Godfather Of Champions

In the previous season, he had been loaned out by Ancelotti to Lazio in exchange for Pancario. During the winter break, Galliani explicitly told Albertini, who still held some hopes in his heart, that "the current AC Milan doesn\'t have a position for you, Deme. Pirlo, Gatusso, all these young players are doing very well in your position. Moreover, we still have Kaka…"

Albertini finally decided something: perhaps he still did not know where he would be during the final moments of his professional career, but it was definitely not Saint Siro.

Just like that, in the freezing cold of winter, Albertini left Milanello alone and signed a new contract with Lazio—a contract for two years, with an annual salary of one million, two hundred and fifty pounds after taxation. From then on, he completely took off the red and black AC Milan jersey, changing into SS Lazio\'s blue eagle jersey.

What he hadn\'t expected was that his career at SS Lazio only would continue for one season before coming to a premature end. Due to the financial difficulties of the club, Lazio had to put many players up for sale. Hence, Albertini, who had been deemed "old and frail," naturally became part of their purge list as well. Even if Lazio had not intended to let Albertini go, his agent, Branchini, had already intended to leave the club.

After all, Atlanta United, a team that had recently been promoted to Serie A, had just sent an invitation to his player.

If the Englishman had not appeared, perhaps they would have had to agree to Atlanta United\'s terms.

But now that Tony Twain had brought his Italian translator along and given them an even more alluring invitation. This included a core position in Nottingham Forest, an annual salary that was no lower than the one he was promised in Lazio (not inclusive of the various cash prizes), the chance to participate in the UEFA Europa League, and a "2+1" contract (which spanned two years and could possibly extend for another year) that was subject to both the player\'s condition and the number of matches played in the final year of the contract.

Albertini and Branchini whispered to each other before his agent raised his head and spoke to Tang En. "Deme wants to know, why did you specially come all the way from England to invite him, a player who is already preparing for his retirement, to join your team?"

The fact that the agent had dared to ask that question showed that Tang En stood a chance. Elated, Tang En said, "Although we are a newly-promoted team, the same as Atlanta United, Nottingham Forest\'s goal is not merely to remain in the Premier League. We have greater plans. Does Atlanta United have the participating rights to this season\'s UEFA Europa League? We do! Moreover, Nottingham Forest is currently made up mostly of young players. Therefore, I strongly believe that your experience is what Nottingham Forest needs the most, Deme. Moreover, I think that… Deme, considering retirement at thirty-two years-old is simply too early! The thirty-two year-old Paolo Maldini is still the team captain of AC Milan, and the thirty-two year-old Rijkaard once led a group of youngsters to win the Champions League…And you, Deme, will have these kinds of chances now, too. I\'m not lying."

Tang En had used two of the most important players in Milan\'s history to illustrate his point. Since they were realistic examples that Albertini was very familiar with, they had a considerable impact on him.

Albertini remained silent for a while longer before saying, "I\'ve heard that Italian football players tend to be unhappy in England."

"Oh, no." Tang En shook his head and continued. "Just think about Zola and Vialli. Zola was the best foreign player in Chelsea\'s history, and in the ten years that he played in the Premier League, the number of times that he received the "best foreign player" award was second only to Cantona. That kind of achievement can\'t be considered poor, Deme. I believe that you won\'t fare any worse than them. Moreover, what does Atlanta United have that attracts you? Their jerseys will only remind you of AC Milan."

Although that reasoning might appear trivial, it really could be the deciding factor.

Tang En was right; Atlanta\'s jerseys for their home games were black and blue striped. If they changed the sponsor\'s name that was imprinted on the front of their jerseys, there would be little difference between the jerseys of AC Milan and Atlanta United, especially from a distance. Albertini was an ardent supporter of AC Milan. Even when the club made clear to him their decision to abandon him during the 02-03 season, Albertini still said, "If I must leave, I hope that I can continue playing in another country. I don\'t wish to fight against Milan." In the end, he went to play for Atletico Madrid.

Even though Albertini still ended up going to Lazio the next season, Tang En believed that it was because he simply had no choice. No other foreign clubs wanted him, so in order to continue playing football, he could only choose to be loaned to Lazio by Milan in exchange for Pancario, whom Ancelotti had taken a liking to. That was perhaps the last contribution he could make to AC Milan.

With better terms than Atlanta United, the manager\'s high opinion of and trust in him, as well as not needing to deal with the psychological burden of facing off against AC Milan, Tang En firmly believed that Albertini already belonged to him. So Tang En said no more as he quietly waited for a reply from the person seated opposite him.

