Chapter 1 Actually, Mansour is Right

Actually, Mansour was right. There’s no such thing as truly not for sale in this world. If there is, it’s just because the price isn’t high enough.

And Mansour has the confidence to say that.

The Manchester City boss, whose full name is Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, isn’t just a businessman. He's also a politician, a member of the United Arab Emirates cabinet, and the Minister of Presidential Affairs. He owns carrier-class assets like First Gulf Bank and the International Petroleum Investment Company.

He has many investments in the United Kingdom. For example, just seven months after acquiring shares in Barclays Bank, he decided to sell his 11 percent stake, which earned him a net profit of 1.4 billion pounds.

Mansour is also the chairman of Al Jazeera Sports Club and the Emirates Racing Association.

He's never short of money. Even if he really is, he can ask his wife, Manal, for help, because Manal is the daughter of Sheikh Al Maktoum of Dubai.

And he himself is of the UAE royal bloodline, a descendant of Sheikh Zayed, the founder of the United Arab Emirates. So behind Manchester City isn't just one boss, but the entire UAE royal family.

As Mansour's friend and subordinate, Mubarak shouldn't have been so shocked by this statement.

But having been the chairman of Manchester City for many years, he fully understands English football, and even more so, football itself.

He knows, he understands, he realizes that most things in this world can indeed be bought with money, but some things, even if only a very few, cannot be bought with money.

Like Chen Hero.

He really doesn't believe that Liverpool will sell Chen Hero, unless their management has gone crazy. He knows the power behind Liverpool's Chinese owner. Although they aren't as rich as the UAE, they aren't short of money either.

Selling Chen Hero for money is something they shouldn't be able to do.

However, seeing his boss being so decisive, he had nothing to say.

Besides, he had also imagined while watching the game before, how sensational it would be if Chen Hero could transfer to Manchester City...

Mubarak is one of the most capable assistants of the Nahyan family. He is responsible for managing the royal family's investments and runs Mubadala Development Company, which has been established for six years. Mubadala Development Company has invested in more than 50 well-known companies around the world, including Ferrari of Italy, in which they own a 5% stake.

His greatest pleasure is no longer making money, but constantly challenging difficult tasks and enjoying the great sense of accomplishment that comes with completing them.

He will never be short of money in his life, so the goals that many people struggle for are insignificant to him. The sense of accomplishment he values ​​may be something that many people overlook.

"Okay, boss. If you really want him, I'll do my best to bring him to the Etihad Stadium!"

Mansour smiled and nodded, saying nothing more.

※※※

The game continued, but the suspense wasn't great anymore. After Chen Hero scored twice for Liverpool, their morale soared, while Manchester City suffered a series of setbacks and their morale plummeted.

With one rising and the other falling, Liverpool completely took control of the game.

In the seventy-fourth minute, Götze scored a goal for Liverpool, a goal that sealed the victory.

In the end, Liverpool defeated Manchester City 3:1 away from home, continuing their winning streak against Manchester City.

Chen Hero was once again named the best player of the match after the game, but the media didn't chase after him anymore.

Instead, Mancini's helpless post-match press conference speech became the focus of everyone's heated discussions.

"It's very simple, we don't have Chen Hero." Mancini spread his hands, his helpless expression appearing on the front pages of many newspapers the next day.

Mancini's remarks caused a controversy, because some people thought that he shouldn't say such irresponsible things after the game. Where did that put those Manchester City players who worked hard for Manchester City's victory? Others believed that Mancini was shirking responsibility. After losing the game, instead of reflecting on where he went wrong, he simply attributed the outcome of the game to the fact that the other side had Chen Hero, while Manchester City didn't. This was very ridiculous. There were also some who said that poor Mancini had been so dazed by consecutive failures that he said such meaningless words.

In fact, Mancini regretted what he said after a night had passed.

He knew he had said something he shouldn't have. These words really hurt morale, and he would have to spend time comforting his men...

But that wasn't the most headache-inducing thing for him. What he feared most was the attitude from the club's higher-ups. If the club chairman thought he was shirking responsibility, he might directly help him reduce his burden...

That wasn't what he wanted to see.

Under these circumstances, he received a notice from club chairman Mubarak, asking him to go to the chairman's office after work.

After receiving this call, Mancini began to beat a retreat in his heart.

Could it be that they really want to fire me?

