Tang Long's Signing Ceremony Reaches One Climax After Another: A 3v3 Showdown for a Mysterious Grand Prize!
Holding a grand signing ceremony for Tang Long was precisely Manchester City's Commercial Director, Berrada's idea.
Berrada graduated from the European Business School with a degree in Business, and earned a master's degree in E-commerce from the Ramon Llull University in Spain. She later pursued further studies in General Management at IESE Business School.
His career path is quite unusual. Before 2004, his job had nothing to do with football; he worked as a product manager and business development manager at a Spain telecommunications company.
After 2004, he entered the football field at Barcelona and served as the sponsorship director for seven years, responsible for helping Barcelona attract sponsors. In 2011, he was recruited by Manchester City to serve as the head of international business development.
After eleven years of dedicated work in the football industry.
This season, he was promoted to Commercial Director of Manchester City, officially stepping into the core management of a team.
Back when he was participating in a Manchester City management meeting to discuss whether to choose De Bruyne or Tang Long, Berrada astutely recognized that the Asia market behind Tang Long would bring more business opportunities and collaborations to Manchester City. Therefore, he advocated signing Tang Long rather than De Bruyne.
He has lived in six different countries, is fluent in four languages, has an extensive global industry network, and has traveled to Asia multiple times to secure sponsorships.
He knew that Tang Long's arrival was an excellent opportunity for Manchester City to attract new players;
This is also a significant opportunity for me to get a promotion and a raise!
If this opportunity is seized, Manchester City's reputation in Asia will experience a qualitative leap, and his status within the club will also rise rapidly.
People strive for higher positions, and Berrada set her sights on the position of her superior, Begiristain.
He was unwilling to merely work in business operations at this rising Premier League powerhouse; he aspired to become the COO, managing and operating the club comprehensively, and realizing his ultimate dream of transitioning into the football world!
Etihad Stadium.
Strangely enough, the weather cleared up in Manchester that afternoon, and the city enjoyed a bright sunny day in August.
Beneath the azure sky, the pale blue Etihad Stadium exudes elegance and sophistication, yet is teeming with activity.
Commercial Director Berrada has extensive connections; he even invited Manchester Mayor Andrews, and the two exchanged pleasantries in front of the VIP entrance.
Inside the stadium.
Approximately 10,000 fans came to the scene to watch Tang Long's signing ceremony.
Even before the main character appeared, the fans in the stands were already excitedly discussing it.
"That's quite a grand gesture! Our club hasn't held a special signing ceremony for a player in a long time. The last one was Robinho from Real Madrid in 2009!"
"That's right! Tang spent 71 million euros, breaking Robinho's six-year record. This China man is the biggest spender in our history, the first in history!"
"I remember the last China player; his name was Sun. He played defense and was very physically fit and technically skilled."
"I wonder what number Tang will wear? He wears number 99 at Inter Milan."
"It definitely won't be number 99. It should be a core number, like 10, 9, or 7—any of them are possible!"
"Number 10 is nonsense. Number 10 belongs to Agüero. Would he give it to Don? Number 9 and Number 7 are both possibilities."
At this point, Manchester City's commercial director Berrada, made his appearance.
He walked onto the court, stood on the prepared platform, and delivered a speech, highly praising Tang Long's skills and expressing his hope for the team's future in the new season.
Then, highlights of Tang Long's performance for Inter Milan last season began playing on two huge screens in the Etihad stands.
Through ball, dribble, challenge, shot— Tang Long raises his arms and shouts!
The fans cheered and raised their arms along with Tang Long on the screen!
The meticulously edited video perfectly showcased Tang Long's strengths, leaving the Manchester City fans in attendance thoroughly entertained!
Applause erupted, especially during the UEFA Super Cup, when Tang Long dribbled past four Barca players before scoring, earning thunderous applause. Many fans thoroughly enjoyed the performance and stood up to applaud!
Countless classic scenes are being replayed.
The sight of Tang Long repeatedly raising his arms and shouting Ranocchia, who was in the first row of the stands, with a surge of emotion.
As the only former teammate present, Ranocchia and Tang Long recounted their tumultuous 2014-2015 season.
The former Inter Milan captain was deeply moved as the camera repeatedly focused on the fans in the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza roaring for Tang Long.
This emotional moment had a tremendous impact on Ranocchia in the final shot, when the entire Inter Milan team lifted the UEFA Europa League.
His eyes welled up with tears, and his nose stung with emotion.
