Four Little Swans of France? You're Not Even as Good as a Duck! Get on Your Knees and Cry in Front of Tang!

"You bastard Toure! So you knew all along, why didn't you tell me!"

Nasri rushed to Toure's house in a great hurry, jumped out of his sputtering car, and yelled at Toure was drinking tea in the yard.

Toure's two young daughters were playing with a golden retriever in the yard;

Seeing a white man with a flushed face suddenly rush in, the two children were so frightened that they quickly hid behind their mother, trembling with fear.

Toure turned around, his face grim, and comforted the two children, telling them to go back to their room with their mother.

"Toure, you dare call yourself my older brother? You can't treat me like this! How dare you hide something so important from me!"

Before Nasri could finish his muttered words, a gust of wind swept across his face, and he was slapped hard by Toure. Stars flashed before his eyes, and he fell to the ground.

Standing before him, the 1.9-meter-tall Toure looked down at him, Nasri felt a mountain-like shadow looming over him.

"You bastard! It's one thing to do shameful things yourself, but that day at Kompany's house, you made me, an old man, lose face in front of everyone! Nasri, you deserve it!"

Toure's long arms lifted Nasri off the ground like an eagle snatching a chick, grabbing him by the collar on both sides and slapping him twice more with his right hand!

"With your cowardly appearance, you dare to call yourself Four Little Swans of France?"

What you did was even dumber than a duck!

"There's such a big, glaringly obvious camera at the intersection, didn't you even look around before doing something bad?"

"And wasn't Bony in your car that day? They sold you out and you don't even know it! Are you stupid?!"

Now that the Sun has exposed the whole story, Toure is no longer going to hide anything from Nasri and is simply explaining the whole situation in detail.

Nasri was terrified and disheartened by the comments made by the Spanish-speaking Faction, English, and Italian-speaking Faction at Kompany's house that day.

Having been beaten black and blue by Toure, he suddenly knelt down in front of his older brother with a thud, grabbed Toure's thick thighs with both hands, and howled in pain.

"Waaaaah, big brother, my dear Toure, please help me! The UEFA European Championship is next year, and if I can't get playing time at Manchester City, then I'm completely doomed!"

Nasri pleaded with Toure, asking for advice in return for their five years working together at Manchester City.

Toure looked down and saw Nasri's tearful appearance, and couldn't help but find it hilarious.

What's wrong? You've fallen to this state, and you're still thinking about next year's UEFA European Championship?

Given your playing time at Manchester City, even without this mess, you probably wouldn't even be able to make the national team bench.

The reason you're crying now is probably because you're thinking about the high salary you get at Manchester City. Once you leave here, where will you find a salary of Pound Sterling 3 million a year?

Toure sneered and kicked Nasri's hand away without any mercy.

"The one who tied the knot must untie it. Begging me won't help. While you still have time, go kneel down in front of Tang and cry!"

"Who knows, maybe they'll take pity on you and spare your dog's life?"

At this point, Toure paused, then helped Nasri, who was trembling with fear, to his feet. He wiped away the tears from Nasri's eyes with his large, rough black hands, and then straightened the collar of his shirt, which was stained with blood from his nose.

"I'll also put in a good word for you with the management. After all, you've been with me for five years; you've certainly put in a lot of hard work, haven't you?"

Nasri was waiting to hear those words!

He expressed his gratitude to Toure once again.

Watching Nasri's disheveled, hunched figure as he left, Toure was secretly puzzled.

There were twelve people present at Kompany's house that night.

Captain Kompany, Agüero and Silva from the Spanish-speaking Faction, Joe Hart and Sterling from the English-speaking Faction, Fernando from the Portuguese-speaking Faction, Tang Long, Kolarov, Ranocchia from the Italian-speaking Faction, and Bony and Sagna from the French-speaking Faction, in addition to themselves.

Who leaked the contents of this secret meeting?

What was the purpose of this leaker, or rather, this mole?

Toure sat back down in his chair, drinking tea, and fell into deep thought.

