He wasn’t thriving like a fish in water, nor was he enjoying it like a welcome rain after a long drought. Instead, you got the feeling he was in agony and under immense pressure.
"He’s very responsible," Wang Shuo praised.
Shen Qinghe glanced at Wang Shuo and nodded. "But that’s not what a top agent needs most."
