In just half a month, Dick's operational ability and Manchester City's financial resources instantly caused a storm across the European continent. With an investment of 136 million pounds and 13 signings, such expenditures,
It was something that Chelsea had never been able to achieve back then, but it was normal for this. Chelsea at that time was still a team capable of reaching the quarterfinals of the Champions League, and they did not need to replace so many people for reinforcements. But Manchester City is now almost
Relatively speaking, the investment in a major overhaul from beginning to end is not a lot.
However, there is one thing that Manchester City is rich in. That is, none of the players Dick thinks are on the list can be sold at a high price - Corradi, Dickov and Danny Mills were loaned out respectively.
Parma, Crystal Palace and Charlton, Distin, Sinclair and Steve Jordan went to Portsmouth on free transfers, Cardiff and Burnley, Matthew Mills and Miller went on loan
West Bromwich Albion and Mponsa went to Atletico Madrid as additions. Trabelsi was released by the team and has not yet found a new home. French midfielder Dabo was also released by Manchester City and then joined on a free transfer.
After joining Lazio in Serie A, defenders Bol and Onuola were transferred to lower-level leagues for zero value respectively - Manchester City did not consider how much money they could recover, either on loan or on a free transfer, and did not take any money from the transfer market.
Make a penny.
The only ones that have not been sold off are midfielder Ireland and forward Samaras. Manchester City's front line is almost saturated now. Samaras is still looking for his next home. It is estimated that he will leave in a day or two.
Things, and Stephen Ireland, as a product of Manchester City's youth training, joined the Manchester City youth team at the age of fifteen. After entering the Manchester City first team in the first two seasons, his performance was quite good. He was the main player in two seasons, which can be regarded as
Being conscientious, Dick canceled his transfer when there seemed to be no other better options in the midfield - at least as a substitute in the midfield, Ireland was still suitable.
As a result, Manchester City's first-team lineup is now basically determined.
There are three goalkeepers: Iksason, Schmeichel Jr., and Joe Hart. The right backs are Richards and Sun Jihai. The left backs are Barnes, Hart and Bell. The center back position is Samuel.
Kompany, Joel Luca, Gary Cahill and David Dunn, midfielder Joey Barton, Yaya Toure, Hamann, Parker, Vidal, Ireland, forward Ribery, Young,
Torres, Di Natale, and Vassell, a total of 24 first-team members, are definitely enough in the absence of European competitions.
After continuous signings, Dick stopped his own acquisitions. At this time, acquisitions in continental Europe also began to be carried out in full swing. Of course, Dick is only focusing on the acquisitions of the Premier League. In contrast to Manchester City's large-scale acquisitions, other acquisitions are also in full swing.
The team acquisition seems a bit shabby - although they actually spent a lot of money, they still have to sell some players to make up for it. In terms of net investment in the entire Premier League, it may not be as good as Manchester City's net investment.
Facing the menacing Manchester City, the first to be threatened is the defending champion Manchester United. You must know that Manchester City and Manchester United are both in Manchester. Judging from the local support, Manchester City's supporters are no less than Manchester United, and even more - this
This situation is common in European football. Juventus is the most successful team in Italy, but their support in Turin is not as good as that of tiny Turin. In Munich, the support rate of Munich 1860 is not worse than Bayern. Liverpool is in
Local players may not be able to do as well as Everton...these are very typical examples.
Ferguson defeated Chelsea to win the league championship last season. After failing to win the championship for three consecutive years, he began a strong revival. New generations like Rooney and Ronaldo allowed Manchester United to start to rise again. With Ferguson's character, just this alone
A batch of players should be enough to dominate the Premier League for three or four years, but after Dick arrived, Ferguson also began to be wary...
With the same worth of 17 million pounds, Ferguson successively introduced three young players: Hargreaves, Nani and Anderson. At the same time, they also signed Argentine striker Tevez from West Ham United. Although the transfer fee
It has not been disclosed, but it is definitely not less than 17 million pounds - after all, Tevez's transfer from Boca Juniors to Corinthians is already worth 15 million euros...
After spending almost 70 million pounds on these four new players, Manchester United also recovered part of the funds from the transfer market. Argentine defender Heinze moved to Real Madrid for 8 million pounds, and teenager Rossi moved to Real Madrid for 6 million pounds.
After joining Villarreal, Smith moved to Newcastle for 6 million pounds, and winger Richardson moved to Sunderland for 5 million pounds. Manchester United also recovered more than 20 million pounds, and invested close to 50 million pounds this summer.
The British pound has been a big deal for Manchester United in recent years. It has to be said that Manchester City's investment has also stimulated Manchester United to a great extent.
Because the dozen players Dick signed are not all second-rate stars. Torres, Ribery, Yaya Toure, and Samuel are all top-notch players. Their addition has given Manchester City a backbone.
, coupled with a group of powerful players, there is no doubt that Manchester City now has the strength to win the championship. Manchester United, which is the first to bear the brunt, will naturally have to invest more.