The sky over Britain was overcast, like a thick, airtight blanket, effectively shutting out the sunlight from the peninsula.

Even during the day, the office of Manchester City CEO Begiristain is still brightly lit.

"I'm sorry, dear Mr. Pellegrini, we didn't mean to hide it from you, but this matter is indeed of great importance, and it happens right before the UEFA Champions League group stage match against Juventus. For the sake of the team's stability and unity, please understand my decision."

Pellegrini sat on the sofa, arms crossed, face downcast and silent.

Meanwhile, Manchester City's commercial director, Berrada, sitting next to him, wore a gloating expression.

Decisive action is crucial; indecisiveness leads to chaos. This is a principle that every manager must understand.

Berrada thought to himself, "You, Begiristain, were the first Manchester City executives to know about the Nasri spying incident. It's one thing if you didn't tell me immediately, but when you called me into your office to discuss it, I told you we had to terminate Nasri's contract immediately. And you? You hesitated, greedy for that little transfer fee. Things dragged on for a few days, and sure enough, things got complicated. Now, the Sun has turned the tables on you. Let's see how you get out of this, haha!"

Pellegrini is in a terrible mood right now.

He wasn't upset because of what happened to the team.

What upset him was the team's management's concealment of the truth from him!

That said, whether it was Nasri secretly sending Tang Long's candid photos to the Sun, or the subsequent petition from several locker room leaders demanding Nasri's contract termination, shouldn't the first person to know about such things be head coach Pellegrini?

Why do people like Agüero, Kompany, and Joe Hart report directly to your CEO, bypassing me?

This is one of the things Pellegrini cannot let go of;

Secondly, after you, Begiristain, found out, why did you keep it from me? Why didn't you call me in to discuss it immediately? Are you trying to sideline me as the head coach?

Pellegrini felt his authority within the team was waning and became a mere spectator in the matter.

The old coach's pride was severely trampled on, and he remained silent in a huff, staring at Begiristain with a gloomy face.

Finally, he uttered a curt sentence and turned to leave.

"I'm not involved in how you handle this matter. As for Nasri, I don't care. From today onwards, I won't use him. That's it."

Begiristain closed his eyes, rubbed his temples, and let out a long sigh.

He wasn't worried about Pellegrini; after all, the old man was the backup plan Guardiola had brought in after he decided not to come to Manchester City.

Guardiola's contract with Bayern will expire at the end of this season.

As early as the beginning of the season, Begiristain had in-depth discussions with Guardiola about his future coaching career.

The two have reached a private agreement that Guardiola will officially replace Pellegrini as the new manager of Blue Moon at the end of this season!

Last week, the two revisited this point on the phone and had a very pleasant conversation;

They even previewed what targets could be tracked during next summer's transfer window.

What worries Begiristain is whether the Britain media will all follow up and further fuel this hot topic!

Manchester City is owned by a Middle Eastern Abu Dhabi United Group, which is a sensitive topic in conservative UK.

A tree that stands out in the forest will surely be felled by the wind.

Many people are waiting for Manchester City to fail; they'd love to see them fail!

The ongoing media attacks will severely impact the Abu Dhabi United Group's business environment in the Britain, which runs counter to the City Football Group's original intention to expand its global business influence.

Begiristain was also terrified at this moment; even the sound of his phone ringing made his heart skip a beat.

Who knows when the boss might call, and how he'll respond...

Begiristain was somewhat indecisive; he felt he hadn't been decisive enough in handling this matter.

"Berrada, if only I had listened to you sooner! Nasri, that traitorous bastard, if I had known it would turn out like this, he shouldn't have come to Manchester City five years ago!"

Seeing her boss taking the initiative to curry favor with her, the shrewd professional Berrada went along with it and did him a favor.

He smiled and said, "Mr. Begiristain, this isn't entirely your fault. If the higher-ups come looking for you and ask about your attitude in this matter, I know how to respond appropriately to those Middle Easterners."

Begiristain's face lit up with joy, and he leaned forward slightly.

