บท 162: One can leave, but dignity must remain.
Aldrich was somewhat puzzled. Looking through the lens of future perspectives, it seemed that many star players tended to stay away from their clubs during transfers and let their agents handle the negotiations. However, his players always came forward to discuss these matters directly with him.
Perhaps it was Aldrich's youth that played a role, along with his consistent gentle approach in communicating with the players.
Thuram didn't raise a fuss; on the contrary, he had plenty of reasons to present.
Many of these reasons left Aldrich with no way to counter them.
Just the fact that he wanted to venture to Italy was enough to shut down any attempt Aldrich might make to persuade him to stay.
Moreover, from a player's perspective, there was nothing wrong with moving up in the world. The Premier League simply couldn't compare to Serie A. No matter how much Aldrich hyped it up, that couldn't change the fact—it would be utterly self-deceptive.
If Aldrich tried to tell Thuram that Parma's past glory was just fleeting and that it would face bankruptcy within a few years, so what? That would only make him appear petty.
"Lilian, I understand your ambitions; it demonstrates your professional drive. It has been an honor working with you for these two years," Aldrich expressed genuinely, without any pretense.
Thuram calmly nodded, replying, "These two years in England have been tremendously beneficial for me as well."
Competing in different leagues does help in gaining experience, and Thuram's words were sincere.
However, he felt that the Premier League lacked challenge.
Here, he wouldn't take much pride in having successfully defended against Ginola or Giggs.
He yearned for Italy, where not only could he improve himself, but the competition was entirely different. He could face Bati one day, Signori the next, and Baggio the following—Serie A was full of elite talent with diverse skills.
The new head coach of Parma is Ancelotti, who called Aldrich hoping that Millwall would not create any obstacles for Thuram's transfer. Recently, Aldrich's request to include Buffon in the deal had temporarily stalled communication between the two clubs.
Aldrich said earnestly, "Lilian, you want to leave, and I won't stop you. However, I hope you can leave Millwall with dignity."
Thuram looked puzzled and frowned, asking, "Boss, I don't understand what you mean."
Aldrich spread his hands, adding, "Two years ago, I bought you for three million pounds, and now Parma wants to take you for five million. Do you think that's fair to Millwall? I see you as a top defender, so you should leave with a top defender's market value. Don't let Parma undervalue Millwall, and don't make your transfer seem insignificant. Last year, Barton transferred to Newcastle for four million; how much more are you worth compared to him? You are a key player for Millwall, having helped the team win two championships and a runner-up, as well as being the mainstay of the French national team. Are you really just worth five million? I can't accept this. It's not just about money, but about respect. I can't allow the outside world to see Millwall make such a trade, nor can I allow your departure to become a precedent for other players. If Parma genuinely wants you, they need to show some sincerity; that's also respect for you!"
After a moment of silence, Thuram nodded in agreement with Aldrich's perspective.
Though he couldn't keep Thuram, they reached a consensus regarding the trading situation.
The following days saw Millwall and Parma getting embroiled in back-and-forth negotiations over Thuram's transfer.
Parma wanted to include players as part of the cash deal; they initially proposed including Inzaghi in trade talks, but Inzaghi, who was heading to the Atlanta Olympics, was reluctant to leave Italy. The young Buffon had already become the goalkeeper for Italy's Olympic football team, earning recognition from the veteran Maldini, so Parma wasn't going to let him go easily. The same went for Cannavaro.
In the end, Parma proposed including Zola in the trade.
To be fair, this forward nicknamed "the Little Tiger" was quite capable, consistently ranking among the top scorers in Serie A over the past few years. If the deal was five million plus Zola, the total value of the trade would be around ten million pounds.
However, Aldrich didn't want Zola—he was already 30 years old, and not only would he need a starting position, but also a high salary. If Aldrich agreed to this trade, he might even end up making a loss.
Thuram didn't actively cooperate with Parma's proposals, which ultimately forced Parma to add more cash to finalize the deal. By mid-July, both parties reached an agreement.
At the beginning of July, Millwall officially announced Solskjær's transfer to the giant Manchester United for seven million pounds. A week later, Millwall announced that their absolute starting right-back, Thuram, had transferred to Parma in Italy for seven and a half million pounds.
As the new season of the Premier League was set to kick off on August 16, Aldrich was troubled to find his team in disarray.
The Olympic men's football tournament wouldn't conclude until the beginning of August. For teams like France that had fallen in the quarterfinals, players were only granted a break at the end of July.
Makelele, Pires, Vieira, and Trezeguet were all selected for this Olympic squad.
Other players like El Guerra, Capdevila, and Pirlo also participated in the Olympics.
This left Aldrich facing significant challenges in his pre-season preparations.
What made him even angrier was that Pires and Vieira directly submitted their transfer requests to the club on August 1!
Arsenal's offer had been sitting on Aldrich's desk for quite a while.
