Coaching legend

"40,000 pounds?" George narrowed his eyes and looked at Kennedy in front of him.

The person in front of George was Sean Kennedy, Duff's agent. There are many big-name agents in the English football world, but Sean Kennedy in front of him is not one of them. He can only be regarded as a small agent. Among the agents, he is not even ranked.

Even the rising star Allen, his current strength is far greater than Kennedy.

But this kid is lucky, he caught Duff when he was young. Duff has performed extremely well since he played in Blackburn. Especially after George took over Blackburn, Duff's performance was even better.

Now Duff, who is only 20 years old, has become a winger in the entire Premier League. And Duff plays football differently from other winger, and he has scored a lot of goals. So his fame is rising.

As Duff is now very popular, Kennedy is getting tougher and tougher.

He came to George to discuss Duff's new contract, and the opening was a weekly salary of 40,000 pounds.

For Duff, George had long thought about giving him a new contract. Because Duff has signed three contracts with Blackburn so far. The first time was when he was sixteen years old, and the contract at that time was only a contract with a weekly salary of 100 pounds.

Two years ago, when Duff entered the first team, Duff signed the second contract. At that time, Duff's weekly salary was 800 pounds, and with Duff's outstanding performance in the Premier League in his first season, George immediately signed another new contract with Duff after he took over.

That was last summer, when George was relatively generous. For Duff, who had only one season of Premier League experience, George gave him a weekly salary of 7,000 pounds and a four-year contract.

However, Duff soared last season and scored more than ten goals in the league. Duff's value suddenly increased. George originally thought that he would sign a new contract with Duff after the end of this season.

But he didn't expect that Duff's agent would find him only one-third of the season.

But he opened his mouth for 40,000 pounds, which almost made George slam the table. However, as a head coach for so many years, he has also participated in many negotiations. Although it is impossible to completely hide one's emotions, it is possible to do it in a similar way.

George knew that Kennedy was asking for too much, and it was a loss for him to say 40,000 pounds. Not to mention a small club like Blackburn, even Arsenal currently does not have a player with a weekly salary of 40,000 pounds. Pires, the main player in Arsenal's later unbeaten season, only had a weekly salary of 40,000 pounds at Arsenal at that time.

Even in the entire world of football, those who can currently earn more than 40,000 pounds a week are all world-class stars.

"Mr. Kennedy, I hope you can give a more realistic number. 40,000 pounds, don't forget that Damien is only 20 years old. He only performed well last season, and you don't even think about 40,000 pounds."

Although George answered with a smile, his tone was hard. 40,000 pounds, what do you think I am? What do you think we are Blackburn?

"Coach Levy, Blackburn cannot provide 40,000 pounds. But other clubs can provide 40,000 pounds." Sean Kennedy also spoke with a smile, but it was completely tit-for-tat.

George then took a closer look at Sean Kennedy. This guy is quite funny. This is not the Premier League after Abramovich took over. A young player like Duff can get a weekly salary of 40,000 pounds as long as he is strong and performs amazingly.

Now England has players with a weekly salary of 40,000 pounds, and you can count them on five fingers. And the only team that can offer a weekly salary of 40,000 pounds in the Premier League is Manchester United.

"Mr. Kennedy, as long as you can find a club willing to pay 20 million pounds for Damien, I will not stop you." George sneered at this time. "Damien, there are more than two and a half years of contract. If Mr. Kennedy is really not sincere, then let's continue to talk after two and a half years."

George drove him away directly.

Sean Kennedy was stunned. He proposed 40,000 pounds to make a sky-high offer and pay it back. But he didn't expect George to be like a stone, unmoved, and so hard.

When he talked to George last summer, George was very kind. He gave Duff a salary increase and attached great importance to Duff.

Duff is valued by George, even more than Pires on the other side. This can be seen from the number of times Duff has played. Kennedy thought that with George's attention to Duff, even if he offered an outrageous price, he would be willing to pay a good price.

But now it seems not to be the case. At this time, Kennedy thought of George, who is not like others. George is a famous personality coach in the Premier League. He fell out with his old club for the team's authority. And he also took over Blackburn. How can such a head coach be threatened.

