Arriving at Ferguson's home in Cheshire, Aldridge met the legendary Scottish old man face to face for the first time.
The first impression is neither of a majestic and majestic figure pointing to the mountains and rivers, nor of a majestic and cold mountain that seems to stir up violent storms.
This old Scottish man fell asleep sitting on a deck chair in the garden. Under the soft sunset, he looked more like a man who had taken off his armor and returned to the fields, recalling the glorious past and smiling knowingly.
Ferguson, who was wearing a casual T-shirt in the middle of summer, was gently nudged awake by his wife Kathy.
Ferguson had already said before that there would be guests at home, but while waiting in the garden, he took a sweet afternoon nap.
After waking up, Ferguson rubbed his eyes, then squinted at the visitor not far away, as if he couldn't see clearly. He found the glasses on the table beside him and put them on before he cheered up.
Casey brought the tea for the guests and put it on the table, and then left.
Ferguson avoids talking about anything related to football at home. If it were not for the guests brought by their favorite son, I am afraid that even if Ferguson would agree to meet with Aldridge, he would not choose to be at home.
Aldrich considers himself a very simple person. He does not have the different standards for dealing with people caused by the influence of region, race, culture, religion, etc. in the British bones. He can and is willing to be friends with everyone, which makes him stand out in the world.
He is very open and natural in front of everyone, and his etiquette, words and deeds are without any pretense.
"Hello, Mr. Ferguson."
Aldrich greeted Ferguson with a smile. Ferguson looked up at him, stared for a long time, and then waved to Jason, as if he didn't want outsiders to be present for what he was going to talk about next.
When Ferguson, in his role as Manchester United manager, had a conversation with Aldridge, a club owner and head coach, there was a lot that could not be heard by people outside the circle.
Even though Jason is Ferguson's son, strictly speaking, Jason is outside the football circle.
This is closely related to Britain's always conservative tradition. Football is actually a very small circle. Whether it is well-known to passers-by or a mystery, no matter how big or small it is, it should stay in this circle and be buried in history.
Aldrich glanced at Andrew and motioned for him to follow Jason and leave.
Andrew greeted Ferguson politely, and Ferguson nodded to him with a smile, and then watched the two young men walk into the house.
Ferguson stretched out his hand to invite him, and Aldrich sat down calmly, a table away from Ferguson, with steaming tea on it.
The British like to drink tea, and it has almost become their tradition.
More than a hundred years ago, it was the British aristocrats who were crazy about tea, which caused China's international trade to cause Britain's trade deficit, and indirectly led to the subsequent Opium War. Then the British shamelessly stole China's tea.
Technology and tea seeds have established a large production garden in East India.
After Aldridge and Ferguson took a sip of tea, they started chatting. Basically, Ferguson asked Aldridge how he was doing.
That was Aldridge's actions after taking over the club. Ferguson seemed to want to learn about the stranger he met for the first time from Aldridge's series of crazy actions.
From the bottom of his heart, Ferguson hated Aldridge, and his first impression was not good.
No head coach would want to suddenly learn that the club has a new owner at the press conference, and that he will come out halfway and catch everyone off guard.
Forcing the first-team coaching staff to resign voluntarily is simply flouting the rules.
Ferguson is very curious about Aldridge. If there were only such deeds as the disintegration of Millwall's first team, I am afraid that Ferguson would only laugh at Aldridge with the people around him. As for his own son being introduced as an intermediary, Ferguson would also
Reject directly.
However, Millwall's actions in the transfer market in the past month have been so surprising that they can even be regarded as a summer storm in English football. Although Ferguson has no interest in Millwall, he occasionally watches the news.
, discovered something that aroused his curiosity.
Although Millwall's summer signings are mainly young players, and the average age of all players may even be less than 20 years old, Ferguson, who knows the subtleties, has a keen insight that Aldridge's signings have really created a
A new team!
Regardless of the player's ability and reputation, just looking at the player's position, it does look like a team.
Although Ferguson couldn't figure out the details, after all, the position of many players on the field was uncertain, because many players were completely broke in English football, and they were just like people who jumped out of the cracks in the rocks.