In Milan, he had family, friends, teammates, and his beloved fans who always supported the team through thick and thin! He didn't even have time to say goodbye to them at his last home game before leaving Milan.
"I believe the best midfielder in the world has come to Manchester City," Berrada, a marketing professional, lavished praise on Tang Long, showering him with compliments. "Tang is a humble young man, but also an ambitious one. He has set a club record for transfers, his..."
Milner, sitting behind Ranocchia, looked unhappy.
He was well aware of his current situation.
Manchester City are playing the very fashionable 4-2-3-1 formation.
Last season, there were only two players on the team who could play the attacking midfielder position.
David Silva, and Milner himself.
Unlike Silva, a key player with an elegant playing style and outstanding technique, Milner is a typical supporting player at Manchester City.
Since joining Manchester City from the Aston Villa in 2010 for €22 million, he played from age 24 to 29, always as a rotation player and never securing a regular starting position.
Last season, which just ended, he made 32 appearances for Manchester City in the Premier League, 18 of which were as a substitute. More than half of those appearances were as a substitute.
However, Milner put up his best league stats since joining Manchester City, with 5 goals and 7 assists.
This was because Pellegrini valued his superior physical attributes and running ability compared to Silva, and frequently placed him in the attacking midfield position towards the end of the season, while pulling Silva to the wing;
He is also motivated by the upcoming UEFA European Championship next year – Milner is already 29 years old, and next year's UEFA European Championship will mark his 30th birthday, which may be his last chance to represent the England national team in this tournament.
Milner thought to himself, "Don spent 70 million on the club, so his tactical role is definitely as a starter. I've only played well for half a season, and now my starting position is going to be taken by a kid who's not even 20 years old. It's a small matter if I lose face; if I can't play and lose my form, then next year's UEFA European Championship will be in jeopardy."
Then I thought again, "Mancini has just taken over as the national team coach. He knows me, but so many years have passed, he might not even remember me. Besides, he's only just taken over, he'll definitely be scouting players everywhere. What if he comes to watch Manchester City's game and I can't play? Wouldn't I miss my chance to perform? That won't do."
After much thought, Milner couldn't come up with a good solution, so he decided to sound out his teammates and see if he could get their support.
He leaned slightly to his left, looking at his England national team teammate, goalkeeper Joe Hart.
"Why is Tang holding such a huge signing ceremony at home? Anyone who didn't know better would think Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo had arrived!"
Although Hart didn't say anything, his jealousy was obvious.
"Who told him to be so expensive? If I went to Chelsea for 100 million Pound Sterling, Stamford Bridge would have to throw me a ceremony."
Milner nodded, then turned his head to the right, and said to David Silva, who was staring intently at the stadium's big screen:
"David, we both came to Manchester City in the same year, 2010. You came from Valencia, right? Speaking of which, you won the World Cup back then, the newly crowned World Cup champion. This guy, Tang, is only 18 years old and has only played less than a season in Serie A. He thinks he's the best midfielder in the world? He doesn't even consider you a threat!"
Milner deliberately used a fallacy of equivocation here.
"The best midfielder in the world" was clearly just a polite remark by Berigestan, intended to highlight the incredible value of the transfer to the 10,000 fans in attendance. The statement was, of course, an artistic exaggeration.
Moreover, these words were spoken by Beligistan, but in Milner's mouth, they sounded like Tang Long boasting.
What's even more insidious is that Milner knew David Silva had mixed feelings about Tang Long's arrival, so he said this to deliberately create discord between the two.
Silva glared at Milner, clearly unfazed, but remained silent.
However, Tang Long's arrival made this Spain midfielder feel a strong sense of crisis!
The two players are in similar positions, both excel at connecting the dots, and both have the ability to deliver the final, fatal blow.
However, Silva was born in 1986 and is already 29 years old, while Tang Long is a full ten years younger than him.
Ten years! At that age, Silva was still wasting his time at Celta Vigo in La Liga, hoping to get playing time every week, while Tang Long had already won two titles with Serie A Inter Milan, made it into the Serie A Team of the Season, and transferred to Manchester City for a high price.
It is foreseeable that Tang Long has greater potential for future development at Manchester City.
If I, who am about to turn thirty, do not strive to maintain or even improve my performance, it will only be a matter of time before I am replaced by Tang Long.
Thinking about this, Silva felt a pang of anxiety followed by a wave of emotion, and in the end, he could only silently encourage himself to keep going.
