Securing Griezmann wasn't too difficult.
For Griezmann himself, on one side was Real Sociedad's B team, and on the other was the first team of an English League One club that could participate in the Europa League, with the opposing manager even personally coming to him.
For the eighteen-year-old Griezmann, such a choice wasn't hard.
The only difficulty was regarding the transfer.
"Spanish professional contracts all have release clauses. As far as I know, Griezmann's contract was signed when he was seventeen. Usually, the first professional contract's release clause isn't too high, and he hasn't had any experience with Real Sociedad's first team, so taking him away isn't difficult!" Mendes said confidently.
He didn't know where Gao Bo had learned about Griezmann, but he trusted Gao Bo's judgment. At least so far, it seemed Gao Bo hadn't missed with any of the players he'd targeted...
Offering a price is an art. Griezmann hadn't proven himself in Real Sociedad's first team, so his value wouldn't be too high.
When Luton Town Football Club's offer of 400,000 euros reached the desk of Real Sociedad's chairman, Jokin Aperribay, Gao Bo had already returned to Luton.
The team would start assembling in July for pre-season training, while for Luton's staff, they would return to the club to start working on June 1st, because June 1st was when the transfer window opened.
Luton had specialized personnel to handle transfer negotiations, and Gao Bo entrusted the Griezmann transfer negotiations to other staff members.
Anyway, the player already intended to transfer, so even if Real Sociedad firmly disagreed with Griezmann's transfer, they could just trigger the release clause!
For Gao Bo, even if he spent all three million pounds he had on hand, being able to buy Griezmann would definitely be worth it.
As Luton's staff members' vacations gradually ended, Gao Bo also returned to Luton, where he would preside over the overall situation.
Gao Bo wouldn't have to personally handle the next few transfers.
First was the goalkeeper position.
The first person Gao Bo thought of was Kasper Schmeichel, who would later become a star at Leicester City. This son of Manchester United's legendary goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel was currently playing for Manchester City, but this summer transfer window, if Luton didn't intervene, Schmeichel would leave Manchester City and join League Two side Notts County.
In the crucial goalkeeper position, Gao Bo had always wanted to bring in a player with sufficient experience and ability.
Kasper Schmeichel was born in 1986. Although he was only twenty-three years old, his current ability was much higher than Luton's current first-choice goalkeeper, Claude. At least at Manchester City, Kasper Schmeichel still had the experience of playing in the Premier League, and he had also had the opportunity to play in League One, performing quite well.
.....
Kasper Schmeichel, who was on vacation, was waiting for a call from his agent.
At Manchester City, it was difficult for Kasper Schmeichel to get the position of starting goalkeeper, because the current Manchester City was not the Manchester City of a season ago. This season's summer transfer window was destined to be a big one for them. For Kasper Schmeichel, who was already twenty-three years old, what he needed most now was to find a team where he could play as a starter. In any case, if a goalkeeper was always sitting on the bench, it would obviously be extremely detrimental to his future development.
Now Kasper Schmeichel's agent was already in contact with several teams, both League One and League Two. The closest was Notts County, because Notts County was willing to pay the club's highest salary to attract this goalkeeper with Premier League experience to join. Kasper Schmeichel was actually inclined to join Notts County.
The position of starter, a good salary. The only thing he wasn't very satisfied with was the league the club was in.
League Two... Perhaps if he continued to play in the lower leagues for a few more years, there would be no possibility of playing in the top league again. The twenty-three-year-old Kasper Schmeichel compromised.
Notts County it is then, I wonder how the talks are going.
The somewhat anxious Kasper Schmeichel finally received a call from his agent.
"Luton?!"
Kasper Schmeichel was a little surprised.
Of course he had heard of this team. The news of Luton winning the FA Cup more than a month ago shocked the whole of Europe, and when Luton defeated Manchester City, Kasper Schmeichel was the substitute goalkeeper, experiencing the whole process of the team losing to a League Two team.
Of course he was deeply impressed by this team.
"Yes! Coach Gao Bo personally called me!" The agent seemed a little excited on the other end, "Do you know what this means? Kasper!! Coach Gao Bo is very optimistic about you!! The few players he's been optimistic about have all seen their value skyrocket. If we leak this news..."
"Don't leak it!!" Schmeichel stood up abruptly, "I'm going to Luton!!"
Of course Schmeichel knew what his agent meant. Now Gao Bo was very famous in England. The players he was optimistic about could naturally be used as capital to seize greater benefits for himself.
But when Schmeichel heard that Gao Bo was preparing to sign him, Schmeichel was excited.
This was an opportunity! This was an opportunity to play in European competitions!
Schmeichel, who lived in the shadow of his father, urgently needed an opportunity to prove himself.
Sometimes, money is not the most necessary thing!
Mark Hughes had already been sacked, and Manchester City's new coach was said to be Mancini. Anyway, the news about Manchester City, this new rich team, choosing a coach was still very popular in England during this period.
But this didn't affect Schmeichel's transfer.
After the player confirmed his intention to transfer, the rest was up to the two clubs.
Gao Bo became unprecedentedly busy with his pre-season work.
The transfer window opened on June 1st and closed on September 1st, giving clubs three months to carry out transfer operations.
However, Gao Bo didn't want to wait until the last moment to bring people in, because new players needed to integrate and familiarize themselves with the environment. So he wanted to complete all the transfers before the team assembled on July 7th.
Now the team had already signed Alex Sandro, Griezmann, and Schmeichel!
Alex Sandro still needed to apply for a work permit, but Gao Bo wasn't too worried about this. The British only started tightening the work permit system after the 2014 Brazil World Cup, and the current work permit system was still relatively relaxed. At least each team had the right to use a special talent clause, and the difficulty of approving this right wasn't too great at present.
In addition to incoming players, Charlie Austin's transfer had also begun. The main teams joining the competition were Arsenal, Manchester United, and Manchester City.
In the end, after Manchester City raised the price to seven million pounds, Arsenal and Manchester United withdrew from the competition. Finally, Charlie Austin transferred to Manchester City for seven million pounds, setting a record for Luton Town Football Club's transfer fee for outgoing players.
However, apart from Charlie Austin, Luton didn't lose any more main players. Gao Bo had stabilized several core players of the team before the end of last season. However, several players on the bench were transferred out, but the transfer fees were obviously not as high as Charlie Austin's.
In addition to the outflow of personnel, it was more important to bring in players. For Luton, their squad depth was still too thin.
Next season's schedule was simply a devilish schedule for Luton.
The League One has a total of forty-six league rounds, which is more than the Premier League. In addition to the cup games, there are also European competitions this season!
So Gao Bo could only find a way to increase the team's squad depth.
Strengthening the left and right backs was the focus of Gao Bo's attention. Now Sandro had been signed for the left back position, and Hassan and Soro Davis could also play in this position. However, in the right back position, Gao Bo still wanted to bring in a player to compete with the current main player, Mitchell Piran.
He had set his sights on Charlton's youth player Carl Jenkinson, born in 1992!
This was a pretty good left back. He would be spotted by Wenger after next season and join the Gunners for a transfer fee of one million. It would still be okay to bring him in to play in League One.
Signing Jenkinson wasn't difficult either. Gao Bo was now a golden brand for young players in England. Just look at Vardy and others he had promoted and you would know.
The pre-season signings were still going smoothly.