Chapter 75 Yamal's persistence, the Rodriguez brothers in the slums
Chapter 75 Yamal's persistence, the Rodriguez brothers in the slums
Although he had not worked for Real Madrid Club for many years, as if it had become a fixed mindset, Li Chen always felt that a powerful enemy was imminent as soon as he arrived in Barcelona.
It’s probably because we haven’t won enough games against Barcelona in this city in those years.
In comparison, coming here with Real Madrid to play against Espanyol is a rare and beautiful memory for Li Chen.
That was also one of the few times he arrived in Barcelona in a good mood.
However, this time he came to this city for work, and Li Chen had no time to recall the years of love and hate between Real Madrid and Barcelona.
After arriving at the hotel, he asked his assistant to order food at the hotel while he opened the laptop he carried with him to make a training plan for the next few days.
Although Barcelona has a great nightlife, the probability of being robbed or losing your wallet when going out at night is also very high.
Li Chen had no interest in gambling on other people's character. After finishing his meal and his personal work, he went to bed early.
It was not until early the next morning that he was awakened by the sound of a group of children playing and happily kicking a ball.
When he opened the curtains in his shorts, he saw a non-mainstream boy with colorful hair on the street.
The reason why this guy attracted Li Chen's attention at the first moment was not because of his superb basketball skills.
But it was his energetic desire for destruction.
It's not so much that two groups of sleepless and energetic kids were playing street football with loose rules on the streets of Barcelona early in the morning.
It was more like one kid after another who thought they had excellent footwork skills wanted to get past the non-mainstream boy who was obviously a lot bigger than them.
Li Chen didn't know how long they had been playing on the street in front of the hotel. Apparently, at this time point before the bustling season, the entire street was open to them for frolicking and playing.
After smiling and shaking his head, Li Chen, who was still a little sleepy, closed the curtains and snuggled into bed, and soon fell into a deep sleep again.
When he woke up again, it was already nine o'clock in the morning.
The group of boys who got up early and played football in front of the hotel had long disappeared. At this moment, many foreign tourists appeared sporadically on the street.
The agreed negotiation time was at one o'clock in the afternoon. Li Chen had nothing to rush. After getting up slowly, he turned on his computer and connected remotely with Carrick.
There is no way out. The team will play the third round of the FA Cup in three days, and the quarter-finals of the League Cup will come three days later.
Since Li Chen is not in Newcastle, he can only focus on the quality of the players' restorative training and physical condition through online work.
Fortunately, Carrick reported to him some good news.
Thanks to the fact that there are no European games to play this season, Newcastle had less pressure in the first half of the season, and Li Chen started implementing a scientific rotation game plan very early on.
So now the physical condition of several veteran players in the Newcastle team is still relatively good, and there are no hidden dangers of injury.
In the upcoming third round of the FA Cup, Li Chen plans to give these veterans a rest.
Let them play in the Carabao Cup quarter-final against Leicester City to finalize the decision.
As for the corresponding training plan, he had already sent it to Carrick last night, and he felt more at ease with Carrick in charge of the follow-up training.
The club's uniform team then sent him even better news.
That is, Everton Club can no longer bear the financial crisis and has softened its offer to Newcastle.
Everton's asking price of 43 million pounds is slightly higher than the market price, but not outrageous, and basically in line with Li Chen's estimate of Anthony Gordon's value.
If nothing unexpected happens, the club will be able to finalize the contract with Anthony Gordon before the League Cup quarter-finals.
Li Chen was very satisfied with the management team's efficiency in recruiting players, and he also gained more confidence in the negotiations with Barcelona Club in the afternoon.
Facts have proved that many clubs' so-called "not for sale" statements are actually just because the price is not right.
Especially now that Barcelona is in a financial situation of robbing Peter to pay Paul.
He had already discussed with the club's top management before going to Barcelona, and the club's support for him this time was also astonishingly strong.
This gave Li Chen great confidence.
Most of his previous hesitation came from the fact that he was embarrassed to let the club take too much risk of losing money in a transfer deal.
But now the big boss has made it clear that as long as the problem can be solved with money, it will not be a problem for Newcastle.
