However, with Peters's over-level report last time, Huang Hao still decided to personally attend the monthly scout meetings to prevent more Burkes from being directly rejected by the conventional Evans.
During the meeting, Tamura Keisuke, the Cambridge United European scout, seemed to be hesitant to speak, looking very awkward.
Huang Hao was quite displeased when he first discovered a Japanese person in Cambridge United's scouting team. However, after learning that Tamura Keisuke had five years of experience as a scout for Manchester United's first team, he put aside his prejudice.
Given that Tamura was always responsible for the European region during his tenure at Manchester United, he was still assigned to the European region after coming to Cambridge United.
"Tamura, is something wrong?"
"Ah, ah, well, I've been tracking a player recently, that..."
Hearing Tamura speak, Huang Hao felt so anxious! Why was this Japanese person so hesitant in speaking and doing things!
"Tamura, speak up, it's alright, there are no outsiders here."
"Evans, are you stopping him again?"
Huang Hao immediately turned his gun and charged towards Evans.
"No, no, no! Boss, I wouldn't dare!"
Evans waved his hands repeatedly in fright.
"Ah! No, no! Mr. Evans is very pleasant to work with."
"So what exactly happened?"
Huang Hao was a bit impatient. This Japanese person's English already sounded very awkward, and if he continued to drag it out, it would be unbearable.
Seeing Huang Hao a little angry, Tamura quickly explained.
"I've recently been tracking a young man named De Bruyne, he's only 18 years old. I think he's the most Spirituality player I've ever seen! He was already a regular starter for his team last year."
The more Huang Hao listened, the stranger it became, and he couldn't help but interrupt Tamura.
"Mr. Tamura, since you think so highly of him, why haven't you submitted the information?"
"Uh, he's a natural attacker, but his defense..."
Tamura's voice became lower and lower. Rarely communicating directly with the boss, he was still a bit flustered facing Huang Hao.
"Also, his most proficient position is attacking midfielder, and the club's current player reserves for this position seem a bit saturated, so..."
It must be said that Tamura carried the innate cautiousness of a Japanese person, and his considerations were indeed very comprehensive.
But listening to his description and his hesitant demeanor just now, it seemed that this De Bruyne had brought him a great surprise.
"Mr. Tamura, are you saying that De Bruyne's playing style is somewhat similar to Ayu's?"
"Uh, sir, it's a similar style, but I think his ability is far superior to Ayu's."
Tamura's words not only surprised Huang Hao but also aroused the interest of other scouts.
Huang Hao, who was originally about to end the meeting, was now completely intrigued by Tamura. He simply asked Tamura to share the data directly, and everyone analyzed it on the spot.
After a flurry of activity, Tamura quickly shared the previously organized player data and videos one by one onto the screen.
"Damn it," Huang Hao cursed inwardly, "Isn't this Ding Ding? I used to call him Ding Ding, I even forgot his real name."
It took a full hour for Tamura to display all the data and videos.
Everyone, however, remained silent.
Huang Hao asked Tamura:
"How much do you estimate the transfer fee to be?"
"Around 2 million."
Hearing that his opinion was recognized by Huang Hao, this time, Tamura did not hesitate at all and immediately gave the answer.
Huang Hao habitually stroked his chin again, then looked at the people on the screen,
"How about it, everyone, share your thoughts."
"Boss, I agree with Tamura's view, we should sign him, he will definitely be an excellent investment."
The oldest Peters expressed his opinion. As a highly respected figure in the scouting team, since Peters said so, others naturally had no objections.
In the video, Segura's excellent speed and dribbling ability made everyone's eyes light up. Moreover, unlike Ayu's height of less than 170 centimeters, the 18-year-old De Bruyne was 181 centimeters tall, almost surpassing Ayu in all aspects.
Huang Hao nodded, seemingly having made up his mind.
"Adams, go with Tamura and sign him, I have only one request."
"No release clause is allowed."
Adams didn't need Qiao Zhuoyan to tell him; he already knew the answer.
"Tamura, I have another task for you."
"Uh, boss, please say."
"After you and Adams finish this, immediately go to the 18 top-tier teams in Germany and find a young man named Reus for me. He should be a year or two older than De Bruyne. Conduct a comprehensive analysis and tracking, but be quick."
"Okay, boss."
Adams and Tamura immediately drove to Genk, Belgium. Although De Bruyne performed excellently, he was currently only an important rotational player. After an offer of 2 million was rejected, Adams decisively raised the price to 3.5 million pounds and agreed to a transfer after the season. The Genk club, despite the coach's opposition, let De Bruyne go.
This time, Adams decisively rejected the release clause proposed by De Bruyne's agent, De Koster, even though the asking price had reached 60 million pounds!
With the 18,000 weekly salary satisfied, De Bruyne and his agent finally abandoned the release clause, which made Adams breathe a sigh of relief, otherwise Huang Hao would surely kill him!
After settling De Bruyne, Adams and Tamura immediately drove to Germany. With the help of friends, they learned that Reus was at Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Using De Bruyne's negotiation tactics, after Adams raised the price to 4 million pounds, Mönchengladbach also agreed to Cambridge United's offer.
At the persuasion of his good friend Gotze, Reus finally signed a five-year contract with a weekly salary of 20,000 pounds.
