Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

Due to his poor coaching record, Capello was dismissed by Real Madrid at the end of last season.

For most fans, especially Real Madrid fans, this is nothing to be surprised about.

In the past four years, seven coaches have received compensation from Real Madrid.

The severance pay alone for firing the coach is enough for Real Madrid to buy another big-name player.

Real Madrid fans are notoriously picky, and the Real Madrid board of directors is also very difficult to work with.

Hiddink, Capello, Camacho, Luxemburgo, Heynckes, and others have all been dismissed by Real Madrid.

Real Madrid's reasons for firing them were also quite bizarre!
Those with poor performance will be dismissed, as will those with decent performance but poor playing style.

Even if the team's record is good and the playing style is acceptable, players who don't have good relationships with the team's star players will still be fired.

Even if the first three conditions are met, losing to arch-rival Barcelona on the field can still be a reason for being dismissed.

Even more outrageous is that Vicente del Bosque, who coached for three and a half years and led the team to two Champions League titles and two La Liga titles, was fired by Real Madrid for one of the reasons that the Real Madrid president thought del Bosque's image was not good and did not fit Real Madrid's glamorous and noble aristocratic image!

In the entire European football world, no team is more capricious and unreasonable than Real Madrid when it comes to changing coaches.

That's why many people guessed that Capello, who was returning to the presidency for the second time, would be ousted.

Although he brought Real Madrid a La Liga title, Real Madrid already has nearly 30 La Liga trophies, so one more is not enough.

Real Madrid are more interested in winning their tenth Champions League title than the La Liga title.

Capello's Real Madrid, on the other hand, fell to Inter Milan in the round of 16, failing to accomplish this most important task.

So after losing to Inter Milan in February, his fate was already sealed.

After losing the Champions League, Capello's hope of making a comeback with the La Liga title was nothing but wishful thinking.

However, because Real Madrid changed coaches so frequently, most of Europe's top coaches were unwilling to get involved.

Therefore, Real Madrid's options are limited, and Mourinho, who left Chelsea this summer, is clearly the most suitable, or even the only, choice.

Therefore, Lin Feng was not very satisfied with the so-called inside information revealed by Mendes:
“Mr. Jorge, anyone with a keen eye can guess this kind of news. It’s not exactly your exclusive information. Besides, as an agent, shouldn’t you demonstrate your professional competence? Just being well-informed isn’t enough to impress me!”

Lin Feng is not opposed to changing his agent.

With the rise of Chinese players going abroad, the number of players signed under his leadership has increased, and his focus has gradually shifted to domestic and lower-level European leagues, making it difficult for him to pay attention to Lin Feng.

Moreover, the clubs involved in Lin Feng's transfers are all at a very high level, which are difficult for him to access normally, so it is difficult for them to provide Lin Feng with professional assistance.

Therefore, as early as last year, his older brother took the initiative to suggest that he change to a more professional agent.

Mendes was one of the two agents he recommended; the other was Raiola.

Both are very capable and responsible professional agents for their players.

The difference is that Mendes is better at long-term planning, while Raiola is better at securing greater benefits for the players.

So if you want to make big money, go find Raiola; if you want someone to help you plan your future, go find Mendes.

“I have been observing you and thinking about your future career plans since the World Junior Championships.”

Hearing Lin Feng's words, Mendes had no choice but to take them seriously.

If we don't take this seriously, the other party will probably lose patience.

"Leaving Inter Milan after winning the title was a wise choice. Inter Milan's squad is too old, and the team has lost its ambition after winning the title. Their performance in the new season is likely to decline. Of course, if you are in charge, the decline will not be too severe. The Serie A title and the Champions League semi-finals should still be guaranteed."

But it's almost impossible to win the league title and the Champions League at the same time as last year.

By the year after next, Inter Milan's squad will be aging further, with players like Figo, Vieira, Zanetti, and Materazzi likely to fade from the starting lineup, and Inter Milan will enter a painful period of generational change.

If Inter Milan doesn't make significant signings to strengthen the team, their performance will continue to decline, and even with you in charge, they will likely struggle to reach the semi-finals.

Given your current achievements, your own position, and your playing style, there is only one team that is the best fit for you right now, and that is Barcelona!

Lin Feng raised an eyebrow. He had originally thought that the other party would say that Real Madrid was the most suitable for him. After all, Mendes had previously revealed that Mourinho would go to Real Madrid to coach. Arranging for him to play for Mourinho's team seemed to be a win-win situation for both the player and the coach.

Unexpectedly, the other party mentioned Barcelona, ​​which was quite unexpected for Lin Feng.

He couldn't help but ask curiously, "Why do you think Barcelona is the best team for me?"

Lin Feng never considered Barcelona, ​​because from the perspective of someone who came later, he knew that Barcelona's future belonged to Messi.

If I were to join Barcelona as an outsider, I would likely be purged after Messi develops, just like Ibrahimovic was purged.

But he is not Ibrahimovic; his strength and status in the football world are far from comparable to Lin Feng's current level.

So if he really joins Barcelona, ​​it might change history. It's hard to say whether Barcelona will choose him or Messi.

Moreover, Barcelona may not necessarily need to make a choice, because the two are not incompatible.

Mendes was clearly unaware of Lin Feng's thoughts, because due to their different positions, he never considered Messi a rival to Lin Feng.
"Barcelona's current tactical system has already proven its power in the Champions League, with Eto'o and Messi on the front line, possessing both speed and dribbling skills."

The midfield duo of Xavi and Iniesta have both passing ability and control.

