Gao Shen left in a cool manner, leaving behind two empty bottles of mineral water.
Ferguson cursed him for being unhygienic.
But after thinking about it, he still felt uneasy. He pulled out his phone and made a call.
"Ole, it's me."
Ole Gunnar Solskjær, previously the head coach of Manchester United's reserve team, had taken over at Molde in Norway earlier this January.
"Boss, I just watched the match. A bit disappointing, but I think…"
Solskjær thought Ferguson was calling to talk about the game.
But clearly, that wasn't it.
"We'll talk about the match later. I want to ask you something. What do you think of Jesse Lingard?"
"Lingard?" Solskjær immediately recalled. "The kid's pretty skinny. Good technique, but not very quick. I tried him in a few positions, but he didn't seem to fit well anywhere."
Not exactly a glowing review, Ferguson thought.
"Boss, why are you asking about him all of a sudden?" Solskjær was curious.
Ferguson chuckled. "Someone just told me he's the most talented player in our youth academy, and that he's going to become the king of European football."
"Ha! Come on, who said that? They blind? Morrison and Pogba are clearly better than Lingard. Anyone with eyes can see that—especially Pogba. The lad's got great physique and technique. How is Lingard better?" Solskjær burst out laughing.
Whether someone has talent or not, professionals can usually tell at a glance.
"That was Gao Shen," Ferguson said.
"Who?" Solskjær was stunned.
"That damn Gao Shen at Manchester City," Ferguson repeated.
Solskjær was silent for a few seconds.
Then he spoke again.
"Actually, thinking about it now… yeah, the kid is skinny and not physically strong, but he could be developed. He's not fast, but his touch is good, and his movement is very agile. When he plays, there's a kind of… spark about him. It's hard to describe, but it's very rare in our academy."
"I think he's a player who uses his brain. Now that I think about it, maybe I didn't use him correctly?"
Ferguson nearly cursed out loud. "Can you hold your ground a little?"
Gao Shen just said a few words and now you're already shaken?
Then again, this was a reflection of Gao Shen's current influence in European football.
The man's reputation was so powerful that just one compliment from him could instantly raise a player's market value.
If he singled out someone as a top talent, then that player must be.
And even if they didn't pan out, it would be seen as a failure of development, not a failure of scouting.
How else do you explain how many players he's elevated?
Let's just look at the latest one—Van Persie.
What was he like at Arsenal?
And now at Manchester City?
Definitely playing like a top-class striker.
Now Arsenal fans blame Wenger every day, saying he let go of the best center forward in the Premier League for cheap.
That's the power of Gao Shen.
So when Solskjær heard it was him who praised Lingard, his first reaction wasn't disbelief—it was to justify his earlier comments.
Because he knew that if word got out, everyone would say Ole Gunnar Solskjær couldn't spot talent.
Ferguson felt a headache coming on. Why did he even make this call?
"Oh, right, boss, what did he say about Pogba?" Solskjær asked, clearly hopeful.
That was the youth player he rated the highest.
"Nothing."
"What?"
"He never mentioned him. Feels like he doesn't rate him at all."
Shit.
Solskjær started to question his own judgment.
"Right, players of African descent often have physical advantages at a young age, but when they reach the senior level, that advantage becomes less clear, and their impact drops. I also think Pogba doesn't have a defined style yet, and his personality is… a bit odd. I heard he's changing agents again?"
"Yeah, he switched before, wasn't happy, so now he's switching again. Wants to negotiate a contract extension."
United was rich and powerful, and most agents didn't dare challenge Ferguson.
Most of the time, agents just showed up and did whatever he said.
But Pogba now wanted more playing time and wanted that written into his contract. That's why he kept switching agents—to get leverage.
Let him switch then. Ferguson knew every agent in England anyway.
Still, it was interesting. Gao Shen never once brought up Pogba. He mentioned Morrison before, and now he brought up Lingard. That probably meant Lingard was the one he truly wanted.
And who in European football didn't know about Gao Shen's eye for talent?
Any player he set his sights on was almost guaranteed to be a gem.
That sly fox… in the end, Lingard still couldn't escape his grasp.
Lingard, noted.