"Okay, Coach Levy. I'll come back in a few days." Although George was embarrassed, Sean Kennedy was still very experienced. He still smiled and greeted George before leaving George's office.

Seeing Kennedy leave, George closed his eyes and shook his head. Then he thought for a while and left his office and went up to the top floor.

"George, you're here. You're such a rare visitor. We are so close, but I always come to see you. You seldom come to my place." John Williams, who was reading a newspaper there, stood up and greeted George with a smile when he saw him come in.

Jack Walker rarely appears in the club, and Williams is in charge of club affairs. George and Williams also cooperate well.

"John, I don't come here for no reason. I'm in trouble." George sat in front of Williams very casually, shrugged and smiled.

"What else can embarrass our coach Levy? Tell me, what is it." Williams was a little confused. Blackburn has achieved great results recently. Except for Saniol who was seriously injured, the others were minor injuries.

There is no shortcoming in the team lineup. George should not be buying players at this time.

Not this, what else is giving George a headache.

"Damien's agent came to me. He wants to sign a new contract." George said this, and Williams already understood.

This is something everyone has thought about for a long time. Once the results are good, the salaries of these players should be increased. After George cleaned up a lot of the original Blackburn players, the current salary is lower than two years ago. However, if Duff's salary increases, there will be a chain reaction.

Duff's current weekly salary of 7,000 pounds is not the lowest in Blackburn. Among the main lineup, Cudicini has the lowest salary, only 140,000 pounds.

Now Blackburn has a great performance. Once Duff renews his contract, his weekly salary will definitely exceed 10,000 pounds. What will happen to players like Pires, Micoud, and Deco? They must also modify their contracts. At that time, Blackburn's overall salary may be doubled.

George cannot decide this matter alone, so he should talk to Williams.

Williams nodded. An increase in salary means an increase in expenditure. And it is not an ordinary increase.

"George, have you roughly calculated how much will be increased if the contract is re-signed this time."

George thought for a while. "I haven't calculated it specifically, but the weekly salary should be more than 60,000 pounds more than the current total." As Duff signed a new contract, the contracts of Pires, Micoud, Klose, Deco, Makelele, Hyypia, and Cudicini must be re-signed.

This is a systematic project. All these people's contracts are signed with new contracts. Then the salary increase is not a little bit.

"Sign, sign. It will be signed sooner or later anyway, and signing now is also good for the team's morale. In this way, George, you don't have to worry about this matter. Just give me a list of players who must renew their contracts, as well as a rough salary level. I will start negotiating with them."

George, a head coach, certainly can't handle such a large-scale renewal. And George doesn't have so much time to manage such a renewal.

"Okay, I'll sort it out for you soon."

Seeing Williams take over, George breathed a sigh of relief. Now this is just a little bit. If Blackburn's performance gets better and better in the future. Then their salary requirements will also be higher and higher.

…………

Williams is definitely not a nagging person. After George gave Williams his rough estimate, he immediately started negotiating with those players. Blackburn immediately entered the climax of signing new contracts.

This time, the signing of the new contract involves many players. Almost all the main players are included, only Ferdinand who just arrived is not included.

This big move even shocked many media newspapers in England. After all, such large-scale signings are either made by teams that have just been promoted or relegated. Therefore, Blackburn's move this time still attracted a lot of media attention.

The headline of The Sun reads "Blackburn is showing its ambition!"

"After finishing fourth in the Premier League last season, many Blackburn players have attracted attention from the English football world. Many teams are thinking about how to poach Blackburn players. However, this contract renewal has completely cut off their idea of ​​poaching."

"Most of Blackburn's players are very young. Blackburn's large-scale signing of new contracts this time also shows their determination to retain the main players and want to achieve some results."

However, this large-scale signing of new contracts did not greatly encourage Blackburn players. On the contrary, when facing Milton away, the offense was weak. In the end, Milton tied 0-0.

Then Blackburn went to Moscow, the second game of the second round of the League Cup, 1-1 away. The total score was 5-1 to eliminate Moscow Lokomotiv and entered the 32nd round of the League Cup.