When Gao Han received Amando Marcos and cantarello in the hotel, as far as Colney training base in the north of London, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger also welcomed his dusty colleagues back from South America.
Arsenal chief scout Steve Raleigh.
This time, Steve Raleigh went to Peru in South America to watch the U20 South America youth match.
Ten South American youth national teams participate in the youth competition. They are divided into two groups with five teams in each group. After ranking, the top three teams in each group automatically enter the final group, and then fight in a single round. Finally, the winner is decided by the ranking.
Because it is related to the number of players in the world youth championship, every national youth team will try their best to recall the players who play in the European League to China.
For European teams, this is undoubtedly a rare opportunity to observe the talents of young people in South America from a close range. So Steve Raleigh went to Peru to watch the game in person, hoping to see if he can dig out the stars of hope.
After the team began to prepare for the construction of a new stadium, Arsenal have always been training young players as the way to build the team, so the Gunners also attach great importance to Steve Raleigh''s trip. The chief scout arrived in London last night and arrived at Colney training base early this morning to report his work.
"How''s it going? What did you get? " Asked Wingle expectantly as soon as he saw Steve Raleigh.
Pat rice and other assistants are also watching the chief scout, hoping to get good news.
"You must have seen the specific news. This year''s Brazil is too strong." Steve Raleigh exclaimed.
Brazil is the champion of this year''s youth championship. They have only lost two of the nine games, but there are many classic events, such as a 4-2 victory over Paraguay, a 5-1 victory over Chile, and a 6-0 victory over Uruguay.
"In this year''s youth championship, Neymar of Brazil is the number one superstar. He scored nine goals in nine games. He shows the strength of an expert in this competition. If he continues to develop in this direction, he will become a great player and will definitely be a top star in the future."
With the end of this year''s youth championship, Neymar once again received the attention of the mainstream media and clubs in Europe. Many rich teams began to pay attention to this Brazilian genius, but his value is also quite amazing, even can be said to be valuable.
Almost everyone who has seen Neymar play football will not hesitate to conclude that he will be a strong contender for the golden ball award in the future.
More importantly, he has a very good agent, Jorge Mendes.
"Neymar can become a talent, this is not news, it is said that at the beginning of the cold personally concluded that he is for the golden ball award level players, there are many rich teams want to get him these years, but it is said that he and his family have not come to Europe to develop, it is estimated that the chips are not enough." Pat rice laughs.
Gao has personally concluded that this is undoubtedly the guarantee of quality in the European transfer market.
"Brazil''s economy has been good these years, and the club is not as short of money as before, so they are not in a hurry to sell. Neymar''s partner in Europe is Mendes, but his father is still in charge of the specific brokerage business. It is said that the ownership is also very complicated. It is estimated that it is difficult to get him." Steve Raleigh shook his head.
That''s the problem with a lot of South American players.
"However, in addition to Neymar, I think there is another attacker in Brazil who deserves our attention."
"Who?" Asked Arsene.
"Lucas mora, who scored a hat trick in Brazil''s 6-0 win over Uruguay, has excellent explosive power and accurate scoring ability. He has a sharp right breakthrough. I think if he is cultivated properly, his future achievements will be limitless."
Arsene Wenger nodded slightly. "There are many players of this type in Brazil, but whether they can adapt to the European League, especially the Premier League, will be a very challenging topic."
The Premier League is called a nightmare for Brazilian players, which is not unreasonable.
In this country which emphasizes power confrontation, the skill of Brazilian players is often greatly restrained. Therefore, in recent years, Brazilian players are often reluctant to play in the Premier League.
"In addition to these two players, there are several quite good players in the Brazilian team, such as midfield Oscar and casemillo. These two players are born in Sao Paulo. Oscar is the front waist and the core No. 10 of the Brazilian national youth team. Casemillo is a strong back waist. Like Lucas mora, they are Sao Paulo''s biggest discoveries this season."
"In contrast, kudinho, who plays for Inter Milan, seems to be in the doldrums, but the two full backs of Chinatown are quite eye-catching. One is Danilo on the right side, and the other is Alex Sandro on the left side. Both of them are eye-catching in the cup and win the final."
When Arsene Wenger heard the name of Chinatown, he frowned, "these two are not the absolute main force in Chinatown, are they?"
"Well, Danilo is carvahar''s competitor. The competition between them is very fierce and their performance is remarkable. Alex Sandro is Alba''s substitute and his performance is also good." Pat rice returned.
After listening to Arsene, he nodded, "it seems that this Chinatown is really full of talents."
"More than that, there is another person who deserves our attention. Even I think that if he develops well, he may not lose to Neymar in the future."
"Who?"
"Hames Rodriguez."