…
In the other Champions League semi-final, Barcelona beat Napoli 1–0 at home, advancing with a 3–0 aggregate and setting up a final showdown with Manchester City at Wembley.
But before that, Manchester City would return to Wembley to contest the FA Cup final—against Manchester United again.
Having already defeated United four times this season, City were clearly favorites to win the FA Cup, barring any surprises.
But Ferguson had vowed that Manchester City must not be allowed to complete the treble.
That was the crown jewel of his career, and he would not let Gao Shen or City take that away.
After the Champions League semi-final, Manchester City drew 2–2 away to Everton in the league.
The center-back pairing of Jerome Boateng and Cahill still looked unreliable.
Also, Gao Shen had rotated goalkeepers, giving Given a start so Neuer, who had played almost every match this season, could rest and recover ahead of the two Wembley finals.
Meanwhile, after the semi-final, Gao Shen had immediately contacted Wenger to ask about borrowing Arsenal's Colney training ground in preparation for the Champions League final.
Wenger readily agreed.
So City would head south to London early to prepare for the final.
As for what arrangements Guardiola and Barcelona would make, Gao Shen didn't know—and didn't care.
…
After Matchday 36 of the Premier League, Manchester City had a full week of rest.
Gao Shen gave the players a day off, but he didn't rest.
Together with Su Qing, Lucas, and Borrell, he drove from Manchester to Leeds, just over 60 kilometers away.
The purpose of the trip was to further assess the situation at Leeds United.
Their first stop: the Thorpe Arch training center near Wetherby.
The Championship regular season had ended. Leeds finished seventh, just outside the playoff zone.
Looking at the season overall, that was probably a true reflection of their level. Even if they had made the playoffs, it would have been hard for them to compete with strong teams like Swansea, Reading, and Cardiff. They were outsiders at best, and promotion was unlikely.
Seventh place in the Championship meant little.
Unless you got promoted or relegated, nothing else mattered.
At best, finishing in the top half might convince some Premier League teams to loan you their young players.
The real challenge in the Championship is either getting promoted or avoiding relegation. That's when a team's true capabilities are revealed.
Many teams almost reached promotion one year, then dropped into relegation the next. The swings were massive.
One key issue: too many loanees.
Do you know how many loan players Leeds United had in their first team this season?
Seventeen!
Among them were Jake Livermore, who would go on to break into Tottenham's first team, and Arsenal's Sanchez Watt.
There was even one from Manchester City, though Gao Shen didn't know who he was.
Colombian goalkeeper David Gonzalez.
What was even more interesting was that Leeds' current starting keeper was Kasper Schmeichel—the same player Gao Shen had sold off.
Now that they'd failed to win promotion, the loanees had all returned to their parent clubs, and Leeds were back to square one.
Of course, Leeds weren't entirely without their own players.
Their best youth prospect in recent years was local midfielder Jonathan Howson.
At just 22, he had posted a double-double last season—double-digit goals and assists—and had been called up to the England Olympic team.
Two other standout players were Scottish.
First, 25-year-old striker Ross McCormack, who previously played for Cardiff City. He had won the Championship Silver Boot in 2008–09 with 23 goals. But after Cardiff failed to earn promotion and tensions grew, Leeds signed him last summer for just £350,000.
Injuries limited him for much of the season, but toward the end, he returned to form—scoring in a 2–1 win over eventual champions QPR—and earned a recall to the Scotland national team.
Then there was 24-year-old winger Robert Snodgrass, signed in 2008 for £270,000. Now valued at £1.5 million, he scored six goals and provided eight assists last season, making a real impact.
These three players, along with goalkeeper Schmeichel, were undoubtedly Leeds' most valuable assets.
Based on what Gao Shen had gathered, all of them wanted to leave.
Which was understandable.
At their age, they all hoped to take the next step in their careers. Their current form was strong. If they didn't seize the opportunity now, they might never get it again.
McCormack, Snodgrass, and Howson—plus the Olympic team—each had Premier League ambitions.
For Leeds, failing to earn promotion this season meant trying again next year. But for players, there might not be a "next season."
Gao Shen fully understood and respected those ambitions.
However, that wasn't the purpose of his visit.
(To be continued.)