Transfer Market (2)
Transfer Market (2)
082
Barcelona Meeting Room.
Club executives gathered one by one ahead of the regular meeting.
FIFA (International Federation of Association Football) mandates two transfer windows per season.
Specifically, a transfer window of up to 12 weeks between seasons, and a transfer window of up to 4 weeks in the middle of the season.
While each league can make slight adjustments within the rules mandated by FIFA, the big picture of the transfer market remains unchanged. In Europe, the summer transfer window between seasons is usually from July to August, and the winter transfer window is in January.
European leagues, which follow the Autumn-Spring Season System starting in autumn and ending in spring the following year, are most active during the summer transfer window ahead of the new season, so naturally, those involved in transfers are bound to be busy.
Time had already reached mid-August.
As the summer transfer window raced toward its end, it was the busiest time for club executives. All the executives, preoccupied with setting up the board for the new season, sat down with haggard faces.
"Looks like everyone is busy. Your faces look quite haggard."
At Barcelona scout team leader Yoannes's light joke, the executives curled their lips in a smirk.
"You're the one whose face looks quite haggard, too."
"Oh, you noticed. Since everyone must be tired, I'll proceed with this regular meeting quickly as well."
In the past, during Barcelona's golden age, there were 40 scouts in the scouting department alone. However, the rapid financial deterioration during the COVID era led to the downsizing of the scouting department, leaving only 17 people—not even half of the golden age. Since the workload of scouring the globe to unearth gems remained the same while the personnel decreased, the scout team also had faces worn out from fatigue.
Following Yoannes's gesture, a player's profile photo appeared on the large beam projector.
"This is Ahmed Kessie, whom our scout team has been consistently monitoring for the past 5 months. As you can see—"
Several players were introduced, and the executives, flipping through the prepared reports while listening to Yoannes's presentation, had indifferent expressions.
Mid-August.
Around this time, as the summer transfer market races toward its end, clubs generally show two types of appearances.
Clubs that are relatively relaxed because they succeeded in recruiting the players they had targeted in advance, and clubs that are in a panic because they failed not only to recruit players but also to keep their existing squad.
Barcelona was the former.
They had already spent a fruitful transfer market by conducting negotiations behind the scenes before the transfer market even opened.
They succeeded in recruiting the players they wanted and also succeeded in keeping their core members.
Although they missed out on the big fish, their most wanted target Jorge Garcia—and even lost him to their biggest rival, Real Madrid—that was just something they couldn't help.
They were still busy reviewing players to recruit for positions that still needed reinforcement and reducing the squad size by releasing or loaning out unnecessary players, but they weren't desperate to find new players.
"And the last player is... this player right here."
The executives, who had been looking at the beam projector indifferently, lit up.
A rare... no, the first appearance of an Asian person during this year's transfer period.
"Ho. An Asian... is he Japanese?"
"He's handsome. Very attractive features."
"Hmm. In my opinion, he looks too pretty. Like those Korean boy groups that young women were crazy about. Those guys who looked like gays."
"Hey, Manuel. What kind of old-man talk is that? You know you'll get in big trouble for saying things like that these days, right? And in my opinion, he's much better than those skinny kids in Korean boy groups. I don't know about women who prefer the macho style, but he's a style that would be quite popular with the general public."
Yoannes, who had been smiling while watching the whispering executives, clapped his hands to draw attention.
"Everyone is very interested in this player's appearance. I'm very pleased that the player our scout team ambitiously prepared is receiving such a hot reaction. Shall we continue the presentation? First of all, this player is not Japanese. Oh, of course, he's not Chinese either. This player is Korean."
"Manuel, one of your words was right. You said he looked like a Korean, and he really is Korean."
"Ahem. Well... I don't like that he's so delicate, but he does look like someone women would like."
For the first time in recent years, they showed interest in an Asian person appearing in scouting, but that was it. The handsome appearance was just a brief topic of conversation, and the executives were still indifferent.
And Yoannes was pleased with that.
Because making indifferent executives go wild. There was nothing that thrilled him more than introducing a hidden gem.
"I guess you're all not interested? But that will change soon. Why? Because this player is a hidden gem."
The beam projector screen changed, and the player's information was displayed.
"As you can see, he is a young player. Born in 2013, a fresh 20-year-old friend. His physique is 175cm and 62~3kg. He can cover the entire attacking second line, but his main position is on the left, and like most Korean players, he is an excellent two-footed player."
Click.
The projector screen changed once again.
"This player became known for his performance in this Olympics, and you've probably heard of him. The Asian boy who humbled our top priority target, Jorge Garcia."
"Hmm? Wait. Korea... if it's Korea, that's the country that faced our Spain in the finals."
"Ah. I see. I've heard of him. So this was the player they called the Asian Jorge."
Only then did the executives sit up straight and flip through the reports.
