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Latest website: Whether it is fans or the media, the title most reported on Gao Shen is the manager of Manchester City.

If it were more humorous, it would be said that he was the head of the mercenary army.

But in fact, Gao Shen has another very important, but lesser-known title, Manchester City technical director.

It's not actually an official appointment, because Manchester City don't have a technical director right now.

But inside the team, everyone knows that Gao Shen is the technical director. The club goes up and down, inside and out, and you have to ask him about anything related to football. allow.

Even to a certain extent, Gao Shen's power in Manchester City is higher than that of Manchester United's Ferguson and Arsenal's Wenger.

As a picky virgin man, Gao Shen is not only demanding of others, but even more demanding of himself.

Either don't hold this position, and do it well when you do.

When Gao Shen took office at Manchester City, he sent a fax to Mansour in Abu Dhabi and Mubarak in Manchester. In addition to clearly listing his plans to restructure and transform Manchester City, it also involved To a youth training reform, he named it Spark Project.

The name comes from the words of the great leader: A single spark can start a prairie fire.

The youth training reform not only involves personnel changes, but also the formation and expansion of the scouting network, and more importantly, the selection of materials.

Since 2008, after the Abu Dhabi consortium acquired Manchester City, it has continuously increased its efforts to cultivate youth training, but Gao Shen believes that this is not enough, because Manchester City is still doing poorly in many aspects.

In the plan, he told Mansour and Mubarak that the strong rise of Manchester City will definitely trigger a strong rebound from the traditional strong teams in the Premier League and even European traditional strong teams, and may even prompt UEFA to issue relevant rules to limit it.

Obviously, blindly relying on the backers to burn money is by no means a long-term solution.

Gao Shen believes that on the one hand, Manchester City should rapidly improve the strength of the first team, but on the other hand, it should also strengthen its emphasis on youth training, recruit talents from all over the world, enrich Manchester City's youth training camp, and provide the first team with an endless supply of follow-up talents. .

Both Mansour and Mubarak took lofty advice and put him in full charge of the Spark program.

A few months later, as Platini pushed through the Financial Fair Play policy, both Mansour and Mubarak were grateful for their previous support for Gao Shen.

Yesterday, Mansour even called Gao Shen himself to ask about his coping strategy.

The answer given by Gao Shen is: build high walls, store grain widely, and quickly become king.

This is actually what Gao Shen has been doing since he took office.

Needless to say, building a high wall, Manchester City has spared no effort in investing in the club's infrastructure, and has even begun to prepare for the acquisition of land near the Etihad Stadium to build a new training base and youth academy.

At the same time, the commercial marketing team headed by Ha Jin is expanding in an all-round way, actively developing overseas markets, and striving to increase Manchester City's commercial income as soon as possible.

These are the solid foundations for Manchester City to lay a solid foundation for the giants.

The most important thing in the accumulation of grain is the supply of youth training talents.

This is also the reason why Gao Shen came to the Pratt Youth Academy today.

…

Gao Shen has always believed that in the world of professional football, there is nothing that cannot be solved by a check.

If so, then two!

After he took office as the head coach of Manchester City, in addition to the introduction of talents in the first team, the youth team was also not idle.

Raheem Sterling from Queens Park Rangers academy in London, John Stones from Barnsley academy in Yorkshire, Watford academy Poaching Jadon Sancho, poaching Alexander-Arnold from Liverpool's academy, bringing in Jack Grealish from Aston Villa's academy...

Manchester City waved their cheques and scoured England for promising young players.

The older one is fourteen or fifteen years old, and the younger one is only ten years old.

If it were another team, such poaching would inevitably lead to strong backlash and protests from the opposing club, but Manchester City did not, because they usually use money to solve problems.

Not only that, but Gao Shen has also greatly changed the criteria for Manchester City's youth training selection. From the previous emphasis on physicality to the current emphasis on technology and creativity, Gao Shen's reform is also reflected in the selection of personnel.

…

"How's the Marcus Rashford transfer going?"

After walking around in the youth training academy, the three of Gao Shen, accompanied by Cox and others, came to the conference room. As soon as they sat down, Gao Shen asked about the progress.

Marcus Rashford, eleven, plays for Fletcher Moss Rovers.

He and his family live in Wessington, south of the Pratt Academy, very close to the Academy. A single-parent family with five children, the family background can be imagined.

The teenager performed well in the youth academy of Fletcher Moss Rovers. Because of the cooperation between the clubs, he also played for the youth teams of Manchester City and Manchester United respectively. He wanted to join Manchester City before, but his body was too thin and was rejected. Manchester City declined.

