Football Philosopher
Other German Players

After taking a taxi for less than 30 minutes, James' next stop in Germany is the city of Essen, home to a third-division club: Rot Weiss Ahlen. It is currently in the Regionalliga Nord (III), the third division of the German league system. After last season relegated from 2. Bundesliga.

There was a young man named Mesut Ozil, born on October 15, 1988 in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, as the son of Turkish immigrants. His grandfather moved as Gastarbeiter from Zonguldak, Turkey to Germany. He played, at the academy level, for various clubs in Gelsenkirchen during 1995~2000, before moving to Rot-Weiss Essen.

James and Ralf have contacted Ozil's side and will meet at a local cafe. Ozil's case is also the same as Toni Kroos', James will only pay Ozil's club a compensation fee in full and earn without a transfer fee, the important thing is an agreement between the club and the player.

After waiting for a few minutes Ozil along with his father Mustafa Ozil came, they will discuss a move for the Turkish player. Because they also get an offer from the club Schalke 04, most likely they will compare which offer is more attractive for his future.

As before, James left this matter of negotiation directly to Ralf.

"Hello Mr. Mustafa and Mesut Ozil, nice to meet you." Ralf greeted them in German.

"Hello Mr. Packer and Mr. Rangnick." Mustafa Ozil is back.

"We get to the point, Mr. Mustafa, as we talked about in a brief call before. Our club are interested in signing Mesut Ozil as part of the club's long-term plans. How do you respond, Mr Mustafa?" Ralf immediately spoke to the core of the matter.

"I'm very happy with your interest, especially for a club as big as Manchester United who are watching my son's talent, I'm really feeling saved. But we also received an offer from Schalke's U-17 youth club." Mustafa answered honestly and there was excitement on his face.

"You must hear an offer from us first Mr. Mustafa" replied Ralf.

"All right, I'll listen to it seriously." Mustafa answered.

"Our offer is directly to offer a professional contract worth 75 thousand pounds per year of 5 years for Mesut Ozil, Of course there will be a salary increase of 20% per year, per year, and if the performance is good then we will be able to give a higher salary. However, Mesut Ozil will only turn 17 in October, so for the next 1 year he will get a contract according to other young players. We will also project Mesut Ozil to play in the first team in the future." Ralf spoke calmly and at the same time tried to convince them.

After thinking for a moment Mustafa gave a response to Ralf. "So good offer, I was surprised by your sincerity for my son. But I will discuss briefly with Mesut whether he wants to play in England or not. I'd agree if my son would."

"Well Mr. Ralf, after a brief discussion with my son, he agreed to move to Manchester. And we'll be flying to Manchester soon" Mustafa said, Mesut Ozil's father agreeing to his son's move.

Hearing Mustafa's reply and after Ralf's confirmation, James finally woke up to shake hands with them after reaching a mutual agreement. James knows that Ozil will become a world-class player with his skills and vision on the pitch.

They shook hands and James said "Until we meet again in Manchester Mr Mustafa Ozil and Mesut Ozil." and Ralf said the same in German.

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After the deal was completed James and Ralf Rangnick flew to the German capital of Munich. There they will try to get a deal with 2 players at once. The easiest first is to get a central defender named Mats Hummels who is 17 years old this year. They could offer Mesut Ozil a contract like they did, and would get the player on a free transfer because he does not yet have a professional contract.

In James' previous life, Hummels was considered one of the best defenders in the world, he was a big, consistent and physically strong player, known for his tackles and strong power in the air, as well as his ability to read the game and intercept loose balls. A technically gifted and versatile centre-back, he is also capable of playing as a defensive midfielder, his composure, elegance, ball-playing ability, and confidence in possession has made him comparable to Germany legend Franz Beckenbauer.

Discussion between them and the Hummels went a little hard, but with a contract of 100 thousand pounds per year with a salary increase of 20% per year which lasted 5 years. They are hard to resist, especially in the contract also listed to play the young defender at least 10 games more than 45 minutes in one game. With that they immediately setutu to sign the preliminary contract, and they will rush to Manchester to complete the move.

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Furthermore James submitted a transfer offer of 12 million pounds + 3 million add ounces for a 21-year-old player named Philipp Lahm.  He played in Stuttgart on loan for 2 seasons. During his second season at Stuttgart, Lahm had a much more difficult time. After the Euro 2004 tournament and shorter holidays as well as pre-season training, he had difficulty starting and also adjusting to new tactics and coach systems. However, he still made 16 Bundesliga appearances for Stuttgart before the Christmas break, 14 of which were during the full 90 minutes, and six appearances in the UEFA Cup . In January 2005, Lahm suffered a broken bone due to pressure on his right leg and was thus ruled out for four months, returning to play on 9 April 2005, against FC Schalke 04. Only about five weeks later, he was again injured, this time with a torn ligament that ended his season and his career in Stuttgart.

He is currently recovering from his injury, but James knows that by the end of the year he has fully recovered. And James dares to offer a high price to seal the deal. The player who plays as a right-back or can also be as a left-back will be projected as a coating Gary Neville who has started slowly. And also after the departure of his brother Phil Neville to Everton practically the right side of the team squad left only Gary, although O'Shea or Brown could also be as a right-back but their original position was centre-back.

 After Bayern Munich accepted the offer, the contract was reached between the club and Lahm with a salary of 2.4 million pounds per year with a 10% increase duration of 4 years.

With the certainty of the 2 players heading to Manchester, James could finally calm down a little and the trip in Germany was finished with satisfaction in his heart. But the trip is still not over, he will still go to some other countries in Europe or even around the world.