After selling Jonathan Howson, Leeds United seemed to have opened the doors to a supermarket, and things quickly spiraled out of control.
Newly promoted Premier League side Swansea soon announced the signing of Argentine striker Luciano Becchio from Leeds United for £3 million. The 27-year-old striker had made 41 appearances in the Championship last season, scoring 20 goals and providing 9 assists.
Purely in terms of statistics, Becchio's numbers were slightly behind Watford's Danny Graham, who scored 24 goals and provided 8 assists, making him the best striker in the Championship last season.
However, Graham played 3,909 minutes, while Becchio played under 3,000 minutes.
From an efficiency standpoint, Becchio was actually better.
In the end, the Argentine striker who once trained at Barcelona's La Masia made a successful move to Premier League side Swansea.
Compared to Jonathan Howson's transfer, this time Leeds United and Becchio parted on good terms, and both sides expressed well wishes for each other.
Soon after, Leeds United also announced the sale of striker Ross McCormack to Premier League side Aston Villa for £2.5 million. Villa's Scottish manager McRush had a very high opinion of the Scottish international.
Another Scottish international, Snodgrass, moved to newly promoted Premier League side Norwich City for £3 million.
Last season's second-highest scorer, 23-year-old Ivorian winger Marcos Gallardel, joined Ligue 1 club Saint-Étienne for £2.5 million.
These players were all among Leeds United's top performers last season and were currently the most valuable assets in the squad.
After the club failed to secure promotion to the Premier League, they all requested to leave.
Among them, Gallardel was already in contact with Ligue 1 clubs immediately after the season ended. He was eager to leave.
Leeds United fans were disappointed, but there was nothing they could do.
Failing to gain promotion to the Premier League was a major blow for any team.
What really surprised Gao Shen and Fernando Lucas was Schmeichel.
The goalkeeper, who had performed impressively in the Championship last season, attracted interest from Leicester City, Norwich, and Tottenham Hotspur. Of those, Spurs were the most attractive to Schmeichel, and the Danish keeper also hoped to move to North London.
Tottenham had contacted Leeds United early on. The Whites were not opposed to selling Schmeichel. Especially after signing Navas from Albacete, a team relegated from Spain's Segunda División, it became clear that Leeds were ready to let Schmeichel go.
However, the North London club rejected Leeds United's demand of Harry Kane plus £1 million.
Harry Kane, a highly rated young striker at Tottenham, was just eighteen years old but already an England youth international. He had shown flashes of talent during his loan spell at third-tier Leyton Orient last season.
Tottenham felt Leeds United's asking price was too high.
Tottenham, with their squad already packed, had no place for Harry Kane. They preferred to loan him out. So they offered £1.5 million for Schmeichel and proposed loaning Kane to Leeds for two years, with Spurs covering his full wages.
Leeds United firmly rejected this offer.
As a result, talks between the two sides stalled.
Soon after, Leicester City, recently acquired by Thai tycoon Vichai, joined the race and directly offered £2 million for Schmeichel, which was clearly more competitive than Tottenham's offer.
At this point, Fernando Lucas demonstrated his negotiation skills. On one hand, he held Leicester's interest steady. On the other, he personally went to London and spent two days negotiating with Tottenham Hotspur CEO Daniel Levy.
Though they ultimately didn't reach a deal, Lucas shifted the discussion toward signing Harry Kane.
In the end, Schmeichel joined Leicester City for a transfer fee of £2 million.
Meanwhile, Leeds United signed Harry Kane from Tottenham Hotspur for £1 million.
Although Harry Kane was a Tottenham fan, he recognized that he would not get first-team minutes in the near future and was likely to be loaned out again. After considering the situation carefully, and under Lucas' persuasion, he agreed to join Leeds United.
With this, Leicester got Schmeichel, Tottenham received £1 million, and Leeds ended up with Harry Kane for £1 million. All three parties walked away satisfied.
…
Leeds United sold five players and earned £12 million in transfer fees.
Adding Jonathan Howson's £10 million, the club's total transfer revenue reached £22 million.
This drew attention from both the media and Leeds United fans.
They were growing increasingly concerned. With nearly all of the club's top players sold, would Leeds United remain competitive in the upcoming season?
Some even began to suspect that the ownership was preparing to cash out.
But soon after, Leeds United made a blockbuster announcement: they had signed French midfielder Paul Pogba from Manchester United for £1 million.
This was unquestionably a headline-making signing in the Championship.
The key point was that Pogba was a highly regarded young talent, already well known in both British and European football circles.
