While Gao Han was hosting Armando Marcos and Cantarero in the hotel, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger welcomed his colleagues back from South America at the A.T. Kearney training base in north London.

Arsenal's chief scout Steve Raleigh.

This time, Steve Raleigh traveled to Peru in South America to watch the U20 South American Youth Tournament live.

Ten South American youth national teams participating in the youth tournament are divided into two groups, each group of five teams, a single round-robin battle, after determining the ranking, the top three in each group automatically enter the final group, and then a single round-robin battle, and finally the ranking to determine the winner.

Because of the quota for the World Youth Championships, each national youth team is also doing its best, and will try to recall the players who play in the European League back to China.

For European teams, this is undoubtedly a rare opportunity to get a closer look at South America's young talent, so Steve Raleigh went to Peru to watch the game in person, hoping to get a closer look and see if he can unearth the stars of hope.

Since the team began to build a new stadium, Arsenal has always been building a team with young players, so the Gunners also took Steve Raleigh's trip very seriously, and the chief scout arrived in London last night and rushed to the Kearney training base early this morning to report to work.

"How's that? What's the catch?" Wenger asked with expectant concern as soon as he saw Steve Raleigh.

Pat Rice and other aides were also watching the chief scout, hoping for good news.

"You must have read the specific news, this year's Brazil is too strong. Steve Raleigh exclaimed.

Brazil are the champions of this tournament at the junior level, losing just two of their nine matches, but there is no shortage of classics such as a 4-2 win over Paraguay, a 5-1 win over Chile and a 6-0 win over Uruguay.

"Brazil's Neymar is the number one superstar in this youth tournament, with nine goals in nine games, and he has shown a superior quality in this competition, and if he continues to develop in this direction, this kid will become a big player, and he will definitely be a top star in the future. ”

With the end of this youth tournament, Neymar has once again attracted the attention of the mainstream media and clubs in Europe, and many big teams have begun to pay attention to this Brazilian talent, but his value is also quite amazing, and it can even be said that he has no price.

Almost anyone who has seen Neymar play will have no hesitation in concluding that he will be a strong contender for the Ballon d'Or in the future.

What's more, he has a very good agent, Jorge Mendes.

It is said that Gao Han personally concluded that he was a Ballon d'Or level player, and there have been many giant teams that want to get him over the years, but it is said that he and his family have not yet developed in Europe, and it is estimated that the chips are not enough. Pat Rice laughed.

Gao Han judged with his own eyes that this is undoubtedly a guarantee of quality in the European transfer market.

"The Brazilian economy has been good in recent years, and the club is not as short of money as before, so they are not in a hurry to sell, Neymar's partner in Europe is Mendes, but the specific brokerage affairs are still in charge of his father, and it is said that the ownership is also quite complicated, and it is estimated that it will be difficult to get him. Steve Raleigh shook his head.

This is also the crux of many South American players.

"However, apart from Neymar, I think there is another attacker in Brazil who is very worthy of our attention. ”

"Who?" Wenger asked.

"Lucas Moura, who scored a hat-trick in Brazil's 6-0 win over Uruguay, has great explosiveness, and he has the ability to score with precision, and he is very sharp on the right flank, and I think if he cultivates it properly, there is no limit to what he can achieve in the future. ”

Arsene Wenger nodded slightly, "There are not many players like this type in Brazil, but whether they can adapt to the Europa League, especially the Premier League, will be a very challenging topic. ”

It's not for nothing that the Premier League has been called a nightmare for Brazilian players.

In a country where power is emphasized, the skill of Brazilian players is often greatly curtailed, so over the years, Brazilian players have often been reluctant to play in the Premier League.

In addition to these two players, there are several quite good players in the Brazilian team, such as midfielders Oscar and Casemiro, both of whom are from Sao Paulo, Oscar is the forward midfielder, the core number ten of this Brazilian national youth team, and he has performed well, Casemiro is a strong midfielder, like Lucas Moura, who has been the biggest discovery of Sao Paulo this season. ”

In contrast, Coutinho, who plays for Inter Milan, has been in a slump, but Chinatown's two full-backs have been quite eye-catching, one is Danilo on the right and the other is Alex Sandro on the left, both of whom have been eye-catching in cup competitions and have won recognition. ”

Wenger's brows tightened when he heard the name of Chinatown, "These two are not absolute workhorses in Chinatown, are they?"

"Well, Danilo is Carvajal's rival, the two are very competitive and have performed remarkably, while Alex Sandro is Alba's substitute and has been playing well. Pat Rice replied.

After hearing this, Wenger nodded, "It seems that this Chinatown is really full of talents." ”

"Not only that, but there is another person who deserves our attention, and I even think that if he develops well, he will not necessarily lose to Neymar in the future. ”

"Who?"

