Some people say that a football match is a battle. Ethan believed football itself was a campaign, a vast struggle made up of countless battles.
The transfer market had never lacked headline-grabbing deals, especially in recent years.
In 1998, Real Betis signed Denílson. In 1999, Inter Milan signed Vieri. That summer, Real Madrid were openly pursuing Figo, while Lazio were trying to lure Crespo away from Parma.
Ethan knew that both transfers would succeed, and both would involve astronomical fees.
In 2001, Zidane would move from Juventus to Real Madrid, Buffon from Parma to Juventus, and Mendieta from Valencia to Lazio.
In 2002, Ronaldo would leave Inter Milan for Real Madrid, while Ferdinand would move from Leeds United to Manchester United.
Some of these spectacular, high-profile transfers proved successful. Figo, Zidane, Buffon, and Ferdinand all performed as expected and helped their new clubs justify the investment.
Others, such as Mendieta and Denílson, became costly failures.
If football was a war, then the extravagant spending of major clubs in the transfer market was not merely intended to strengthen themselves. It was also a way to weaken their rivals and widen the gap between them.
Of course, every club's situation was different.
Real Madrid spent heavily on superstars because Florentino Pérez wanted to use their appeal to improve results while generating enough commercial revenue to erase the club's enormous debt.
Lazio, meanwhile, hoped that major transfers would attract attention, improve performances, and increase the club's value on the stock market.
After several years of driving up the value of star players, Real Madrid, supported by the unique advantages of their membership system and Florentino's commercial ability, achieved exactly what they wanted and became the world's most glamorous Galácticos.
Lazio, however, were dragged into financial difficulty by the enormous transfer fees.
What happened beyond those two clubs?
The value of star players was pushed to an entirely new level.
Some might argue that the market determined value, and that superstars were worth such fees because clubs were willing to pay them.
There was nothing inherently wrong with that argument.
However, behind those deals lay an ever-widening financial divide. The best players continued flowing toward the richest clubs, increasing the gap in quality even further.
This was becoming an irreversible trend in European football at the beginning of the new century. No single person or club could change it.
Ethan was not some masked crusader who intended to correct the entire football world.
He only wanted to ensure that New Manchester United suffered as little as possible from the trend.
...
While the outside world speculated over whether Figo would join Real Madrid, whether Beckham would leave Manchester United, and whether Lorenzo Sanz would survive the Real Madrid presidential election, New Manchester United quietly signed Shaun Wright-Phillips from their bitter rivals, Manchester City.
Unable to secure regular playing time at City, Wright-Phillips hoped New Manchester United would give him the opportunity to prove himself.
His transfer immediately triggered further changes.
Manchester City raised their offer and successfully signed Aston Villa center-back Ugo Ehiogu, a player highly admired by manager Joe Royle.
In Ethan's previous life, both Manchester City and Middlesbrough had pursued Ehiogu that summer, but no transfer had taken place.
A year later, Manchester City were relegated, while Middlesbrough signed the defender for £8 million.
Now, because of Ethan's intervention, Manchester City had brought Ehiogu in early.
Whether that would alter their fate remained uncertain, but their chances of avoiding relegation had undoubtedly improved.
After Wright-Phillips joined, Mourinho was satisfied with the first-team squad of twenty-four players.
Because Žigić had been transferred, New Manchester United no longer needed to use the special talent exemption they had originally planned for him. The application was instead submitted for Essien.
Having completed the process once before, the club handled it much more smoothly this time.
Olić obtained German nationality through his wife, allowing him to represent New Manchester United in League Two.
Palacio also successfully secured Spanish nationality.
With that, New Manchester United's first-team squad was finally complete.
Although the club had tried to retain the core of the team that won promotion, player turnover remained high. Almost half of the first-team squad had changed.
Kevin Evans, Stephen Smith, Jonathan Matten, Danny Collins, Roy Williams, Richie Wellens, Krzynówek, and Žigić had all departed.
Krzynówek and Žigić had both been undisputed first-team regulars the previous season.
In their place, New Manchester United signed Bosingwa, John Terry, Franck Ribéry, Rodrigo Palacio, Alou Diarra, Florent Malouda, Shaun Wright-Phillips, and Brede Hangeland.
De Rossi was also promoted from the academy after performing extremely well following his move into midfield.
