Chapter 7 – Poaching
Chapter 7 – Poaching
Yang Cheng never would have imagined his first encounter with Ribéry would look like this.
The scar-faced star who would dazzle the World Cup three years later was now completely covered in dust.
Wearing a hard hat and wielding a heavy jackhammer, Ribéry was aggressively demolishing a broken wall in what looked like a construction site.
When he turned to look at Yang Cheng, he really did resemble Stallone in First Blood, clutching a machine gun.
Yang Cheng waited a full 20 minutes before Ribéry finally came over, freshly cleaned.
The vicious scar on his face was as noticeable as ever.
Gone was the confident, high-spirited young man Yang Cheng remembered from his past life. Now, all that remained was a hollow, disheartened soul.
Football—and life—had dealt him a brutal blow.
Sometimes, choices matter more than effort.
Ribéry was proof of that. So was Koscielny.
The conversation between Yang Cheng and Ribéry went unusually smoothly.
It felt more like Yang Cheng was unilaterally offering him a lifeline.
And for Ribéry, as long as there was a club willing to take him in and pay him a salary, he would go.
As for what he expected in terms of wages, the scar-faced Frenchman made a practical request:
€250 a month.
Even for League Two standards, that was quite low.
Yang Cheng agreed immediately.
In his mind, as long as Ribéry trained and played hard, the club would reassess his performance each season and adjust his wages accordingly.
But for now, there was no need to say any of that.
Let the results speak first.
That was a principle of good management.
…
While Yang Cheng was rushing between Croatia and France, Lin Zhongqiu in London was continuing negotiations with Elvino Asset Management regarding the loan.
Once the paperwork was complete and the money arrived, part of it was used to repay urgent debts. As instructed by Yang Cheng, Lin also began acting swiftly in the transfer market.
As Yang Cheng had said—having no money doesn't mean you can't play the game.
Bayswater Chinese FC focused primarily on free agents.
Yang Cheng's first targets were players from last season's four relegated teams:
Cheltenham, Huddersfield, Mansfield, and Northampton.
Why focus on them? Simple—many contracts in lower-league football included relegation clauses.
For clubs in the lower divisions, relegation usually meant collapse.
Take Martin Devaney, a 23-year-old winger from Cheltenham. Of Irish descent, he was quick and could play both flanks.
Bayswater Chinese FC didn't even need to pay a transfer fee to sign him.
Lee Williamson, 21, held both Jamaican and English citizenship. He could play centrally or on the right in midfield.
Due to a relegation clause with Mansfield, his transfer fee was just £25,000.
Alex Baptiste, 17, a versatile defender from Mansfield's academy, could play anywhere along the back line.
After receiving the offer from Bayswater Chinese, he rejected a professional contract from Mansfield and switched over.
Then there was Jonathan Stead, a 20-year-old English striker from Huddersfield's academy—Yang Cheng's favorite among the bunch.
Standing at 1.91 meters, he was the classic English center-forward: tall, strong, technically sound, good at finishing, and capable of holding up play.
Last season in League Two, he played 42 matches and logged 2,568 minutes, scoring 6 goals.
Not bad at all for a 20-year-old.
Yang Cheng remembered him because in his past life, Stead had shined after Huddersfield's relegation in 2004 and earned a call-up to the England U21s.
He was later bought by Blackburn Rovers for £2 million.
Unfortunately, Stead's career never quite lived up to the hype.
Acting under Yang Cheng's instructions, Lin Zhongqiu negotiated with Huddersfield and convinced Stead to join.
The final transfer fee? £250,000, paid in two installments, with £150,000 due in the summer of 2004.
In addition to Stead, Bayswater Chinese FC also poached Andy Holdsworth, a 19-year-old winger from Huddersfield's academy.
Though he played on the right wing, Yang Cheng believed he was better suited for a central midfield role.
They also signed Luke Chambers, a 17-year-old center-back from Northampton's academy, on a free transfer. Chambers could play both center-back and right-back.
From Birmingham, Yang Cheng picked up Tony Capaldi, a Northern Irish left-back, also on a free.
At 22, Capaldi came from Birmingham's youth system but was never given a chance. He had been loaned out several times and declined to renew his contract after it expired.
Several League Two clubs, including Plymouth, were interested in him, but Bayswater Chinese got in first.
Why? Because after returning from France, Yang Cheng personally persuaded him.
Also, the club's financial crisis hadn't made waves yet. Or rather, Yang Cheng had resolved it swiftly and discreetly.