"It''s him!" Everyone was impressed.
Hames Rodriguez is the most eye-catching midfield player in China city this season, averaging nearly three threat shots per game, making him the best threat player in La Liga, surpassing Messi and Ozil.
"This player has scored six goals and assisted five times in nine games. He is one of the best players in the Youth League. However, due to the fact that Colombia''s overall strength is not as good as Brazil and Argentina, Colombia only finished fourth in the end, but he left us a deep impression."
"Tell me." He asked with interest.
But all the players who are in high cold''s eyes are always good, and even have real talents.
"He is very comprehensive. He is proficient in passing, controlling, leading and shooting. His left and right feet are balanced. He is not bad in height or strength. He is a very comprehensive attacking midfield, especially the long-range shot. He has four amazing skills. He can basically adapt to the development of the whole central axis from shadow front, front waist to midfield."
Neither Arsene Wenger nor pat rice expected that Steve Raleigh would have such a high opinion of Hames Rodriguez.
"In fact, it''s not just me. As far as I know, almost all European scouts who go to Peru think highly of Hames Rodriguez, and even never lose to Neymar. It''s said that he has basically decided to participate in this summer''s Copa America and World Youth Championships. If he can continue this excellent performance, it''s estimated that he won''t be able to stay in this summer."
Chinatown is a small team in the end. Although the ability to cultivate players is excellent, once the rich teams start to dig corners, Chinatown will have no chance of winning. If they want to stay, they will not be able to stay. This is a big tragedy for the small team.
With a deep frown, Arsene Wenger seemed to be lost in thought. A full minute or two later, the French looked back at Steve Raleigh with a shrewdness in his eyes.
"Steve, you get in touch with the independent and tell them we''re keeping a close eye on Hames Rodriguez."
Pat rice and Steve Raleigh were both obviously surprised. "Why?"
It''s too late to fight psychological war against the cold, isn''t it?
It''s going to be a match tonight. Now tell the media, does it work?
"Nasri has a problem with his contract extension." He sighed.
After listening, the two assistants immediately understood what Arsene was saying.
Nasri is one of the team''s most outstanding players recently, but because of this, he has attracted the attention of many big teams, including Barcelona and Real Madrid, who are rumored to be interested in him, and the Frenchman''s morale has also increased.
The 23-year-old Nasri has only 18 months left on his contract. If he doesn''t renew his contract before this summer, Arsenal will become very passive. Therefore, the chip offered by the Gunners is to increase his weekly salary from 60000 to 100000, which obviously can''t meet the requirements of Nasri and his agent.
A few years ago, 100000 pounds was the top salary. Only the top stars in the Premier League were eligible for it. But now 100000 pounds can no longer satisfy the top stars. Especially after Manchester City introduced such superstars as Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, the first salary in the Premier League has gone up with the tide.
Wayne Rooney of Manchester United has been fighting for a while before, but now it''s Nasri of Arsenal.
If at this time, Arsenal are rumored to pay close attention to Hames Rodriguez, it will undoubtedly exert some pressure on Nasri, who has similar technical characteristics, to force the other side to submit. This is also a common skill in transfer and contract renewal negotiations. As for the effect, it depends on the number of chips each other has.
"I heard that another Middle East Consortium is contacting European teams. It is said that this time it is Paris Saint Germain of the French league." Steve Raleigh said with a wry smile.
"Your news is out of date. It''s not one, it''s two, a Middle East Consortium and an Eastern European consortium. Their targets are Paris Saint Germain and Monaco, and they are not bad for money." After that, there was another long sigh.
Pat rice is also worried to say: "in the current situation of European football, star resources are extremely scarce, and the value of players has been soaring. If these two consortia, as well as Premier League teams including Birmingham, are acquired by foreign investors one after another, and a large amount of funds flow in, the transfer fees of players will reach a new peak."
Who said no?
Arsene was silent, just sighing.
Originally, he thought that Arsenal would soon have a good life after the difficult period of the new stadium, but he did not expect that the impact of the subprime mortgage crisis led to the blocked real estate project of Highbury stadium originally planned by the management and the huge financial pressure on the team.
It''s not easy to get through, and the result immediately ushered in this round of surge in the value of players, what else can he say?
With the subprime mortgage crisis in the United States and the European debt crisis, the world economy is in a depression, and big capital is still entering the European professional football world to take refuge. That''s why the Glazer family of Manchester United dare to ask a price of 3 billion pounds. At ordinary times, everyone thinks that he is crazy.
But now, who can say it''s unreasonable?
For a team like Arsenal, what do you want to compete with these big capitals?
Let''s just talk about tonight''s game. What can the Gunners do to stop Manchester City?
(end of this chapter)