Chapter 227: A call from the former president of Real Madrid
The fierce competition of the World Cup has attracted the attention of almost all fans around the world.
While the World Cup is in full swing, European football is also undergoing drastic changes.
There are still more than twenty days until the summer transfer window opens on July 7, but before that, major teams have already begun to look for and contact the players they want in advance.
The contract renewal negotiations for veteran players have also entered the final stage.
In Serie A, the final results of the Calciopoli incident were announced, with Juventus ordered to be relegated and AC Milan and other teams being penalized.
Affected by this, not only a large number of current players of the old giants Juventus are seeking to transfer away, but stars from other Serie A teams also have plans to leave Serie A and switch to other leagues.
This has had a significant impact on Serie A teams, and many teams are scrambling to retain their main players.
Inter Milan is no exception. Before the end of the league, Inter Milan club officials made several contract renewal proposals to Lin Feng, hoping that Lin Feng could renew his contract with Inter Milan and extend his contract term.
But Lin Feng never gave a positive response to this, and simply declined on the grounds that his contract still had a long time to run.
Lin Feng transferred to Inter Milan last summer and signed a three-year contract with Inter Milan. Now just one season has passed and there are still two full years left, so there is really no need to rush.
Generally speaking, clubs usually renew contracts with players about half a year in advance. For particularly important main players or even core players, it is not uncommon for negotiations to start a year or even a year and a half in advance.
It is very rare for a team like Inter Milan to be so eager to re-sign Lin Feng just half a season after he joined the team.
This also shows how much Inter Milan values Lin Feng and how well Lin Feng performed in the past season, which is why Inter Milan wants to keep him at all costs.
But Lin Feng actually doesn’t have much idea about renewing his contract with Inter Milan.
He has read Inter Milan's new contract. Although the other party has increased his salary, the contract period has been extended to five years and a higher penalty fee has been set.
This created a huge obstacle for him to leave Inter Milan in the future, which made Lin Feng quite resistant.
Secondly, affected by the Calciopoli scandal, the overall strength of Serie A will gradually decline.
Their competitiveness in the Champions League began to decline, and Juventus was relegated and AC Milan was penalized. Although this would be good for Inter Milan and make them the only dominant team in Italy.
But at that time, Inter Milan did not actually have the strength to compete for the Champions League. Therefore, if Lin Feng continued to stay in Inter Milan, apart from winning a few more Serie A titles without any difficulty, it would be difficult for him to gain any other honors.
Besides, competing with low-level opponents for a long time is not conducive to one's own growth. Therefore, Lin Feng really wants to change the environment and try his luck in some more competitive leagues and teams.
Except for the Bundesliga and Ligue 1, La Liga and the Premier League are both within Lin Feng's acceptable range.
But there are only two teams to choose from in La Liga, either Barcelona or Real Madrid. There is no need to consider Barcelona, as he is not a product of the La Masia youth training camp and has no Catalan ancestry.
If you go to Barcelona, you will only be ostracized by the locals and it will be difficult to integrate into their core circle.
As for Real Madrid, although it does not have the same regional and bloodline problems as Barcelona, the situation within the team is very complicated.
The club has just undergone a change of top management, and the newly appointed Calderon has shown his readiness to vigorously clean up the team's meritorious players.
Under such circumstances, Real Madrid's performance next season is definitely not to be expected. Moreover, if he transfers there at this time, he will easily be labeled as Calderon's man, and when Florentino returns, he may be made to suffer.
Politics is so troublesome. Lin Feng avoids it and doesn't want to get involved.
So after much thought, it seems that the only place I can go is the Premier League.
Coincidentally, there are actually several teams in the Premier League that have been in private contact with Lin Feng’s agent.
So Lin Feng took the opportunity to go back home and ask his elder brother about the current contact between the two parties.
"Ever since you expressed your desire to go to the Premier League last time, I have been paying special attention to the Premier League's actions. Currently, all of the Premier League's BIG4 have invited you, but the most sincere ones are Arsenal and Chelsea!"
"Arsenal?"
