The former Red Rebels lined up with Crouch and Valeri Bojinov up front, Olić on the left, Hleb on the right, and Juninho Paulista alongside Poulsen in central midfield. Abidal started at left-back, Distin and Hangeland formed the centre-back partnership, Bosingwa played on the right, and David Green was in goal. The bench included Kitson, Krzynówek, Senna, Malouda, Wright-Phillips, and several other familiar faces from the club's past.
As the players emerged one after another to thunderous applause, many of the football executives and managers in attendance were struck by the same thought: if New Manchester United's former players were assembled into a permanent side, they could probably compete very comfortably in the Premier League.
Poulsen and Hangeland had both strengthened their reputations considerably with their performances at Euro 2004. Bojinov had emerged as one of the brightest young forwards in Serie A, Crouch had forced his way into the England picture, while Olić, Hleb, Juninho, Abidal, Distin, Bosingwa, Senna, and Malouda were all important players for strong clubs across Europe.
Even the less celebrated names had built respectable careers. David Green, for example, was now an important squad goalkeeper at Droylsden. Older players such as Jonathan Metten and Stephen Smith, who were still playing farther down the English pyramid, had also been contacted and invited back for the occasion.
Steve Bruce stood beside the pitch and absorbed the noise around him. Years had passed since he had managed the Red Rebels, yet the supporters seemed every bit as passionate as they had been in the club's earliest days.
That had not happened by accident.
Ethan had spent years protecting the bond between the club and its supporters, and nights like this showed the result.
For the current side, Mourinho selected the familiar 4-2-3-1. Čech started in goal behind Evra, Terry, Curtis, and Kolo Touré. Beckham and Essien formed the midfield base, Kaká played ahead of them, Cristiano Ronaldo and Palacio started on the wings, and Drogba led the line.
During the warm-up, the atmosphere was almost impossibly relaxed. Curtis, Evra, and several others had shared dressing rooms with many of the players opposite them, so the two teams spent as much time talking and laughing as stretching.
Once the referee started the match, everyone understood what kind of evening it was going to be.
Nobody had come to kick lumps out of old friends.
Even Poulsen, whose aggressive reputation had been reinforced by his battles with Totti during the European Championship, looked almost absurdly polite. Early in the match he leaned into Kaká, knocked him off balance, then immediately helped him back to his feet and embraced him, earning a loud cheer from the crowd.
There were very few serious tackles. Instead, players attempted the sort of things they would rarely risk in a competitive match.
Palacio dribbled whenever an opportunity appeared. Cristiano Ronaldo seemed determined to turn every possession into a show and eventually scored after weaving through several defenders before finishing in spectacular fashion.
The former players responded in kind.
Juninho and Hleb might no longer train together every day, but the understanding they had developed at Newton Heath had not disappeared. Juninho spun away from pressure and clipped a delicate ball over the defensive line. Hleb controlled it on his chest and volleyed home before it touched the ground.
The goal drew another huge roar.
From there, the match became an open attacking exhibition. Even Curtis, normally one of the more disciplined players on the pitch, decided to carry the ball forward and try a couple of ambitious dribbles of his own.
With so many players waiting on both benches, substitutions began before the first half had even finished. Nobody was expected to play the full match. One group came off, another entered, and the process continued throughout the evening so that everyone who had returned for the occasion could spend some time on the pitch.
Eventually, the younger generation began appearing.
Michael Johnson, Messi, Ishmael, and several other academy graduates had grown up inside New Manchester United's technical development system. Unlike many English youngsters of their generation, they had been taught from an early age to be comfortable receiving the ball under pressure, combining in tight spaces, and solving problems through technique rather than simply physical superiority.
Once they came on, that difference was immediately visible.
The passing became quicker and more intricate. Messi produced a dazzling run past several former players, Ishmael scored with an acrobatic overhead kick, and Michael Johnson, seeing the goalkeeper slightly off his line, attempted an outrageous shot from close to halfway that flew into the net and immediately brought comparisons with Beckham's famous goal.