"James Rodriguez. ”

"It's him!" everyone was impressed.

James Rodriguez has been Chinatown's most eye-catching midfielder this season, averaging the last three threats per game, making him the best passer in La Liga, ahead of Lionel Messi and Mesut Ozil.

"This player has six goals and five assists in nine games, and he is one of the best players in the youth competition, but due to the fact that Colombia is not as good as Brazil and Argentina as a whole, Colombia finished fourth, but he has impressed us immensely. ”

"Tell me about it. Arsene Wenger also asked with interest.

But any player that Gao Han frates is often not bad, and there is even no shortage of real geniuses.

"He is very comprehensive, proficient in passing, controlling, leading, shooting, balanced left and right feet, no matter height or strength confrontation, he is a very comprehensive attacking midfielder, especially that long-range shot, the skills are amazing, and he can basically adapt to the development of the entire central axis of the shadow forward, forward waist to midfield. ”

The likes of Arsene Wenger and Pat Rice did not expect Steve Rowley to think so highly of James Rodriguez.

"Actually, not only me, as far as I know, almost all European scouts who go to Peru have a very high opinion of James Rodriguez, and even not lose to Neymar at all, it is said that he has basically decided to participate in this summer's Copa America and the World Youth Championships, if he can continue this excellent performance, it is estimated that he will not be able to stay this summer. ”

Chinatown is a small team in the end, although the ability to cultivate players is very good, but once the big team starts poaching, Chinatown is bound to have no chance of winning, and it can't keep people if you want to, which has to be said to be a big sadness for small teams.

Wenger frowned deeply, as if in deep thought, and it was a minute or two before the Frenchman looked back at Steve Raleigh with a shrewdness in his eyes.

"Steve, you reach out to The Independent and tell them that we're keeping a close eye on James Rodriguez. ”

Pat Rice and Steve Raleigh were both visibly surprised, "Why?"

If you want to talk about psychological warfare against Gao Han, it's too late, right?

It's going to be a game tonight, now tell the media, does it work?

"Nasri's contract renewal has gone awry with a bit of a problem. Arsene Wenger sighed.

After hearing this, the two assistants immediately understood what Wenger meant.

Nasri has been one of the team's best performers of late, but because of this, he has attracted the attention of a number of big clubs, including Barcelona and Real Madrid, who have been rumoured to be interested in him, and the Frenchman's morale has also risen.

The 23-year-old Nasri currently has only 18 months left on his contract, and if he does not renew his contract before this summer, Arsenal will become very passive, so the Gunners have increased their bargaining chips from the original £60,000 a week to £100,000 a week, but this obviously does not meet the requirements of Nasri and his agent.

A few years ago, 100,000 pounds was the highest salary, and only the top superstars in the Premier League were eligible to claim it, but now 100,000 pounds can no longer satisfy the top stars, especially after Manchester City introduced superstars such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, the first salary of the Premier League has risen.

Manchester United's Wayne Rooney has had a rough run before, and now it's Arsenal's Nasri's turn.

If at this time, Arsenal are rumored to be concerned about James Rodriguez, it can undoubtedly put some pressure on Nasri, who has similar technical characteristics, to force the other party to submit, which is also a common technique in transfer and renewal negotiations, as for whether it is effective depends on how much leverage each side has.

"I've heard that another Middle Eastern consortium is in contact with European teams, this time supposedly Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1. Steve Raleigh said with a wry smile.

"Your message is outdated, not one, it's two, a Middle Eastern consortium, an Eastern European consortium, targeting Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco, and they are not bad for money. Wenger let out another long sigh.

Pat Rice also said worriedly: "With the current situation in European football, star resources are extremely scarce, and the value of players has skyrocketed. ”

Who's to say it isn't?

Arsene Wenger was silent, but sighed in his heart.

Originally, he thought that Arsenal would soon usher in good days after surviving the difficult period of the new stadium, but he did not expect that the impact of the subprime mortgage crisis caused the real estate project of Highbury Stadium planned by the original management to be blocked, and the team's financial pressure was huge.

finally got through it, but immediately ushered in this round of skyrocketing player value, what else can he say?

With the subprime mortgage crisis in the United States, the European debt crisis, and the world's economy is in a depression, big capital is still entering European professional football to avoid risks, so Manchester United's Glazer family dares to shout an asking price of three billion pounds, if it is in normal times, everyone thinks he is crazy.

But at a time like this, who's to say it's unreasonable?

For a team like Arsenal, what to compete with these big capital groups?

If nothing else, let's just talk about tonight's game, what will the Gunners do to stop the cold Manchester City?

(End of chapter)