The number of arrivals and departures was almost identical, and every signing had been made with a specific position in mind.
However, because Darren Lyons and Karl Marginson had both retired and joined the coaching staff, the first-team squad had fallen from twenty-five players the previous season to twenty-four.
Even so, Ethan believed the new squad was stronger and possessed far greater long-term potential.
Of those who had left, only Krzynówek and Žigić had remained unquestioned starters by the end of the previous campaign.
Kevin Evans had been Steinsson's deputy.
Lyons and Marginson had begun the season as regulars, but repeated injuries prevented them from maintaining their form. During the second half of the campaign, they were gradually replaced by Hleb and Essien.
To compensate for Krzynówek's departure, Ethan brought in Ribéry, Malouda, and Wright-Phillips.
Losing Žigić was a significant blow, but the transfer had brought John Terry to the club, while Palacio had also arrived to strengthen the attack.
Combined with Kitson's continued development, New Manchester United's forward line might not be as powerful as it had been the previous season, but it still compared favourably with those of their League Two rivals.
Under those circumstances, Ethan and Mourinho agreed to end the club's transfer activity.
Preseason was approaching, and both men wanted the squad to train and develop its understanding in a stable environment.
Closing the transfer market would also allow the players to focus entirely on the coming season without being distracted by rumours.
New Manchester United's excellent performances in the National League had attracted attention from League Two, League One, and Championship clubs.
Several expressed interest in the team's players. Young attacking talents such as Essien, Hleb, and Olić received particular attention, but New Manchester United rejected every offer.
Interestingly, aside from Schmeichel, the most famous player at the club, Juninho, received no enquiries.
That was not because the Brazilian had performed poorly.
It was because of his wages.
Juninho earned £4,000 per week, a salary beyond the reach of many clubs. Following New Manchester United's promotion to League Two, his contract stipulated an increase to £4,500 per week.
It was not the highest wage in the division, but few teams could comfortably afford it.
Moreover, a player's contract included more than a basic salary. Appearance bonuses, assist bonuses, goal bonuses, and other payments could add considerably to the total cost.
Any club hoping to tempt Juninho away would have to offer even more.
That was why no one approached him.
Ethan was relieved.
Juninho had performed exceptionally well during the second half of the previous season. His free kicks had helped the team enormously and added another dimension to their attack.
His orchestration in midfield had also been one of the main reasons for New Manchester United's success.
Of the key players forming the spine of the team, only Žigić had left. The basic structure remained intact and had even been strengthened in several areas.
For that reason, Ethan believed the coming season still offered plenty of reasons for optimism.
It was under these circumstances that New Manchester United welcomed their players back from holiday.
...
It was a gloomy morning.
For anyone accustomed to Manchester, there was nothing unusual about the weather. For the newcomers, however, it was far from pleasant.
Mourinho's expression was as dark as the sky above.
He stood rigidly on the training pitch, dressed in a grey tracksuit that matched his stern mood.
His assistants stood on either side of him, including Darren Lyons and Karl Marginson, both of whom had been part of the squad the previous season.
Schmeichel was also among them after returning from holiday several days early.
There had been rumours that Manchester United wanted him to return and help guard the Red Devils' goal again, but Schmeichel rejected the idea without hesitation.
Given his current circumstances, he believed remaining at New Manchester United offered far better prospects.
The players began entering the training ground one after another.
Bruce had also been strict about discipline the previous season, but the first day back after the summer break was usually more relaxed. Most managers treated it as an unspoken exception.
Mourinho clearly did not.
The first player to arrive on the pitch was Gareth Turner.
At twenty-seven, he had been with the club for two years and understood that his ability was becoming less suited to New Manchester United's rising standards. He therefore felt he needed to contribute through his attitude and influence away from matches.
Juninho arrived shortly after him, followed by Olić and Kitson.
All four reported before the scheduled starting time.
After that, however, the possibility of late arrivals grew considerably.
Mourinho sent no one to look for the missing players.
He simply stood there in silence, with his assistants lined up beside him as though inspecting a military parade.
Juninho and the others immediately sensed that something was wrong.
They quietly formed a line in front of the coaching staff and did not dare speak loudly, exchanging only uncertain glances.
Was the man standing in the centre, who looked even younger than Schmeichel, really their new manager?
(To be continued.)