The Greatest Manager of All time

Hotels lined Swansea's coastline, and now that the tourist season had arrived, every room had long since been booked solid.

The Freycinet Resort Hotel sat right by the sea, and from its ocean-view rooms, guests could take in the blue water and silver sand at a single glance.

UEFA investigator Andy Porter had been staying here for the past week. After waking up that morning, he stood before the floor-to-ceiling window and admired the magnificent view of the sea while enjoying his breakfast in complete comfort.

Dressed in casual clothes, he picked up his luggage at ten in the morning and went downstairs to check out. Just as he was handling the paperwork at the front desk, he heard the patter of rain outside. Turning his head, he saw that it had started raining in the courtyard.

And the rain was getting heavier by the second.

Andy Porter's phone rang. He gave the warm and friendly hotel owner a smile, stepped aside, and answered the call.

"Mo Yuan? Yes, I'm leaving today. Don't worry, there won't be any problems with the matter. No, no, I've already looked around Swansea properly. This was a trip worth remembering for the rest of my life. If I have the chance, I'll definitely come back to Swansea again. You're also welcome to visit Switzerland someday. Mm, all right. Goodbye."

Andy Porter hung up with a smile.

The hospitable hotel owner smiled at this guest who had always left people with a pleasant impression and said, "It seems you've made some very good friends in Swansea."

Andy Porter smiled back. "Yes, they're all wonderful people. Of course, compared to your warmth, they're still lacking a little."

"Hehe, please stay with us again next time."

"I definitely will. I'll recommend my friends to come here on vacation too. Swansea is practically paradise."

"Have a safe trip."

Andy Porter picked up his luggage. The hotel owner gave him an umbrella and even had someone drive him to the station in the city center.

Sitting in the car, Andy Porter looked at the tree branches swaying in the wind outside the window and the rain falling like a waterfall. He remembered how bright and sunny Swansea had been when he first arrived a few months ago.

A satisfied smile hung on his face. No matter what, he had enjoyed himself enough. It was time to go back and hand in his report.

There were only two days left before the summer transfer window opened!

The negotiations between Swansea and Aston Villa had already made substantial progress.

Mo Yuan had also nearly convinced Thomas Hitzlsperger to join Swansea. All that remained was the issue of Hitzlsperger's salary package.

Lynn arrived at the club in the morning and called Paul Harrison and Krista White into his office.

Once the two of them arrived, Lynn got straight to the point.

"I want to cancel Ibrahimović's transfer. No matter what, he can leave, but he cannot go to Manchester City!"

Seeing the grave expression on Lynn's face, Harrison and White exchanged a glance.

They asked Lynn what had caused this sudden change.

It was obvious that Lynn could no longer sell Ibrahimović to Manchester City. The problem was not Manchester City itself, but the fact that SFX Agency had its shadow in this deal.

They had already clashed half a year ago. Now, if Swansea sold a player and allowed SFX Agency to profit from the deal, Lynn would feel even more disgusted.

In truth, he already felt terrible enough. Losing Ibrahimović had already put him in a foul mood.

Krista White stood beside the window. Her mature, slender figure was straight and composed, giving her an especially capable presence.

"If our premise remains that we are selling Ibrahimović, then there are only two choices. Either we tell Manchester City directly that SFX Agency cannot be involved in the deal, and if they violate that condition, they must pay a penalty fee. Or we recommend Ibrahimović to another club.

"In any case, now that things have reached this point, we no longer have any reason to keep Ibrahimović. Forcing him to stay now would bring negative consequences far beyond imagination."

Lynn agreed with Krista White's view.

Harrison said, "Laying our cards on the table with Manchester City isn't realistic. If SFX Agency approached Manchester City first, then Manchester City kicking SFX Agency out now would damage their credibility and image. In the future, if another agency or representative company works with Manchester City, they might end up setting City up badly. Manchester City won't take that risk.

"To put it simply, we can only recommend Ibrahimović to another club."

Expressionless, Lynn said, "Then we'll suffer a huge loss, because we'll go from being approached for a transfer to actively trying to offload a player! Other clubs absolutely won't offer more than Manchester City. They might not even offer £4 million."

Krista White turned to look at Lynn, and what she said shocked him.

"I've changed my mind. Destroy him! Keep him by force, then send him down to the reserves. By the time his contract expires, he'll have faded into obscurity. Swansea's current level still doesn't attract too much attention. If he disappears for a few days, no one will remember him. Let him complain if he wants. Whether it's the FA or UEFA, neither of them will make a big fuss over a nobody like him."

