Capítulo 29: The Crazy Transfer Market
After winning the friendly match against Aberdeen, Werder Bremen only had one match left in the July pre-season friendlies.
Coach Schaaf was very pleased with the team's attacking cooperation in the two games.
With the addition of Quan and De Bruyne, the team's frontcourt firepower this season was better than last season.
However, the team's defensive issues persisted, so he started looking for the defenders that he wanted in the transfer market.
He first offered 1.5 million Euros for the defender, 26-year-old Teodor Selassie, from Liberec.
Liberec was the champion of the Czech First League last season and will be in the UEFA Champions League next season. Therefore, they were reluctant to sell their players at a low price at this time. In response to Werder Bremen's offer, they directly declined, stating that Selassie was not for sale.
However, due to the lower level and attention of the Czech league, it was difficult for them to keep players who were invited by the top-five leagues. As long as the other party made an offer that was convincing, they would eventually agree to the player's transfer.
Schaaf was very clear on this, as the leagues in Eastern Europe, such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland, even including Ukraine, were a hotbed for the Bundesliga. For them to buy players from these places, it would only be impossible if big clubs from the top-five leagues were interested in the players at the same time!
So, based on the 1.5 million Euro offer, he added an extra 300,000 Euros and made a new offer of 1.8 million Euros.
This offer excited Liberec, as Selassie was not an indispensable main player in their view. If they could get 1.8 million Euros from Werder Bremen, they could buy some young talents in the transfer market. As long as they could develop a star from these young talents, they would profit.
So they accepted Werder Bremen's offer and completed the transfer.
Selassie could play as both a full-back and a wing-back, making him a versatile player.
However, the team's defensive position still needed reinforcement, so they needed to continue to purchase players.
Before making new signings, they first needed to secure the permanent transfer of Sokratis Papastathopoulos, a key central defender who was loaned from Genoa last season.
Sokratis, a 24-year-old Greek, was in his prime and his value had risen to as high as 8 million Euros two years ago.
However, after joining AC Milan in the 09-10 season, due to intense competition within the team, he didn't get enough playing time and his value plummeted to 2 million Euros.
Werder Bremen had loaned him out last season, and after one season, his performance had won the approval of both the fans and the club.
Schaaf saw him as a very talented and promising player, so he wanted to acquire him with a 2 million Euro bid.
Genoa was not planning to recall Papastathopoulos but did not want to sell him at such a low price, especially after his impressive performance in the Bundesliga last season, the 2 million Euro offer wasn't enough to persuade them.
So they rejected Werder Bremen's offer and indicated that they needed at least 5 million Euros to let go of the Greek player.
This price far exceeded Werder Bremen's bottom line. Schaaf reluctantly raised the bid to 3.5 million Euros and told Genoa that this was Werder Bremen's bottom line and they wouldn't buy him if the price went any higher.
Upon hearing this offer, Genoa immediately agreed to the deal, leaving Schaaf frustrated with how he had been played. However, he knew that he had gotten a great deal.
At 3.5 million Euros, he had purchased a key central defender who could serve the team for at least seven or eight seasons. It was a very profitable deal!
Moreover, given Papastathopoulos's performance on the Bundesliga field last season, if he continued his outstanding play this season, it was highly likely that he would attract some top clubs. If the team wanted to sell him, they wouldn't have difficulty at all and would even make a big profit.
So he quickly finalized the deal to secure Papastathopoulos.
After purchasing two defenders, Werder Bremen's budget was almost spent. Consequently, they had to sign Dusseldorf's central defender, Lukimya, in a free transfer, as they had no funds left for transfers.
Though Lukimya was a free agent, his skills were not weak. He had been the mainstay in Dusseldorf's attempt to enter the Bundesliga's defense last season and had initially intended to transfer to Koln in the Bundesliga.
However, following Koln's unexpected relegation last season, this transfer fell through.
He didn't want to play in a lower-tier league, so when presented with the olive branch from Werder Bremen, he naturally accepted without hesitation.
After signing three defenders and promoting a young player from the team's ranks, the thrifty Werder Bremen concluded their transfers for this season.
This summer, Werder Bremen earned 11.25 million Euros from player sales and spent 6.25 million Euros on player purchases and loans.
This resulted in a net profit of 5 million Euros, a small but profitable gain.
In contrast to Werder Bremen's frugal approach, the European football transfer market saw extravagant spending by wealthy clubs this year.
Russian Premier League club Zenit Saint Petersburg secured the transfer of Porto forward Hulk for 50 million Euros, showcasing the formidable financial power of Russian oligarchs.
Additionally, Paris Saint-Germain set a revamped second-highest transfer fee in history, paying 42 million Euros to AC Milan to acquire their key defender Thiago Silva, revealing the assertiveness of Middle Eastern magnates.
Not to be outdone, Bayern Munich, the powerhouse of the Bundesliga, purchased Athletic Bilbao's key defender Javi Martinez for 40 million Euros, breaking the Bundesliga's transfer fee record and reaching a new high at 40 million Euros.
Martinez's club, Athletic Bilbao, was reluctant to release him, so Bayern had to pay a release clause to acquire him.
This transfer completed the final piece of Bayern's championship puzzle.
The extravagance of the wealthy seemingly ignited the passion for player purchases in major clubs worldwide, prompting them to make their own moves.
Chelsea secured Eden Hazard from Lille for 32 million pounds.
Real Madrid secured Luka Modric from Tottenham Hotspur for 30 million pounds.
Arsenal's captain, Robin van Persie, transferred to Manchester United for 24 million pounds.
In the midst of a flurry of transfer news, originally none of it was related to Lin Quan and his companions.
However, in Barcelona, Mundo Deportivo disclosed a small piece of news:
A Scottish Premiership club made an offer of 5 million Euros to bring Lin Quan from Barcelona's youth team to the Scottish Premiership.
Due to the small size of this report and the lack of follow-up, it was quickly forgotten by people.
Lin Quan was completely unaware of this development.
However, in Barcelona, someone found it difficult to sit still.
"Damn it, what has that kid done? Why is there already an offer even before the Bundesliga has started?"
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