The former Red Rebels refused to be completely overshadowed. Some of them had additional motivation beyond entertaining the supporters. With so many Premier League managers and executives watching from the stands, a strong performance could easily create opportunities before the transfer window closed.
It did not take long for one player to attract serious attention.
"What do you think of Hangeland?" Wenger asked Ethan.
Arsenal's defensive options had been troubling him for some time, and he had spent much of the evening watching the centre-backs. Distin was already an established Premier League defender, but Hangeland was younger and, in Wenger's eyes, potentially more interesting.
"Premier League quality already," Ethan replied without hesitation. "And he's only twenty-three. Give him the right environment and he could become much better."
Ethan and Wenger had developed a considerably better relationship over the previous year. Much of that improvement had come through their work on youth-development proposals. Wenger had strongly supported several of Ethan's ideas and contributed suggestions of his own, and repeated cooperation had gradually softened what had once been a much colder relationship.
Ethan had always respected Wenger's football anyway. Rivalry between clubs did not require personal hostility between the people running them.
If Hangeland ended up at Arsenal, Ethan would not lose sleep over strengthening a rival. Strong clubs were always going to improve somehow. If Arsenal failed to sign Hangeland, they would simply buy another defender.
The only sensible response was to keep improving New Manchester United.
More importantly, seeing a former Red Rebel move to Arsenal would reinforce the reputation of the club's development system. Florentino Pérez, Berlusconi, and several other guests were already looking at the former-player side with obvious admiration. So many footballers who had passed through Newton Heath had gone on to become important players elsewhere.
That reputation could eventually become self-sustaining.
Talented youngsters would want to join because they could see a genuine pathway.
Developed players would move on when circumstances demanded it.
New prospects would replace them.
Football had always worked that way. No successful club could realistically preserve the same squad for a decade. Players aged, ambitions changed, tactical demands evolved, and new generations emerged.
Ethan's principle was therefore straightforward.
No player was inherently irreplaceable.
But some players were not for sale.
There was a difference.
If someone remained loyal to the club, fitted the sporting project, and still had the ability and hunger to contribute at the highest level, Ethan had no interest in selling simply because a large offer arrived. Players such as Kaká, Messi, Curtis, Terry, and Essien belonged in that category. Whatever another club offered, New Manchester United did not need the money badly enough to sacrifice the foundation of the team.
Wenger continued studying Hangeland. Arsenal were already considering William Gallas, while Chelsea were pursuing Ashley Cole, and negotiations around both players were becoming increasingly complicated.
If Wenger could secure Hangeland instead, he might abandon the Gallas option altogether.
...
The exhibition finally ended 8-6.
The score barely mattered.
New Manchester United had enjoyed the better of the match, particularly once the academy players began appearing. Messi, Michael Johnson, and Ishmael were among the outstanding performers, while several of the former players were still some way short of peak condition because their own pre-season programmes had only just begun.
When the final whistle went, more than fifty thousand supporters began filing out of the stands.
That was when the entertainment district entered its busiest period of the day.
Almost every shop had prepared post-match events to attract customers, while the surrounding commercial development coordinated with the city had officially opened as well. Restaurants filled, bars came alive, music started on several outdoor stages, and the entire area around the stadium turned into a late-night festival.
Ethan, meanwhile, stayed inside to guide the invited guests around the stadium.
The ground used one of the most advanced integrated management systems in European football. Ethan had commissioned Google's engineers to help develop the digital infrastructure, which linked stadium broadcasting, internal communications, executive-box services, security monitoring, and several supporter-facing systems.
Each private box contained an interactive media terminal that worked almost like an on-demand entertainment system. Guests could call up classic matches, individual goals, tactical clips, historical footage, player profiles, and club documentaries whenever they wanted.
Parking management was integrated into the same wider system. Because congestion after major matches had been one of the club's biggest concerns during the design phase, enormous attention had gone into guiding vehicles through different exits and staggering traffic flows.
Florentino Pérez was particularly interested.
Real Madrid were already considering substantial redevelopment work at the Santiago Bernabéu, and Florentino spent much of the tour asking Ethan about the stadium's technology, commercial layout, traffic planning, and hospitality infrastructure.
