The Young Lion

As Aldridge walked out of Old Trafford to take a taxi to the train station, his mobile phone rang.

It was just that he took out his phone habitually and canceled the silent mode. He found that there were several text messages and two missed calls. Just when he took out his phone, another call came in.

Caller: Melanie.

Hi.

Aldridge, where are you? You are so crazy today!

I'm going back to London.

Huh? Are you still in Manchester?

Yes, just had a chat with the Manchester United manager in his office.

What's there to talk about with him? You two are not from the same era. Then come to my house for dinner. My mother wants to meet you too. She said she wants to see my boyfriend.

Okay, then tell me the address, and I'll take a taxi there.

After hanging up the phone, Aldrich temporarily suppressed the gloom in his heart.

He didn't agree to Ferguson in person, or refused.

There's nothing wrong with transfer fees, United's asking price is reasonable in this day and age, although maybe in three to five years Larsson and Trezeguet will be worth more than £15m.

However, the transfer involves three aspects, Manchester United, Millwall, and the players themselves.

If Manchester United did not offer, Aldridge could not take it seriously, but if Manchester United made an offer, the situation is completely different.

Aldridge will not agree hastily, because the importance of these two players to Millwall is self-evident.

But you can't refuse decisively. What if the player wants to leave? It's not that Manchester United made an insulting offer or couldn't meet their salary needs.

If there is a conflict between the will of the player and the club, the advantages of the two staying in the team may not necessarily outweigh the disadvantages. What's more, Aldridge wants to establish an image, and if he forces players to stay, there will be some discord rumors. It will have a negative impact. Millwall itself is unattractive. If the head coach can no longer attract players to vote, then this club will have no future at all.

It's not that Aldridge can't sell players. He borrowed 30 million pounds from his elder brother Barnett. How can he repay it?

Do you only rely on the low income of the club? I'm afraid it won't be paid in ten years.

He pays the main players with a salary that is almost the same as that of England's first-tier stars, just to keep the players. If he wants to sell them in the future, he will sell them at a good price.

If the deal between Larson and Trezeguet is concluded, Aldridge can earn nearly 10 million pounds a year from the two players!

And in the next two years, he must sell players to make up for the balance of payments. The club's budget will run out after this season. If the operating income can increase significantly this season, then Audrey Qi can still persist for another season, but by 1997, I am afraid he will become a pauper.

It’s not enough to just go out but not in, but you can’t sell people this season. The first season of the Premier League is too important for Millwall. It is not only about survival, but also about the limit of achievement.

Aldridge called Andrew while waiting for the bus. When Trezeguet introduced him last year, his agent was replaced by Andrew. In the summer, Larson renewed his contract and became a player in Andrew's hands.

I simply communicated with Andrew that Manchester United will offer two players, and what to do about it is not Aldridge's questioning,

In fact, he and Andrew, the two brothers, should be the two parties with conflicting interests.

If Larson and Trezeguet hadn't just signed a new contract in the summer, and their wages had risen sharply, especially for Larson, whose weekly salary had risen directly from 8,000 pounds to 15,000 pounds, then, as an agent, Andrew, from Zhou Xuan, either to help the player transfer to Manchester United, or to help the player get a bigger contract at Millwall.

Everything between the brothers was silent, and Aldridge actually felt relieved. At least the most difficult agent in the transfer transaction was his brother. He was sure that Andrew would not stab him in the back.

When the taxi came, Aldridge got in the car and asked the driver to drive to Liverpool.

It takes less than an hour to travel from Manchester to Liverpool by car. The two cities are so close, but culture, religion, politics, economy, and football are all opposites.

Leaving aside all his troubles, Aldrich looked at the street view outside the car window. Along the way, what he could see was the very different cultural atmosphere of the two cities, and he could also feel that the historical changes had led to the different fates of the two cities.

Manchester is conservative and traditional. The world factory that emerged more than 200 years ago has declined. After World War II, the industry has declined. In the past 30 years, the manufacturing industry has been declining. Large-scale layoffs have caused Manchester to undergo a painful transformation, from manufacturing to service. industry, and in the streets and alleys, the people of Manchester City are all sad and cherish the memory of the city's lost glory.

As a famous port city in the UK, Liverpool is more open, free and multi-elemental, so the talented Beatles were born here, and it also quickly embarked on the road to revival in the 1990s. In recent years, its economic growth rate has surpassed that of London, becoming the UK's economic At the vanguard of growth, Liverpool is an artsy city that has produced many artists.

The scene in his eyes was changing, and Aldrich suddenly thought that Melanie was from Liverpool. Perhaps most of her musical talent and inspiration came from the magical port city of Liverpool.

Aldridge favors talented people and respects hardworking people. Perhaps it is because Melanie possesses these two qualities that he is tempted.

And he is indifferent to women with empty skins, otherwise, young and rich, he would have been able to spend the spring night with countless third-version girls.

After he got off the car in front of Melanie's house, Aldridge looked down at his instrument, and immediately regretted it.

