"There aren't many players who can catch your eye, Jim!" Ethan said with a laugh.
Jim Cassell held great authority in the academy. The young players both respected and feared him. His eye for talent was sharp and demanding. Sometimes, Ethan felt that Cassell's years at Manchester United had made his standards extremely high.
"A central midfielder. He reminds me of Roy Keane!" Cassell said seriously.
Ethan, who had originally intended to joke around, immediately became serious when he heard that.
"Tell me about him!"
He kept the second half of the thought to himself. He wanted to see whether he recognized the name.
"Marcos Senna. He is excellent in both attack and defence, has superb stamina, covers a lot of ground, defends fiercely, and has a decent long shot. Watching him in training matches reminded me of when Roy Keane first arrived at the club," Cassell said, clearly recalling the past.
As soon as Ethan heard the name, he immediately searched his memory.
He felt the name was vaguely familiar, but could not quite place it. However, he was certain the player was famous, so he tried hard to remember. Finally, it came to him.
Wasn't he the player who later took Spanish citizenship, became Villarreal's starting defensive midfielder, and played a key role in Spain winning Euro 2008?
Was this guy really unable to get playing time at Corinthians right now?
Thinking of this, Ethan immediately remembered another serious problem.
"But Jim, he can't play for us. He won't be able to get a work permit!"
To his surprise, Cassell laughed as soon as he heard that.
"I've checked. It's impossible for him to get a work permit right now, but his wife can apply for Spanish citizenship. Naturally, he would then be able to obtain Spanish citizenship as well. Magalhães told me he can help us solve this problem."
Ethan immediately slapped his forehead.
"Jim, please. I don't want to get into trouble like Arsenal and Lazio. We are a small club. If this gets out, I believe the FA would be more than happy to use us as an example to warn everyone else."
He clearly thought Cassell was talking about applying for fake passports. Recently, Lazio's Verón and Arsenal's Edu had both run into trouble over that issue.
Cassell shook his head repeatedly.
"Ethan, we will handle everything through proper legal channels. How could there be any trouble?"
Ethan looked at Cassell suspiciously, but the latter nodded solemnly to reassure him.
Only then did Ethan agree to sign Senna, although he decided to let him get used to regular matches at São Paulo first, since he had not played official matches for two years.
"We found Thiago Silva in Fluminense's academy, but you were wrong this time. He isn't a center-back!" Cassell seemed rather pleased to see Ethan make a mistake and looked at him with a grin.
"Wrong again?" Ethan felt that was impossible.
This was the future starting center-back of AC Milan, the powerful defender once hailed as the new Maldini. How could he be wrong?
"Yes. Unless there is another person also named Thiago Silva, there is only one Thiago Silva in Fluminense's academy, and he plays as a right winger. But his performances have been terrible. Fluminense are even planning to release him early."
Could he really be wrong?
Ethan did not think so, so he immediately asked Cassell to provide detailed information on this Thiago Silva. However, all the information they obtained suggested that this was a completely different person from the new Maldini in Ethan's memories.
Was it really a mistake?
"Jim, if Fluminense don't want to keep him, ask him whether he's willing to come and play at São Paulo. If he is, we'll give him a chance," Ethan said after thinking it over.
Better to sign the wrong player than miss out completely. That was classic Ethan.
"Also, that player you mentioned named Pepe..."
"He is currently playing for Alagoano Corinthians, a third-division club. His father is a coach there. However, judging from his tone, he seems more interested in developing in Portugal. Porto's current midfield core, Deco, came from that club and has a good relationship with Pepe. It is said that he is helping him move to Portugal."
Ethan felt somewhat helpless.
He could not force someone against his will. Besides, New Manchester United currently lacked the conditions to attract such talent.
"Forget it. Just have the scouting department keep a close eye on him!" Ethan said with a helpless smile.
Although he could not sign Pepe, Ethan was still satisfied with having found so many players.
Besides, the team currently had center-backs such as Terry, Curtis Davies, Hangeland, Abidal, Distin, and Steinsson. They were all promising players with great potential. Even if Pepe came, he might not necessarily be able to break through.
In that case, it was better to let him go and develop freely.
In addition to the stars mentioned above, Ethan also had Cassell look into Santos' Diego and Robinho.
However, those two geniuses had already attracted plenty of attention. They were known as the Santos Twins and carried great expectations, especially Robinho, who had already earned the nickname Little Pelé.
Under those circumstances, New Manchester United could not buy them at all.