Manchester United had even been sued by Le Havre over his transfer, and at one point faced a potential transfer ban similar to Chelsea. Now, selling him to Leeds United for £1 million was undoubtedly a bargain.
Although Pogba came from a rival club, Leeds United fans were still excited.
Reports suggested that the deal was personally facilitated by Gao Shen, who had met with Pogba in Manchester and persuaded the young Frenchman to join. He even promised to build the team's midfield around him.
"Gao Shen promised that if the team didn't get promoted within two years, Pogba would be allowed to leave on a free transfer!"
This news shocked Leeds United supporters.
The Yorkshire Post and other media outlets expressed amazement at the club's ambition and praised Gao Shen's involvement.
Everyone knew Gao Shen was an expert at discovering young talent. The fact that he brought Pogba to Leeds gave fans a boost of confidence.
But Leeds United fans were quickly left speechless again.
Because the club soon announced the signing of midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia from relegated Ligue 1 side Lens for 500,000 euros.
The 18-year-old French midfielder, who also holds Central African citizenship, made just three appearances for Lens last season. His performances were average, yet Leeds paid 500,000 euros.
This reminded everyone that Leeds United had become a professional bargain-hunting club targeting relegated teams.
Coincidentally, from the youth academy of Monaco—another relegated Ligue 1 club—Leeds United signed left-back Layvin Kurzawa, who holds dual French and Polish citizenship, also for 500,000 euros.
Monaco was nearing bankruptcy and lacked the financial backing that would come later after being acquired by Russian investors. They had no choice but to accept Leeds' offer. Besides, they still received a respectable fee of 500,000 euros.
Kurzawa had made five Ligue 1 appearances last season, with an average performance.
This further solidified Leeds United's reputation as scavengers of relegated teams.
Even the Yorkshire Post could no longer hold back and publicly called on the club to show more ambition.
Surprisingly, Leeds United responded to the public and media pressure.
The club announced the signing of Kalidou Koulibaly from Ligue 2 side Metz for 700,000 euros.
The 20-year-old center back, who holds both Senegalese and French citizenship, made 19 appearances in Ligue 2 last season. From March onwards, he became a regular starter and showed promising form.
This justified Leeds United spending a relatively high transfer fee of 700,000 euros on him.
More importantly, this time they weren't buying from a relegated club.
Although Metz ranked 17th in Ligue 2, just one point above the relegation zone, so it wasn't much of an improvement.
At the same time, Leeds United announced the successful double signing of right-back Nathaniel Clyne and winger Wilfried Zaha from Crystal Palace, who finished 20th in the Championship last season, for a total of £2 million.
The 20-year-old Clyne made 46 appearances in the Championship, contributing three assists. He had no goals, but his performance was solid.
Zaha made 41 appearances last season, scoring once and providing five assists. He also showed good potential.
This £2 million deal was a timely injection of funds for Crystal Palace, who had narrowly avoided relegation.
…
While Leeds United continued along the path of professional bargain-hunting, the summer transfer window across Europe was rocked by Paris Saint-Germain's sudden and aggressive spending.
The French club began by signing Argentine midfielder Javier Pastore from Napoli for a staggering 50 million euros.
Pastore was one of Serie A's most creative young stars last season. Touted as the next Kaka, he had attracted interest from several top European clubs.
Not stopping there, the ambitious PSG went on to sign Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani for 80 million euros, and Napoli center-back Medhi Benatia for 40 million euros.
In just three deals, PSG purchased the entire central spine of Napoli's team, spending a total of 170 million euros and causing a massive shock across European football.
Everyone was stunned by PSG's spending power.
Who would've thought that a Middle Eastern tycoon would splash the cash so freely?
Juventus, in the midst of their rebuild, responded by signing Italian center-back Leonardo Bonucci from Napoli for 35 million euros.
Bayern Munich signed Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal from Napoli for a record 40 million euros.
These two transfers alone brought in 75 million euros for Napoli.
Adding PSG's deals, Napoli earned nearly 250 million euros in one summer, establishing themselves as the ultimate "black market" team.
De Laurentiis was thrilled counting the money. Even he hadn't expected the Middle Eastern tycoon to be so generous. No bargaining, just upfront payments, and on top of that, PSG offered very high salaries to the players.
He might never meet another buyer like this again. If he didn't squeeze him now, when would he?
But every time he thought about giving 20 percent of the profits to Gao Shen, he felt frustrated.
It was all that damn Marino's fault. Why did he ever sign such a clause in the contract?
At this point, besides Gao Shen, no one else could foresee that this summer's transfers would completely reshape European football.
(To be continued.)
***
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