I heard that the top management has been busy with a jersey and stadium advertising sponsorship plan, which could easily result in hundreds of millions of dollars in investment.
What else is there to say?
The awkward feeling in Li Chen's heart suddenly disappeared without a trace.
Instead, there is the pride and confidence of holding huge sums of money!
As for Yamal's adaptability, he also initially came up with a protective growth plan.
Now we just have to wait for Yamal to join Newcastle.
He didn't believe that if the club really spent 15 million, Laporta would still dare to say without hesitation that the -year-old Yamal was not for sale.
At 1:10 p.m. that day, Li Chen and the negotiation team from the club's uniform group appeared in the negotiation meeting room of the Barcelona Club.
Both sides understand that today will be the last negotiation attempt. Li Chen's personal arrival also shows the determination of Newcastle Club, so Barcelona dare not relax at all.
"I think we have made our point very clear before and Lamine has decided to stay in Barcelona and play for the first team..."
"Eighty million euros."
"???"
"We're making a new offer of 80 million euros. Do you think this price is appropriate?"
"Ah? Are you sure you want to offer 80 million euros again? Sorry, I may need to communicate with Mr. Laporta over the phone..."
"Then tell Mr. Laporta directly on the phone that we will offer 85 million euros. If he thinks it's appropriate, we can sign a contract with Yamal today."
Li Chen raised the offer amount to 85 million euros in just two sentences, which almost made the Barcelona negotiation leader throw his phone to the floor.
This price had already exceeded the 70 million euro bottom line they were responsible for negotiating.
15 million, just to buy a -year-old young player?
Even if Yamal really has Neymar's talent, he is not worth so much money now that he is not even 16 years old!
Laporta's first reaction when he received the call was that the negotiation team had finally dealt with those annoying guys in Newcastle.
How dare you offer 50 or 60 million euros to Yamal?
To put it bluntly, according to Yamal's current growth trend, even if he fails to grow to the level expected by the club in the future.
With the reputation of Barcelona and his decent performance, he can be sold for 20 to million before he turns .
Barcelona club only needs to spend more time waiting for the sweet fruits to mature so that they can have a good harvest. Why should they be greedy for such a small profit now?
But when he heard the re-offer of 85 million euros, there was only silence on the phone.
With a hint of uncertainty, Laporta repeatedly confirmed the price offered by Li Chen with the person in charge of the negotiations.
After confirming that 80 million would be given first and then 5 million would be added in one go, Laporta made the decision immediately!
"Give him 100 million and see if they dare to follow!"
Laporta gritted his teeth and took a gamble, and secured a historic offer for Barcelona.
When the person in charge of the negotiations told him that Li Chen nodded in agreement to the offer, Laporta no longer had any future plans related to Yamal in his mind.
In less than an hour, the Barcelona club changed its attitude and gave the green light for the contact between Li Chen and Yamal.
But considering that Newcastle added 40 million euros to the offer within an hour, Barcelona's choice is reasonable.
Li Chen, who was confident of victory, then met Yamal, who had just finished his nap, in the same conference room.
This little guy was very smart. The moment he saw Li Chen, he knew that the club had agreed to sell him.
Because Mendes is also his agent, Yamal has a pretty good impression of Li Chen.
So after chatting for a few sentences, Yamal got straight to the point and told Li Chen clearly that he did not want to leave Barcelona and he wanted to work for the revitalization of Barcelona.
"Don't you want to know how much money I spent to convince the club to bring you in?"
Li Chen's words made Yamal's big eyes flash with curiosity.
When Yamal learned that Newcastle offered a record-breaking transfer fee of 1 million euros to get him, he was also a little confused.
Li Chen found Yamal's surprised expression amusing, and thought that Yamal should now be able to feel his and Newcastle's sincerity and make a decision.
But to his surprise, after being silent for a while, Yamal finally shook his head.
Li Chen frowned slightly and continued to persuade patiently.
"I know, Lamine, that you want to be at the top of Europe again with this Barcelona team, and you want to be a representative player of the club like Messi.
But in today's football world, few people can do everything you want. Hasn't even Messi himself become a victim of the struggle among the club's top management?