Lin Feng was very surprised when he heard this name. He thought that Liverpool and Manchester United would be the most sincere, but he did not expect that the financially constrained Wenger would be at the forefront.
"Yes, it is said that it was Professor Wenger who argued with reason and persuaded the big boss of Arsenal to allow him to raise a huge amount of money to bring you to the Emirates Stadium!"
Lin Feng glanced at his elder brother and saw that his expression was serious and he didn't seem to be joking.
"Given how much Inter Milan values me now, if Arsenal want to take me away, I'm afraid they will have to pay more than 5000 million euros in transfer fees. Even if the negotiations don't go well, the price may continue to rise, and it's not impossible that the penalty fee will reach 8000 million euros!"
At this point in time in 2006, 8000 million Euros was really an astronomical figure. Even though Lin Feng has now demonstrated great talent and strong combat effectiveness, there probably aren't many teams that have the guts to spend so much money to buy him!
Seeing Lin Feng's worried expression, the eldest brother smiled and said:
"Haha, I heard that Wenger has already raised 8000 million euros in transfer funds. It's not impossible to directly activate the penalty clause!"
Lin Feng was not optimistic: "Wenger's 80 million may seem like a lot, but it is probably all the transfer fees for this summer window. He can only strengthen the three lines here and buy another player somewhere else. This money will be gone in a while."
Arsenal is not really poor, but the huge debt they incurred from building the stadium has put their finances under tremendous pressure.
Since the big boss does not make additional investments and Wenger has to manage the finances on his own, he naturally cannot come up with any money, so he can only pick up bargains and buy some small players in Ligue 1 to make ends meet.
"If things really don't work out, Arsenal can still sell players. Doesn't Henry want to leave? Pires is expected to leave this summer too. If they leave, Arsenal can free up a lot of salary space and get an extra transfer fee. Maybe they will have enough money to strengthen other positions while spending a lot of money to buy you!"
Lin Feng smiled bitterly after hearing this: "If Wenger really sold out the team, then what's the point of me going there? The whole team is almost torn apart, it's impossible for me to rely on just one person!"
Wenger is a good man, but Arsenal is really not good.
Until Arsenal repays its loan and resolves the team's equity dispute, this team has no future.
"Then it can only be Chelsea. Mourinho is very optimistic about you and specifically asked Abramovich for you!"
Chelsea has had a very good record in the Premier League in the past two seasons. Not only has it won two consecutive Premier League titles, breaking Manchester United's monopoly, it has also become a new Premier League upstart and one of the Premier League BIG4. Mourinho has also become one of the hottest young coaches in the current football world because of his success in Porto and Chelsea.
Although many people have criticized the money-driven football that Abramovich started after taking over Stamford Bridge, money really can allow you to do whatever you want.
The team has a good record, the coach is famous, and the boss is not stingy with money.
Not only are they willing to spend money on buying players, but the wages they offer to players are also the highest in the Premier League.
Such a team is a good place to go, whether for players who want to get better salary or for players who want to compete for honors on a better platform.
However, big problems usually arise in Mourinho's third year as coach of a team.
Next season will be Mourinho's third year at Stamford Bridge. Joining Mourinho at this time feels like joining the national army in 1949.
"Let's put Chelsea aside for now. Now it depends on whether Liverpool is active. If Liverpool is not sincere enough, then I will not leave this summer and continue to stay at Inter Milan!"
Lin Feng was also very worried. If he was just an ordinary player, it would be fine. Any wealthy club would make him dazzled.
But at his current level, there are actually not many teams he can transfer to.
Ordinary players only need to consider whether there is a ball to play and what their salary and benefits are.
But for players like them, they need to consider many issues such as the strength of the team's lineup, the competitiveness of the league and the Champions League, the club's financial resources, the team's tactical play, the lineup structure, etc.
After all, the cost of a failed transfer is very high, and the golden period of a professional player is very short and cannot be wasted.
A failed transfer may very likely cause a player to fall from the peak to the bottom, or even be left without a ball to play.
The risk of transfer does not only exist among young players, even adult famous stars have to face such risks.
