The chairman who changed his mind every five minutes

In ELDT, every club without a manager is run by the game, and every one of them has a chairman with a personality of his own. Some are cold and calculating, others sound like they’ve come straight from the terraces, and some are downright impossible to predict. When a manager writes to one of them to haggle over a deal, you never know who you’re going to get.

This is the story of one of the most memorable ones, told without the names of the managers who dealt with him.

"I’m a mess"

It was one of the game’s first few days. A manager wanted to sell a defender nicknamed "the Bull" to a club without a manager. He started by asking for five million, on the grounds that they were "neighbours". The chairman was brutally honest from the off:

"To be honest with you, without telling you how much money I’ve got, which is top secret: I’m very short. I’d love the Bull, but it’s not the time. Maybe next week, maybe tomorrow I’ll hate the Bull... I don’t know, I’m a mess."

The manager dropped it to four million and suggested they settle it "like friends". The chairman nearly burst into tears:

"I can’t manage it! I’ve got less than 4 million in the bank, mate... I’m more skint than an old man’s tea strainer."

He offered two and a half million, the most he could manage "without ending up stripped bare". The manager suggested waiting until he’d scraped together the cash and sealing it the next day for five, "on my word". That’s when the line that made him famous arrived:

"Hang on, hang on, hang on! 5 million? We said 4! Look, tomorrow I might not have the money. Maybe yes, maybe no, maybe tomorrow I don’t even want the Bull... I’m a disaster, I change my mind every five minutes. I’m far too unstable for promises."

The number 10 is off limits

A little later the same manager changed tack and asked for the club’s number 10. The chairman went from melodrama to outrage in two messages. First:

"My number 10?! Could be. Or not. I don’t know. Depends. Have you actually seen him play or do you just want to nick my number 10?"

The manager offered two million. The reply came in capitals: "TWO MILLION FOR THE NUMBER 10?! That’s not how it works, mate! I change my mood every five minutes, but I’m not stupid, eh".

When the manager went up to two and a half and also asked him to buy the Bull, the chairman defined him for ever:

"What cheek! That’s an intergalactic robbery, mate!"

Other characters in the market

He’s not the only one with personality. At another club without a manager, a chairman agreed to pay double the market value for a defender nicknamed "the Mosquito"... and two minutes later he was screaming with regret:

"Hang on! I stopped to think for a second! That’s madness even for me! Deal off!"

And then there’s the now-famous chairman of Defensores de Tigre Norte, who calls everyone "warrior", swears "by the garra charrúa" that he won’t budge on a price, and when you lose an auction to him, still congratulates you.

Negotiating in ELDT is not shopping from a catalogue

These characters are part of what makes the ELDT market so different. Clubs in the game have their own cash, their own needs and their own way of doing business. Sometimes you seal a transfer in three messages; sometimes they’ve got you going back and forth for half an hour only to end up with nothing.

A few tips from those who’ve been through it:

• Ask before you bid: plenty of chairmen will tell you what they need and how much cash they have.
• Don’t ask for triple the market value: they’ll tell you, and they’ll tell you loudly.
• Sales always go to public auction, so any other club can jump in.

Fancy taking on the chairman who changes his mind every five minutes? Create your club at eldt.com.ar and get into the market.