Lamin, you are a smart boy and should be able to see this clearly. I cannot guarantee that I can train you to become a representative star of Newcastle in the future, but as long as I am in office, I will do my best to help you grow and avoid injuries.
In my place, you will be able to obtain the core position of the team after you become an adult, you should consider it carefully..."
The conditions offered by Li Chen were quite tempting.
Yamal didn't need to doubt the truthfulness and intention of Li Chen's words.
Newcastle even paid out 100 million euros in so-called training fees, which clearly shows that they are extremely optimistic about his future growth. There is no need for Li Chen to lie to him about using him.
To be honest, this is very tempting, especially since Li Chen is good at coaching young players and has just led the young England team to win the World Cup.
But for the determined Yamal, it would be a lifelong regret if he left Barcelona before realizing his professional dream of revitalizing the club.
He didn't want to regret his decision today someday in the future.
Even if he cannot become Barcelona's Gerrard in this trend of the times, he can at least become Barcelona's golden boy Torres.
Seeing that he could not convince Yamal no matter what he did, Li Chen could only hold him back and ask him to think it over while he walked out of the meeting room to make an emergency call to Mendes.
"What's going on? Lamin still won't give in?"
As soon as Mendes picked up the phone, he asked Li Chen questions, as if he had known that Li Chen would run into obstacles in Yamal.
In response to Li Chen's request, Mendes could only smile bitterly and shake his head.
"One hundred million. If this deal is concluded, how much commission will I have to take? Li, it's not that I don't want to help you. Laming has a strong personal opinion, and his mother will only support any decision he makes. It will be more difficult for you to use your family's relationship to persuade him."
Li Chen was overwhelmed when he heard this.
It seems that he has made a personal trip and has already convinced Laporta, but in the end he may fail in Yamal?
He really wanted to tell Yamal that there would never be another Messi in Barcelona under Laporta.
And what hope is there in staying in the current Barcelona?
Wouldn't it be more challenging and fulfilling to go to the Premier League with him to show our talents and pull Guardiola and Manchester City off the Premier League throne?
But after returning to the meeting room, seeing Yamal's still unmoved eyes, Li Chen finally gave up the idea of persuading him again.
"I will wait for your call before the end of this winter transfer window, Lamin. If you change your mind, remember to inform me as soon as possible. The door of Newcastle will be open to you before the end of the winter transfer window."
Knowing that he would not be able to persuade Yamal today, Li Chen could only retreat in order to advance, so that he could leave an image of a magnanimous person in Yamal's heart.
Laporta, who learned that Yamal was determined not to leave Barcelona, was both heartbroken and proud. He was moved because the club was likely to miss out on the 1 million euro winter transfer fee.
Of course, I am proud of myself and feel extremely satisfied with Barcelona’s youth training.
At least in terms of gaining the loyalty of young players, La Masia should be the number one in global football.
This allows Barcelona to train a group of young players with top football talents for their own use even in the most difficult financial periods, without having to worry about being poached by other teams.
The talented players developed by Valdebebas eventually benefited other teams in La Liga.
La Masia is dedicated to strengthening Barcelona, and it always manages to cultivate a group of young talents capable of competing with the Galacticos during Real Madrid's heyday.
This savior's ability is really beyond belief.
Li Chen, who failed to successfully kidnap little Messi from Barcelona, could only helplessly get on the special car back to the hotel.
However, just as the car turned a corner of a coffee shop and was about to head back to the hotel, a colorful and eye-catching hairstyle in the street once again attracted Li Chen's attention.
"Hey, wait a minute, please stop the car."
After the driver parked the car on the side of the road, Li Chen got out and walked directly to the entrance of the alley where he had just seen the boy.
"Hey, friend, you'd better not go to a place like that. We can't always guarantee your personal safety."
The security personnel in the car suddenly got out, walked quickly forward and stretched out his hand to stop Li Chen.
After he reminded him, Li Chen realized that behind the beautiful and modern cafe he had just seen was the slums of Barcelona.
The not-so-tall buildings on both sides stood opposite each other, leaving a narrow alley about one and a half meters wide in the middle.
Most of the young boys that Li Chen saw this morning were now gathered in this alley, continuing to play football.
