Chapter 299 Unexpectedly, Beckham joins Inter Milan!
Although the matter between Beckham and Inter Milan is just a rumor, Inter Milan's right winger is really planning to leave.
In January, Figo personally went to the Middle East and contacted the Al-Ittihad Club of the Saudi League.
The wealthy Middle Eastern player, who is not short of money, was very sincere and offered the Portuguese player the world's highest salary of 900 million euros.
With this kind of annual salary, it would be difficult for even a 35-year-old young player to afford it, let alone a 25-year-old veteran like Figo.
Figo realized that his professional career only had a few years left, and he had won many honors at Real Madrid and Inter Milan. Although he felt very comfortable at Inter Milan, as all his teammates were talented and spoke well.
But there is no way, the other party gave too much!
His annual salary at Inter Milan is only 350 million euros, which is just over one-third of the annual salary offered by Saudi Arabia.
Moreover, this was a contract signed two years ago. He is now nearly 35 years old. It is unclear whether Inter Milan is willing to renew his contract. Even if they agree to renew his contract, it is unlikely that his salary will increase much.
After all, for veterans of this age, they no longer have much potential to tap, and the club's willingness to renew their contracts at the original price is already very face-giving.
Some of the more extreme ones, like a certain cost-conscious team in the Premier League, adopt a one-year contract attitude towards veterans over 30 years old. If they are not in good form, they will just kick them out. They want to fleece the club, but it is impossible.
Figo's career has been successful enough and he has won various honors from the club.
The national team is not bad either. Except for some regrets in the European Cup three years ago, the team tied the best record in Portugal's history in the World Cup and successfully handed over the legacy to the next generation. He has no regrets.
So he needs to think more about himself at this time. It is human nature to earn more pension for himself at the end of his career.
So faced with such a sincere contract from the Saudis, Figo did not hesitate too much. He accepted the other party's invitation and signed the contract with them.
The contract came into effect on June 2007, 6, the day after his contract with Inter Milan expired.
After successfully signing the Portuguese, Al-Etihad immediately announced the news on its official website.
Their chairman Pavel even said excitedly in an interview with reporters:
"Figo is an experienced and well-known veteran in the football world. His joining will be a great asset to Al-Ittihad Club and will definitely enhance the international influence of the entire Saudi League!"
In recent years, thanks to the rapid development of a large country in the East, the global demand for fossil energy has been rising steadily.
Affected by this, the oil-producing countries in the Middle East have made a lot of money in the environment of soaring oil prices!
Inspired by Russian billionaire Abramovich, the Middle Eastern tycoons with huge amounts of money have begun to turn their attention to football.
Football is not a profitable industry. Except for vampire businessmen from the United States, it is difficult for others to make money from football. In order to maintain the competitiveness of the team, they even have to pay money out of their pockets every year.
However, the political and social influence of football is enormous. After retiring, some countries' football stars can even be elected president of their country with a high vote based on the influence they accumulated during their playing days.
It just so happens that the wealthy people in the Middle East are not short of money at all, what they lack is international influence.
The huge influence that Abramovich has achieved in the UK after investing in Chelsea has made them dazzled.
As a result, capital from the Middle East began to enter the field of football in a big way, and it was under such circumstances that the Saudi domestic league began to enter the era of money-driven football.
Similar things have actually happened in other countries. Investors invest in football not to make money, but for something else.
Abramovich's first investment in football was not in the Premier League, but in the Russian Premier League.
The reason why the Russian Premier League's performance in European competitions has been so successful in recent years is because of the strong financial support behind it.
But Russia is a remote area after all, far away from the center of Europe.
No matter how much money is invested in the Russian Premier League, the profits and influence gained will not be as great as acquiring a club in the top five leagues.
Before Abramovich bought Chelsea, his fame was limited to Russia and Eastern Europe, but after he became the owner of the Blues, his reputation spread all over the world.
With such successful examples in the past, the Middle Eastern tycoons will sooner or later enter the European football scene!
……
Upon learning that Figo was poached by a Saudi team with a high salary, Inter Milan suddenly panicked.
They didn't say they wouldn't renew Figo's contract, so why did Figo run away?