Ten million pounds for both players, but Aldrich didn't agree.
He was waiting for the reactions of both players. He had previously called them, trying to convince Pires and Vieira to stay, but his efforts bore little fruit. Both players were noncommittal, evidently unwilling to be honest with Aldrich.
In truth, Aldrich had anticipated this.
Pires was different from players like Solskjær, Trezeguet, Schneider, and Nedved.
He came to Millwall with pride, coming from the prestigious Clairefontaine training academy in France, a real prodigy. Therefore, he harbored a sense of arrogance. Had Millwall not invested a substantial transfer fee and offered him a high salary, he might not have even joined Millwall. Deep down, he never considered Millwall his home.
Especially this summer, when player transfer fees skyrocketed, the top salaries in the Premier League were raised to a level that enraged club owners.
Kevin Keegan swooped in midway, grabbing Shearer from Ferguson and bringing him to St. James' Park. Besides the world record transfer fee of fifteen million pounds, he also provided Shearer with an unprecedented weekly wage of £34,000.
This sudden development caught the other clubs off guard, and Aldrich even felt like rushing over to beat up Keegan.
Would Millwall be affected?
Of course!
If Shearer was earning £34,000 a week, how much should a player of similar performance like Larsson be making? What about Nedved? Or Makelele? And so on.
This directly led other teams to consider salary increases for their key players.
Aldrich's generous salary expenditures from two years prior began to lose their allure.
After Shearer's transfer, Ferguson sent Aldrich a text: "You really had foresight."
Last year, Ferguson had scoffed at Aldrich's club management, but this year, he felt admiration beyond words.
Last summer, Aldrich used salary increases as a reason to renew contracts, keeping his players in a secure contract state following the implementation of the Bosman ruling. As a result, Millwall could demand a hefty price in transfer negotiations.
Because the contracts still had plenty of time left, Pires and Vieira realized that if they wanted to transfer now, it meant burning their bridges.
But they were wrong—absolutely wrong. If only they could come before Aldrich and say with pride, "Boss, I want to go to Arsenal."
Aldrich would only offer a token attempt to persuade them to stay before letting them go.
He prefers not to have fickle players on his team. Aldrich cannot accuse Pires of being prideful, and with Vieira wanting to leave because of a lack of a starting role, Aldrich would struggle to keep him, particularly since they are going to Arsenal. In the context of London, Millwall simply cannot compete with Arsenal.
In contrast to Stam's "gratitude," these two players submitted transfer requests, essentially tearing their relationship with the club apart—this was fundamentally different from Thuram's open discussion about his transfer intentions with Aldrich.
By submitting a transfer request, they inherently issued an ultimatum.
Although it couldn't be said that the transfer would definitely happen, such behavior from the players often burned their bridges. If the transfer fails, they would be ostracized within the team, and fans wouldn't support them anymore.
It was akin to the transfer drama involving another superstar striker that summer: Ronaldo openly declared in June that he wanted to wear Barcelona's shirt, leaving PSV Eindhoven in a tough spot. They didn't want to let Ronaldo go, even with a twenty-million-dollar offer on the table, yet the fans were already clamoring for the Brazilian to leave. Ironically, Barca's Núñez wasn't keen on signing Ronaldo, on one hand due to the cost, and on the other, he thought Ronaldo was still troubled by injuries. Although he had a high scoring rate in the Eredivisie, it was due to the overall attacking style of Dutch football; Holland produced a wealth of strikers.
With these two public transfer declarations from the players, Arsenal thought they had the upper hand. However, after making a £10 million offer, they received no response when Aldrich didn't budge.
Aldrich remained calm, refusing to reveal if the players would stay or leave after rejecting the offer.
Time dragged on until Dane couldn't bear it anymore and came to Aldrich's office, inquiring about the status of the transfer.
Aldrich stated in a calm tone, "Millwall has invested no more than £5 million on these two players. While Millwall may be a small club, we have our pride. If it leads to a complete rupture, so be it. However, I won't hesitate to keep a player who lacks respect for the club in the reserves for four years; I won't regret it, and I'll gladly continue to pay his wages."
If Pires and Vieira had just picked up the phone and calmly told Aldrich they wanted to transfer without any other reason, Aldrich would have been inclined to make some concessions on the transfer fee.
But using a transfer statement to threaten the club was a sheer insult to Millwall, and Aldrich wouldn't compromise.
Dane was the first to back down. Arsenal couldn't afford to remain stagnant any longer and directly asked Aldrich how much it would take to let the players go.
Aldrich named a figure: £20 million.
"£12.5 million."
"£19.5 million."
"£13 million."
"£19 million."
"£13 million."
"£20 million!"
In the end, Dane grit his teeth and reached an agreement with Aldrich.
Pires and Vieira both transferred to Arsenal, with a combined transfer fee of £14.5 million.
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