What could not be seen clearly with a pair of sleepy eyes in the early morning is now clearly visible under the afternoon sun.
The children, dressed in clean old clothes, stopped chasing the football and looked towards the alley entrance.
The boy with colorful hair also looked over.
He was wearing a very obvious youth academy training uniform, but it was visibly too small for the naked eye.
Compared to other children of the same age, he is more sturdy and has a faint hint of fuzz around his lips.
The two scars on his face had not healed yet, and the sweat mixed with mud made his originally handsome face look a little dirty.
The local security guard and tour guide who was temporarily hired by Li Chen's assistant was a little nervous at first, but he relaxed as soon as he saw the group of children in front of him.
"Fermin, why are you out here playing on the street again? Go back and take care of your father. By the way, give your father my regards. I'll go see him after get off work tonight..."
The boy, called Fermin by the security personnel, picked up the football and scratched his head, with a look of reluctance on his face.
Li Chen thought he would be as rebellious as his hairstyle.
Unexpectedly, the boy chose to obey obediently. After answering, he led the children behind him and ran deep into the alley.
"Juan, do you know this kid?"
Li Chen asked the security guard, and seeing that he was interested, the other party stood there and briefly told him about Fermin's origins.
Fermin's full name is Fermin Rodriguez.
He also has a twin brother named Thiago Rodriguez.
Both grew up in the slums of Barcelona, raised by their single father.
Old Rodriguez, who was a cleaner at the Espanyol club in his early years, used this identity to get his two talented sons into the Espanyol youth training team.
But later he lost both legs in a car accident and could only recuperate at home with the low amount of relief from the government.
As a result, just one year after he had the car accident, his eldest son Thiago was seriously injured in a youth training match and needed cruciate ligament recovery surgery.
This operation directly drained the Rodriguez family's meager savings.
Even though the Espanyol club paid more than half of the medical and postoperative rehabilitation costs, unfortunately, in order to ensure Thiago's successful rehabilitation, the Rodriguez family had to bear a lot of debt.
But what is even more unfortunate is that Thiago, who was originally very talented, lost his courage to fight after this serious injury, and his spiritual breakthrough talent gradually dissipated.
The Espanyol club gave him a year, but his performance got worse and worse until he was finally eliminated by the echelon coach.
In the end, it was Fermin, whose talent seemed far less outstanding than his brother, who received another year of youth training.
But just half a year ago, Fermin was also expelled from the Espanyol club for the second vicious fight with his teammates in a short period of time.
In other words, now sixteen-year-old Fermin, like his brother, has lost the qualifications to pursue a career in professional football.
Considering their family's current situation, this is undoubtedly a regrettable and unfortunate story.
Li Chen is not a pushover, but when faced with something like this, he still chooses to lend a little help.
After all, he saw Fermin on the street twice today, which means he has some fate with this guy.
Li Chen took out one thousand euros and gave it to Juan, asking him to transfer the money to the Rodriguez family on his behalf.
But Juan just waved his hands repeatedly, and then embarrassedly made another small request to Li Chen.
"If possible, there will be many 5-a-side and 7-a-side games going on at the nearby football park, and I would like to invite you to watch them..."
Upon hearing this, Li Chen showed an intriguing smile on his face.
"The Rodriguez brothers will also appear in these games later, right?"
Juan, whose thoughts were exposed by Li Chen, laughed dryly twice. It was quite rare to see such embarrassment in a Spanish man who was nearly 1 meters tall.
Li Chen did not ask any further. He guessed that Juan should have a close relationship with old Rodriguez. Since he was doing security work for him this time, he wanted to take the opportunity to create more opportunities for the Rodriguez brothers.
To be honest, Li Chen didn't like this roundabout way of helping, but he still agreed to Juan.
Maybe he would leave Barcelona in the evening, so he could go and watch the Rodriguez brothers play football in the afternoon. Anyway, he had time, so he might as well go.
There could be other reasons as well.
After returning to the hotel to rest for a while and changing into more casual clothes, Li Chen, his assistant, and Juan and his group set off again by car.
The football theme park was not far from the hotel where Li Chen was staying.
Just as Juan said, this place is very lively in the afternoon. Even if there is no official organizer, children and young people from the neighborhood will spontaneously gather together to play small games.
