Three days after Allan called Twain, he still had not received any updates about the transfer negotiations for Anelka. Twain thought the matter was over, and it looked like Allan could not handle the two Frenchmen either. Unexpectedly, he received a telephone call from Fenerbahçe in Turkey this time, hoping to talk to the Forest team about Anelka’s transfer.
Meanwhile, Allan showed up at Evan Doughty’s office, looking travel-worn. Evan joked that Allan had returned with the sand from Turkey. Twain realized the delay in the last few days was because Allan had gone to Turkey to negotiate with the Fenerbahçe club.
When he saw Twain, Allan showed a bright smile. “There’s nothing good to drink in Turkey; no tea, no coffee, no coke.”
The two men laughed loudly.
“It’s settled.” After laughing, Allan sat down, ready to reap the rewards for his efforts. “We’ll give Anelka’s brothers some appropriate remuneration. They helped us put pressure on the Fenerbahçe club. Because you’re in England, you don’t know the news over there. In Turkey, lots of negative news had popped up recently about Anelka being late for training and talking back to the coach. They were the work of the two agents. Fenerbahçe Club had been overwhelmed by the disruptions. When I went to Turkey, I was able to quickly put the process of Anelka’s purchase into place. Guess how much money we need to buy Anelka?”
Both men shook their heads.
Allan raised both hands and splayed his ten fingers.
“Ten million?” Twain slightly creased his brows.
Allan shook his head with a smile and retracted two fingers. “Eight million.”
The other two men laughed at the same time. This deal was a bargain. The price of eight million to buy Anelka was well within the range that Twain could afford. If it were ten million, Twain would inevitably feel the pinch.
“To have earned one million in half a season, the Turks don’t feel like they’ve lost out. In addition, the individual contract with Anelka was settled before that. A four-year contract period with a weekly wage of…” Allan deliberately kept them in suspense, “forty-five thousand pounds and an annual increase of 10% percent per year, plus a six hundred thousand signing fee. As a concession, we gave up all of Anelka’s publicity rights.”
Twain was also very satisfied with the conditions. Previously, the team’s top weekly wage was forty thousand pounds for Edwin van der Sar. However, with the new season, the Forest team had adjusted the team’s pay structure. Although it had not been publicly announced yet, the level of forty-five thousand was only in the upper middle strata of the new wage structure.
As for publicity rights, it was fine to give that up. Anelka’s publicity rights were not worth much money. Only his brothers were still hanging on to it like a treasure.
Delighted, Evan suddenly thought of a problem. “Allan, what you said made me a little worried. Now that we’ve allowed Anelka’s two agents to treat Fenerbahçe this way, who can guarantee that after a year or two, no other team will secretly instigate these two greedy guys to treat us like this too?”
Allan did not answer but looked to Twain.
Twain gave a cough. “Evan, you know… The football world may be short of good players in many positions, but there is never a shortage of good strikers. It does not mean that we stop looking for a good striker now that we have bought Anelka. I will always keep an eye on the transfer market. If they want to make trouble, let them. We’ll make a profit in the transfer market.”
Evan suddenly saw the light. He turned around to retrieve a bottle of whiskey and three glasses from the liquor cabinet. He poured into each glass and then gave them to Twain and Allan.
“Two and a half years ago, my father summoned me back from the United States and wanted me to take over his club. In order to make me interested in running a football club, he took me to the Forest team’s training base to look at the Forest team’s stadium, and to meet with the Forest players and coaches. But he didn’t think those were enough. He thought that perhaps the best way to make a basketball fan like myself interested in football was to watch a match. So, he brought me to an official Forest team game.” Evan looked at Twain. “It was the third round of the English FA Cup, and the League One team Nottingham Forest’s home challenge against the Premier League team, West Ham United.”
Twain knew what Evan wanted to say. He touched the tip of his nose somewhat embarrassedly.
“In the first half, I looked at the full grandstand and felt unable to comprehend the thoughts of those people. It was a game with a low-level team which was of a low standard, played badly, and even conceded three goals to their opponent… What was so good about a game like that? I thought the fans who sat in the stands to watch the game, or my father who spent his energy and money on the team, were stupid and wasting their time.”
Evan shrugged his shoulders.