...
After finalizing several candidates, Cassell immediately had people begin the process.
Soon, those players arrived at São Paulo one after another. After signing contracts with New Manchester United, they were loaned to São Paulo FC.
Of course, all of this was done quietly.
A few days later, in a match between bitter rivals São Paulo and Corinthians, a short-handed São Paulo started the newly arrived Senna as their defensive midfielder and also put Kaká on the bench.
Kaká came on in the sixtieth minute of the second half to replace Fabiano, linking up with his good friend Baptista.
The score at the time was 0-1, with Corinthians having scored just before the end of the first half.
After coming off the bench, Kaká played as a second striker and showed excellent form.
Especially after recovering from his injury, with the help of New Manchester United's laboratory, his body had been well conditioned. Not only had he recovered his form, but his physique had become stronger and his speed had improved, while his technique had not been affected at all.
In the sixty-sixth minute, Kaká drove into the opposition half alone.
Facing the defenders, he suddenly surged forward through the middle. After drawing the defenders toward him, he played a through ball to Baptista, who levelled the score for São Paulo with a powerful long-range strike.
In the seventy-ninth minute, Kaká produced another solo moment.
He pierced the Corinthians goal with a long-range shot from outside the box, helping São Paulo complete the comeback.
After that, Kaká's performance became even more outstanding. He had several chances to score himself or assist his teammates, but unfortunately, none of them were converted.
The derby ended 2-1, but there was no doubt that Kaká was the brightest star of the match.
Senna, who had been entrusted with an important role immediately after joining the team, was equally impressive.
Over the full ninety minutes, his performance won everyone over.
He played excellently in the defensive midfield role, especially with his distribution and passing, which were clear and organized. He kept São Paulo's midfield in perfect order.
Corinthians found it difficult to build attacks through the area he protected, and the goal São Paulo conceded had little to do with him. Without him anchoring the midfield, São Paulo would certainly have faced a grim outcome in this match.
Senna also looked highly motivated throughout the game.
Clearly, he wanted to use this performance to tell Corinthians that failing to value him was their loss.
"I have a feeling, Jim, that Corinthians are going to kick themselves over this!" Ethan said with a laugh.
Cassell was just as happy.
This was a player he had personally recommended, so seeing him perform so well naturally reflected well on him too.
"But it's already too late. We've picked up a defensive cornerstone for free, boss!"
Ethan nodded repeatedly.
He knew Senna had waited a long time for this opportunity. Now that he had a stage to perform on, he would surely get better and better.
Perhaps next season, New Manchester United should bring him to England.
At present, New Manchester United had five midfielders.
De Rossi and Essien were still young, and their form fluctuated. Juninho Pernambucano leaned more toward attack. Alou Diarra was good in both attack and defence but lacked stability. Poulsen leaned more toward defending and often picked up cards, leading to frequent suspensions.
At a time like this, having Senna would certainly make the team much stronger.
The only problem was his second nationality as a Spaniard, but Magalhães had also said he had a way to handle that.
...
After watching the match between São Paulo and Corinthians, Ethan left Cassell and Malin in São Paulo.
After saying goodbye to Kaká and the others, he headed directly to Accra, the capital of Ghana.
This time, Ethan only informed Melo in advance.
Melo had been in frequent contact with Ethan during this period, and Ethan trusted him greatly. Earlier, he had asked Melo to help find three players: Kolo Touré, Yaya Touré, and John Obi Mikel.
Melo did not disappoint him.
The Touré brothers had previously trained at the football school of former French professional player Jean-Marc Guillou in Abidjan, the capital of Ivory Coast. Later, they joined ASEC Mimosas, the renowned talent factory of Ivorian football.
Kolo Touré had even been selected for Ivory Coast's squad for their match against Niger that summer.
Ethan spent £250,000 to buy out the Touré brothers, then loaned them to Liberty Professionals to play in the league.
As for John Obi Mikel, Ethan intended to take him directly to England so he could receive training and guidance in the club's academy.
Ethan had been in Ghana for less than two days, and he had only just settled the matters involving the Touré brothers and Mikel with Melo. He had not even had time to visit Liberty Professionals when very bad news came from Manchester.
Ethan, who had always been good at poaching future stars from other teams, now had to face the danger of his own players being poached by other clubs.
And they were planning to take two at once.
That made Ethan board a flight that very same day, rushing back to Manchester in exhaustion.
(To be continued.)