"What did he say?"
In the conference room at the Etihad Stadium, Gao Shen looked at Gary Cook, Marwood, and Brian Kidd seated in front of him and asked with concern. The "he" Gao Shen was referring to was, of course, Yaya Toure's agent, Dimitri Seluk.
It was quite interesting that the Ivorian player had actually chosen a Russian agent.
What many people didn't know was that when Zielinski joined Barcelona in Gao Shen's previous life, his agent was also Seluk.
Clearly, Zielinski had been recommended to Barcelona by Seluk.
As a result, within a year, both Zielinski and Yaya Toure left the club.
That's why Seluk would later go on to "curse" Guardiola.
At the root of it, it was all about money.
But one thing was certain—Seluk was a difficult person to deal with.
Gary Cook first explained his relationship with Seluk. After all, all sporting matters were now under Gao Shen's control. If Gary Cook had unclear dealings with Seluk, it would seem inappropriate.
In reality, he had no relationship with Seluk. Manchester City had shown interest in Yaya Toure before and made contact, but at the time, Toure had no interest in joining.
But times had changed. The Manchester City that Yaya Toure once looked down on had now become Premier League champions under Gao Shen's leadership. Meanwhile, the Ivorian midfielder had been squeezed out at Barcelona by both Busquets and Thiago Motta.
Last season, Yaya Toure made only a handful of appearances and was a substitute half the time.
It was easy to imagine how bad his situation at Barcelona had become.
It proved the old saying: You ignored me once, and now I'm out of your league.
Under these circumstances, Seluk, filled with resentment, gave an interview to Diario Sport in late May, accusing Barcelona of freezing out Yaya Toure. He claimed it was because a large part of his income was tied to playing time, and Barcelona, being stingy, didn't want to pay, so they kept him benched.
It was also Seluk who revealed that Barcelona had been trying to sign Fabregas from Arsenal and even wanted to include Yaya Toure in the deal as a makeweight. But his client refused to be part of a player swap.
According to the information obtained by Gao Shen and Manchester City, Barcelona and Arsenal had indeed discussed such a plan. Both sides were interested. Barcelona could reduce the transfer fee and offload Toure, while Arsenal were open to acquiring the Ivorian midfielder. However, they lacked the funds for a direct signing.
After Seluk exposed the deal to the media, it fell apart.
Now, after signing Villa and Aguero, Barcelona had practically run out of money. Arsenal were unlikely to fork out a large fee for Yaya Toure, so the Fabregas deal had been shelved for the time being.
…
"Seluk said that Barcelona has officially informed them they're free to look for another club. As long as a team is willing to pay 20 million euros, they can take Yaya Toure from Barcelona."
"Twenty million euros?" Gao Shen chuckled. That was quite a bargain from Barcelona.
Back in 2007, when Yaya Toure moved from Monaco to Barcelona, the La Liga giants only spent 9 million euros.
Of course, Barcelona held the upper hand now. Yaya Toure's contract expired in June 2012, and his release clause was 100 million euros. This meant that unless Barcelona agreed, no one could sign him.
Gao Shen wasn't particularly interested in Yaya Toure. He already had Javi Martinez and Jordan Henderson in the squad, and Fernandinho was about to join. The midfield might not be luxurious, but it was more than enough.
Yaya Toure's personality and playing style were the real issues that gave Gao Shen headaches.
Still, for one of the world's best midfielders, 20 million euros was not expensive.
"Why didn't Manchester United go for him?" Gao Shen suddenly wondered.
Manchester United had just signed Lassana Diarra from Real Madrid, clearly showing an intent to reinforce the midfield. There was no reason to ignore Yaya Toure.
"Seluk said he hasn't had any contact with Manchester United because his client believes he fits the Premier League but only wants to play for the best team in the league—us, Manchester City," Marwood said with a laugh.
Everyone in the room chuckled.
Agents always talk big.
There probably wasn't a single word in Seluk's statement worth trusting.
"We did get another bit of intel. Supposedly, Ferguson did consider signing Yaya Toure. But since he barely played last season, Ferguson was worried about his current form. Compared to that, Diarra looked like a safer bet," Brian Kidd added.
The last time Gao Shen met with Ferguson, he had brought Kidd along and given him a scolding. Since then, Kidd had taken the intelligence work seriously. Now was a chance to show some results.
Gao Shen found Kidd's explanation more believable.
From the vantage point of 2021, of course Lassana Diarra seemed forgettable compared to Yaya Toure.
