The Ball at Your Feet

Barcelona in 2003 can be said to be in the darkest period in their team's history. The lack of a championship for several consecutive years, the shortage of team funds, the poorness of the team players-the 2003 presidential election, are their last straws.

Both sides of the campaign can be said to be very familiar to the players. On the one hand, the media tycoon Bassart, he is well-known in Catalonia. On the other side is Laporta, he is not so prestigious, but his identity is very special: he is Cruyff's personal lawyer.

Cruyff, as the top five figures in the history of world football, the soul of Dutch football, is willing to give up his identity as a Dutch veteran and join Barcelona, ​​and he publicly declares that he loves Catalonia more than The Netherlands even married a Catalan wife, gave birth to a son and named it Catalan. This approach is very popular with Catalans. In the room of honor of the FC Barcelona, ​​the only non-Catalan who can have a place here is Cruyff. His status in Barcelona is self-evident.

But the problem is that his name cannot be a dependency of Laporta. Laporta's reputation is too small, and he is a lawyer background, and has not been engaged in football-related industries, although with the strong support of Nike's former South American marketing director Russell, but people still do not trust him. Some people even pointed out that the reason why he ran for Barcelona chairmanship was because he wanted to pave the way for future participation in politics.

No fan likes politicians.

But at this time, another candidate, Bassat’s campaign platform at this time is also very interesting: he proposed that Guardiola, who was purged to Serie A due to the decline in his old age two years ago, should be invited back to Barcelona as a management job. Based on La Masia, a team belonging to the Catalans was formed.

If this proposal is made ten years later, it will definitely get everyone's support. But at this time, for Barcelona, ​​who has not had a title for five years and is penniless, this suggestion is not very attractive.

After all, in 2003, La Masia did not have a reputation for making Catalans proud. At this time, the real La Masia child who can be called a star, but there is only one Puyol. Harvey is just an ordinary player of the team, Iniesta is still struggling in the second team, and the other 87 geniuses have not yet entered the adult team. Even the Barcelona fans themselves are unwilling to believe that Barcelona can rely on their youth training to succeed. In their view, Barcelona's words are more like excuses for not wanting to pay for Barcelona signings.

In contrast, Laporta’s campaign has only one suggestion, but it is moving enough.

"I will bring Beckham to everyone."

This promise made everyone favor him. Although Bassat has repeatedly stated that this is false and that Beckham's technical characteristics are not compatible with Barcelona, ​​there is still no one to support him.

Art football? That was considered after winning. Barcelona is now hungry. Being able to bring heartthrobs to the Nou Camp is enough to excite them.

Although Manchester United has also come forward to refute the rumors, but how meaningful is this refuting the rumors? Beckham can't even guarantee the main position this season. It is imperative for Ferguson to purge him. He will definitely stay in the team if he says anything. There is no credibility at all.

"But you should be very clear that we can't get Beckham. Let's not say that we have no way to contact Manchester United. We can't afford to pay for the transfer fee alone. How can he be worth about 30 million? It’s not a price we can afford."

In the conference room, Roselle questioned the words in the newspaper. The former South American marketing director of Nike was one of Laporta’s close associates at this time. “And he will not come himself. We Now, I don’t have the ability to attract stars of that level."

"I never thought about buying an Englishman. What is the level of the English players for so many years? We don't need them." Laporta waved her hand disdainfully, "It's just a lie to those who only know to go with the flow. It's nothing more than boisterous voters."

After a pause, Laporta added, "And you must always remember that we can attract any star. Barcelona's highest salary for players, even when we are in a downturn, is among the top three in the world."

"Relying on money to attract people is bad in itself... and such a lie may ruin your future. Roselle must shake his head and sigh, "Besides, Beckham is not a low-level player..."

Looking at Laporta's disapproval look, Roselle knows that it is vain to say that Laporta may be considered a fan, but he does not know enough about football. Russell knew that he could not persuade him, but this is indeed an uncompromising fact: even if the Premier League is rough, there have been Golden Globe winners over the years, but Spain has not had a Golden Globe winner for fifty years. . Can't you see yourself when you laugh at others for being bad?

"You still don't understand how to get into politics." Laporta disagrees with Russell's words. "As long as I have enough grades by then, these lies will not be a problem at all."

"But how do you get results?" Russell smiled bitterly. "Have you thought about this problem?"

This question seems to be asked a bit early now. After all, the campaign has not really been won. No one knows the final result. Although Laporta’s slogan is very appealing, the problem is that Bassart’s reputation still has him. Whether you can win if you have a big advantage is still a big question.