On Sunday afternoon, the roads near Park Stadium were bustling with traffic and people, as Cambridge United and Manchester United fans grouped together, surging towards the stadium.
When Manchester United's team bus arrived, Cambridge United fans on both sides of the road began to sing a line from Manchester United's team song to the Manchester United fans.
"We're going to Wembley!"
"We're going to Wembley!"
The lyrics, symbolizing the pursuit of championships and glory, were used by Cambridge United fans to put pressure on Manchester United.
On the bus, Ferguson's expression was as usual, and the Manchester United players also looked relaxed.
Manchester United and Chelsea were both performing exceptionally well this season, having already pulled away from other teams in the title race.
Currently, Manchester United trailed Chelsea by one point, and the title race was becoming increasingly intense. To win this season's championship, every match was crucial.
However, the big victory in the first leg made everyone at Manchester United optimistic about winning today's match.
Ferguson saw Huang Hao standing on the sideline in front of the home team's dugout, dressed in a suit, hands in his pockets, looking at the stadium with his head held high. From the side, his handsome face was filled with concentration.
He walked towards the away team's dugout, sat down, and then waited for the match to begin.
Huang Hao noticed Ferguson's arrival. He had been preoccupied because on his way out of the player tunnel, he had seen Manchester United's starting lineup. He couldn't quite describe the feeling, but he had a premonition: today's match was destined to be earth-shattering!
"Welcome to Cambridge United's home ground, Park Stadium. Good afternoon everyone, I'm Martin Tyler, your live commentator, and today I'm joined by Andy Gray to commentate on this heavyweight Premier League match between sixth-placed Cambridge United and reigning Premier League champions Manchester United."
"Hello everyone, I'm Andy Gray. Just two months ago, we didn't think Manchester United would maintain their lead until March, but now they are second, one point behind Chelsea. If they want to win the title, they cannot afford to lose today's match."
"Haha, Wenger previously made a bold statement, predicting that Cambridge United would lose their dark horse status in March. This is not without basis. Today, Cambridge United faces Manchester United on the last match day of February, then hosts Wigan Athletic in the next round, and then Cambridge United will travel to challenge Chelsea! Following that, in the last Premier League match of March, Cambridge United will again travel to challenge Manchester City."
Of these four matches, only the home game against Wigan Athletic might be a huge disparity in strength. The other three matches will be tough, even the away game against Manchester City, as Manchester City's performance has significantly improved after sacking Mark Hughes. Wenger must have studied Cambridge United's schedule to dare say such a thing!"
"Yes, in fact, at this stage of the League, perhaps two or three abnormal performances could jeopardize the entire season's efforts. If Cambridge United defeats Manchester United today, they will gain an advantageous position in the top six race and will completely knock Liverpool out of the Europe qualification contention, because not only will Cambridge United lead Liverpool by as much as 8 points, Aston Villa will also lead Liverpool by 5 points!"
"But even a draw, Manchester United's title defense prospects are not optimistic. If this match ends in a draw, Chelsea will most likely defeat Wolves, which would put Chelsea 4 points ahead of Manchester United. With 11 rounds remaining in the League, and Chelsea's subsequent opponents being relatively weaker, it will be difficult for Manchester United to overturn and win the title."
"But if Manchester United can defeat Cambridge United in this match, the situation will be different."
"Yes, although it seems difficult, as Cambridge United's home strength this season is evident, many teams have tried to defeat them here but have not succeeded. But if Manchester United does it, Arsenal will definitely be the happiest, as this means Arsenal will open up an 8-point gap with Cambridge United, and in the remaining 11 rounds, there is still great hope of securing a Europe spot, especially since Cambridge United will have a mutual destruction battle with Arsenal in the final League match, but the premise is that both teams are in fifth place when the final match arrives."
"Huang Hao and Ferguson, the two head coaches, must be aware of these situations and predicted future trends that we've analyzed. Therefore, Manchester United's objective for this match won't be too hard to guess; they will undoubtedly go all out for victory."
"Of course, let's look at the starting lineups of both teams. Ferguson's intentions can be seen from Manchester United's formation."
Cambridge United starts with a 3-5-2 today.
Goalkeeper: Oblak.
Defenders: De Vrij, Lovren, Van Dijk.
Midfielders: M'Vila, Kante, Mahrez, Juninho, Tadić.
Forwards: Vardy, Lewandowski.
There's nothing much to say about Cambridge United's starting lineup. The combination of De Vrij, Lovren, and Van Dijk is the most frequently used and strong combination now.
In other aspects, Cambridge United has fielded its strongest lineup, with impressive attacking capabilities, which is their strength and advantage. The attacking force built by Huang Hao is already top-tier in the Premier League, and in terms of activity, Cambridge United's front line is more active than Arsenal's and Manchester United's. Looking at Cambridge United's goal distribution, any player in their attacking force can change the course of the match, while Arsenal and Manchester United lack powerful strikers.
Manchester United starts with a 4-4-2.
Goalkeeper: Van der Sar.
Defenders: Gary Neville, Ferdinand, Vidić, Evra.
Midfielders: Nani, Fletcher, Carrick, Giggs.
Forwards: Rooney, Berbatov.