Mancini was a little reluctant. He had finally made a breakthrough at Manchester City, and he planned to lead the team to make great achievements. At the same time, after a contract renewal, his salary was now the second highest in the coaching world, second only to Mourinho, with an after-tax annual salary of 12 million euros. He was reluctant to part with such a generous contract...

This worry and anxiety continued until the end of a day's training, when he knocked on the door of club chairman Mubarak's office with a heavy heart.

"Come in."

Mubarak's voice sounded from inside.

Mancini composed himself, readjusted his appearance, pushed the door open and walked in.

※※※

Manchester City's boss, Mansour, wasn't very old, and Khaldoon Al Mubarak, who was helping him with his major industries, was even younger. At only thirty-six years old, he was much younger than coach Mancini.

So Mancini always had to maintain a sense of dignity in front of this young boss—he didn't have as much money as Mubarak, but his influence and experience in the football circle were definitely stronger than Mubarak. He was a true professional, and he was proud of his professional knowledge. In his heart, he actually looked down on this group of Arabs... But after all, they were his superiors, the people who paid his salary, so most of the time he was very respectful to Mubarak and didn't show the pride and prejudice he buried in his heart.

"Did you want to see me, Mr. Mubarak?"

Mancini asked respectfully after entering the door.

The club chairman's office wasn't big, but the interior was decorated with extreme luxury. Everything was the best and most expensive, which was very much in line with the nouveau riche aesthetic of the Arabs.

"Yesterday, I heard a very interesting statement..." Mubarak began.

Mancini's heart skipped a beat. Could it be... could it be that sentence of his?

"Uh, it was just a slip of the tongue. Mr. Mubarak... just a slip of the tongue. I was overwhelmed by the defeat at the time..." Mancini quickly defended himself.

But Mubarak waved his hand, interrupting him: "No, I just wanted to ask you, Mr. Mancini. Assuming you had a player like Chen Hero, what could you lead him and Manchester City to achieve?"

Mancini was stunned for a moment, never expecting that the chairman hadn't come to interrogate him.

But the question itself wasn't difficult to answer, if you didn't consider Mubarak's motive for asking the question...

"I can get everything you and Mr. Mansour want!" Mancini was quite confident when he said this. He was already very confident in his coaching ability. If he added a Chen Hero, wouldn't that be like adding wings to a tiger?

Mubarak was very satisfied with his answer. He nodded, "I'm very satisfied to hear you say that, Mr. Mancini."

Then he let Mancini leave.

Coming out of the office, Mancini was still confused, not understanding what kind of crazy fit the club chairman had, that he had specially come to him to ask a question without rhyme or reason, and then kicked him out.

But fortunately, the chairman didn't seem to have any intention of taking his slip of the tongue at yesterday's press conference to heart.

He knew that Manchester City's boss was Mansour, but he also knew that Mubarak and Mansour had a very good relationship, so Mubarak's meaning was also Mansour's meaning. Since Mubarak didn't mean to make trouble for him, it meant that Manchester City's boss, Mansour, was still very satisfied with his coaching.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

He wasn't in the mood to guess what his boss meant. He still had to find a way to appease and suppress the dressing room.

Those damn media outlets only know how to stir up trouble!

He had already heard voices of dissatisfaction with him coming from the dressing room. He was now racking his brains on how to appease the big-name stars in the dressing room.

Especially Aguero, who was very dissatisfied with his statement. Because like Chen Hero, he was a forward, responsible for the task of scoring goals. But the coach said at the press conference that the reason for losing the game was because Manchester City didn't have Chen Hero!

What kind of words were those?

It was like a man saying to someone else in front of his wife: "Oh, my wife is no good. It would be great if Patty Hou was willing to be my wife..."

No one could tolerate such words, so Aguero was furious.

Am I, Aguero, so inferior to Chen Hero!? He can score goals, and I can score goals too! The reason he can score more goals than me is not because I'm inferior to him, but because the entire Liverpool team is unconditionally supporting him! What's the point of scoring so many goals like that?!

You, Mancini, instead of fantasizing about Chen Hero joining the team, you should learn from Liverpool and have the entire Manchester City team unconditionally support me. I will definitely repay you with many, many goals!

Aguero was the team's number one star. If Aguero's state was affected, Manchester City's results would also be affected. Mancini had to appease him.

※※※

After seeing Mancini off, Mubarak sat quietly in his office for a while, and then made a decision.

Buy!