But this was originally an internal meeting of the candidates, so when it came to this issue, they didn't have too much politeness.

"Mr. Cruyff suggested that we sign Koman as the head coach, and then buy Aimar, Albelda and Ayala to form the soul of Barcelona..."

"Do you really think we should listen to someone who hasn't touched the ball for many years?" Russell interrupted.

"Of course I won't trust him. He is old. When it comes to sports, I can of course only believe you." Laporta did not hesitate to make a choice. As a politician, he had already practiced It’s a good ability to see what people say and what to say, "But he is my former employer after all, and the fans also like him. He has status and it’s no harm to us."

"But don't let him get involved in the transfer, okay? Barcelona can't stand his toss." Roselle's face improved, but he was still afraid that Laporta could not make up his mind. "We can't afford Coman. Coach, the liquidated damages Ajax demanded would have to be millions. Where do we go to get the money?"

The price really made the muscles on Laporta's face twitch: for Barcelona now, paying millions for a coach is too much.

And Laporta does not like Coman for another reason: Bassat also regards Coman as the coach of the next team. This approach makes Laporta dissatisfied with Coman.

"Do you have any plans?" Laporta decided to ask his old friend.

"Buy people from South America. South America now has a lot of high-level players, we can introduce them, not much money, and the strength is even better."

Russell has been the marketing director of South America, and naturally he also pays attention to South America.

"My idea is to buy Ronaldinho of Paris Saint-Germain. He can definitely meet our task of rebuilding the team." Speaking of these, Russell came to the spirit, "Of course, there is still a need Some other staffing, a good center, and the midfielder should add some capable players..."

"I like Eto'o, what do you think of his strength?" Laporta interrupted Roselle.

This suggestion made Russell frowned. "What we say in terms of strength is strong enough to meet our requirements, but are you sure you can introduce him? Letting Florentino release is not that simple, Egypt Too is a Real Madrid player and they will not let go easily."

"Then give them a price that they can't refuse." Laporta said categorically, "This is not just a simple matter of signings in the competition, this is a good opportunity to strike a deadly enemy."

"I don't think Real Madrid will treat us as a matter now... well, I don't care about it, but you have to explain Ronaldinho's affairs for me and Cruyff. He doesn't like Ronaldini. Oh, but you can't let him break things-Aimar is not suitable for Barcelona, ​​let him stay in Valencia."

Ronaldinho is a signing Cruyff doesn't like-his strength Cruyff can't be denied, but the problem is that his professional attitude is really too bad. Cruyff, who was a player, was very dissatisfied with such a professional attitude.

But Russell felt that if some control were applied, this probably wouldn't be a problem. He is not a professional player, but a business background, which makes him and Cruyff look at the problem quite different. What Cruyff saw was Ronaldinho’s waste of talent, but what Russell saw was Ronaldinho’s talent and ability, and he had contact with more South Americans in South America. He also believed that as long as With some small means, Ronaldinho's career attitude can naturally be greatly changed.

"But, doesn't it mean that Manchester United has basically finalized his transfer?" Laporta hesitated.

"That's because Manchester United overestimated their influence. Leave this to me. I promise to give you a satisfactory answer."

Laporta nodded and agreed to Roselle's request~www.wuxiaspot.com~ In fact, there are two other good candidates. "Russell remembered something again, "It's all from Monaco, one is Jiuli, who is very strong, but he is a little older, and there is no room for improvement. Therefore, the value will be very cheap. There is another new player from their team, Zhao. A Chinese, even though he is an Asian, is more technically sophisticated than a European. I guess, because he is an Asian player, if his country does not have a company to sponsor him, his worth should not be much higher. "

"If there is a sponsorship, we will not lose money... China..." Laporta seemed to think of something, "Did the Catalan United team play a game with the Chinese team in the winter? How is he behaving?"

"If you have time, look at the ball. He didn't come at all in that game. Monaco's mission is not light. After all, Catalonia is not a country. That game was not a national team A-level event, so he did not come ."

After saying this, Russell suddenly thought of something. It seems not good to mention that Catalonia is not a country in front of Laporta...

"Still don't consider signing him." Sure enough, Laporta's words did not surprise Russell. "Chinese players will definitely disagree with us on some issues. Barcelona is not just a club, we We should not accommodate people who are completely at odds with our ideas."

It's just not in line with your idea of ​​relying on Barcelona as a springboard for politics, right? Russell tried to say something, but still held back.

Although this guy does have some politicians' bad faults, he is already the best collaborator he can find.

"Then we will ignore him." Roselle made a decision. "Go wherever he falls in love. Anyway, he has nothing to do with Barcelona."