Five-a-side and seven-a-side matches obviously highlight the players' footwork and personal physical abilities.
Players with better skills and personal physical fitness are the kings of these small-field events.
But in regular 11-a-side matches, most of the players who can perform well in such small-scale events actually performed mediocrely.
So when Li Chen saw the scale of this competition, he had less expectations for the Rodriguez brothers.
However, seeing Juan's excited expression, he still chose to watch patiently for more than ten minutes.
Soon, he saw the Rodriguez brothers in the midst of a noisy competition.
Fermin Rodriguez's hairstyle is so eye-catching that it's hard not to notice him.
While his elder brother Thiago Rodriguez has normal black hair.
At the same time, Thiago's body shape is more normal, not as stout as his twin brother Fermin.
The two were in the same team, with the younger brother Fermin playing as a striker and the older brother Thiago playing as a midfielder. They relied on more skillful and tacit cooperation than other players to pass and score repeatedly.
It's just that Fermin's shooting skills are too mediocre. In Li Chen's opinion, Fermin, who had five excellent chances in just a few times, only scored two goals.
However, this kid's heading technique is quite good, and he is also very active in returning to defense. At least he is more keen to return to defense and fill in positions than forward players in other fields.
But Juan did not take these two advantages seriously. Instead, he became more and more anxious the more he looked at them.
How could an outstanding young Spanish player not show more of his skills with his feet and his excellent sense of goal?
Compared with heading and defensive discipline?
That's what English and Italian players play. Do they need players with your characteristics?
This is just nonsense!
After Fermin's team scored the third goal, the opponent obviously didn't want to play anymore and clamored for a stronger player to come up and get back the win.
When Li Chen saw this, he made up his mind.
He took out the one thousand euros from his pocket and watched Juan sighing.
But then he took out a personal business card from his shirt pocket.
"I have to catch a flight tonight, so I'm afraid I won't be able to visit the father of these two children in person, so I'd like you to pass this 1000 euros to him on my behalf. By the way, please bring these two children to Newcastle to see me when you are free."
Juan subconsciously took the money handed over by Li Chen, but from what Li Chen said, it seemed like he was interested in these two guys?
Li Chen didn't say much. He took a last look at Fermin who seemed to be looking over here, then turned around and left with his assistant.
He did not see the potential in Fermin to grow into an outstanding center forward in football.
His sense of smell in front of the goal and shooting talent are too poor, which is an irreparable natural defect.
On the contrary, although his defensive movements are very large and he always likes to take risks in stealing the ball when making up for the defense, Fermin's sense of defensive position is quite good.
This is also a rare talent.
If the current Fermin were thrown into a real combat match.
Then, apart from being a rough fulcrum center with only brute strength, he can only be a mad dog defensive midfielder in the backcourt who disrupts the opponent's attack at any cost.
The former lacks the key ability to seize opportunities, while the latter seems to be active in defense, but is likely to disrupt the entire team's defensive arrangement because of his disorderly running.
Therefore, these two types of players naturally do not receive the favor of youth training coaches.
Li Chen could also understand why the Espanyol club finally decided to give up Fermin.
Not only is this kid unable to provide more offensive and defensive value in youth training matches, he is also likely to be an emotional time bomb.
No matter what the final reason is, he chose to fight with his teammates twice recently, which has caused bad effects.
It is normal to give up on him as he has no value to the Espanyol club anymore.
But Li Chen saw the potential for success in him.
There are too many so-called defensive midfielders in football today whose defensive positioning is a mess, so much so that positional sense has become a rare talent for defensive midfielders.
Li Chen not only saw excellent defensive positioning talent in Fermin, but also saw his passion for defensive interceptions.
Coupled with his physical talents and good heading ability, he is a natural ball-grabbing machine.
Of course, to complete this transformation, Fermin must correct many of his bad habits on the defensive end and must also suppress some unnecessary passion for interception and attack.
If this kid can be obedient and accept the transformation, Li Chen feels that there is a high probability that he can transform him into Newcastle's second Joelinton.
Well, a defensive midfielder version of Joelinton with excellent defensive positioning.
(End of this chapter)