But in 2010, the gap between the two wasn't that big. Yaya Toure had been absent for a long time, Diarra was in good shape, and their market values weren't too far apart. So it wasn't clear-cut who was the better buy.
"However, Seluk also revealed another piece of news. Chelsea is very interested in Yaya Toure," Gary Cook added.
That really caught Gao Shen's attention.
If Manchester City were to defend their title this season, their biggest competitor would undoubtedly be Ancelotti's Chelsea.
The current situation had changed so much that Gao Shen could no longer rely on past-life memories to predict how things would unfold. No one could guarantee Ancelotti wouldn't succeed with Chelsea this season.
So from Manchester City's perspective, the best strategy was to poach the players Chelsea wanted. Strengthen yourself, weaken your rival, and kill two birds with one stone.
"Are we sure Chelsea is interested in Yaya Toure?" Gao Shen asked Kidd.
He nodded. "Absolutely."
It made sense when you thought about it. After Chelsea let Ballack go, they only had Mikel left as a defensive midfielder—and everyone knew Mikel's limitations.
If they added Yaya Toure, it would be a completely different story.
Gao Shen hadn't been too interested in Yaya Toure before, but now that Chelsea were in the mix, he couldn't ignore it.
Better to strike first.
After some thought, Gao Shen made a decision.
"I want to meet Seluk!"
…
That afternoon, accompanied by Gary Cook, Marwood, and Brian Kidd, Gao Shen met the Russian agent—who had given Barcelona's management so many headaches—in the same conference room.
Rumor had it that Seluk was quite a character, but in person, he appeared rather friendly and not as unpleasant as the media made him out to be.
Seluk clearly knew that Gao Shen was the decision-maker behind all Manchester City transfers. Whether Yaya Toure joined or not depended entirely on him.
After the usual pleasantries, they got straight to the point—Yaya Toure's transfer.
Gao Shen didn't beat around the bush. He told Seluk very directly that he would not build his tactics around Yaya Toure. If Toure wanted to come to Manchester City, he would have to adapt to the team's tactical system not the other way around.
In short, if Gao Shen asked him to play center-back, he'd have to do it. If he wanted him as a defensive midfielder, that's where he'd play. If he was told not to push forward, he'd stay deep.
"You see, at Manchester City, we emphasize a complete, unified team system. We don't promote individual heroism. No one is above the team. Everyone is treated equally."
Gao Shen laid down the law first, then offered an evaluation and positioning for Yaya Toure.
He felt Toure was a world-class midfielder who could also fill in at center-back. He could bring new elements to Manchester City—his dribbling, strength, refined footwork, and more.
Gao Shen even considered using him in a double-pivot formation, which would be an interesting tactical variation.
For example, pairing Yaya Toure with Javi Martinez as a "black-and-white twin tower" midfield duo.
In his previous life, Toure and Fernandinho had formed a very successful partnership at Manchester City.
But this was all under one condition: Yaya Toure had to serve the team.
Seluk was very confident in his client. He insisted Toure's ability and form were not in question and said his World Cup performance proved it.
But he hadn't expected Gao Shen's stance to be so firm.
That decision was beyond Seluk's authority. He would have to speak to the player directly.
If Yaya Toure accepted the conditions, they could proceed with Manchester City.
"Mr. Gao, my client really wants to join your team. He will definitely bring you more victories and titles," Seluk said.
Gao Shen nodded. "I believe that. But I'll say it again, every win and every title this team has achieved came through collective effort, not from any single individual."
Seluk understood Gao Shen's resolve.
If Yaya Toure didn't agree, the door at Manchester City would be closed.
With that understanding, there wasn't much more to discuss.
…
After Seluk left, Gao Shen held further discussions with Gary Cook and the others, focusing on Toure.
Player quality was one thing, but character also mattered.
Gao Shen had to be cautious about how Toure might affect team unity in the dressing room.
That's why he'd been so upfront.
If Toure accepted, fine. For 20 million euros, Manchester City could afford it.
Whether he would play or not would depend on his form and performance, and that kind of competition would be healthy for the squad.
Gary Cook and the others generally agreed with Gao Shen's approach.
Two days after meeting Seluk, Fernandinho finally arrived in London.
Gao Shen brought Marwood and Brian Kidd down from Manchester and met Fernandinho at a hotel in London. They chatted through the evening, discussing the upcoming hearing and his future at Manchester City.
The next day, Gao Shen and his team headed to Soho Square, the location of the English Football Association's headquarters.
(To be continued.)