Yoannes smiled happily and changed the screen.
"In the Olympics, the Korean national team used a 4-2-3-1 formation, and this player mainly played on the left wing. Tactically, he had a strong tendency to stay in a high position as the core of the attack, and the Korean team's attacks unfold quickly and easily through this player. He maintains ball possession, advances through dribbling, and breaks through pressure with fantastic technique. This is this player's heat map from the finals."
"Very direct, and the position is high. And this is the match footage."
Several Olympic match videos were played.
"Please pay attention to this video. This is the group stage match where our Spain was miserably defeated 3:0 by the Korean team. The defender he is facing will be familiar to you. It's our first-team backup member, Fernando. And as you can see."
In the video playing, scenes of Fernando being dribbled past repeatedly are shown.
"He neutralizes him very simply. He is a technically complete player."
"Ho. To break through Fernando that easily."
"Isn't the player providing cover defense Martin Zubimendi? This is surprising."
"His balance shifting is very good. His body balance is excellent. He's agile, and his reaction speed is good too."
The executives watched the video with interest.
At that reaction, Yoannes smirked and changed the screen again.
"One match probably isn't enough, right? Since it was the first match, it could have been complacency, a condition issue, or a lack of research. So I prepared this. This is his performance in the finals. You can see the effort of the national team coach Unai Simon to mark this player, but... as you can see, he couldn't be stopped. As those who watched the finals know, this player broke through all the interference from our Spanish players and managed to score 2 more goals."
Yoannes walked steadily toward the executives.
As his body blocked the beam projector, a few frowned.
"He is a very, extremely, incredibly powerful player in the final third. What I rate most highly is the player's growth rate. Look at the report. The number of key passes per game goes up as time goes by, and it rises sharply starting from the Japan match. As shown in the xG and xA data, he shows a continuous rise in ball distribution ability while maintaining high scoring ability."
Yoannes, having moved back to his spot, changed the beam projector screen.
"We found good habits in attacking situations while observing this player. One of this player's strengths is that he always observes his surroundings before receiving the ball. It's simple, but many players often overlook it in urgent situations. Thinking in advance about what action to take next, how to control the ball... for example, this scene. If you look here, when a teammate passes the ball long, this player has already turned his body halfway. With this single half-turn, he was able to easily shake off his marker and continue the attack."
Looking around at the executives listening seriously, Yoannes smiled satisfactorily.
This thrill when others recognize the true value of the gem he unearthed was the driving force that allowed him to continue his difficult scouting life.
"Analyzing the Olympic matches, this player is skilled at giving up the wide area for overlapping fullbacks and playing in the half-space, so he can be a great attraction for managers who value wing rotation and fullback space occupation. In addition, his body is flexible and agile, so he is also skilled at escaping close marking."
"Hmm. I've heard your praise well. Then what are his weaknesses?"
"Well... like most young players of this type, he needs to learn how not to complicate situations. He sometimes loses possession with unnecessary touches or turns. In the higher stage of La Liga, these weaknesses can be more pronounced. Especially in our team's style, which values control and possession, more caution will be needed. Besides that, overall defensive participation or improvement in activity level is needed. Ah! And improvement in physical ability."
As Yoannes's presentation ended, the executives began to open their mouths one by one.
"Seems like a player who plays soccer with his feet rather than his head?"
"He's a player with strengths in direct dribbling breakthroughs. He also pulls off tricky plays well."
"He's just like Kaka in his AC Milan days. His soccer intelligence doesn't look very good. His movement off the ball is..."
Yoannes, who had been listening to the executives' words quietly with a deep smile, snapped his fingers as if he had just remembered something.
"Ah. I didn't mention this. This Korean player is treated as a superstar in his own country... and above all, he is an FA status."
"...What? FA? A free agent?"
"To be precise, he is an amateur."
"That means... since he's an amateur, there's no transfer fee, and since it's his first professional contract, his weekly wages will be cheap too. Plus, a Korean superstar... it'll be a good opportunity to secure the East Asian market."
"Immediately... send a recruitment offer immediately!! We must catch this player!!"
And that was not just Barcelona's move.
Real Madrid too,
"But we have Jorge—"
"What does that have to do with anything!! It's a signing where we have nothing to lose even if he only plays a few games in the first team and we stick him on the bench! Honestly, isn't he a player we can just milk for marketing money and then discard!!"
The prestigious Italian clubs too,
"Holy shit! A player like this is an amateur? Secure him immediately!"
"Who's the transfer manager! Send them to Korea!"
Even the EPL clubs,
"It's an opportunity to make the Asian market our market! We must recruit him by any means necessary!!"
"We must recruit him even if we only use him for FA Cup matches. This is an opportunity!"
"What are the work permit regulations? Find a recommender who can help immediately!!"
It was the beginning of the race for Hong Min-jun.