The club's image remained positive—an ambitious foreign-owned outfit on the rise.
Another free signing was Martin Rowlands, a 24-year-old Irish midfielder from Brentford.
He played centrally, known for his excellent passing—especially his long balls.
He had joined Brentford in 1998 for £60,000 and impressed early on, but injuries and inconsistency had cost him his place in the last two seasons.
His contract expired this summer, and being a London native, Rowlands preferred to stay local.
Both QPR and Bayswater Chinese made offers. In the end, it was Yang Cheng's personal pitch that won him over.
As a reward, Rowlands was offered a club-high wage of £4,000 per month.
He would share that top salary bracket with Jonathan Stead and Steve Jenkins, a 31-year-old Welsh veteran right-back.
Jenkins had played for Huddersfield but was released after their relegation.
Trained at Swansea, Jenkins was no longer young, but had vast defensive experience and excellent crossing technique—something Yang Cheng highly valued.
With a squad full of young players, having a seasoned leader like Jenkins provided much-needed stability.
Still, mindful of Jenkins' age, Yang Cheng also brought in Kevin Foley, an 18-year-old Irish right-back from Luton Town's academy, for £100,000.
For central defense, Yang Cheng signed Roger Johnson, 20, from Wycombe—another struggling club—for £100,000.
Johnson was tall and sturdy, a regular starter the previous season.
He also spent £150,000 to sign Rickie Lambert, a 21-year-old English striker from Stockport.
Lambert had disappointed at Stockport last season, scoring just 2 goals in 32 appearances. His coach, Carlton Palmer, had lost faith in him.
Stockport had signed him for £450,000 in 2002 but now offloaded him for £150,000.
Even Shrewsbury Town, languishing in the fifth tier, wasn't safe from Yang Cheng's poaching.
He went north himself—not just to secure the Lambert deal, but to sign Joe Hart, a 16-year-old goalkeeper.
The transfer fee? A mere £50,000.
Why so cheap? Because Hart had yet to make a first-team appearance.
But under FA rules, Shrewsbury would receive training compensation if Bayswater Chinese sold him later.
Heading south from England's north, Yang Cheng arrived in Derby County.
Even while he'd been in Croatia and France, Lin Zhongqiu had made initial inquiries about Tom Huddlestone, Derby's midfield prospect.
But Derby kept rejecting them.
Huddlestone was away with England's U17s at the European Championships in Portugal. Through his agent, he made it clear: he wasn't interested in joining a League Two club.
And rightly so.
Derby was in the Championship (second tier), and Huddlestone was an England U17 international. Why drop down to League Two?
After the U17s finished 4th in Europe and returned to England, Yang Cheng headed to Derby again.
He first met with Derby executives, then arranged a meeting with Huddlestone, his parents, and his agent.
Yang Cheng was very high on this player.
His tactical system required a player like Huddlestone in midfield.
He explained the situation in detail.
Huddlestone hadn't been a regular starter for the U17s. Nor was he a starter at Derby.
Wouldn't it be better to join Bayswater Chinese and get regular minutes?
"I'll make you our starting central midfielder," Yang Cheng said, seriously.
He also added: Bayswater's goal this season was promotion. And Derby?
They'd narrowly escaped relegation for two straight seasons.
Who could guarantee they wouldn't go down this year?
Yang Cheng also laid out how Huddlestone fit into his system—positionally, technically, and tactically.
This surprised the Huddlestone camp.
They had assumed Yang Cheng was just the club owner.
They hadn't expected him to have such deep tactical insight.
Still, after an in-depth conversation, they weren't fully convinced.
They politely said they'd consider it.
Obviously, they wanted to see what Derby would offer.
Yang Cheng wasn't surprised.
He knew they were waiting to see Derby's level of interest.
He had no objections.
In fact, he already had backup plans.
If he couldn't get Huddlestone, he would go after Leon Andreasen, a midfielder from Denmark's Aarhus club.
Andreasen, 20, was a Denmark youth international who could play both midfield and center-back.
Most fans might not know him, but the guy was a real warrior.
Years later, when Jürgen Klopp first managed Mainz, Andreasen—on loan from Werder Bremen—was key to their rise.
When Mainz failed to sign him permanently, they were relegated the next season.
Yang Cheng valued Andreasen at around €1–1.2 million.
But Huddlestone was English, with homegrown status. So Yang Cheng offered £1 million—roughly €1.5 million, paid in installments.
Whether the deal would go through, Yang Cheng waited and watched.
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