"That would be perfect. You're the business director; you're the best at dealing with those difficult Middle Easterners."

Berrada nodded slightly, then changed the subject—

"Nasri cannot be allowed to stay for a moment longer. His actions of secretly colluding with unscrupulous UK media to slander Tang, the player with the highest transfer record in Manchester City's history, and bringing shame to the club's reputation, deserve a severe lesson from me, one that he will never forget!"

Just as Manchester City CEO Begiristain predicted, the Sun's news was like a bombshell, instantly causing a stir in UK football. Other major media outlets quickly followed up and began reporting on this shocking event!

The Times, known for its serious and in-depth reporting style, dispatched experienced sports reporters to conduct an in-depth investigation.

They contacted not only anonymous sources within Manchester City Football Club.

In their report, they detailed the potential impact of the Nasri incident on the Manchester City dressing room atmosphere, quoting a former Manchester City player who wished to remain anonymous:

"Harmony in the locker room is crucial to the team's performance. Once this balance is broken, it's like throwing a boulder into a calm lake—the consequences are unimaginable!"

Meanwhile, a senior journalist from the Times also analyzed the potential impact of Manchester City's internal crisis on subsequent matches, covering everything from tactical arrangements to player mentality, presenting readers with a picture of Manchester City in turmoil.

"Manchester City, fresh off two consecutive wins, suffer another heavy blow! This proves that a group of mercenaries brought together by the lure of money have no concept of unity; they'll do anything for their own selfish gain!"

The right-wing, conservative traditional media outlet, the Daily Telegraph, usually remains completely silent when Manchester City wins;

As soon as Manchester City has negative news, they jump out and add fuel to the fire, as if they want Manchester City to be in chaos!

The Daily Telegraph, known for its multi-faceted reporting style, examined Nasri's past behavior and interpersonal relationships.

They dug up some controversial moments of Nasri after he joined Manchester City, including details of minor frictions with his teammates, in an attempt to piece together the image of a "problem player".

At the same time, they also questioned the Manchester City management's indecisiveness in handling the incident, believing that it could lead to further escalation of the problem.

"Middle Eastern oil tycoons brought a truckload of checks, but they couldn't bring modern management systems or excellent managers. This incident shows just how backward Manchester City's dressing room management is, a far cry from their city rivals Manchester United!"

"As for Tang, it's not hard to see from the Sun's report that one of the players who participated in that secret meeting pointed out that although the meeting was held at Kompany's house, Tang was very likely the real mastermind behind it!"

"He led the entire team in openly demanding that the club terminate the contract of a player who was already under contract!"

"What an arrogant move! Does he think Manchester City is his own team, that he can manipulate this club founded in 1880 all by himself?"

"Nasri's actions were indeed unsportsmanlike, but this China man also displayed the barbaric nature of an uncivilized Easterner. A player like this doesn't deserve to grow into a true star!"

The BBC Sport featured the incident prominently in its prime-time sports news coverage that day.

They invited several football commentators to participate in a live discussion, where each commentator shared their opinions.

Manchester United legend Neville believes this is a microcosm of the factional infighting within Manchester City!

"Factionalism exists in any team, but it's clearly a more serious problem at Manchester City!"

"I even think they're not a football team, but a Mafia gang from southern Italy. Premier League champions? I find it hard to imagine that such a team could emerge victorious from the competition with Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Arsenal!"

"I, Neville, am putting this out there: after this incident, Manchester City will collapse after Christmas!"

BBC Sport also launched a poll on its website asking fans whether they thought Nasri should leave Manchester City immediately, sparking a heated debate among fans!

Many fans left messages online expressing their views on the incident. Some fans used strong language, demanding that Nasri be severely punished, while others called for calm and emphasized that the team's decisions should not be swayed by public opinion before there is conclusive evidence.

Amidst a storm of public opinion, Manchester City kicked off their Premier League Matchday 15 game at home against Hull City...

(Just one chapter today. My two-year-old daughter has had a fever for two days and it won't go down. I'm so anxious and can't write.)