Chapter 364 Lin Quan and Guardiola Personally Took Action to Get Kante, and Manchester City Made an Offer for Salah.

January 24, Rennes, the second largest city in northwestern France.

Roazon Park Stadium, the 22nd round of the French Ligue 1 is underway.

The two sides in this game are Rennes, which is ranked 10th in Ligue 1, and Caen, which is ranked third from the bottom.

Since neither team is a star team, and the attention of Ligue 1 is not high to begin with.

So no one should be paying attention to this game.

However, when the on-site cameras found Guardiola in the stands wearing a black woolen coat, and the new Golden Globe winner Lin Quan sitting next to him, the fans at the scene instantly became excited.

"Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola? What is he doing here?"

"Could it be that he has taken a fancy to our Rennes players?"

This is the home court of Rennes, so Rennes fans subconsciously thought that Guardiola was coming for their players.

However, in fact, Guardiola did not take a fancy to Rennes' players. He took a fancy to the visiting team's midfielder, N'Golo Kante, who wears jersey No. 17.

After seeing his own image on the big screen, Guardiola was stunned for a moment, as if he didn't expect to be discovered so soon.

But after reacting, he immediately smiled and waved to the camera and greeted the fans at the scene.

When the camera was focused on Lin Quan, Lin Quan clenched his right hand and made a cheering gesture, which seemed to encourage the players on both sides to play well.

The arrival of the two made the players of both teams very excited. Lin Quan is the idol of many young players.

They all hope to one day become famous like Lin Quan!

As for Guardiola, he is a world-class coach. If he can be chosen by him, many players will have the opportunity to play in wealthy clubs.

As a result, players from both teams rushed to express themselves on the court in an attempt to attract Guardiola's attention.

Guardiola has always been picky, and being favored by him is a recognition of his own strength. This kind of recognition is very valuable for ordinary players who hang out in mid-to-lower teams.

Since Guardiola likes to buy midfielders the most, Andre, the main defensive midfielder in the Rennes team, subconsciously thought that the opponent was coming for him.

This made him extremely excited on the court, frequently waving for the ball and wanting to better demonstrate his talents.

His efforts paid off as Andre scored a goal in the 15th minute of the first half.

After scoring the goal, Andrei was so excited that he couldn't help but think:

My outstanding performance should have impressed Coach Guardiola, right?

Thinking of this, he did not go to celebrate with his teammates immediately, but looked towards the stands with expectation, wanting to see Guardiola's reaction.

In the stands, Guardiola and Lin Quan applauded generously after seeing the goal.

This encouraged Andrei and felt that he had fallen into Guardiola's eyes, otherwise, the other party would not have applauded him.

As a result, in the following games, his desire for expression became stronger.

However, not only did this fail to achieve good results, it was also self-defeating.

It was precisely because of his mistake that Rennes was counterattacked by Caen, who tied the score before the end of the first half.

When the second half started, Andre's performance not only did not improve, but became even more lost.

Affected by this, Rennes' performance became even more sluggish. On the contrary, Caen improved completely in the second half, scoring 3 goals in a row in the half, and finally defeated their opponent 4:1.

The big score loss at home was hard to accept for the Rennes fans who came to the scene.

They were even more optimistic before the game. After all, they were regulars in Ligue 1, and their opponents were just newly promoted teams from Ligue 2.

But the result of the game was so unexpected that they were very angry.

As the biggest 'contributor' to the loss, Andre was criticized in all aspects.

Everyone feels that Guardiola made a mistake this time. With Andre's performance, how did Guardiola fall in love with him?

Compared with Andre, people think that Julian, who contributed one shot and three passes in the game and performed superbly, is more promising. The latter was also named the MVP of the game after the game.

However, Guardiola is neither here for Andre nor for Julian.

In this game, he almost never took his eyes away from the small black player wearing the No. 17 jersey in the Caen team.

Anyone who can really understand the game will be deeply impressed by this guy.

