674 New Capital, New Season

After they won the FA Community Shield and with only five days until the start of the new season, something shocking happened in the English football world.

When the shocking incident first occurred, it was only a minor shock, and not many people took it seriously, but its impact gradually spread, and everyone suddenly woke up overnight — it could perhaps be a shock that would change the Premier League structure!

On August 11th, United Arab Emirates' Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment announced that it had formally acquired Thaksin's Manchester City Football Club. Thaksin Shinawatra, the former club chairman would become the honorary president and would not have any real power. Like Abramovich's acquisition of Chelsea, Bates continued to act as the chairman of the club for some time before his departure.

The news came so suddenly that many people had not reacted.

While everyone knew that the Manchester City boss, Thaksin Shinawatra, had had a difficult time in the recent months and that his fortune had plummeted as a result of investigations in Thailand, no one thought he would really sell the club he held for a year!

Just over a year ago, when he took ownership of the Manchester City Football Club, the Manchester City fans did not express much dissatisfaction because they were eager for championship titles — Chelsea's success had made many other English teams' fans aware that a huge influx of foreign assets was the new impetus for a team's redevelopment. Thaksin had injected more than half a billion pounds into his new team. Manchester City was even at the top of the league table in the first part of the season. Therefore, the local media exclaimed: Manchester City is about to usher in "Thaksin's Era!"

While the words still rang in people's ears, the Manchester City boss had changed.

The Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment was headquartered in Abu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates, which was a city made up of more than a dozen islands. It was now the richest place in the United Arab Emirates and the world, with a per capita wealth of up to seventeen million US dollars. Their investments abroad reached almost one trillion US dollars!

The secret to their success lay with the fact that a quarter of the world's oil was at their feet, and the Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment dealt in oil explorations and investments. On top of that, Abu Dhabi's behind the scenes supporter was the United Arab Emirates' royal family.

The British tabloids immediately dug up the news behind the club's change of hands. They claimed that after their investigations, the Abu Dhabi consortium, led by the oil trader, Al-Fahim, had ten times more wealth that Abramovich. The news shocked England.

Abramovich was scary enough when he first came to England. Over the past two years Abramovich's investments gradually leaned toward rational, but everyone remembered the storm he set off when he first arrived in 2003 and the impact could still be felt. Now that there was the richer Abu Dhabi consortium, all clubs had to be careful of the core players of their teams being poached.

The statement did not indicate how much money was involved in the deal, with the number coming out of the tabloids listing it at 200 million pounds. Thaksin made a small profit, and it could be seen that the reason he fled Manchester City was that he was disappointed that Manchester City did not win the title or because he had no money and needed to sell the club.

Some media outlets said that August 11th, 2008 would be the most memorable day for the 130-year-old club since its birth. It was enough to be compared to the birth of the team. The subtext was that the Manchester City Football Club could take advantage of this opportunity to be reborn. Chelsea's yesterday was their present and Chelsea's today would be their tomorrow. The todays of Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan, Inter Milan and other powerhouse clubs would be their tomorrow. However, their nearest goal that should be the goal most likely to achieve would be to become the next Nottingham Forest...

As the team's manager, Mark Hughes indicated his welcome of the arrival of the new boss on behalf of his team.

"I know that money is not everything, but this is still something we can look forward to. We now have enough money to use in the transfer market to find the players we need..You know what that's like. I mean, I feel good now that we have the prerequisites to be a successful team. Maybe I should set a target for my team to enter next season's Champions League?"

Mark Hughes, who had never been so rich, was so happy that he talked without rhyme or reason.

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Twain only learned the news when he read the newspaper at breakfast. Although it was not news that foreign investment had been flowing into the English Premier League since a few years ago, the combined assets of those foreign bosses together could not be compared to the Abu Dhabi consortium.

He held the fork in his mouth as he stared in a daze at the picture of Al-Fahim in the newspaper.

He wondered what kind of impact the arrival of the new boss would have on Nottingham Forest.

He first thought of Ribéry. He was never at ease with the player with a rotten agent. With the transfer deal to Real Madrid fallen through, would this agent, who was unwilling to be left out of the action, pull another stunt and flirt with the wealthy Manchester City club and encourage Ribéry to move to Manchester City?

