In the summer of 1999, Aldrich's life was uneventful and ordinary, just like the daily life of ordinary people.
Melanie is inseparable with her every day. During the day, the two go shopping and cook at home. At night, they watch movies together or Aldrich sits quietly on the balcony reading a book. She is easily sleepy and often falls asleep early.
Although such a plain life is neither magnificent nor romantic, it is the most real and comfortable time.
Melanie often lamented in his ears that she enjoyed such time in peace.
Aldrich always smiled and said nothing.
As July approaches, the door to the transfer market is about to open, and transfer news from various clubs has begun to get louder.
The main players of Millwall's first team began to "habitually" get involved with major European giants, but scandals always remain scandals.
But different reports from various media channels are pointing the incident towards an unexpected player.
Rio Ferdinand!
The club with which he has been rumored is Leeds United.
At the same time, several Millwall players have been linked with Leeds United.
David O'Reilly, who is now dubbed the White Rose Marshal, is highly anticipated, and people are keeping their eyes open to see his performance next season.
But this requires more support from the Leeds United club. Based on the cards in O'Reilly's hand, after a successful season, if Leeds United does not strengthen its strength in the new season, it will obviously be targeted by various teams. Ground sniper.
In Leeds United, Kewell used his relationship with the Australian national team to persuade three Australian players, Neill, Cahill and Bresciano, to join Leeds United.
Lucas Neal is a veteran of the team. He has followed Aldridge since the beginning. His loyalty is unquestionable. Even if Kewell came to persuade him, Neal was not moved. Originally, Neal, regardless of his fame or football career His achievements are now better than those of Cowell. If the positions were reversed and Neil persuaded Cowell, the success rate might be greater.
But Cahill and Bresciano were a little moved. They couldn't even play as substitutes at Millwall and were loaned out for two consecutive years. They performed well under Moyes and helped Moyes lead the team to promotion last season. In English League One, Moyes' team not only successfully avoided relegation last season, but also ended up in the top half of English League One. Their performance also attracted the attention of England's first-tier clubs.
Among the transfer news followed by different media in Fleet Street, Ferdinand is Millwall's biggest potential potential trade partner, followed by Mills Duff and Van der Meyde. All of them have been rumored to have scandals with Leeds United. .
It's actually much more than that.
According to the information Adam told Aldridge, the summer transfer offensive launched by Leeds United will almost wipe out the talent reserve of Millwall's youth team between the ages of 18 and 20!
Ridsdale is ambitious and wants to build a strong Leeds United. He cannot afford Bates's large-scale investment, but he believes in the successful model of O'Reilly and the youth army and hopes that Leeds United can copy Millwall. A meteoric rise to the top.
On July 1st, Aldrich got up in the morning and planned to accompany Melanie for a walk in the park. As soon as he left the house, a high-end car was parked at the door. A strange young man got out of the car, came to Aldrich and took the initiative to hand over the car. Give me your business card and introduce yourself.
He is Ridsdale's assistant and is the senior Leeds United executive responsible for transfers this summer.
Aldrich didn't look away, threw the business card away, took Melanie's hand and walked out. When passing by the stunned young man, he said lightly: "If you don't understand the rules of the game, go home and don't come out.
a shame."
Melanie held back her laughter and snuggled up to Aldrich, pinching his arm a little harder.
Ridsdale's assistant looked red and blue, as if he had suffered great humiliation.
O'Reilly can come and talk to Aldridge about player transfers in person, and that's a conversation between the two coaches.
Ridsdale can also take the initiative to come to Aldridge to talk, and Aldridge will open the door of his office for the two of them to sit down and talk slowly. There is no business agreement, and this is normal communication between the two club owners.
But if Leeds United sends a high-level person, who is neither a head coach, nor an owner, nor a chairman, to come to Aldridge to discuss business, the status is not equal. According to the established rules, this lacks respect and etiquette.
He can come, but don't look for Aldridge, but look for Adam. That complies with the rules and bypasses Adam. This is contempt for Millwall's CEO.
At this point, Moratti is the opposite example. So far, Millwall has not made a deal with Inter Milan, but Moratti never lets others call Aldridge.
As a boss, no matter whether they are doing business or not, they communicate directly. This is the most basic kind of respect, and it also allows the two to establish a friendship. However, friendship is friendship and business is business, and they still need to be treated differently.
Two days later, Cahill and Bresciano came to Liverpool to visit Aldridge in person.
After the two-hour meeting, Aldrich hugged Cahill and Bresciano one after another, and then sent them off in person.
Melanie stood by the window upstairs, watching Cahill and Bresciano leave with disappointment. When Aldrich returned home, she went downstairs to sit next to him and whispered: "They
He seems to be in a very low mood. What did you talk about?"
"I agreed for them to leave."
"Would it make them happy if you let them stay?"
"That's not good for their careers."
Aldrich's mood was also somewhat affected.
These two people hope to stay at Millwall, but they have no main position and it is difficult to even play as a substitute, especially at their current age and need more games to improve.
