"What?" Zenit St. Petersburg head coach Advocaat looked at the fax in his hand, "Inter Milan wants to buy Arshavin?"

He looked surprised.

Then, Advocaat shook his head, "Why should we sell the core of the team, we are not short of money." ”

His assistant Cornelius Porter also laughed when he heard this, Advocaat was right, Zenit St. Petersburg was really not bad for money.

In 2005, Gazprom bought Zenit St. Petersburg, which took control of the team, and immediately injected more than $100 million into buying players and building new stadiums.

Despite reaching the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup in the 2005/2006 season, Zenit St. Petersburg opted for a change of manager in the summer, with Dutch coach Dick Advocaat and his assistant Cornelius Potter taking over from Frastimir Petezella.

Although Zenit St. Petersburg only finished fourth in the Russian Premier League last season, and Advocaat's position was unstable for a while, Zenit St. Petersburg has achieved very good results this season and is now the leader of the Russian Premier League.

In the Europa League, Zenit St. Petersburg also qualified from the group stage and reached the round of 32.

"How do you reply to the Italians?" asked Cornelius Porter.

"Reject them!" Advocaat said.

Advocaat is now ambitious to lead Zenit St. Petersburg to usher in an era, and Andre Arshavin is the absolute core and captain of the team, how could he let Arshavin go at this time.

"But if you don't talk to Arshavin. Cornelius Porter asked.

"Needless to say, reject Inter's offer. No, reject all the team's offers for Arshavin!" Advocaat shook his head resolutely, and decided the matter.

***********

"Damn!" Leon cursed, having just received a response from Zenit St. Petersburg, who had rejected Inter Milan's offer to buy their captain Arshavin.

"What's wrong?" Banderas asked.

"Zenit St. Petersburg has rejected us!" Leon said with some annoyance, "Advocaat said that Arshavin is not for sale!"

"Of course." Banderas thought for a moment and said, "Arshavin is the captain of Zenit St. Petersburg, and he is the absolute core of that team, and if I am Advocat, I will refuse to let him go." ”

Li Ang nodded when he heard this, expressing his agreement, the reason for his annoyance before was that he subconsciously thought that Zenit St. Petersburg wanted to sell at a price, but now it seems that it should not be a matter of money, it is that Zenit St. Petersburg really doesn't want to lose their captain at this time.

Li Ang remembered that Zenit St. Petersburg should have been acquired by Gazprom two years ago, this is a super energy predator, the three barrels of oil in the competition are much more powerful, and the top three of the world's top 500 energy companies, with such a boss, it is indeed not bad for money.

Leon paced back and forth in the office restlessly. Is there no way to do it?"

Arshavin's target player is Leang's choice after careful consideration, not only to find a substitute for Mata or Silva, Arshavin's strength is also very strong, fully capable of competing for a main position, when Mata or Arshavin is not in good shape, Arshavin can be on the position at any time, and his technical characteristics are different from the Spanish little guy, can enrich Inter Milan's offensive routine, in addition, Arshavin is twenty-six years old, more mature and stable.

So, although Zenit St. Petersburg rejected Inter Milan's offer to buy Arshavin, Leon was still unwilling to give up.

***********

"What else can be done? Russian teams rarely have players out, they like the snow and ice of their homeland!" Banderas said with a smile, and it can also be seen from his tone that the Spanish assistant coach still does not think much of Russian football.

In fact, there is not much communication between Russian football and the main European leagues.

In fact, there are very few Russian players in the top five leagues, and there are no Russian players among the giants.

Russians are quite far apart from people from other European countries, and there are many differences in living habits, and most Russian players are reluctant to go abroad.

Manchester United have been eye-to-head with CSKA Moscow goalkeeper Akinfeev since last year. Although Akinfeev also wants to enter the Premier League to prove himself, and is eager to join a giant like Manchester United, but communication is a hurdle that Akinfeev cannot overcome in any way, he has said to the media more than once: "I will seriously consider Manchester United's interest in me, but I really hate learning English, if learning English is a must, then I would rather play for CSKA Moscow for the rest of my life." ”

It's not nonsense, you join Manchester United and you don't learn how to communicate in English.

***********

In addition to the factor of living habits, there are also monetary reasons: Russian players rarely come out to play, and they are also used to the domestic league, which made Leon sound later in the Chinese Super League.

With a weekly salary of 20,000 euros, few young players in Europe's top five leagues can get it, but in Russia it is, and it is the starting price of almost all outstanding young players in Russia. Although the best young players defined by the Russians are not visible anywhere in the European giants, the Russians themselves are a treasure. Most of the clubs in Russia are very rich, so the owners of the clubs are naturally willing to invest money in the boys.

Not only is the salary high, but also the tax rate in Russia is low, Russia implements the principle of unification of individual income tax, 13% personal income tax makes the people almost embarrassed to evade taxes, compared to France (more than 150,000 euros 45%) and Ukraine (52.9%), in Russia with a low tax rate, the disposable income of the players is too much, so they have no pursuit, and choose to stay in Russia to play.

"Don't look at Arshavin's willingness to play abroad in the media, but, perhaps, he is just saying that staying in Russia is more comfortable and earning more money. Banderas joked.

"We're Inter Milan, it's the Inter Milan of my Leon! I don't believe that Arshavin will not be moved in the face of my invitation, and Zenit St. Petersburg will definitely not communicate with the players!" Leon suddenly stopped, no longer pacing, he said with a confident face, "Help me contact Arshavin immediately, I need to talk to him and understand what the Russians think!"

In this winter break, Leon does not plan to make any big moves against Inter Milan, and the introduction of Arshavin is one of the most important signings, and he also hopes to get it done as soon as possible so that he can focus on the game.