Thinking about it, Twain rejected the hypothesis. Even if Manchester City were able to offer a salary of five million pounds a week, Ribéry would not go to a team that could not even win an honor. He wanted to go to Real Madrid because Real Madrid could meet his salary requirements and was a world-renowned powerhouse club, where it was very likely for him to obtain honors and receive the world's attention. But what would he accomplish if he went to Manchester City? No matter how rich the team was, could it become the champion of the Premier League and UEFA Champions League overnight?

Twain gave a derisive snort.

He did not make the judgment because he had a bad impression of Manchester City from the incident with Richards a while ago. It was because he really despised the strength of the Manchester City team. Mark Hughes was not a successful manager. Twain did not think he could lead Manchester City to achieve any accomplishments.

You think you can be arrogant just because you have money? Can you buy all the world's heroes with money?

Dream on, Mark Hughes.

You may be able to afford the money, but it doesn't mean my players will want to go!

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In the days that followed, while nervously preparing for the new season and watching the oil-backed Manchester City make waves in the transfer market and constantly hit the wall, all that became Twain's life.

The whole world knew that Manchester United was in pursuit of Berbatov, and the world knew that Berbatov had long given his heart to Ferguson, and now the world was waiting for the Tottenham Hotspur boss Levy to nod his assent after he raised the price high enough.

If it was not for Twain's satisfaction with his forward deployment, perhaps he would have gotten involved in Berbatov's transfer.

Now his secret idea had been realized by Manchester City. The new owner announced the bid for Berbatov on the first day of his arrival.

As a pair of mortal enemies in the same city, Manchester City was happy to do whatever it took to make Manchester United uncomfortable. They might not really need Berbatov, but they definitely wanted to oppose Manchester United.

It infuriated Ferguson. He was just about to succeed when Manchester City's bid raised Berbatov's worth to 29 million pounds. Levy, the sly and greedy fox, thought about it and rejected Manchester United's offer. He pretended to hesitate whether to accept Manchester City's offer.

Meanwhile, as AC Milan and Barcelona chased after Adebayor, Manchester City made its move.

Despite knowing that Wenger would not agree to Adebayor's departure, Manchester City still offered a high price of 28 million pounds. Wenger took the opportunity to reject offers from AC Milan and Barcelona, while he offered Adebayor a new contract for a weekly fee of 80,000 pounds, which waited for his signature to take effect.

Mourinho finally ended his reclusive life and returned to his post. He landed at the Serie A powerhouse club, Inter Milan. Having just arrived at Inter Milan, there was news that he wanted to take Lampard and Drogba. Real Madrid wanted to bring in a good center forward and was also keen on Drogba. It was Manchester City again who disrupted things and turned a transfer deal into a mess.

It was only the first day that Manchester City had given European football a glimpse of their style, which was annoying.

Twain did not know what Manchester City's purpose was in doing so. Was it fun to antagonize everyone? Could it be they were putting on a performance? Or was Abu Dhabi really an idiot who knew nothing about football and thought anyone could be bought?

The results of the three transfer deals showed them.

When Berbatov saw that the despicable Levy wanted to go back on his word, he immediately came forward for an interview and publicly stated that he must have Manchester United and no other team. Manchester City wanted to buy him? Let them wait for the next life!

Manchester City's offer scared away AC Milan and Barcelona. Adebayor was annoyed, and he would never agree to go to a small place like Manchester City, even if he had to stay at Arsenal! Consequently, he signed a new contract with Wenger.

As for Drogba? He did not even glance at Manchester City. Inter Milan and Real Madrid had an ambiguous attitude, but he stayed at Chelsea.

The bitter fact proved Twain's previous assumption that having money did not guarantee that a desired player could be bought. The world of football was not a world where money was invincible. A second-tier team like Manchester City had a long way to go to become a god.

Out of a mentality that hated the rich, Twain took delight in Manchester City's encounter. He liked to see rich people deflate because he was not rich.

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Unable to purchase the players he was keen on in the transfer market for a while, Twain intended to take his energy back and focus on the league tournament which was about to start. Anyway, it was still half a month away from the close of the summer transfer window. He would play while he searched.