Just like AC Milan's top scorer Shevchenko, because of Chelsea's failed transfer, he quickly fell from being the winner of the Ballon d'Or and Golden Foot to having no ball to play.
The transfer risk is too great and must be treated with caution.
Just when Lin Feng was having a headache about where to go, he received a call that surprised him greatly.
The call was from Florentino.
But the other party has already stepped down as the president of Real Madrid, so the call seemed very strange.
Lin Feng couldn't figure out the other party's intention of making this call for a moment, but after hesitating for a moment, he chose to answer it.
For ordinary leaders, they may face a situation where people forget about them after they leave, but Lin Feng knows very well that Florentino is the evergreen of Real Madrid. A temporary defeat is not enough to defeat him. He will make a comeback in a few years and build Real Madrid into the most dominant team in Europe.
Florentino's apologetic voice came from the other end of the phone:
"Lin, I'm really sorry. For reasons known to all, I am no longer the president of Real Madrid. So I'm afraid it will be difficult to fulfill the agreement we made before. But you can rest assured that Real Madrid is still very interested in you. If you are still willing to come to Real Madrid, the door of Real Madrid is still open to you!"
After hearing Florentino's words, Lin Feng thought to himself that it was no wonder that the other party was able to make a comeback.
Most people who fail in an election would probably be disheartened and would not care about private agreements with a certain player.
But Florentino still remembered and did not forget to call him to apologize.
By making this call, he could not only give Lin Feng an explanation, but also further strengthen the relationship between the two sides.
Lin Feng believed that he definitely did not call only himself for calls like this. He was afraid that all the stars he had contacted privately on behalf of Real Madrid had received his calls one after another.
Don't underestimate this phone call. It's not just a phone call, it's about connections and relationships.
When he makes a comeback in the future, he will probably be able to easily attract a group of outstanding players with the connections he has established before.
By the same token, he has also used similar methods within the club and among Real Madrid members.
No wonder he was able to make a comeback so easily and occupied the position of Real Madrid chairman for a long time. This old Deng is really something!
"Haha, President, you are no longer in Real Madrid, why should I go to Real Madrid at this time?
Your contact with me is probably no secret within Real Madrid, and President Calderon will definitely know about it, so I have canceled my plan to transfer to Real Madrid! "
Florentino heard Lin Feng's answer, although he said: "It's a pity, Real Madrid missed a great player!"
But he was very happy in his heart. He had been following Lin Feng for a long time and knew that Lin Feng was a very talented and capable player.
If Calderon really brings Lin Feng back to the Bernabeu, it would be a bit troublesome for him.
What if Real Madrid plays better and better under Lin Feng's leadership, and the fans and members are satisfied with Calderon's performance, how can he overthrow Calderon and regain power?
"No regrets, no regrets. I'm still young and can wait. Whenever you return to Real Madrid to take charge, it won't be too late for me to go there!"
The other party called on his own initiative, and although he had other thoughts in mind, he was indeed sincere.
So Lin Feng didn't mind giving the other party a little sweetness. He painted a big pie for Florentino, implying that when Florentino returned to Real Madrid, he would still consider Real Madrid.
Florentino was overjoyed. The purpose of making this call was to gain Lin Feng's favor. If Lin Feng became a superstar in the future, he could use the gimmick of "taking Lin Feng to the Bernabeu" to win votes during the election.
Of course, if Lin Feng’s performance declines and fails to meet expectations, then this phone call will be treated as if it never existed. The two parties only had a verbal agreement and no substantial evidence was left.
After hanging up the phone, Lin Feng began to think.
He is definitely not going to Real Madrid this summer, and now he has few options left.
But Lin Feng is not in a hurry. There is still some time before the transfer period starts, so he can first pay attention to the actions of Inter Milan and other clubs.
If Inter Milan makes significant reinforcements in various positions this summer, then he may consider staying and continuing to play for Inter Milan.
But if Inter Milan's signings are not ideal and there are other more suitable teams that show great sincerity, then he will most likely leave!
(End of this chapter)