Aldridge suddenly thought of Ferguson again. He suddenly felt that his current mood was probably the same as Ferguson's mood when he let Phil Neville go. He was reluctant to let go of Phil Neville, but he had to do it. Everything was just for the players.
Think about it.
"What are you thinking about?"
Melanie poked his face with her finger, trying to make him smile.
"Thinking of Ferguson."
"Hmm, why are you thinking about that old man? Are you feeling uncomfortable? You won the Champions League, and he also won the Champions League. As a result, he was knighted, and you got a knight's medal."
Aldrich was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said with a smile: "It's different, it has nothing to do with this."
Ferguson was knighted for his championship, although in terms of record, Aldridge is definitely better than Ferguson in recent years.
But Millwall's victory in the Champions League and Manchester United's victory in the Champions League have completely different impacts on British society.
One is a wealthy club that has been popular in England since the 1960s, and the other is a newly emerging dark polo team.
When Millwall wins the Champions League, everyone will only feel surprised and the fans will be surprised, that's all.
But how many generations of British Red Devils fans, old, middle and young, are excited by Manchester United's victory in the Champions League? In terms of local influence, Millwall is at best able to beat Manchester United in London. Looking at the whole of England, the Red Devils are still the dominant players. The vast majority of fans in England are
He is not a faggot, and he will not immediately switch sides and abandon his former belief in football just because Millwall has played well for a few years and won some championships. Aldridge is very open-minded about this, and he does not want to compete with Manchester United.
Glory, what we are fighting for is the future.
Furthermore, the social and political stances of London and Manchester will also play a big role. With Manchester's absolute loyalty to the Queen, it is normal to be favored by the royal family.
There's nothing to dislike about Aldrich.
The great coach in the history of the Red Army and Paisley, who won the Champions League three times and started the Liverpool dynasty that dominated Europe, are they knighted? No, only the OBE medal, which counts! Who makes Liverpool's political stance exactly opposite to Manchester?
Isn't going against Manchester the same thing as going against the royal family?
Not only did Manchester United's Busby, Charlton, and Ferguson receive knighthoods, but countless players also received medals of honor at various levels, such as Aldrich's Knight Medal, which is a piece of shit.
Therefore, if you really take this kind of thing seriously, you can be awkward for the rest of your life, as long as you don't take the royal family seriously. Originally, the British royal family has long existed in name only and is just wearing the emperor's new clothes.
Two days later, Rio Ferdinand also came to Liverpool from London.
"Boss, I will be 21 years old next season, and I need more stable playing time."
"Boss, 25 appearances in one cup and league season is not enough for me."
"Boss..."
Aldrich and Ferdinand were standing and talking in the back garden.
The two of them never talked about "money" from beginning to end.
Ferdinand spoke with sincerity and seemed to be convincing Aldridge to let him go from the perspective of career development.
Somehow, maybe it's Aldrich's villain heart.
He always felt like there was a smell of copper in the air.
Didn't Ferdinand really leave just for money?
He didn't even ask whether Millwall would let him compete for the starting position in the new season.
It seems that the starting point of his remarks is that he will be an absolute substitute in the new season, playing as a substitute from beginning to end, and there will be no situation where he will take the position after performing well.
Today is only July 5th.
How does he know whether Millwall will sell Materazzi or Southgate in the summer?
If he really wants to stay, he should at least wait, wait patiently, and wait until the new season kicks off in August. It won't be too late to make a transfer then.
But maybe he couldn't wait any longer.
Can't wait to sign the new contract that Ridsdale offers him with a weekly salary of 30,000!
This is nearly double his weekly salary of 16,000 at Millwall!
Moreover, there may be a signing fee of almost 1 million pounds!
Aldrich did not give Ferdinand a direct reply, only saying that he would consider his appeal and then let him go home and wait for news.
After sending Ferdinand out of the house in person, Aldrich sighed slightly as he watched him get into the taxi and turn around to walk home.
He needed to make a choice, and Ferdinand's showdown forced him to make a decision as soon as possible.
Should you let him go or keep him by force?
No matter what it is, a decision must be made as early as possible. Even if you force him to stay, it will give him some time to adjust his mentality.
Ferdinand's contract with the club still has three years left. If he is forced to stay, he will not be able to take over within two years, and Millwall will lose the transfer fee on him. This is a foreseeable scenario.
But can the 23-year-old Ferdinand challenge the main positions of Materazzi and Southgate, who are becoming more stable?
Unless, these two people really have serious injuries or transfer and leave.
Ferdinand has already rejected a weekly salary of 20,000 pounds offered by the club. This salary package is already the top of the package offered by Premier League teams to substitute players, and it is a salary package that more than 60% of the main players of Premier League clubs cannot get.
Already.
However, he seemed to have decided to leave.
Aldrich smiled to himself as he returned home.
The difference between a weekly salary of 20,000 pounds and a weekly salary of 30,000 pounds is almost 500,000 pounds a year, plus the signing fee...
People die for wealth and birds die for food. There is nothing to complain about Ferdinand. (To be continued...)
