No one knew that when Kanter received a call from chief scout Steve Walsh, Rueil-Malmaison was 20 kilometers north of Rueil-Malmaison in the small town of Salcelles on the northern outskirts of central Paris.
Four people walked into a Moroccan restaurant one after another.
Two African-Americans were entertaining their white friends, which is not uncommon in Salcelle, a place where immigrants gather.
They asked for a secluded private room, ordered some food, and then started chatting.
The younger of the two African-Americans is Riyad Mahrez, a 21-year-old player from the French second division relegation team Le Havre. Sitting next to him is his agent Camé.
L. Bengogam.
The two people opposite them had actually flown over from the UK on a special trip: Leeds United technical director Rudolf Borrell and their scout in France.
This meeting was facilitated by agent Carmel and Leeds United's French scout. They had been in contact for nearly a month, and it was not until recently that the players decided to meet.
Rudolf Borrell is a well-known technical coach in the world. He has his own unique understanding of technical training.
Mahrez is a streetball player, and even now, he still hasn't changed many of his streetball habits.
Moreover, he has not played for Le Havre for a long time and his physical strength is still insufficient. This allows Borrell to point out Mahrez's problems at a professional level and promises to receive the best guidance and cultivation at Leeds United.
"To be honest, two years ago, you did not choose big teams such as Paris Saint-Germain, Marseille and Lyon, but chose Le Havre. This proves that your choice was indeed wise. If you go to a big team too early, you will not see it.
It’s a good thing to get it.”
Borrell spoke to Mahrez and his agent.
"The sense of rhythm of street ball players, the way they dribble the ball, and the intensity of defense they face are completely different from those in professional leagues. This may take a long time to adapt, and the physical requirements of professional leagues are also completely different.
"
"I have seen your performance in the second team of Le Havre in the past two seasons. You scored 13 goals in 32 games. Last season, you scored 11 goals in 25 games. At the beginning of the season, you also served as a substitute for two games in Ligue 2.
times, but the key is the second half of the season."
When he said this, Borrell nodded repeatedly and said: "I think you have fully adapted to the French Second League. I even personally think that you should take another step forward to maintain this good momentum of progress."
In the Ligue 2 last season, Mahrez only played nine times, five of which were as substitutes.
According to the analysis results of Leeds United's technical team, his performance at the beginning of the season was not ideal.
For example, in the second round, Le Havre played against Lavalois at home. Teammate James Fancioni was injured and left the field in the first 20 minutes. Mahrez was arranged to play by the head coach, but only played for 49 minutes.
, was replaced in the 69th minute.
Since then, he has returned to the second team to play games. He will only be temporarily transferred when there are problems with team personnel.
At the end of the season, that is, in the 33rd round, Le Havre ranked 18th and fell into the relegation zone, a full three points behind Metz and Le Mans. The relegation situation was very serious.
In this case, Mahrez once again appeared in the lineup for the home game against Reims, which was second in the standings at the time and was aiming to hit the Ligue 1 league.
Le Havre mainly defended in this game, but in the 71st minute, Mahrez replaced Fancioni again.
As a result, five minutes later, it was the opportunity created by Mahrez that helped Le Havre break the deadlock and take the lead.
Although the team was tied at the last moment by the central defender's own goal, Mahrez was recognized for his bravery.
Mahrez started all the subsequent four games and performed better in each game.
In the last five games, Le Havre recorded three wins, one draw and one loss, successfully avoiding relegation, and Mahrez gained a firm foothold in the starting lineup.
…
"If there are no accidents, you will become Le Havre's main winger in the Ligue 2 next season. You have no obvious weak foot and can play on both sides. You will get more opportunities, but I believe that,
You should also feel that there is not much that Le Havre can give you."
"We at Leeds United are a team dominated by young players. I believe you also know about our team. We have invested a lot of energy in developing and training players. We have the best youth training in the world.
level, our teams are top teams from Barcelona and Real Madrid.”
"We have even invested millions of euros to create a whole training system specifically for young players like you, so you can see that Courtois has made rapid progress after joining our team for one year.
, Pogba is also from Le Havre. He couldn't play football at Manchester United, but he was transformed immediately after coming from Leeds United."
"Paulinho, Benteke, Schneiderlin..."
When he said this, Borrell spread his hands and said very confidently: "I dare to say that in European football, my colleagues and I are definitely the best in cultivating young players!"
Mahrez nodded slightly.
"That's natural, Mr. Borrell." Agent Carmel Bengogam took over with a smile.
"Who in the world doesn't know that Mr. Borrell is the best technical coach, and Mr. Gao is the best head coach in the world. Leeds United have invested heavily in youth training in the past year and trained several
Excellent talents are obvious to everyone, and we definitely have no doubt about the strength of Leeds United’s youth training.”