Although Figo is getting older and his condition has started to decline, he is still an important part of Inter Milan's tactical system.
His absence will have a significant impact on Inter Milan.
So after learning the news, Moratti called Figo immediately and tried to keep him.
During the call, he promised to rely on the Portuguese again in the second half of the season, and would renew Figo's contract for two years. He also planned to increase his annual salary by 2 million euros to 100 million euros.
For a 35-year-old veteran, this annual salary is definitely not low, and the two-year contract is not short. After all, his contract with Saudi Arabia is only for one year.
Given Figo's current age and condition, it is hard to say whether Saudi Arabia will be willing to renew the contract after a year.
But Inter Milan gave him a two-year guaranteed contract right away, so he doesn't have to worry about finding a job within two years.
Coupled with Mancini's promise to reuse him, Figo was quite interested.
……
The news that Figo signed with a Saudi team made the already widely circulated rumors about Beckham and Inter Milan even more sensational.
Originally, it was just some unknown tabloids reporting on the incident based on hearsay, but as the situation developed, some major newspapers have now gotten involved.
While satirizing Figo for choosing the Saudi team for money, Gazzetta dello Sport praised Beckham's professional attitude.
The implication of this report is very obvious, otherwise it would not compare people who have nothing to do with Inter Milan with Figo.
Obviously, Figo's choice to join Saudi Arabia for money made Inter Milan and even the entire Serie A fans dissatisfied with him.
In fact, in later generations, this is the most common scene in professional football.
Money has become an important factor in players' future choices. For the sake of money, even top players like Neymar who are at their peak are willing to go to the Middle East to seek gold, let alone Figo who is at the end of his career?
But at that time, the social atmosphere had not reached that level, so Figo suffered a lot of criticism.
Faced with external criticism and fans' doubts and even dissatisfaction, Figo did not come out to explain publicly, but just trained and played silently, trying to do his job well.
But it seems that Inter Milan coach Mancini has some opinions about him.
On January 1, the 29st round of Serie A kicked off. Reporters found that Figo's name was not on the starting list announced by Inter Milan before the game, and they also did not see Figo's name in the 21-man list.
This was a rare occurrence in the past. When Figo was not injured or rotated, he almost always started the game, but today he didn't even make the bench.
Could it be that Mancini is planning to keep him on ice?
The reporters with a keen sense of smell suddenly had their eyes light up, as if they had found a way to create big news. If Inter Milan lost this away game, it would be even better, as they could create even more sensational news reports!
But to their regret, Sampdoria, playing at home, was defeated by the defending champions. In the 13th minute of the first half, Lin Feng helped the team score the first goal with a long shot from outside the penalty area.
Shortly after the start of the second half, Sampdoria's main midfielder was sent off after receiving two yellow cards, causing the game to completely lose suspense.
In the end, Inter Milan defeated their opponent 2:0 away from home, extending their winning streak to 14 games!
This not only refreshed the entire Serie A winning streak record, but also was only one game away from Bayern's record of 15 consecutive wins in the top five leagues set in the Bundesliga last season!
The team has won consecutive games and morale is high. There is no sign of any impact from Figo's absence.
Many Inter Milan fans shouted proudly: It’s enough for us to have Lin Feng!
However, Lin Feng himself is not so optimistic. This season's Serie A has seen a decline in strength and competitiveness due to the decline of Juventus and AC Milan.
With Inter Milan's current lineup, the absence of Figo does not have much impact.
But if it is the Champions League, Figo's absence will have a great impact on Inter Milan.
In less than a month, the Champions League knockout stage will begin.
Such discord within the team at this time is bound to weaken the team's overall combat effectiveness, which is a situation that Lin Feng does not want to see.
So he planned to have a talk with Figo during the team training the next day to see if he could persuade him to change his mind.
Unexpectedly, before he even opened his mouth, Figo took the initiative to bring up the topic:
"Lin, do you think I should go to Saudi Arabia?"
Figo looks a little haggard. He has been ridiculed by the media, questioned and even attacked by fans. Now even the coach is not kind to him and wants to hide him. In addition, the negotiations with Saudi Arabia on the payment of salary have not been smooth, making him feel physically and mentally exhausted.
