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The Football Dynasty

A broke man. A football fan. What will he do when transmigrated to past? Armed with the knowledge of the future, follow John on his journey to create the greatest football dynasty.

Serialeater · sport
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51 Chs
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Campo

John left London next morning straight for Bolton after hearing from Michael that Bolton had agreed to the transfer for a sum of 1.8 million pounds. So, John didn't want to waste time and left for Bolton immediately.

Bolton, a large town in Greater Manchester was the home to the Premier League club, Bolton Wanderers. Bolton was a textile production centre having a wool and cotton weaving tradition.

"Yeah, they agreed because while Campo is a popular figure at Bolton and a fan favourite, he is already old and since Allardyce left Bolton, no one at Bolton was really opposed to getting money for a player that was already 33 years old," Michael said.

"That wasn't the hard part though," John said.

"Yeah, now it's your job to convince him to sign for us," Michael said.

"Allardyce leaving gives a boost to our chances, but it's still going to be a difficult job," John said.

"Good luck," Michael said.

Ivan Campo was a good player, but with advancing age, he was losing his mobility. He was still a fine player, but for Bolton Wanderers who had qualified for the UEFA cup, he was just a substitute player.

So, John knew for a suitable offer, Bolton would be willing to let him go, but he didn't know they would agree that easily. Perhaps, it was because Sam Allardyce left, perhaps they were targetting someone else, John didn't know, but after yesterday's failure, this was a good stroke of fortune.

'Owen Hargreaves to Manchester,' John looked at the newspaper while he was travelling to Bolton.

John remembered Hargreaves' time in Manchester didn't go really well. He was a good player, but injuries held him back from playing during his time in England.

'Well, at least he can brag about winning Premier League with two clubs in Manchester,' John thought.

'Though, I don't know if it will be same this time around,' John mused.

Owen Hargreaves had won Premier League with both the Manchester United and their not yet rich city rivals Manchester City, but it was unknown whether that would be the case now.

John entered the cafe where he was supposed to meet Ivan Campo. He was 15 minutes early, so he sat down to wait for them.

After waiting 30 minutes, John could finally see Ivan coming. He was easily recognisable with his iconic afro. He was with his agent.

"Hello, Mr. Baker," Miguel Angel Ceremeno, Ivan's agent greeted John.

"Hello," John said

"We apologize for being late, but the news was very sudden and we were only informed this morning," Miguel said.

"It's alright, I didn't have to wait long," John said.

They all sat down on the table, John didn't like to wait but to be fair, they had set the meeting this morning and it was quite rushed.

"So, Mr. Baker, we realize that Bolton has accepted your offer, but it was quite sudden, there was no indication, neither from Leicester nor Bolton for this move," Miguel said.

Transfers generally weren't abrupt. A team planned for it long and hard, they also had to court players. Managers let the players they wanted know about it, generally by praising them and teams negotiated for a long time to save every single penny they could.

But John had just bought Leicester and this was the first transfer window under him. They also had a new manager and a new sporting director, and they had a new transfer strategy at place and they targetted different players than were intended at first by previous Leicester manager.

"I have just took over Leicester and we have a new transfer strategy to help us achieve promotion. That was why it was quite sudden," John said," But we have worked hard to find a suitable player and have identified Campo as the player to help us achieve our goal."

"Mr. Baker, I understand but Ivan is playing in the premier league, he is settled here in Bolton and Bolton's playing style suits him. To be honest, Ivan doesn't really want to leave Bolton," Miguel said.

"Yes, but since Bolton have accepted our offer, give us a chance to explain our project to you. You can always decide after that," John said.

Leicester were always going to be on the backfoot in this negotiation, but John had to try and get him to sign for Leicester.

"All right," Miguel said.

"At Leicester, we have set a goal to achieve promotion within next two years. For this, we have brought in a new manager, Diego Simeone," John said.

That brought a response from Campo, "Simeone?"

Simeone was a big name in Spain and Campo, playing for Valencia had come up against him at the start of his career.

"Yeah, he hasn't managed in Europe yet, but has won the title with Estudiantes in Argentina," John said.

"We have also revamped our squad with new players that we think would help us reach the Premier League. Though the players we signed are young, they are talented and we have signed veterans with premier league experience to guide them," John said.

"We have signed Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Andy Griffin and Michael Grey to guide the young players," John explained.

They finally looked interested. John knew that Leicester's sporting project would be an important factor if he wanted to sign Campo. Hasselbaink was a well known player in Premier League, and while the other two weren't as well known, Campo, who was playing in Premier League had come up against them and knew them.

"We are going to play a 4-4-2 with two holding midfielders and we have signed Sven Bender, a young but athletic player to partner with Campo," John said.

That's why Leicester were so confident that a 33 year old Ivan Campo would work out perfectly fine. Championship games were also generally slower than Premier League games. Coupled with the factor that Campo wouldn't need to make runs forward and Bender covering for him, Campo would be a perfect addition for Leicester.