“During halftime, my father insisted on taking me to the locker room to meet the players, even though I didn’t think it was the right time. Who would want to go to the locker room for an awkward meeting when the team was lagging behind? Then we heard something amazing in the locker room.” Evan winked at Twain. “It was wonderful. I was interested in football for the first time. I think it would be difficult now to see those twenty-seven thousand middle fingers that made up the Sherwood Forest again, wouldn’t it?”
“That had become a swan song, Evan,” Twain answered with a smile.
“You’re right, Tony. The current Forest team is no longer the team that lost all hope. I still remember that second half very clearly, even though we lost in the end… But Tony, no matter how long ago, I have to say it was still the best game I’ve ever seen.”
“Thank you.”
“Since that game, I became interested in running a football club. I suddenly felt that it might not be a waste of time to sit in the stadium box and stands every weekend and watch my team play. After returning to the United States, Allan and I had a serious discussion about giving up our existing business and returning to the UK to run a football club. At first, Allan thought I was crazy.” He looked at Allan Adams again.
“You told me you were really crazy because of that game.” Allan smiled and took over the conversation. “I studied the operations of the American NBA teams and the business model of the UK’s traditional football clubs, and I thought Evan might be crazy, but not without reason. The American NBA is the world’s most commercialized and most successful league. I think their way of doing business is worth learning. The British football clubs and NBA are different. Due to historical factors, many people think that a club belongs to the fans themselves. It’s beside the point whether it can make money or not. But I don’t think so; if we want the team to make money, we must change some of the old ideas. Fortunately, the Forest team was in a terrible situation at that time. There was its financial crisis, the continued decline in the team’s performance, and the fact that the fans were tired of the team’s current situation, and they wanted change. So…” He glanced at Evan again, “Evan and I came up with a plan to push the Forest team further into the abyss at that time. The plan was dangerous and entailed great risk. If it had failed, Evan and I would not only lose the anticipated rewards but also lose even more to compensate, just like walking a tightrope on top of the Empire State Building. Fortunately, we succeeded.”
“So, as the person who came up with this plan and even implemented it, you’re crazier than I was, Allan.” Evan Doughty joked.
Twain listened to the two men recounting the past. Although he experienced those things, he still admired Allan, looking at this now from a different angle. He was able to break new ground in the management of the football club.
“Businessmen always have to deal with all kinds of risks, especially an opportunistic businessman like myself.” Allan laughed.
“So, in fact, I’m not a man with any special talent. I don’t know how to coach the team and not that good at making money. With your help, Tony and Allan, the Forest team is where it is today. Thank you,” said Evan Doughty as he raised his glass.
“Isn’t too early to say thank you now?” Twain asked.
Allan nodded. “Save it for when we reach our goal, Evan.”
“You’re both killjoys!”
※※※
As it was already settled with Fenerbahçe and the player’s agents, the transfer negotiations became a formality. The representatives from both clubs sat together with the player’s agents and conferred for half an hour to confirm the terms of the contract and sign their respective names on the contract.
The entire negotiation and signing process was private. Allan was only aware of the situation during the course of his discussion with Anelka’s brothers, so he could quickly rule out the other party trying to use the Forest team to ask for a higher wage for Anelka from Fenerbahçe. On this afternoon, when the Fenerbahçe club announced the official transfer of the French striker, Nicolas Anelka to Nottingham Forest on its own official website, the ripples caused by the earth-shattering news were conceivable.
Half a year ago, all of the British media was delighted by Anelka’s departure. They did not expect that half a year later, this eccentric player and his two annoying brothers would be back again!
All the English media still remembered how difficult it was to interview Anelka, the French striker, during the season when he was still doing well in Manchester City. You want to interview Anelka? Sure, just hand over forty thousand pounds. The media only needed to give eight thousand pounds if they wanted to interview the Manchester United star, Ryan Giggs!
Anelka’s reputation was ruined by his agents in England and he was not well-received anywhere. This time, even the famous BBC football show host, Gary Lineker, who always thought well of Twain, could not understand. He talked about the transfer deal in his online column, “Manager Twain’s behavior is always incomprehensible, and this is no exception. I think he should know very well what Anelka will bring to his team… goals, of course; I never deny the guy’s talent and abilities. But I think the team will pay a huge price for those goals.”