Lynn had once thought about ruining Ibrahimović too, but that thought had only flashed through his mind for a brief instant.

Because, at the end of the day, his love for football made him unable to bear it.

He could not bear to watch such a rebellious, gifted player fall from grace like that.

That kind of "reluctance" had long since surpassed any gain or loss of money.

Lynn shook his head slightly and said, "We could indeed do that, but it would be too cruel. And the negative impact—"

Krista White cut in, "Don't care about the negative impact. How did you treat him? And how did he treat you? If you give in this time, SFX Agency will keep recommending your players to other clubs. Your players will also see the club's weak side.

"How will you face the fans? Do you want yourself and the fans to suffer, or do you want the ungrateful one to suffer?"

"No! That's too extreme! Krista, I don't agree with your suggestion this time!"

Paul Harrison firmly objected.

Inside Lynn's office, his advisory team split into opposing views and began a long, endless argument.

"Sell him! Go ahead and sell Ibrahimović, then see how many people laugh in secret and how many sigh in disappointment!"

Krista White looked at Paul Harrison with a mocking smile, showing no mercy as she said, "At such a critical moment, it's unbelievable that you're acting even more sentimental than a woman! What we're building is Swansea the conqueror, Lynn the invader! You want everyone to be happy? Sorry, then you might as well quit this game early, because things like this will happen again and again!"

"We would be using cruel methods on one of our own! That's wrong from the very starting point!"

Paul Harrison kept shaking his head.

"One of our own? Would one of our own leave without hesitation? Would one of our own only consider his personal interests? Fine, we won't demand selflessness from him. But we signed a contract with him! What is a contract for? It exists to protect your rights when everyone becomes selfish!

"Swansea should tell the whole world: a player I don't want to sell, I would rather destroy than give to you!"

"That only hurts both sides! No one benefits! What's the point of doing that?"

When Mo Yuan suddenly pushed open the door to Lynn's office, he saw Lynn with both feet propped on the desk, smoking, while Krista White and Paul Harrison argued fiercely with each other.

The office suddenly fell silent.

Lynn lowered his feet. When he saw the flash of panic on Mo Yuan's face, his instincts immediately told him something had happened!

Sure enough, Mo Yuan ignored both White and Harrison and walked straight to Lynn's desk, saying nervously, "We've been played! UEFA's investigation into Cristiano Ronaldo's transfer to Swansea has produced a result today!

"Four hours after Andy Porter left, they announced the verdict! We've been banned from signing players for one transfer window!"

Lynn shot to his feet, furious as he roared, "How is that possible? That bastard stayed in Swansea for so long! Everything looked normal, just like what we agreed before. Now there's suddenly a change like this?"

Mo Yuan gritted his teeth and said, "We were caught completely off guard. From the very beginning, the initiative was never in our hands. UEFA announced the result just now. In other words, in the upcoming transfer window, we can't sign anyone. Thomas Hitzlsperger's transfer is finished!

"Lynn, we don't even have time to appeal, because in two days, the transfer ban takes effect!"

Krista White and Paul Harrison temporarily set aside their argument.

Lynn pressed one hand against his forehead and closed his eyes.

Rage. Endless rage made his clenched fists want to smash everything apart.

At that moment, Harrison said calmly, "Boss, we now have a reason to reject Manchester City and cancel the transfer."

Swansea had been banned from signing players. Their current squad could be described as just enough. Originally, if Ibrahimović left, Lynn had planned to spend the next month searching for a talented forward to replace him.

Now that Swansea could not sign anyone this summer, keeping Ibrahimović became perfectly reasonable.

Krista White said coldly, "This is UEFA's trap. They must have already planned how to set us up. Not early, not late, they chose today to announce the verdict, leaving us no time to appeal. We've taken this loss completely unprepared."

Lynn walked to the window. With both hands on his hips, his gaze was icy as he stared at the pouring rain outside.

Every raindrop felt like a shard of ice stabbing into his heart!

Leaving aside how UEFA president Johansson had once called black people "negroes" in his own country and openly revealed his racist position, which was also why he had completely lost African votes during his campaign for the FIFA presidency and brought defeat upon himself...

At the very least, that had also branded UEFA with the mark of racial discrimination!

Did that have anything to do with Lynn?