Guardiola too!

"How's it going? How do you feel about his performance?"

After the game, Lin Quan asked.

"It's really good, it really has potential!"

Guardiola's eyes lit up and he said:

"Come on, let's go get in touch with this guy!"

He can't wait to bring Kante back to the Etihad Stadium!

…

Kanter was surprised. Although he knew Guardiola had come to the stadium during the game, he never thought Guardiola was here to inspect him.

So after the game, when he received a call from his agent and learned that Guardiola wanted to meet him in person, Kanter was completely confused.

Isn't today April Fool's Day?

But after he actually saw Guardiola and Lin Quan in the cafe, Kanter was convinced that all this was true!

"Sit down, N'Golo, don't hold back!"

Guardiola saw that Kanter was a little worried and nervous, so he smiled and said.

"Something to drink, let me order it for you!"

Lin Quan, who was sitting beside him, also spoke.

Kanter quickly waved his hand to indicate no need.

Are you kidding me, asking a Golden Globe winner to order coffee for me? Does he have such a great reputation?

After Kanter's mood calmed down a little, Guardiola didn't mince words and went straight to the point:

"N'Golo, I want to take you to play football in Manchester City, are you willing?"

Guardiola's words made Kanter doubt his ears for a moment. I actually got an invitation from Manchester City, and it was an olive branch personally extended by Guardiola.

Could it be that Mr. Guardiola made a special trip this time just to extend an invitation to himself?

For a moment, he was surrounded by great joy. Without thinking, he nodded quickly: "I do!"

It is almost unimaginable for a player with a grassroots background like Kanter to be invited by a Premier League giant.

Unlike players who come from the youth training of professional teams, Kanter comes from the grassroots.

When he was a child, he also tried out at youth training camps of professional teams, but failed all of them.

Until the age of 19, he played for an amateur club called Surena. The salary was so low that it was difficult to support himself.

In 2010, Kanter was spotted by a French second division team and finally became a professional player.

However, Kante had bad luck. In the year he was promoted to the first team, the team was at the bottom of the league and was relegated to the French Third Division.

Kante has only played one league game on behalf of the team this season, and has been the water dispenser keeper for almost the entire game.

In the 2012-13 season, after the team was relegated and a large number of players left the team, Kanter finally got a chance to play.

This season, Kanter represented the team in 37 appearances in the French Ligue 3 and scored 3 goals.

His outstanding performance attracted the attention of another French second team and extended an invitation to him.

So, in the summer of 2013, Kante joined Caen as a free agent and returned to the French second league again.

Kante's performance has undergone a qualitative change this season. He played full attendance in the league, playing in all 38 games, and together with his teammates, he broke into Ligue 1 with a good result of third place in Ligue 2.

However, Caen's strength is weak after all. Halfway through this season's schedule, Caen is at the bottom of Ligue 1 and is about to be relegated back to Ligue 2.

Kanter, born in 1991, will soon be 24 years old.

After a few more years in lower-level leagues, the peak period of professional players will be exhausted.

Therefore, Guardiola's invitation to him on behalf of Manchester City was like a life-saving straw for Kanter when he was drowning.

Let alone Manchester City, even if a mid-to-lower Premier League team like Leicester City issues an invitation, he will gladly accept it.

Guardiola didn't expect to get rid of Kanter so easily. He thought it would take a lot of effort!

In order to avoid long nights and dreams, and to provide some compensation to the Caen team, Manchester City made an offer of 8 million pounds.

After the other party bargained, the final price was set at 9 million pounds, approximately 11 million euros.

On January 25, Manchester City announced the transfer on the team's official club website.

The transfer was carried out very quickly, and the outside world did not receive any news at all in advance. Only after seeing Manchester City's official announcement did they know that Manchester City had bought someone again.

However, for this guy named Kanter, they had no idea who the Holy God was.

After learning about Kanter's origins and his record in the league, they became even more confused.

When did Manchester City’s selection standards get so low?