After all, information now is not as developed as it will be ten or twenty years from now.
During the chat with Ferguson, Aldrich neither pretended to be profound nor was he cautious. He said nothing and didn't hide anything.
He even confessed that he unexpectedly showed up at the press conference just to embarrass the team coach and make him hand in his resignation.
This is not a show of force, nor is it trying to scare the monkeys. It's just that if Aldridge wants to take control of the team, he must start over and build a team that he can control.
As they chatted, Ferguson at least put aside his prejudice against Aldridge before they met him. As the owner of the club, it would be really difficult for Aldridge to also serve as the team's head coach without using the Thunder's methods.
It was not until nightfall that Ferguson remembered to ask the other party the purpose of his visit.
After chatting with the old man for more than an hour, Aldrich finally expressed his intention with a wry smile.
"My squad is still a little thin, so I want to loan players to Manchester United."
Ferguson stared at Aldrich with a strange expression and asked: "Why don't you buy it, but borrow it?"
The subtext is too obvious.
You have already spent more than 10 million pounds. Why don't you spend more money on anyone else you like?
Aldridge scratched his head and smiled bitterly: "To be honest, I have my eye on many players, really, but I can't afford them, and those players will definitely not come. Many of the people on my current team are unknown.
Even the famous players of our generation are not stars in the mainstream major leagues."
Ferguson nodded, secretly thinking that this young man was quite sensible, not the kind of upstart who waved around money thinking that he would make everyone bow to him.
"Who do you have your eye on? Maybe I can actually sell it to you."
Hearing these words, Aldrich was stunned, then turned to look at the old Scottish man who narrowed his eyes into a straight line and smiled harmlessly, and suddenly smiled bitterly: You are kidding me!
"Okay, brothers Neville, Scholes, Giggs, Beckham, Nicky Butt, just these few. If you ask for it, I will accept it within five million pounds."
It was originally just a joke, but Ferguson's expression turned serious.
The British transfer record is only 3.75 million pounds, but Aldridge is willing to pay 5 million pounds for these young people?
"You mean packing 5 million?"
"They are not cabbage. Each player is worth 5 million pounds. If you are willing to let them go, I will take them even if you sell them. How about it? Even if you can't sell them all to me at once, you can always sell one or two? This is a new transfer.
Recorded.”
After Aldridge finished speaking, a smile appeared on his face, and he stared at Ferguson's expression changes without blinking: Counterattack!
Ferguson was slapping his mouth, and suddenly sighed: "Who do you want to rent?"
Aldrich didn't expect the old man to be so cunning, so he changed the subject directly.
"Beckham."
Ferguson thought for a moment and asked: "Playing time?"
"At least 20 games."
"Lease fee?"
"Millwall will bear the salary during the loan period and nothing else."
After another period of reflection, Ferguson raised his head and said, "How about I give you another 20 games as an individual?"
Aldrich frowned. Not only was this old man cunning, but he also had a tendency to climb up the pole.
He helped his players level up for free, and the other party directly regarded him as a professional free agent.
"who?"
"Phil Neville."
Although Gary Neville's little brother was promoted to the Manchester United first team this summer like Beckham, he has the same fate as Beckham. If he is not loaned out this season, he will definitely sit on the bench.
Phil Neville is a backcourt player who can play as a full-back or midfielder. In Aldridge's lineup, he has Makelele and Vieira as midfielders, especially the midfielder, as well as the 17-year-old Gatto.
Suo, these are all raw materials and need a lot of games to temper them. Even at the risk of losing, Aldrich would rather help them train and grow.
Aldridge said frankly: "Mr. Ferguson, regarding Phil Neville, I can only say that if Manchester United rents him to my team, Phil Neville will only appear as a full-back in the next year.
position."
Aldridge didn't know Ferguson's specific training plan for Phil Neville. He made his position clear and let Ferguson make the decision.
"Yeah, sure. It's getting late, let's stay and have dinner together."
Ferguson got up to move around, and then invited Aldrich and Andrew to stay at home for a simple dinner.
The next day, Millwall officially announced that the summer transfer was over and the team would conduct preparation training for next season on July 21.