The quality of the suit is excellent, not wrinkled, but the trousers legs down to the knees, there are obviously two stains, which are left when he rushed into the arena to kneel and skate to celebrate, and there are also some dirty marks on the suit. The players got it when they came over to hug.

Taking off his suit and putting it on his arm, he stood in front of the door and said suddenly: It's the first time he came to the door, but he was empty-handed.

He who has always paid attention to etiquette and demeanor feels embarrassed.

If I had known this earlier, I should have given Ferguson a good bottle of wine before coming here.

He stood in front of the door for a long time, and suddenly found the door opened. Melanie stared at him with a strange face, and asked in a low voice: Why are you standing at the door and not ringing the doorbell? Do you not want to come?

Aldrich smiled bitterly and said, I came in a hurry, and I didn't bring any gifts.

Melanie rolled her eyes, dragged him by the arm and dragged him home, and kissed him on the cheek, and said, I know you just finished directing the game, and you just came for a casual meal, not your high-society dinner, It makes people nervous, just casual, my family is very hospitable.

Aldridge slandered in his heart: High society?

If someone else said that, Aldrich must think it was ironic.

In the UK, the real upper class people are not comparable to the Hall family. The authentic nobles are often able to drink afternoon tea with ministers in Downing Street, and go horseback riding with members of the royal family... The Hall family, Just nouveau riche.

It is said that Liverpool is from Scorsese, warm and hospitable. Aldrich met Melanie's parents for the first time and had a very good impression.

Melanie has a younger brother who is a Liverpool fan like Melanie.

He went to watch the Liverpool game in the afternoon. He witnessed Liverpool's small victory over Sheffield Wednesday at Anfield. He returned home happily and heard that Manchester United had a difficult draw at home with the newly promoted team.

What surprised him even more was that at dinner time, he saw his sister's boyfriend, the miraculous newly promoted head coach, Aldridge, who was not a few years older than him.

The dinner went very harmoniously. Although Aldrich was not as knowledgeable as the academics, fortunately he had traveled far and wide, and his conversation was very gentle.

The only thing that gave him a headache was that Melanie's younger brother watched the post-match highlights and started talking about football with him. While talking about which Millwall player would have greater achievements in Liverpool, he was thinking about this Liverpool can win the league title this season.

Liverpool, that is also a traditional giant that has missed the league title since 1990.

Aldridge didn't want to hit him. Even without the sudden emergence of Millwall, Liverpool's next top league champion does not know when it will be. At least in the history that Aldridge has experienced, it is almost a full 24 years! Will it surpass Manchester United's end in Ferguson's era? Manchester United's 26 years without a dark record in the top league. It's hard to say. Anyway, there is no sign that Liverpool will quickly win the league title in 20 years. After all, the Premier League at that time was already another pattern up.

After dinner, I chatted happily with Melanie's family for nearly two hours. Seeing that it was getting late, Aldrich got up and left. Melanie's mother said: It's so late, let's leave tomorrow. The family happens to have a room for guests to stay overnight.

Melanie knew Aldridge very well. She picked up his suit and unfolded it, put it on for him, and smiled at the family: You don't know, he is a workaholic, and he must go to the club tomorrow morning, don't make things difficult for him .”

Melanie's parents laughed, kindly and relieved, thinking that hard-working young people like Aldridge are rare, and why is it a flashy society now.

Melanie sent Aldridge out. Outside the door, the two hugged and kissed goodbye. When she was flushed and out of breath, she said, I will go to London to watch the game on the weekend. You have to work hard! Although I believe You, but the media downplays you and still makes people angry, Aldridge, you're going to hit back at those voices, right?

The last few weeks she has time, the Spice Girls will be busy with their first album.

Millwall was not favored before the season, which is reasonable. No newly promoted team will be particularly favored, especially a team like Millwall that has neither background nor large-scale introduction of well-known stars.

Aldridge pinched her tender face and said with a smile, I don't care what other people say.

Seeing her stare, as if dissatisfied with what he said, Aldridge sighed: There is no time, who would spend hours every day flipping through the newspapers to see what people outside are saying about themselves? Spend more time Think about how to fight back? Are you tired? Well, let’s not talk, I should go, anyway, I will come back in two weeks, when the time comes, hehe, I guess your family won’t welcome me.”

Melanie kissed him on the lips again, and said with a smile: If Millwall beats Liverpool at Anfield, you dare to appear here, be careful not to go back to London! Hahaha, Aldrich, be careful on the road, Call me when you get home.

Aldridge shook his head and said, It will be too late, nothing will happen.

no!

Send a text message.

No! Call, or I will call you every ten minutes.

You won, I'll call you when I get home, good night.

Aldridge turned around and walked to the intersection of the community, got in the car and left.

It wasn't until the taxi disappeared that Melanie bounced back home with her hands behind her back.

Aldrich closed his eyes tiredly in the car to rest his mind.

Manchester United's transfer intentions came at an inopportune time. This is the beginning of the Millwall Devil's schedule. Next week, they will play against Arsenal in the same city at home in the derby. The next week, they will come back here again. Although it is not Manchester, but Liverpool...

PS: Thanks to the gentleman born in the 90s for the reward!