The saying “Money makes the mare go” applies not only in China but is equally effective with Mendes.
Chen Ran’s demand of Mendes was that the transfer had to be completed before the friendly match between Sporting Lisbon and Man Utd.
With a massive carrot of over ten million euros dangling in front of him, the entire transfer process was forcefully pushed onto the fast lane by Mendes.
First, C.
Ronaldo was persuaded by him to join Crystal Palace.
Then, Sporting Lisbon was handled by him, agreeing to sell C.
Ronaldo to Crystal Palace for 10 million euros.
They had no choice; C.
Ronaldo only had one year left on his contract.
Mendes indicated that if Sporting didn’t agree to the deal, he would have C.
Ronaldo wait until next summer and leave on a free transfer.
Finally, three days before the friendly between Sporting and Man Utd, the deal was officially signed.
There was a small interlude here: Chen Ran insisted on paying the transfer fee in installments over three years.
He would pay 3 million euros immediately upon signing, then 3 million the second year, and the final 4 million the third year.
Sporting Lisbon originally didn’t want to, but with Mendes’s help, Chen Ran finally got his way.
Not only the transfer fee, but even the promised 11 million euro compensation for Mendes was turned into an installment payment by Chen Ran.
He paid 4 million euros on the day of signing, then 3 million the second year, and the final 4 million the third year.
Seeing Mendes’s wry smile, Chen Ran went up and patted his shoulder.
“Mr.
Mendes, please be a bit understanding.
I just bought Crystal Palace, and now is the time to make a lot of signings to strengthen the team.
I need money everywhere, so I had to use installments.”
“I completely understand Mr.
Chen’s approach.” What else could Mendes do?
Give up over ten million euros in income just because of the payment method?
He couldn’t bear to part with it.
“However, getting 11 million euros in one transfer is earning more than the club itself.
Mr.
Mendes, you’ve probably set a new record for the highest income for a football agent.” “I have to thank Mr.
Chen for his generosity.”
Mendes adjusted his mindset quickly.
Although he didn’t get all the money at once, with a contract in place, there was no need to worry too much.
On the contrary, Chen Ran’s style made Mendes see a rising cash cow, and he decided to hold on tight and absolutely never let go.
“Mr.
Chen, I wonder if your Crystal Palace needs a coach?” “Oh?
Does Mr.
Mendes have a good coach to recommend?” “Has Mr.
Chen heard of Coach Mourinho at Porto?”
So it really is him, Chen Ran thought.
As a top-tier coach who would dominate world football for more than a decade in the future, how could Chen Ran forget him?
However, after careful consideration, Chen Ran ultimately did not include Mourinho in his plans.
He had no choice; the guy’s personality was too strong.
If Chen Ran constantly shoved Chinese players into the team later on, Mourinho would definitely fall out with him.
For the sake of his grand goal, Chen Ran reluctantly had to give up on Mourinho.
“Coach Mourinho just led his team to win three titles last season: the Portuguese League, the Cup, and the UEFA Cup.
Would he be willing to come to Crystal Palace?” “Of course not right now.
But Portugal is too small; Mourinho will go to a bigger stage sooner or later.
I believe under Mr.
Chen’s wise leadership, Crystal Palace will definitely be a Premier League club by then.”
So he’s paving the way for the future.
Chen Ran had to admire Mendes.
Having just made over ten million euros, he didn’t get carried away but immediately started laying the groundwork for the future, throwing in a compliment to boot.
There was a reason he could become a boss in the football agency circle in the future.
On the other side, the entire Man Utd team flew to Lisbon to participate in the friendly against Sporting Lisbon.
As soon as he got off the plane, Ferguson grabbed the scout who came to pick them up to ask about C.
Ronaldo.
Actually, Man Utd hadn’t paid too much attention to C.
Ronaldo at first; it was Arsenal and Liverpool who had been tracking his situation continuously.
Every time there was a Sporting match, scouts from those two clubs would be there in person to watch and record his performance.
Mendes had told Chen Ran all this because, in order to sell C.
Ronaldo for a high price, Mendes had recommended him to major clubs everywhere.
Whenever scouts came to observe C.
Ronaldo, Mendes would proactively send a car to pick them up.
He even often picked up scouts from various clubs together just to create an atmosphere that C.
Ronaldo was in high demand.
According to Mendes, when he visited Arsenal, Wenger brought out comprehensive data from tracking C.
Ronaldo over a long period—it filled an entire drawer.
Unfortunately, Arsenal was too stingy to offer a high price.
Later, when recommending C.
Ronaldo to Man Utd, Mendes deliberately leaked the news that Arsenal and Liverpool had been tracking him for a long time.
This finally piqued Man Utd’s interest and was reported to Ferguson.
This friendly match was the old Sir wanting to see C.
Ronaldo’s performance in person.
According to the original timeline, Man Utd would snatch him away from Arsenal and Liverpool.
It was said that Wenger was furious about this and never bought another player under Mendes again.
And when the news reached Liverpool, manager Gérard Houllier was eating with assistant manager Phil Thompson and almost choked to death in anger.
But now, with Chen Ran here, everything was completely different.
The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
“What?
You’re saying Ronaldo hasn’t participated in training for the past few days?” Ferguson was a bit surprised.
Although this was just a friendly, it wasn’t like someone could just play without training.
“Didn’t you ask what happened?”
“I asked, but people at Sporting all said they didn’t know.
Even the players said they hadn’t seen Ronaldo.”
Ferguson immediately felt a bad premonition and sent someone to call over Man Utd’s CEO, Peter Kenyon.
“Contact Mendes right away and find out exactly what happened with Ronaldo.”
After Man Utd checked into the hotel and settled down, Peter Kenyon knocked on Ferguson’s door.
“Is it bad news?” Ferguson knew things were probably bad just looking at Kenyon’s face.
“Yes.
Mendes told me that just this morning, Sporting Lisbon sold Ronaldo to Crystal Palace.” “What?
Say that again?
Sold to who?” “Crystal Palace.” “F**k!
Are you sure you didn’t hear wrong?”
Seeing Ferguson’s reddening face, Peter Kenyon couldn’t help but smile bitterly.
“I thought I heard wrong too.
I asked Mendes several times.
It’s really Crystal Palace.”
“The Crystal Palace owned by that Chinese guy who’s on the front page of The Sun every day?” “Yes.” “Mendes, that b*tch!
He recommended Ronaldo to us desperately, even made me come over personally to observe him, and then he turns around and sells him to a Chinese man!”
“Boss, calm down!
Calm down!” Seeing the agitated Ferguson’s increasingly red face, Peter Kenyon was scared and hurried forward to pacify him, afraid he might not catch his breath and pass out.
“Phew…” Ferguson took a long time to recover.
“Tell Mendes to come see me.” “He said it’s too late and inconvenient to disturb your rest, he’ll visit another day.” “You tell him, if he doesn’t come today, don’t ever think about doing business with Man Utd again.”
(END CHAPTER)