After the Community Shield, all sorts of evaluations were flying around about Manchester City, but most opinions agreed on the same points.
[An attack that is 2% short]
[A defense that cannot keep up with the attack]
[A midfield that cannot hold firm]
[38 Premier League matches, up to 13 Champions League matches, up to 6 League Cup matches, up to 7 FA Cup matches, and a brutal schedule with no Christmas break... Ronaldinho cannot endure as a starter]
[Carlos Tevez: "Guardiola doesn't even treat me like a player because I can't speak English. I want to leave Manchester City as soon as possible."]
[Gareth Barry: "I want to start. Trophies are nice, but I cannot stand behind other players forever. Most importantly, the manager does not trust me."]
[Kolo Touré: "It is disappointing, but I feel this is as far as it goes. Guardiola said that any player who cannot maintain form better than his real age will not step onto the pitch."]
[Manchester City in upheaval, 3 weeks left in the transfer window... The players currently being mentioned for departure are Kolo Touré, Gareth Barry, Craig Bellamy, Jô, and Carlos Tevez.]
There were far more players being speculated about by the media than the fans had expected.
As die-hard Manchester City supporters, it was regrettable to have to let them go, but they knew it was unavoidable, so public opinion was not a problem at all.
If anything, fans were raising their voices even more, urging the club to rebuild the team quickly and turn Manchester City into the strongest club around.
After all, this was the same Manchester City that had already succeeded in signing Ronaldinho, David Silva, and Iniesta.
The more that happened, the more people looked forward to seeing which player would come next.
Letting the existing players go was simply unavoidable.
But according to the follow-up reports, it became clear that this was not just a simple rebuild.
[Aston Villa interested in Manchester City goalkeeper Shay Given... Fee valued at £7 million, around €8.2 million]
[Queens Park Rangers offer £5 million, around €5.9 million, for speedster Shaun Wright-Phillips]
[Sunderland offer £4 million, around €4.7 million, for Manchester City utility defender Nedum Onuoha]
[Forgotten Pablo Zabaleta: "If I'm not going to start, there is no reason for me to stay at City. My prime has already begun."]
[German centre-back Jérôme Boateng: "I miss Germany... I want to play with Ho-young, the best player in the world, but it is hard to adapt to England."]
[Manchester City super-sub Adam Johnson in constant conflict with Guardiola over attitude problems... Eventually confirmed to Sunderland for £11 million, around €12.9 million]
[Nigel de Jong agrees transfer to AC Milan... Fee is £3.2 million, around €3.8 million]
The number of players Manchester City were trying to move on was greater than even the experts had predicted.
In just a few days, many players had been placed on the transfer list, received interest from several clubs, and agreed to leave.
Players with dreams and ambition for trophies tried to stay at the club until the end, but the club did not allow it.
First, Nigel de Jong, Adam Johnson, Nedum Onuoha, Shaun Wright-Phillips, and Shay Given left.
After that, the other players departed one by one as well.
[Gareth Barry → Everton for £16 million]
[Carlos Tevez → Atlético Madrid for £16 million]
[Jérôme Boateng → Bayern Munich for £14 million]
[Jô → SC Internacional for £8 million]
[Kolo Touré → QPR, fee £4 million]
[Craig Bellamy → Liverpool on loan]
[Wayne Bridge → Wigan Athletic on loan]
In the end, a total of 13 players left after many twists and turns.
Manchester City had slimmed down dramatically in the space of just one week, and the club moved busily to fill the vacant spots and build the squad back up again.
The positions left empty were 1 goalkeeper, 1 right-back, 2 left-backs, 2 centre-backs, 2 defensive midfielders, 1 left winger, 2 right wingers, and 2 strikers.
A large-scale operation was carried out to sign at least one key player for each position, and the first was left-back.
[
Gaël Clichy of France was not especially attack-minded, so his overlapping runs and crossing were not outstanding.
Even so, Guardiola signed him because his pace was excellent and his defending was strong, which meant he could provide stability against quick wingers.
The next player Guardiola signed was Kyle Walker from Tottenham for £12 million, around €14 million.
Even though there were doubts that he was still far from ready to start regularly, the transfer went through because of Ho-young.
Ho-young had firmly stated that if Walker learned under Pablo Zabaleta and focused on developing, he would become a world-class player within 2 or 3 years.
In other words, by the time Zabaleta's prime, which was just beginning, came to an end, Kyle Walker was expected to take over the starting spot.
The next signing was a centre-back, and it was AC Milan's key defender Thiago Silva.
Manchester City put special effort into that transfer, and for good reason, Thiago Silva's loyalty to Milan was immense.
On top of that, he did not want to leave Milan because of his wife, but City's board eventually managed to persuade him after putting in considerable effort.
The transfer fee was a staggering £48 million, around €56.2 million.
A fee worthy of one of the best centre-backs in the world.
It became the second-highest defender transfer fee in history, behind the £50 million Chelsea had spent to sign David Luiz.
On top of that, they also signed Blackburn Rovers centre-back Phil Jones for £16 million.
They also converted Micah Richards, who had mainly played at right-back, into a centre-back to further solidify the defensive line.
[Manchester City spend £86 million already on defenders alone, including Gaël Clichy, Jordi Alba, Thiago Silva, and Phil Jones...]
Even at this stage, they could already have been called the biggest spenders in the Premier League, but Manchester City had no intention of stopping.
As if they were trying to recreate the Galácticos era of Real Madrid, when Ho-young, Zidane, and Raúl had coexisted, they did not hesitate to invest.
[Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak: "We are still far away. We will become an unprecedented team."]
And so, Manchester City's shopping continued.
Only 10 days remained until the deadline.
Fortunately, the move for a defensive midfielder progressed swiftly.
[Everton central midfielder Marouane Fellaini agrees move to Manchester City for £29 million]
Marouane Fellaini.
An overwhelming physique standing at 194 centimeters.
Aggressive, high-energy play.
Dominant aerial ability unmatched in the league.
With those strengths, he was one of the best central midfielders capable of controlling the midfield almost on his own.
But at Manchester City, he was set to be used as a defensive midfielder.
Originally, he was classified as either a fiercely competitive box-to-box player or an attack-minded middle striker, but Fellaini himself had said that he wanted to be regarded as a defensive midfielder.
Because defensive midfield suited him far better and felt more comfortable.
In this process, other clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea, and Liverpool had shown interest, but Manchester City succeeded in snatching him away by throwing down £29 million in one payment.
What was more, City also signed a promising youngster to prepare for the aging of Patrick Vieira and Yaya Touré, and that player was Casemiro, whom they signed from São Paulo FC on Ho-young's recommendation.
By this point, the transfer spending had reached £118 million.
But they had not even really begun.
The major signings were only starting now, and the last positions they needed were left winger and right winger.
Since they already had versatile forwards like Ho-young and Adebayor, they did not need a central striker.
And Robinho had not been placed on the transfer list, because his form had gradually been recovering since the end of last season.
He was not especially selfless, but as an explosive winger he was still more than good enough.
He had even maintained such strong form that he helped Brazil finish runners-up at this Copa América.
Unfortunately, though, he returned with a 2-month injury and was set to join up later.
So what they needed most right now was a player who could cover the left wing until Robinho returned from injury.
Di María, Mata, Elia, Hazard, and several others had been listed as candidates, but Ho-young's interest had remained fixed on one player from the beginning.
"I want the Belgian winger."
Those words reached Guardiola's ears, and as soon as the analysis on that player was finished, Guardiola and the sporting director flew to France.
A player who had led Lille OSC to a domestic double in Ligue 1 and won the league's Player of the Year award, attracting attention from many big clubs.
That player was Belgium's gifted wonderkid and explosive elite winger, Eden Hazard.
He had originally looked likely to join Arsenal, but once Tottenham and Manchester United sent serious offers, no one could say for sure where he would end up.
Then Chelsea jumped in with a transfer fee of around €34 million, and Hazard's future became even harder to predict.
But once Manchester City entered the race, the situation was settled.
[Manchester City continue spending... Now targeting Eden Hazard as well]
[Manchester City offer £34 million, around €39.8 million, for Eden Hazard]
Their secret to signing players was not just money.
[Guardiola: "Ronaldinho will act as Eden Hazard's tutor. And he will lead the team to the champion's throne not as a squad player, but as a key player."]
So many star players.
Like Real Madrid's Galáctico policy, they accelerated their recruitment by putting world stars at the forefront.
Above all, the chance to play on the same team as Ho-young was an irresistibly attractive offer.
And then.
[Ho-young on a British talk show: "Our goal this season is to win everything." ... Also records the highest ratings in the time slot after showing perfect chemistry with the host]
Manchester City, chasing every trophy.
For a young prospect, the chance to become part of that was hard to turn down.
Manchester City also offered the best wages and contract terms, so there was not much left to think about.
On top of that, Hazard had already been planning to move to England anyway, so he did not feel much resistance toward joining City.
The blockbuster transfer was completed the very next day.
[Eden Hazard: "I'm happy to join Manchester City. I'll do my best to achieve my dream."]
[Defender Kompany, midfielder Fellaini, attacker Hazard... Manchester City activate Belgium's golden line]
Total transfer spending: £152 million.
Manchester City gradually brought their transfer business to a close after spending around €178 million in total.
At that, netizens all reacted in the same way.
[Isn't Manchester City basically already the best team in the world?]
└No argument there... You can call them a big club now.
└One thing is certain, in club value alone they've already comfortably gone past Liverpool and Arsenal.
└Still, we'll have to wait and see with players like Hazard, Alba, and Thiago Silva who came from other leagues. Plenty of players have looked brilliant elsewhere and then flopped after moving leagues.
└Anyway, this summer window was unbelievable. Most interesting one since Ronaldo joined Real. Makes me excited for the next winter window too.
That was what everyone thought.
That the last 3 weeks of the transfer market had been the best ever.
That the next winter window would be just as exciting.
But there was one thing they did not know.
Manchester City's transfer business was not over yet.
One final player still remained, someone to take the right wing-forward spot.
Candidates like Pedro, Lennon, Balotelli, and Arshavin were mentioned, but Ho-young did not even spare them a glance and instead recommended another player.
"That player on the right wing?"
Guardiola had questioned it at first, but soon he came to accept Ho-young's idea.
After hearing the explanation, it seemed like it could be an excellent signing.
The problem, however, was whether the transfer was possible.
Sure enough, a related article was published a few days later.
[Tottenham left-back and winger Gareth Bale: "I do not think it is time to leave Tottenham yet. I still have a lot to learn here, and I do not think joining Manchester City would suit me in many ways."]
The move for Gareth Bale, whose talent had not yet fully blossomed.
In the end, with 2 days left before the transfer deadline, Bale signaled his intention to refuse, and the move looked as though it would collapse there.
But one final possibility remained.
Ho-young.
He picked up the phone.
To complete the final puzzle piece for the team heading toward perfection, he intended to show Gareth Bale one talent.
(To be continued.)