Nottingham Forest took on West Ham United in the first round of the new season. The opening game was Arsenal's home game against West Bromwich Albion.

West Ham United was not a powerful opponent, but Twain attached importance to it because it was the first game of the new season.

The Chinese paid particular attention to "the first step is always the hardest." If the opening game was not good, Twain would think that it would bring negative impact to the whole season. A bad beginning was unlucky.

Accordingly, the entire main force was deployed to play.

Van der Sar, Pepe, Kompany, Gareth Bale, Rafinha, George Wood, Van der Vaart, Ribéry, Beckham, van Nistelrooy, and Eastwood played.

The lineup was at the championship level. Twain believed that it should be fine for the away game.

As a result, the word "unlucky" came to his mind at the beginning of the game.

Van der Vaart was brutally shoved to the ground by the West Ham United midfielder, Lee Bowyer, after he took the ball in the midfield. When Bowyer shoveled van der Vaart, he also made a "scissor legs" move and knocked van der Vaart's left foot away. Van der Vaart even made a gesture to request for a replacement as he lay on the ground. Only ten minutes had passed since the start of the game.

"Damn it!" Twain jumped out of his seat. It was not just van der Vaart's injury that angered him, but more because Bowyer, the culprit, only received a verbal warning from the referee and did not even get a yellow card. He patted his buttocks and got up from the ground, pretending to come forward to comfort van der Vaart, but was pushed away by George Wood.

Bowyer covered his face and fell, sparking a clash between the players on both sides.

In the end, the referee gave George Wood a yellow card and also gave a yellow card to Behrami, who was active in the conflict, punishing both players before the two teams were separated.

"This asshole..." Twain was not cursing George Wood. He was supportive of George Wood's action. He was scolding Bowyer. After all these years, the scumbag still showed no sign of improvement. It did not look like the game at the London Stadium would be easy.

Van der Vaart was carried off on a stretcher and the team doctor, Fleming told Twain that he was absolutely not to play again in the game and had to be replaced. Şahin, who was still undergoing therapy, did not come to London with the team. Twain had to bring on Petrov and let Ribéry go to the middle.

Van der Vaart's injury disrupted the tactics and rhythm of Nottingham Forest. For some time, West Ham United dominated with its home advantage and bombarded Nottingham Forest's penalty area.

Fortunately, George Wood was as consistent as ever and organized the defenders to put up two defensive areas in front of the goal. The West Ham United team had no way to break through the Forest's goal for a while.

But a good defense could still collapse in the face of an endless attack. At the end of the first half, the Welsh bad boy Bellamy forced his way through Rafinha using his speed and plugged into the penalty area from the side. He lifted his leg for a shot at a very narrow angle!

The football was pounced on by van der Sar for a bit before it hit the inside of the goalpost and bounced into the net.

"The defending champions entered a bitter fight in the away game! The West Ham United team informs the defending champion that the new season is definitely not going to be easy!"

Twain replaced Beckham with Lennon in the second half. With his excellent speed and breakthrough ability, Lennon caused West Ham United a lot of trouble. His attack on the right flank was more penetrating than Beckham's.

With the substitution adjustment, Nottingham Forest swept away the first-half slump. The score was equalized seventeen minutes into the second half. The goal scorer was van Nistelrooy. Lennon's breakthrough resulted in a weak defense in the middle of the penalty area. The keen senses of the King of the Six-Yard Box helped him locate West Ham United's fatal spot at the most crucial time.

Towards the end of the game, Nottingham Forest, who had not given up on the offense, scored another goal, scored by Ribéry. With a breakthrough from the middle and a long shot from the top of the arc, the football shot into the West Ham United team's goal like a shell. The commentator shouted "world-class ball" continuously.

Twain excitedly jumped from his seat. The last-minute reversal killed West Ham United!

Despite winning the game, Twain did not plan to let go of anyone in the post-match press conference. He lashed out at Lee Bowyer for his lack of sportsmanship and then "questioned" the referee's decision on the foul. His doubts were more bluntly put than what was generally said.

"I can't figure out why Bowyer did not even get a yellow card for the foul. It was only a verbal warning for such a bad foul. Could it be that someone did not want us to win? I'm sorry, but we still won in the end."