Arsenal also began to spend money - buying Lass Diarra from Chelsea for 4 million pounds, introducing Croatian striker Da Silva for 8 million pounds, buying full-back Sagna for 7.5 million pounds, two
They introduced Polish goalkeeper Fabianski for one million pounds and Norwegian central defender Nordwit for two million pounds, with a total expenditure of more than 20 million pounds - of course they still made money, because their Highbury king Henry was replaced by Barcelona.
With a net worth of 16 million pounds, Reyes left for 8 million pounds, and Ljungberg left for 3 million pounds... They still made a profit in the transfer market. What is worrying is that
, after Henry leaves, how will Arsenal's striker make up for it...
Benitez continued his large-scale buying and selling. Cisse, Pongler and Bellamy left, and introduced offensive players such as Benayoun, Lucas, Babel, and Vononen.
It is constantly replenishing its own strength.
However, Chelsea's actions are a bit strange. Their net investment in the past three seasons has exceeded 50 million pounds. They have begun to make money from the transfer market this summer. Mourinho's transfer power has been withdrawn and Robben has been sold.
Gave it to Real Madrid in exchange for 25 million pounds, and then they introduced Malouda and Belletti, the only two people Chelsea spent money on this summer. Other signings such as Brazilian defender Allais
Peruvian striker Pizarro and local midfielder Sidwell were all introduced for free. This approach made everyone feel a bit strange - even if Abramovich lost a lot of property after divorce, he would not spend all this investment.
Can't come out...
"Well, I feel like we can take Chelsea out of the competition."
Dick smiled privately and said to Marriner, of course he was joking. Even if Chelsea will encounter a lot of things this season, with their background, there won't be any big problems, let alone a decline in performance.
So fast - in the world that Dick knew, although Chelsea suffered a series of blows such as Mourinho's dismissal, and Chelsea's players were dissatisfied with the new head coach Grant, they were still tenacious.
Winning three runner-up places in the League, League Cup and Champions League - although this is a sad thing to say, it cannot be said that it is not a competitor of Manchester City, unless Manchester City is not even qualified to compete for runner-up.
But at this time, it is true that Abramovich no longer trusts Mourinho. Their transfer this year did not go through Mourinho's hands at all. Abramovich does not want to spend any more money this summer. Civil strife at Chelsea is inevitable.
Dick vaguely remembered that Mourinho was fired not long after the start of the season, which also made Dick feel a little regretful - he had not played against Mourinho too many times. If he did not play against him in the Premier League, he would not play against him in the future.
I don’t know when it will be...
However, there are still opponents like Ferguson, Wenger and Benitez in the Premier League, so he is not lonely.
The Premier League has always started relatively early. The first round of this season will start on August 11th. However, one advantage of Manchester City is that they have no other games to play before the start of the league. For Manchester City, which started training on July 10th,
Generally speaking, they still have enough time to adjust their status.
The location of Manchester City's training camp is in Dubai, United Arab Emirates - the Abu Dhabi Group is a multinational group that relies on the royal family of the United Arab Emirates. Their entry into football is just a small step for them. However, because of the hiring of Dick, the Abu Dhabi Group's focus on football
The team's first concentration was also given great importance. The training location was outside Dubai, and the environment arranged for the entire Manchester City club was staggeringly luxurious...
Needless to say, the entire Manchester City team will live in the Burj Khalifa for twenty days, with luxury car transfers and air-conditioned stadiums... In Marriner's words, he has never trained players in such a comfortable environment.
"Today, we came to Dubai...well, this place is indeed very luxurious, extremely luxurious, but you know, we are here to enjoy when we should enjoy it. If anyone is lazy during training, then don't blame me for not fucking doing it.
You're welcome... Some of you are familiar with me, and most of you have only heard of some things about me. What I want to tell you now is that most of those rumors are true! Outside of training, what do you want to do?
You can play however you want. As long as it doesn't break the law, I don't care about you. But on the training ground, if anyone dares not to train well, then the first thing I will do is to kick him to the reserve team. No matter what I just said.
No matter how much money is spent on him, do you understand? There are twenty-four people in our team now. For me, this number is already a bit too much because we don’t play in European competitions, just in the league.
Cup, FA Cup and league competitions, I can support a season with fourteen people! In front of me, no one is indispensable. The only indispensable person in my team is me.
Because of this, I have won seven league championships and six European championships in seven years, and what about you? Do you think you will win more honors than me?"
On the first day he arrived in Dubai, Dick gave all the players a showdown. Among the current twenty-four players, except for the three direct descendants of Torres, Di Natale and Yaya Toure, the other players
None of them had ever worked with Dick, so now, they began to gradually understand Dick's characteristics...
"The boss seems to be much more cruel than when he was at Inter Milan." Yaya Toure said to Di Natale in a low voice.
Di Natale smiled slightly and did not answer.
Torres laughed - we haven't seen each other for five years, but the boss's style remains the same...
The other Manchester City players looked at Dick with awe - among the current players in Manchester City, there really are not many players with outstanding achievements. In front of Dick, they really don't count.