However, Agüero seemed to enjoy watching it!
Of the more than 20 Manchester City players sitting in the lower stands, he caused the most commotion.
Especially when Tang Long repeatedly delivered miraculous assists to Icardi, Agüero cheered loudly as if no one else was around, drawing the attention of his other teammates.
"Great! Beautiful! That's how you spread it, hahaha!"
"Huh? How did you get such an accurate signal? How did you come up with this route?"
"That's brilliant! What a genius imagination!"
After the highlights ended, amidst the DJ's call of "Tangiscoming!" and the cheers of the entire stadium, Tang Long, who was already prepared, strode out of the players' tunnel and charged onto the pitch of the Etihad Stadium for the first time in his life!
"Wow, this turf feels really good underfoot, much better than the vegetable garden in Meazza!"
This was Tang Long's first impression of Etihad.
"Number 9, hahaha, number 9, I guessed it right, Tang wears the number 9 jersey!"
This is Manchester City fans' first impression of Tang Long!
Wearing the number 9 jersey, Tang Long raised his hands and smiled as he greeted the fans.
Although 10,000 fans may not seem like many, the cheers they erupted were enough to cause a minor stir at the Etihad Stadium.
Fans don't have as many ulterior motives as some players; they simply support whoever plays well.
As Manchester City's most expensive player in history, how could the Blue Moon's fans not have high hopes for their star player?
"Tang!!!!"
Just cheer and that's it.
Mayor Andrews also applauded frequently, pointing at Tang Long and chatting with his staff.
Guided by Berrada's smile, Tang Long spoke into the microphone, delivering a speech he had prepared beforehand.
His English was already quite good, even better than his Italy, and he had memorized it perfectly the day before, so his fluent English surprised the fans. The fans were happy to think that Tang Long would definitely have no problem communicating with his teammates, which removed the language barrier for him to integrate into the team.
Sun Jihai and Shao Jiayi, two former flag bearers of China players playing abroad, have both stated that good language communication skills are a prerequisite for foreign players to integrate into local leagues.
Manchester Mayor Andrews was also invited to make a brief statement, in which he claimed that Tang Long's arrival brought Manchester another highly promising football talent and was an honor for the Manchester.
Afterwards, Tang Long performed a traditional act for new signings in front of the fans at the stadium – juggling the ball on the spot.
Tang Long wasn't very good at fancy ball juggling, but he had seen many players perform fancy ball juggling during their introductory ceremonies.
So last night in my hotel room, I asked the hotel staff for some oranges and practiced for an hour while watching videos. I mastered a few routines, and just now I went backstage at the stadium and reviewed them with a soccer ball. So now, my fancy ball juggling involves my feet circling around the ball, turning with the outside of my foot, lifting the ball and using my back to cushion the impact and stop it. I'm not saying it's particularly flashy, but at least I didn't let the ball touch the ground.
Begiristain, watching from the side, was also delighted; this kid had pretty good mental fortitude.
Milner, standing on the sidelines, said dismissively to Yaya Toure, "They're all just flashy players. Is this kid here to play street football?"
Yaya Toure chuckled. "I remember when you first joined Manchester City, you juggled the ball so badly you almost flew off balance. You were desperately trying to save the ball, and your last kick hit the female DJ in the face. Her nose bled from the impact, and she immediately squatted on the ground, sobbing. Even the team doctor came over. What, you've already forgotten after only five years?"
Seeing that Yaya Toure didn't respond but instead mocked his embarrassing affair, Milner blushed, chuckled awkwardly, patted Toure's shoulder in a show of magnanimity, and remained silent.
The words have been spoken, the meeting has been held, and the ball has been bounced.
Logically, Tang Long's unveiling ceremony should be coming to an end.
A small number of fans even started to get up and leave the stadium early.
But at that moment, Manchester City's commercial director spoke into the microphone:
"Please wait a moment, the most exciting part is yet to come!"
Hearing the shouts, the fans who had walked to the tunnel entrance stopped and turned back, while those who remained seated pricked up their ears and widened their eyes, curious about what the most exciting program was.
"Now, let's welcome all the new signings who joined this summer to the stage!"
"We will be holding a 20-minute 3V3 match on site!"
"The winning side will receive a special reward, but I will reveal what it is after the match!"
(The author is a bit tired right now, but is still writing. There will be another chapter in the early morning. Thank you to all the readers who have been following along.)