Ethan answered freely. None of those things were genuine competitive secrets, and sooner or later other clubs would learn from the ideas anyway.
The opening night itself provided the best demonstration of how well the planning worked. More than fifty thousand supporters had left the stadium in a relatively short period without serious crowding, while the underground car park continued emptying in controlled phases rather than locking itself into a traffic jam.
UEFA representatives attending the ceremony were equally impressed. They described the new Red Rebels stadium as one of the most modern five-star venues in Europe and confirmed that New Manchester United's application to host a future Champions League final would receive serious consideration.
The 2005 and 2006 finals had already been awarded to Istanbul's Atatürk Olympic Stadium and the Stade de France in Paris, so the earliest realistic opening would be the 2006-07 season.
Several other cities had submitted bids, including Athens. UEFA's Executive Committee was not expected to make a final decision until March 2005, and every candidate venue would be evaluated carefully before then.
Ethan regarded hosting a Champions League final as an important opportunity for the club and the city. The stadium had been designed from the beginning with major international events in mind, so there were no concerns about the basic facilities. The issue now was satisfying UEFA's wider assessment of transport, security, hospitality, media operations, and organisational capability.
The entire club was cooperating with the bid.
When the tour reached the club museum and exhibition hall, several guests slowed down noticeably.
The trophies were impressive, but they had not been made the sole focus of the room.
Instead, many of the most prominent displays contained footballs.
Balls from crucial promotions. Balls from famous wins. Balls from cup finals. Balls associated with individual goals, milestones, and moments that had mattered during the club's rise.
The trophies almost seemed to sit around them rather than dominate them.
The effect was deliberate.
New Manchester United did not yet possess the century of history enjoyed by Real Madrid, Milan, or Manchester United. Pretending otherwise would have looked ridiculous. Instead, the museum treated six intense years as something worth preserving in detail.
Florentino and Berlusconi both praised the presentation. They also told Ethan that, in terms of infrastructure, they saw no reason the stadium could not stage a Champions League final. UEFA's representatives repeated that they would relay their impressions to the Executive Committee.
After completing the stadium tour, Ethan accompanied the guests through the entertainment district. Each received a specially prepared commemorative gift, and many stayed for hours enjoying the shops, restaurants, music, and post-match events before eventually returning to their hotels late that night.
Berlusconi and Galliani did not leave with them.
They remained behind.
Once most of the guests had departed, the two Milan executives met Ethan, Mourinho, Davey, and Gardner in one of the stadium's private conference rooms.
Palacio's representative attended as well.
The subject needed no introduction.
Rodrigo Palacio.
Ethan wanted him to stay.
Mourinho wanted him to stay.
Both had already spoken to the player privately, and the conversations had remained respectful throughout.
Palacio had asked whether his status within the side could increase after his extraordinary Copa América. Mourinho had told him it could. A player performing at that level would naturally receive more responsibility.
What Mourinho would not promise was that New Manchester United would redesign its entire attacking system around one man.
The collective structure came first.
Palacio understood the answer, even if he was disappointed by it.
Milan were offering something New Manchester United would not: the chance to become the focal point of one of Europe's historic giants, with a tactical role built specifically around his strengths.
That was enormously difficult for a twenty-two-year-old player to ignore.
Palacio had nevertheless behaved properly throughout the situation.
He made it clear to Ethan and Mourinho that he remained deeply grateful to New Manchester United for everything the club had done for him. He also promised that he would not cooperate with Milan in an attempt to force down the transfer fee and had signed no private agreement with them, despite the rumours circulating in Italy.
He simply wanted Ethan to consider the offer.
And Ethan understood why.
Milan could give Palacio the central role he wanted immediately. New Manchester United could give him trophies, elite teammates, and regular football, but not the guarantee that everything would revolve around him.
That was why Ethan had told Berlusconi that no negotiations would take place before the stadium opening.
He had wanted the celebration completed before making a decision that could overshadow it.
Now the opening ceremony was over.
The guests had gone.
The stadium was quiet again.
And there was no longer any reason to postpone the conversation.
It was time to decide Rodrigo Palacio's future.
(To be continued.)