Of course it did!

Far too many naive people believed racial discrimination was only a war between white people and black people.

But in reality?

It was rooted in the basic position of white people looking down on every other race and skin color.

Even worse, black people had long suffered discrimination from white people, and many had also transferred that resentment from being discriminated against onto other races!

Arabs, Muslims, Asians—would they receive the same treatment and respect as white people in Europe and America?

Of course not!

When the young Lynn had walked through the streets of South London a few years ago and some black street thugs mocked him by saying, "Mustafa, did you forget to bring your bomb when you went shopping?" he had realized that, in this society, he suffered double discrimination from both white people and black people!

Leaving those factors aside...

UEFA governed 200,000 European clubs, 750,000 football teams, and more than 20 million people involved in football!

Within such a massive institution, political forces naturally existed.

What did Swansea have?

Nothing!

What did Sporting CP have?

How many Portuguese people were there inside UEFA?

And what kind of relationship did they have with a famous Portuguese club like Sporting CP?

To some extent, there would always be a force whispering in the ears of the people above when a dispute arose between Sporting CP and Swansea, making Swansea the unlucky party and giving Sporting CP "justice."

Wasn't this how the dirty dealings of the bureaucratic class worked? One filthy case piled on top of another until they formed mountains, all hidden in the dark corners of the world.

And UEFA itself did not like clubs like Swansea!

What were UEFA and FIFA's governing principles?

One fitting description would be: communism!

The expansion of the Champions League, the expansion of the European Championship, the expansion of the World Cup, and the distribution of prize money—all of it came from their desire to give more protection and benefits to weaker, poorer countries, leagues, and clubs.

Otherwise, why would European giants establish the G14?

Why would rumors of "rebellion" rise every year?

Swansea had bought players from all across Europe, using standards several times higher than clubs at the same level to build their squad. In UEFA's eyes, that was deviant!

They preferred clubs to build themselves through their own blood-making ability, meaning their youth systems and self-sustaining development.

Otherwise, rich clubs would drain the blood from weaker clubs, creating an ever-widening gap between the wealthy and the poor!

That was why UEFA and FIFA were extremely opposed to money-driven football!

With all these factors combined, it seemed UEFA had no reason not to punish Swansea.

The Swans absolutely could not be allowed to casually throw £1 million at Sporting CP and walk away with one of their excellent youth prospects!

They had to be punished!

Lynn placed one hand against the glass window, the other holding a cigarette. After finishing it, he said coldly, "Mo Yuan, hold a press conference. We won't appeal, but we must let the world hear our voice.

"UEFA had better not piss me off. Otherwise, even if I have to spend money, I'll dig out every filthy transaction hiding inside UEFA. When the sky gets smashed open, let's see who inside UEFA can patch the hole!"

Mo Yuan nodded coldly and said in a deep voice, "Andy Porter?"

"He's just a small character. Let him pass the message to his master. Tell them: Swansea only wants to play this game properly. If they won't follow the rules, then we'll play until someone gets knocked out!"

"Good. I'll handle it now!"

Mo Yuan was just about to leave when Lynn called him back. Mo Yuan turned to look at him, and Lynn said in a deep voice, "Cancel Ibrahimović's transfer. Notify him to return to the team on time for training. Tell him about the club being punished with a transfer ban.

"Now the club's overall interests have been threatened. I can't only care about his personal interests. If he can't understand what matters more, then he still has to roll back here.

"Next season, he is still a Swansea player. The road is his own. How he walks it is his choice."

Mo Yuan said, "All right. I'll do it immediately."

After Mo Yuan left, Krista White asked beside him, "What about Thomas Hitzlsperger's transfer?"

Lynn shook his head and said, "We can only give it up. All of you leave. I want to be alone for a while."

After Harrison and White walked out of the office, Lynn took out his phone and called Will Taylor, asking Toulouse to sign Thomas Hitzlsperger.

No matter what, this deal was still very worthwhile right now. At least it would strengthen Toulouse, Swansea's "talent base," with another useful resource.

On the phone, Will Taylor complained a few times that Lynn still had not put any money in and that all the cash for buying Toulouse and signing players had come from him. Lynn angrily scolded Will Taylor, telling him not to "forget who the boss is," and Will Taylor immediately behaved.

After hanging up, Lynn stood straight before the window.

He looked out at the torrential rain.

Midsummer had just arrived, but inside him, everything was covered in ice and snow.