Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 543 The Increasingly Frenzied European Football Scene

After flying directly from Jordan to Guangzhou, the Chinese national football team disbanded on the spot.

The remaining two matches won't start until next year, so the national team doesn't have any tasks to complete right now.

Shan Yongzhuo went straight back to his home in Changsha, but he still had a lot to do in the future.

How much time will actually be spent at home... nobody knows.

Since qualifying for the World Cup finals, the value and popularity of this group of Chinese national football players have skyrocketed.

In particular, forwards like Hao Junmin, Yu Hanchao, Deng Zhuoxiang, and Gao Lin, who have performed relatively well, have become hot commodities for advertisers.

Needless to say, Shan Yongzhuo was another one of them.

For the Chinese national football team players, this summer is a season of harvest, a busy season, and a season of great financial gains. Few can resist such a thing.

After the Chinese team made it to the World Cup finals last time, Chinese screens were filled with football-related advertisements, ranging from beverages to home appliances to cars.

Meanwhile, Bora Milutinovic, the then head coach of the Chinese national football team, enjoyed a surge in popularity and began to frantically take on gigs and make a fortune. Some even questioned whether Milutinovic's practice of taking on gigs and making money was a dereliction of duty and a major reason for the national team's failure in the World Cup.

However, this is not just Milutinovic's problem. Many players on the Chinese team are somewhat neglecting their duties. From coaches to players, most people treat qualifying for the World Cup as their golden ticket and retirement guarantee. If this can't be used to make money, what's the point?
It's not fair to blame them for being short-sighted. After all, the domestic environment at that time had changed since the late 90s, and many players had picked up some bad habits to some extent. For example, players like Shen Si and Jiang Jin ended up with a somewhat disgraced reputation.

Of course, there are also some good players among them. Li Weifeng is still on the national team roster and may even be taken to Brazil. Zheng Zhi is also a player from that era. He missed the Korea-Japan World Cup for some special reasons, but he finally made it this time.

Such a story is almost certain to unfold in China this year, and may even be more dramatic, given that this is only the second time China has qualified for the World Cup finals.

Shan Yongzhuo had anticipated this situation, but he didn't care, as Kross could handle all of this for him.

The news that Shan Yongzhuo transferred directly from Guangzhou to Changsha was immediately reported.

Later on the plane, as soon as Shan Yongzhuo boarded, he was immediately recognized by the flight attendants. Before the plane took off, many people came to ask him for autographs, photos, and unwanted advances.

After the plane landed and Shan Yongzhuo stepped out of the airport, he was warmly welcomed. The mayor of CS and a group of leaders from the Sports Bureau personally came to pick him up and even put on a grand welcoming ceremony.

Dan Yongzhuo was speechless; he felt like he was being treated like a high-ranking leader.

He was well aware that as a public figure, having no privacy was a minor issue. Although he had tried to be as low-key as possible, his fame was still too great.

Next, I attended a dinner with my superiors and got to know many important figures from Hunan Province.

During his time at home, Shan Yongzhuo was extremely busy, with various endorsement advertisements and numerous programs that he couldn't refuse, until the beginning of August when it finally ended.

Just like in 2002, in the summer of 2013, the Chinese national football team players frequently appeared on various screens, bombarding the audience across the country.

Shan Yongzhuo is not the Chinese national football player who appears in the most media.

However, he didn't stay in China for long before heading to Spain. He was overwhelmed by all the invitations he received back home. Since he had already made a fortune, he simply bought a plane ticket to Spain, ostensibly to familiarize himself with the environment and maintain his fitness level.

This reasoning was impeccable. Three days later, Shan Yongzhuo appeared in Granada, Spain.

The new house is all set up. The renovation and refurbishment have been going on for a month, and it's ready to move in.

This is a property that Cross found for him, located on the outskirts of Granada. The surrounding environment is quite nice, but it's not as big as the villa in Manchester.

Dan Yongzhuo had all his personal belongings airlifted over, and then he drove around Granada. He knew that his new life had begun.

Granada...

It's a small city, with an urban population of only two or three hundred thousand, much smaller than Manchester.

However, Shan Yongzhuo really likes the pace of life in this small city; it's slow and leisurely, a city where you can enjoy life.

After spending two days in Granada and buying some daily necessities, Shan Yongzhuo then became a homebody.

He did, however, keep an eye on some information regarding the summer transfer window.

Apart from the Shan Yongzhuo deal, Granada's other transfers were hardly noteworthy. They cleared out some unknown players and signed some unknown players. The three most important deals, Harry Kane, Nainggolan, and Ziyech, were simply insignificant in the context of European football this summer; calling them mere scraps was an understatement.

That year, signs of soaring prices were already emerging, with transactions exceeding 2000 million euros becoming commonplace.

Not to mention the two focal points of this summer.

Brazilian prodigy Neymar has reportedly joined Barcelona from Santos for €57 million. The "King of the New Century," handpicked by Pelé, will sign a five-year contract with Barcelona.

Barcelona made a big move, and Real Madrid naturally wasn't going to be outdone.

First, there's Gareth Bale from Tottenham, who ultimately joined Real Madrid for €1.05 million. This price was clearly a huge overpayment, but given the failures of Neymar's move to Barcelona and the renewed pursuit of Shan Yongzhuo, Real Madrid was obviously making a desperate move.

In addition, there's Illarramendi's €3000 million, Isco's €2700 million, plus Carvajal and Casemiro.

Real Madrid's moves this summer have shocked everyone.

However, they did make some changes. Özil was sold to Arsenal by Real Madrid for 5000 million euros, Higuain was sold to Napoli for 3200 million euros, Kaká returned to AC Milan for free, and the remaining players such as Callejon, Albiol, and Carvalho were all cleared out. Real Madrid can be said to have undergone a complete transformation.

Next up is Paris Saint-Germain, who had been desperately seeking a striker but failed to secure him. They also found a replacement, bringing Serie A's top striker Edinson Cavani from Napoli for €6400 million.

In the new season, Cadiz will partner with Ibrahimovic in Ligue 1.

The remaining players include Götze, Thiago, Fellaini, Fernandinho, Jovetic, Schürrle, Willian, Soldado, Lamela...

There have been many transfers with transfer fees exceeding 2000 million euros, leading people to lament that in this era of soaring prices, player transfer fees are truly incomprehensible.

(End of this chapter)