After Gao Shen took office, when he heard about this, he really could only smile bitterly.

The famous Master La in the future was rejected because of his body. I wonder if Manchester City will cry in the future?

But no matter what happened in his previous life, since he met him anyway, there was no reason for Gao Shen to let him go.

Because he always believes in one sentence: dig the corner of the opponent, so that no one can dig the opponent.

"He wants to sign a youth contract, and the club can provide them with a house and a job for his mother, which we are currently considering," Cox said.

Gao Shen had learned about Rashford's family situation before, and felt that this request was reasonable, but it might not be accepted by the club, because young players are too risky, and now they invest so much and take risks.

But no one knows Rashford's potential better than Gao Shen.

"Promise him!" Gao Shen made a decisive decision.

Cox and others were very surprised, so you agreed?

In this sentence, Manchester City will at least invest nearly seven figures in Rashford in the next few years.

"Yes, promise him." Gao Shen saw everyone's doubts and repeated.

After thinking about it, Cox nodded and said, "Okay, I'll call right away."

"If Rashford is in Wessington, he can be invited to Pratt Lane, and I can meet him." Gao Shen continued.

This surprised everyone present.

Gao Shen wants to meet in person?

Could it be that he is really so optimistic about this Rashford?

"Okay, I'll make arrangements right away."

Having said that, Cox got up and left the conference room, obviously to make a phone call, and came back soon after, telling Gao Shen that Rashford and his mother would arrive at Pratt Lane, which is the Manchester City Youth League, in an hour. The location of the training academy.

"Then hurry up, next one." Gao Shen turned to the next page of the material, "Did Adrien Rabiot get in touch?"

"It's been contacted." Cox quickly replied.

Adrien Rabiot, fourteen years old, doesn't have a team yet.

The young French player was picked up by Manchester City scouts in the summer of 2008 and brought to Manchester, where the two sides signed a six-year contract and the whole family moved to Manchester.

At the time, Rabiot was one of Manchester City's ambitious recruits for the world's best talent.

But it is a pity that they fell out with Manchester City only half a year after they came to Manchester.

Gao Shen, Cox, Brian Kidd and others were not personal experiencers. After learning about the actual situation, they found that the problem was quite complicated.

On the one hand, Rabiot's family chose to terminate the contract because his father was paralyzed at home due to a stroke, while his mother accused the club of cheating, failing to pay for Rabiot's English tuition, rent, utilities, etc.

However, according to Manchester City scout Gary Payton, Manchester City did not do enough in this regard, but that is because they signed a pre-professional contract with the club. In theory, before his seventeenth birthday, he is not considered Manchester City. player.

And Rabiot's mother chose to leave Manchester, not because of football, but life.

Gao Shen understood what Gary Payton meant.

Judging from the various Manchester City "crimes" listed by Rabiot's mother, it boils down to one word, money.

The father is paralyzed in bed with a stroke, and the mother is alone with three children. The situation can be imagined.

So, Gao Shen asked the scouts to contact Rabiot again, and found that after returning to France, he did not join any team, but went back to school, relying on physical education and after-school training to maintain his state and improve himself.

As a result, Gao Shen wanted to recruit the future French international back.

Since it is to be recruited, the conditions must be negotiated again, and generous treatment must be given. This time, Gao Shen intends to directly give the quasi-professional contract treatment, and give a certain salary subsidy every month, so that Rabiot can participate in training without distractions. .

"What did they say after the contract was given?" Gao Shen asked.

Cox shrugged and smiled: "We made an offer their family couldn't refuse."

In addition to Rabiot's salary, there is also a job arranged for his mother, which is a vital aid to their family.

After listening to Gao Shen, he nodded, secretly laughing in his heart.

Now, I have helped Manchester City poach so many young talents and reformed the youth training camp. I wonder if these future stars can develop better than their previous lives?

At that time, what kind of height will they take Manchester City to?

"In the future, some rules and regulations of our youth training academy will be changed. For some young players who have performed well, we should give more care and support in life to avoid the appearance of Rashford and Rashford. Rabiot's situation." Gao Shen gave instructions.

Cox and others nodded in agreement and wrote it down.

Gao Shen is now the head of Manchester City's athletic affairs, and what he said basically represents Manchester City's decision-making.

Not to mention Cox, Lopetegui, and Wilcox, even Brian Kidd, all have to obey.

Afterwards, Gao Shen asked a lot of things, made a lot of decisions, and gave a lot of instructions.

In busy times, time flies quickly.

A staff member came to report: Rashford has arrived.

"Let's go, let's meet the future British Emperor!" Gao Shen said with a smile.