Lin Feng looked at Figo carefully. Seeing his haggard appearance and the hesitation in his eyes, he immediately knew what was going on:
"Go ahead, the salary is so high, anyone would want to go!"
Figo was a little skeptical about Lin Feng's words, because the other party seemed to be joking and not serious, so he asked seriously:
“Is this what you really think?”
Lin Feng shook his head: "Of course not. Money is important to me, but not that important. I won't let myself go to an environment with uncomfortable culture, climate, diet and low football level to play football just for money. Is this the kind of football you pursue?"
Figo shook his head. He had only considered money before and ignored the issues raised by Lin Feng.
The dry and hot climate of the Middle East, as well as the cultural and religious environment that is completely different from that of Europe, may make it a problem whether one can adapt to it after arriving there.
Seeing Figo fall into deep thought, Lin Feng struck while the iron was hot:
"After all, I am Asian myself, and I have some idea of the level of Asian football. Due to the restrictions on the foreign aid policy of the Asian Football Confederation, most of the Asian teams are mainly composed of local players, and the only three foreign players are basically bought back to be the main players.
If you really go there, with your fame, the other party will definitely regard you as a savior. If you fail to meet their expectations, they will be very disappointed!"
"I'm not doubting your ability to lead the team, but if you play like this, you'll be very tired!"
In fact, Lin Feng really doubted Figo's strength. What Asian teams need are young foreign players with good physical fitness and strong individual combat capabilities, not old hands like Figo.
In an environment of low technology and poor coordination on the ground, these powerful foreign players can solve the battle on their own.
But it is doubtful whether Figo, who is already 35 years old, still has such strength.
Figo has never played in a low-level league, but having participated in several World Cups, he has some understanding of the strength of Asian players.
After hearing Lin Feng's analysis, Figo suddenly had an epiphany.
I was dazzled by the world's highest annual salary of 900 million euros and didn't consider it in such detail at all.
Now that I have calmed down and thought about it, I feel that this contract is not as good as I imagined.
Although 900 million is good, Inter Milan’s two-year contract also has 2 million, which is not a small amount of money.
Moreover, at Inter Milan, he does not need to bear too much responsibility and pressure, as he is not the core of the team.
As for factors such as culture, climate, and diet, Italy is clearly superior.
So how to choose between the two, Figo already has the answer now!
"Hey, why am I talking to you so much? You've already signed the contract!"
Seeing that the other party had figured it out, Lin Feng patted his butt, stood up and prepared to leave.
"Ahem, we originally planned to sign the contract directly, but the other party did not agree to my advance payment of 70% of the salary, so the initial negotiation did not reach an agreement. At present, we have only signed a letter of intent, not a formal contract!"
After saying this, seeing Lin Feng staring at him, Figo blushed and felt embarrassed.
The media and fans scolded him for being obsessed with money, and they were right.
When he asked Al-Etihad to advance 70% of his salary, the other party's reaction was exactly the same as that of the Italian media.
Lin Feng was deeply moved. Figo was a gentle and humble guy. He was self-disciplined and low-key in his daily life. He was also a good family man who loved his wife and never went out to fool around. He had been in Inter Milan for a year and a half and even improved the atmosphere within the team. Anyone who saw him would have to give him a good guy card.
It turns out that this guy actually has this side of him. He asked for an advance of 900% of the annual salary of 7 million. He really dares to ask for it!
This made Lin Feng feel like he was getting to know Figo all over again!
At the same time, I have a new understanding of the good temper of the Saudi people. No wonder so many stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar went to Saudi Arabia to make money more than a decade later.
These guys were really willing to give it. Not only did they not turn against each other on the spot despite such excessive conditions, they even signed a letter of intent with Figo!
This made him a little curious. If one day in the future he became successful and went to the Saudi League to make money, how much salary would the other party offer him?
After successfully persuading Figo, Lin Feng thought that the matter would end like this.
Unexpectedly, on the last day of the winter transfer window, Inter Milan announced a signing that no one expected:
Beckham, a famous British football star, will join Inter Milan with a transfer fee of 800 million euros!
(End of this chapter)