This is the benefit of Leeds United selling people this summer.
Word of mouth has come out!
To put it bluntly, playing football for professional players is a job, and as long as it is a job, everyone hopes to climb up.
Leeds United is the best ladder.
"If nothing else, I heard two days ago that you signed Martial, a young player from Lyon's youth training, in Claifontein for two million euros. This kind of courage is not something that ordinary teams can have.
"
"After Mr. Gao Shen acquired Leeds United, he has been vigorously developing scouting and youth training. France has always been the area we pay most close attention to, especially Clayfontaine. We all know that the best young people in France are gathered there.
players.”
Borrell introduced with a smile, "We have been following Martial for more than half a year and it took a lot of effort to convince Lyon and the players. In addition, we actually signed your teammate in Le Havre, Benjamin.
Mendy.”
"When did it happen?" Mahrez was a little surprised.
He really hadn't heard of it.
"I just signed yesterday, and I'm coming to Paris today." Borrell said with a smile.
He landed in France at Le Havre.
Whether it is Benjamin Mendy or Martial, they are all the results of Borrell taking charge of Leeds United's technical team.
In addition, there are other players who are all meant to enrich Leeds United's current youth training system.
Gao Shen can say that after being promoted to the Premier League, his investment in youth training this season will not be less than 10 million pounds. The purpose is to create a youth training brand for Leeds United, so that it can attract the whole UK and even Europe.
, even the best young leaders in the world.
"I dare to meet you like this. Le Havre has already reached an agreement on the transfer. Now it depends on your attitude, Riyad." Borrell said while looking at Mahrez.
Gao Shen originally wanted Mahrez, but Borrell signed Benjamin Mendy by the way.
This player is really good. He has climbed up the ranks of the French national youth team in all age groups, and his performance is remarkable.
The key problem is that Le Havre's players are cheap.
Benjamin Mendy only costs 800,000 euros, Mahrez only costs 400,000 euros, and the two of them combined only cost 1.2 million euros. What a deal?
However, since Leeds United already has two left backs in Kurzawa and Bertrand, Benjamin Mendy is temporarily considering continuing to play on loan in Le Havre. Once the player performs well, Leeds United will pay additional
A training fee to Le Havre.
This can also be considered as exploring a new way of training players for Leeds United.
As for Martial, who was signed from Lyon’s youth academy for 2 million euros, Borrell plans to train him personally.
…
The meal lasted for more than two hours, but Mahrez did not agree to sign for Leeds United on the spot.
But judging from his expression and subsequent attitude towards Borrell, the possibility of him agreeing is very high.
It can be seen that he is a very sensible young man.
This is very rare. Such players are less likely to go astray and will be easier to train.
After sending Mahrez and his agent away, Borrell received a call from scouting director Steve Walsh. Kante had taken care of it and needed him to stop by tomorrow.
"Don't wait for tomorrow, I'll go there now." Borrell was also a little anxious and wanted to meet the midfielder appointed by the high-ranking coach.
Although Gao Shen said nothing, the players he appointed were not simple.
After seeing Leeds United selling people one after another, the outside media are worried about the team's lineup and signings, but in fact there is no need for it. Leeds United has been advancing according to its own rhythm and plan, but many people are worried about the team's lineup and signings.
Just don't know.
For example, it only cost 800,000 euros to sign Benjamin Mendy. After signing, he planned to loan it to Le Havre. No one outside knew that Kante was on a free transfer and Mahrez only cost 400,000 euros. None of this mattered.
Inconspicuous.
Martial is considered the most valuable, but he is too young, only sixteen years old, and is destined to be reserved for the future.
In fact, Leeds United also signed the 16-year-old local midfielder Dele from Milton Keynes Keynes, the third level of League One, the team founded after Wimbledon went bankrupt.
Ali.
The deal cost Leeds United £200,000.
Speaking of which, this is the transfer of the first youth training player signed by Leeds United after the English Football Association launched the "English Elite Player Development Plan". The youth training compensation will be given based on the player's number of years at Milton Keynes.
Even, Leeds United gave a little more, and finally came up with a round figure of 200,000 pounds.
Not only that, Leeds United also signed right back Fabinho from the youth team of Fluminense, Brazil, for 300,000 euros, and Corinthians for 700,000 euros.
Young player Marquinhos.
Among them, Marquinhos holds dual citizenship of Portugal and Brazil.
But both transfers were equally unremarkable.
On the contrary, Gao Shen has been pushing for it, and there have been some twists and turns in the transfer of Inter Milan winger Coutinho.
Until Gao Shen returned from his trip to Northern Europe, he still had not been able to find a solution.