A player who comes from a grassroots background and has been in a low-level league for a long time is also worthy of his attention?

Aren't there a lot of players like this in the five major leagues?

Guardiola doesn't care about outside evaluations. After getting rid of Kante, he set his sights on defenders and forwards.

…

In a hospital in Stuttgart, a tall black player was lying on the bed, looking at the ceiling above his head in boredom.

Rudiger was out for the season due to a meniscus injury suffered in the league a month ago and had to undergo knee surgery.

Major injuries and surgeries on the knee represent a huge risk for a young player like him who is not yet 22 years old.

Affected by this, he is likely to lose the main position that he fought hard to win in Stuttgart.

Not only that, the clubs that had made high-priced offers to Stuttgart in the summer transfer window, hoping to take him away, also backed down because of his serious knee injury.

Overnight, he fell from being a rising star in football to being ignored by no one.

This huge contrast between the past and the current situation, as well as the impact of uneasiness and fear about the future, made Rudiger frustrated.

"Hey Antonio, you gotta cheer up!"

Just when Rudiger was feeling depressed, his agent Seve Luby walked in and said loudly:

"What you have to do now is to recuperate and strive for a speedy recovery. As for the club's affairs, leave it to me to handle. Don't worry!"

Rudiger was very moved after hearing this. The icing on the cake is not as good as giving someone timely assistance. His agent did not abandon him when he was at a trough, but instead thought about him in every aspect. This made him trust Rupee even more.

"I have already discussed with Stuttgart. After you recover from your injury, we will see if you can return to the starting lineup. If not, we will loan you out.

Your age is the critical moment for increasing your goals. It requires a lot of game accumulation, so you can't sit on the bench for too long. We need to go to a team that allows us to play more games. "

Rudiger nodded with deep understanding. He will soon be 22 years old.

For a player who has been selected for the German national team, it may be a bit reluctant to be a starter for a wealthy team at this age.

However, it is still very promising to compete for the main position in the middle and lower reaches of the team. If he were not affected by injuries, the team's main position would not have any problems at all.

"If I go out on loan, where will I go to play? Bundesliga 2 or abroad?"

"I have been in contact with Roma in Serie A. They have expressed interest in you. As long as you recover from your injury, we can go to Roma to play!"

Rome?

This is a team with a strong foundation. Although it is not a wealthy team, it is also a top-ranked team in Serie A and is very competitive.

Moreover, Italy's defense has always been very strong. As a defender, Rudiger may be able to learn a lot of useful things if he goes here to practice.

But just when he was about to nod and agree to the agent's arrangement.

The agent's phone suddenly rang.

After Ruby put down the phone, Rudiger saw the other person smiling as if he had eaten honey.

"good news!"

"We don't have to go out on loan to play football anymore because a wealthy club has invited us!"

"A wealthy family? Who is it?"

When he heard the word "rich", Rudiger's eyes suddenly lit up.

For any player, being able to play for a wealthy team is a very attractive thing.

"Manchester City!"

…

On January 26, shortly after Manchester City announced their second transfer during the winter break, they announced their third transfer news.

Rudiger, Stuttgart's main center back, moved to Manchester City for 10 million euros.

Last summer, a team offered Rudiger 15 million euros, but Stuttgart did not sell him.

As a result, Rudiger suffered a serious injury that reduced his value by one-third.

Stuttgart was afraid that his injury would have an irreversible impact on his condition, so after encountering Manchester City's offer, they accepted it without much bargaining.

They are worried that Rudiger will be in no condition after being injured. In that case, let alone 10 million euros, they may not be able to get a penny.

After introducing two defenders and a midfielder one after another, Guardiola's recruitment of the team's midfield and backcourt is basically over.

At this time, there are only a few days left before the closing of the winter break transfer window, and Manchester City only has signings for the forward position.

On January 27, The Sun first revealed that Manchester City had offered Chelsea a price of 12 million pounds for Salah.