Chapter 274: Chapter 274
The defensive line revealed a problem with insufficient height.
Actually, the two starting central defenders, Mangala and Kompany, are fine, one is 188CM and the other 190CM, both have the standard physique of Premier League central defenders.
But both of them are prone to injuries; if it’s not you getting hurt, it’s me. Throughout the season, they each only made just over 20 league appearances.
Pellegrini could only temporarily call upon the 35-year-old veteran Demichelis.
Demichelis’s most suitable position is actually defensive midfield, yet this season in the Premier League, he appeared over 30 times in the center-back position, starting 28 times, making him undoubtedly Manchester City’s main central defender, more than either Kompany or Mangala. It’s simply laughable and lamentable.
However, this Argentinian veteran is only 184CM tall, and his physique is thin, under 80KG, and often suffers in physical confrontations in the Premier League.
Plus, as he ages, he can no longer adapt to the high-level pace of the Premier League.
It’s expected that when his contract ends in 2016, Manchester City will not renew it and will let him go as a free agent.
Pellegrini initially wanted to bring in a tall central defender, and Ranocchia, who is 195CM, was naturally a good choice, and he readily agreed!
During this brief two-minute exchange, Chief Operating Officer Belgistan suddenly thought that Ranocchia is not only an excellent mid-generation Italian national team center-back, but he is also Tang Long’s captain.
If they could quickly bring him to Manchester City, it might greatly help in encouraging Tang Long’s personal willingness to transfer here.
He reported this idea along with a 35 million Euro take-it-or-leave-it offer to Ossilio and received a positive response.
"Haha, your mind works! From what I know, these two have a good relationship. I won’t haggle with you, let’s settle it this way." Ossilio was unusually straightforward this time.
Fearing that delays might cause changes, Belgistan immediately took the club’s provided private jet from Manchester to Milan to finalize the transfer contract.
[11:58], the plane took off.
Ossilio sat in his office eating a pizza delivery, waiting for Belgistan, full of accomplishment.
He thought, aside from the double commission, Italian central defenders playing abroad are very rare, their market price naturally wouldn’t be too high. Manchester United almost capped at 30 million euros, but with just a word from me, I increased the boss’s transfer earnings by 5 million euros. Doesn’t this showcase my negotiation skills as a sporting director?
This is even more satisfying than Icardi’s record-breaking transfer in Serie A, which was nearly three times the price!
In the future, if anyone in the circle of sporting directors in Italy dares to badmouth me behind my back, saying I have no skill, bah!
I, Grandpa Ao, will not hold back and will slap him hard, haha!
[15:02], Belgistan arrived at the Inter Milan Club, Ossilio went downstairs to welcome him, and the two continued to discuss other details of Ranocchia’s transfer.
[16:08], Benevento, a southern city in Italy, at an airport.
Ranocchia, with his wife and child in tow, was processing their check-in, dragging along large bags.
An hour later, he will be flying with his family to Manchester for a medical check-up at Manchester United.
From Serie A to the Premier League, from Inter to Manchester United, there was no sign of excitement on Ranocchia’s face.
He just silently placed the four or five pieces of luggage, one by one, on the conveyor belt for check-in, then held his daughter’s hand while watching his wife talk with the airport staff to print the tickets.
"Daddy, I’m hungry, I want to eat pizza." His four-year-old daughter tugged at Ranocchia’s sleeve and said weakly.
Having gotten married early and become a father at 23, Ranocchia patted his daughter’s head, knelt down, and said, "Ellis, behave, we are about to board. Once we get to Manchester, I’ll buy you some pizza."
"Daddy, I want to play cat’s cradle with Sister Perroti, she plays with me every day before napping at kindergarten."
"...Ellis, when you get to Manchester, you’ll make many new friends who can also play cat’s cradle, with even more patterns than Perroti knows."
If one were to describe Ranocchia’s current feelings with a song, it would be "actually, I don’t want to go, actually, I want to stay"~
This 27-year-old tall, handsome man with long hair was born in a small town in southern Italy.
Like many southern Italians, he maintains very traditional family values.
His parents and in-laws all live in the south of Italy.
The player’s career is busy with games, leaving almost no holidays throughout the season.
But whenever the team gives more than two days off, he will take his wife and child back to his hometown in the south to visit parents and relatives, easing the strong homesickness.
In Milan, his four-year-old daughter lived happily, making many good friends at the local kindergarten, even agreeing to attend the same elementary school together two years later.
He absolutely didn’t want to leave Italy.
Moreover, next year is the 2016 European Cup!
The national team under Conte played with a three center-back formation, fully transplanting Juventus’s three veteran defenders.
After a successful season at Inter, Ranocchia received a call from Conte.
In the call, Conte highly praised the performance of Inter’s captain this season, encouraging him to keep up the good work. If he continues his excellent performance next season, he’ll be able to join the national team as a regular to compete in the European Cup next year.
From this perspective, Ranocchia felt staying and playing at Inter was the best choice.