On Monday, July 22, 2002, most of the football reporters in the UK flocked to Manchester and Old Trafford.

On this day, the two new players that Manchester United spent a lot of money to sign this summer will both appear at Old Trafford.

Unlike Yin Jun's transfer, which was officially announced a week ago, the transfer with Ferdinand was not so smooth.

Originally, before Manchester United CEO Kenyon flew to China to discuss Yin Jun's transfer, the team and Leeds United had basically reached an agreement on Ferdinand's transfer.

However, as soon as Kenyon left, the transfer changed, because another strong competitor entered the scene: Arsenal, the new Premier League champion!

In the World Cup, Ferdinand's excellent performance made several giants of the Premier League clubs red-eyed. Just when Manchester United and Leeds basically negotiated transfer-related matters, last season's double champion Arsenal in England began to play.

The role of "third party intervention" announced the decision to compete with Manchester United for Ferdinand.

Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger's wishful thinking is to buy Ferdinand and play alongside his national team teammates, Arsenal's main defenders Campbell and Ashley Cole, to form an "English national team-level defense line"

", the combat effectiveness of this defense line has received widespread praise in the just-concluded World Cup in South Korea and Japan.

Manchester United and Arsenal competed for Ferdinand. Leeds United did not hesitate to increase the transfer fee of the English central defender to a sky-high price of 35 million pounds, which was almost twice the price when the White Rose signed Ferdinand two years ago!

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This price shocked both Manchester United and Arsenal. You must know that the transfer fee negotiated between Manchester United and Leeds United was only 28 million pounds, which was a full 10 million pounds more than when Leeds United signed Ferdinand two years ago. This is

It's already considered a sky-high price among defenders.

Neither Manchester United nor Arsenal would accept Leeds United's offer. They felt that Leeds United were crazy and poor.

On July 20, Leeds issued an ultimatum to Manchester United and Arsenal, requiring the two teams to agree to Leeds' transfer fee request before noon on July 21, otherwise Ferdinand's transfer would fail.

Also on July 20, Ferguson and Wenger had a phone call. No one knew what the two talked about, but the result was obvious: Arsenal directly withdrew from the competition for Ferdinand!

After Arsenal withdrew, Leeds United's plan to give Manchester United and Arsenal a serious blow failed. Ferdinand's transfer to Manchester United was soon settled. Judging from the final result, Leeds United and Manchester United failed.

Both clubs made compromises. Manchester United raised the original price of 28 million pounds to 30 million pounds, exceeding the 28 million pounds paid to buy the famous Argentinian star Veron; while Leeds United accepted an increase of 30 million pounds.

In addition, Manchester United also promised to pay Ferdinand a weekly salary of 70,000 pounds. This is one of the highest salaries in Manchester United besides Beckham.

In the current salary structure of Manchester United, top star Beckham is considered to be the only one in the league. With a weekly salary of 100,000 pounds, even if he is in the Premier League, he is the only one in the league.

Following closely behind are captain Keane, Ferdinand and a few others, with a weekly salary of 50,000 to 70,000 pounds, which is considered to be in the second tier.

After that are Giggs, Scholes, the Neville brothers, Butters, Blanco and others. These people all have a weekly salary of 20,000 to 40,000 pounds, which is the third echelon. People in this echelon

They are also the largest, accounting for about half of the team.

Next are people like Yin Jun whose weekly salary is between 10,000 and 20,000 pounds, which can be regarded as the fourth echelon of the team.

The last ones are O'Shea, Fletcher and other newcomers promoted from Manchester United's youth training. Their weekly salary is basically less than 15,000 pounds, and they can be regarded as the "low-level people" in the Manchester United team.

There are also a lot of people in this echelon, including Wes Brown, Danny Webber, O'Shea, Fletcher and six or seven others.

Wes Brown was the earliest among these people to make his debut. He played for the Manchester United first team as early as the 1997-1998 season, but he has never been able to secure his main position, which has prevented his salary from rising.

This is also consistent with Manchester United's overall salary situation. According to British media reports, Manchester United's average salary level in the new season will reach 25,000 pounds, which is the highest among the 20 Premier League teams.

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At ten o'clock in the morning, Ferguson brought Ferdinand and Yin Jun to Manchester United's press conference. Ferdinand was wearing jersey No. 6, while Yin Jun was wearing jersey No. 28.

As the true master of Manchester United, he is a well-deserved protagonist wherever Ferguson is present. Sixty to seventy percent of reporters' questions were directed at Ferguson.

Ferguson naturally dealt with such a situation with ease and ease.

There are many reporters asking Ferdinand questions. This young defender who just represented the British team in the World Cup in Korea and Japan and performed very well is currently one of the most popular stars in the UK.

What's more, now he has set a record as the most expensive defender in the world. The transfer fee of 30 million pounds is absolutely sky-high. Even if we look at the transfers in world football, this number is enough to rank in the top five, and only all of them are in the top five.

There are only a few players such as Dardenne, Figo, and Crespo whose transfer fees are higher than Ferdinand.

Compared with Ferguson and Ferdinand, Yin Jun is basically a little transparent. Even though he just had an amazing performance in the World Cup, on the one hand, because he is not British, on the other hand, he is too young. Apart from arriving at home,

Two or three media outlets in Manchester asked Yin Jun questions, but the arrogant British people, whether intentionally or unintentionally, chose to ignore Yin Jun.

Yin Jun was happy and relaxed about this. What bothered him the most was dealing with reporters. During the past month or so in China, he was almost made nervous by reporters.

At the end of the day, perhaps the local reporters in Manchester felt a little sorry that no one asked Yin Jun questions. A reporter from Manchester United's official TV station asked Yin Jun two questions, asking him what it was like to join Manchester United and what he thought about the future.

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Yin Jun's answer was satisfactory. He said that it is his dream to join Manchester United because he has been a Manchester United fan since he was a child. Now being able to play for Manchester United with his idol stars is simply the best thing in the world.

As for his thoughts on the future, he hopes to continue winning victories and championships for the team under the leadership of Sir Alex Ferguson.

Later, Ferdinand and Yin Jun went to Old Trafford Stadium with Ferguson for a group photo.
Chapter completed!