Upon hearing Tang En finish, Albertini shut his eyes. For Albertini, the future, which he had thought was fixed, was suddenly met with new changes. How should he actually spend this last stretch of his professional career?

If Albertini went to Atlanta, he would not have any ambitious goals. Perhaps he would wear the captain\'s armband and play for two years before discreetly announcing his retirement. Only at that time would people remember; Ah, so it turns out that Albertini from Milan\'s glory days is still playing!

Going to an unfamiliar team in a foreign country, taking on a new challenge, leading a group of young lads, working hard towards a championship title of more importance than the Europa League... In three years time, what kind of comments would he receive when he decided to retire?

Albertini had only two options: to end his professional career without anyone knowing, or to take on a new risk. Perhaps he would succeed, or perhaps he would still leave the professional football scene without anyone knowing.

It might have been a long while, or it might have just been a thirty-second pause. But Tang En finally got a reply from Albertini.

The Italian, who had a slightly pale face and a head of curly hair, nodded lightly and said, "I think… Mr. Twain, although I\'m not very familiar with either your team or English football, I feel that… this might be a choice that is worth taking a risk over. You believe in me, so I won\'t let you down!"

In that split second, that dejected Albertini vanished into thin air. What replaced him was an ambitious young man that was exuding limitless vigor and youthfulness from his entire body. Tang En was right. Thinking about retirement at the age of thirty-two was simply too early!

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Three days later, the list of players that were going to Japan for an exhibition match, which was announced by Lazio\'s officials, did not have Demetrio Albertini\'s name on it. The next day, Lazio announced that they had annulled their contract with Albertini. The club thanked Albertini for his contributions to the club over the past year, and wished him good luck in his future endeavours.

On that same afternoon, Nottingham Forest\'s official website announced at once that they had, by means of a free transfer, recruited the Italian midfielder Demetrio Albertini, who had just annulled his contract with Lazio. Both parties signed a contract that would last for two years; on the last year of the contract, the extension of the contract for another year would be subjected to Albertini\'s performance and the number of matches he played.

The picture shown on the news was that of a curly-haired Italian man standing next to Tony Twain with a Nottingham Forest jersey in his hands. The number on the jersey was the same number that had been on Albertini\'s jersey when he was still in Milan: number 4. The only difference between the two was that, with the red color of the jersey, there was no trace of black left.

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After settling the administrative matters of Albertini\'s transfer, Tang En continued to set his sights on experienced old soldiers because they were the people who Nottingham Forest needed the most at the moment.

Another person that caught his eye was Hierro, the ex-captain of the Spanish national team and Real Madrid.

Unlike Albertini, Hierro\'s reason for leaving Real Madrid was not his slipping skills due to old age. Instead, it was because he had offended the upper echelons of the club. As such, during the summer of year 2003, on the second day after Real Madrid had obtained their twenty-ninth league championship title, Hierro had been kicked out of the club by Florentino.

When this news was first announced, it had garnered quite an uproar. Hierro, who had left the team, heeded his agent\'s advice and went to play for the Qatar Stars League. However, after one season, he was no longer able to tolerate his days at Qatar, where he had played football purely for the sake of money. Or rather, it could be said that Hierro felt that he wasn\'t so down-and-out that he had to resort to playing only for money at Qatar Stars League. Therefore, after one season, he decisively ended his contract with the Qatar Stars League team and decided to find a stronger European team to join.

Upon catching wind of this, Nottingham Forest and Bolton contacted Hierro\'s manager at almost the same time. The results of this competition were no different from the past few times. Nottingham Forest, which offered much better terms than Bolton, won Hierro\'s favor. The ex-captain of Real Madrid felt that Tony Twain\'s Nottingham Forest really had large aspirations, and that going there would not be a waste of his talent. It could also be said that only by joining a team like Nottingham Forest could he have the chance of getting back at Real Madrid\'s chairman, Florentino.

There were many different views regarding Albertino and Hierro\'s choices. Among these, the most popular explanation was that these two people were nearing the later stages of their professional career, and that they therefore hoped to simply expend whatever fight they had left in them on a team before going into retirement. Nobody believed that they still had any ambition left, or that they still dreamed of achieving success at this point.

That was completely understandable. After all, losers always think that everyone else is the same as them.

They would never get the chance to hear the words Tang En said when he introduced the two old soldiers during the team\'s training session: "Lads, from now on, if you don\'t work hard, your positions might get snatched away by these old guys!"