If you were added to the team, Barcelona's attacking lineup would become incredibly formidable, unstoppable in the entire football world.

Their decline last season was mainly due to Ronaldinho's individual drop in form, which affected the team's performance. If you join Barcelona, ​​you can perfectly solve this problem, allowing Barcelona to return to its peak, even stronger than the Barcelona of 06!

Lin Feng nodded, acknowledging that there was some truth to what the other person said.

It seems that Barcelona is indeed a good fit for him, but he still has little interest in joining Barcelona.

Putting Messi aside, Barcelona did not participate in the bidding and would not voluntarily pay extra for him.

"And what about Real Madrid?"

When Lin Feng brought up Real Madrid, Mendes immediately perked up, because he knew his chance had come.

"Real Madrid is the second most suitable team for you. They are the most successful club in football, with the most fans and the strongest commercial development capabilities. They are the dream club for countless players. With their extremely strong and stable financial investment and huge appeal to players worldwide, Real Madrid has been able to build a Galácticos team that other clubs cannot, allowing their influence to surpass that of other top clubs."

Joining Real Madrid will not only bring you more honors, but also allow you to leverage Real Madrid's platform to further expand your personal influence and generate more commercial income!

After Mendes finished speaking, he secretly observed Lin Feng's reaction.

If it were an ordinary player, he might have already made them feel flattered by his words and filled them with longing for Real Madrid.

Unfortunately, Mendes saw nothing in the other man's unmoved eyes.

Lin Feng glanced at Mendes, strongly suspecting that the latter had used these words to persuade Ronaldo to join Real Madrid.

Of course, what the other party said makes a lot of sense.

Objectively speaking, Ronaldo's talent and ability are somewhat inferior to Messi's, but with the help of Real Madrid, Ronaldo was able to compete with Messi on par for a decade, and even subtly surpassed Messi in the later stages of Real Madrid's season.

But after leaving Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo's public image and reputation gradually declined.

This shows how powerful Real Madrid is as a platform. After all, even a player like Vinicius was almost packaged by Real Madrid to win the Ballon d'Or, let alone a real superstar.
Lin Feng is not short of money, and he doesn't care much about things like business income.

Compared to these, he places even greater emphasis on personal and team honors.

Real Madrid is indeed very strong in this regard. Once he joins Real Madrid, as long as his performance doesn't falter, he can already imagine sweeping the Ballon d'Or...

"Let's talk about Real Madrid's shortcomings. If this team were really that good, it wouldn't be in such a mess now!"

Mendes laughed and said, "Of course, no team is perfect."

Real Madrid has a large and influential fan base, and its past achievements are so glorious that their fans have extremely high expectations of the team.

Not only are good team results required, but the team also needs to play attractive football; even the players' appearance, demeanor, and image are subject to certain requirements.

Mendes paused, glanced at Lin Feng, and then smiled:

"But this doesn't seem to be a problem for you."

Lin Feng is very handsome, with a great temperament and image; he's practically the kind of person Real Madrid fans would admire.

So as early as last year, many Real Madrid fans called on the Real Madrid management to sign Lin Feng. When Inter Milan visited the Bernabéu, some Real Madrid fans in the stands even held up posters of Lin Feng wearing a Real Madrid jersey, wishing they could just grab Lin Feng on the spot and put a Real Madrid jersey on him.

"In addition, Real Madrid has a lot of internal strife because there are too many star players who are not willing to submit to each other, which makes the Real Madrid dressing room very chaotic. It also involves local factions and foreign factions, and among the foreign factions there are mainland factions and South American factions. In short, it is very difficult to unite them."

Mendes sighed repeatedly when the topic of the numerous conflicts in Real Madrid's dressing room came up.

Mourinho is about to take over as manager of Real Madrid, and given his strong personality, dressing room issues are likely to be the target of his heavy-handed approach.

However, with so many star players at Real Madrid, even with the support of the club president, it won't be easy for Mourinho to control the dressing room.

One wrong move and you could end up like your predecessors, getting fired by the club for not handling your relationship with the team's star players properly.

From this perspective, Mendes's active efforts to facilitate Ronaldo's or his own move to Real Madrid can be seen as paving the way for their future and also helping Mourinho take control of the dressing room.

Unfortunately, Ronaldo and Mourinho's relationship was not so harmonious. In the original timeline, one of the reasons for Mourinho's departure was his strained relationship with Ronaldo.

After the other person finished speaking, Lin Feng looked directly into Mendes' eyes and said, word by word:

"If I join Real Madrid and have a conflict with Mourinho, whose side will you choose to stand on?"

This question may sound similar to the question of who to save first if your girlfriend and mother both fall into the water at the same time, but it's not that Lin Feng is deliberately making things difficult for Mendes.

He knew Mourinho's temperament and methods very well, and it was highly likely that a conflict would break out between the two.

Because Mourinho seeks absolute control and does not allow anyone to challenge his authority.

But Lin Feng is not the kind of person who is willing to be manipulated. He has his own ideas, and once the two have different views, conflicts will break out.

For Mendes, this is a life-or-death question; choosing either of the two would be wrong.

He thought for a moment, then spoke:

"Players and coaches have a working relationship; they don't need to be tied together all the time. If conflicts arise between you, I will try to mediate. If I can't mediate, I will suggest that Mourinho leave Real Madrid!"

Lin Feng asked with some surprise, "Why didn't you suggest I leave Real Madrid?"

Mendes laughed and said, "Once a player of your caliber joins Real Madrid, unless you want to leave yourself, Real Madrid won't let you go before you reach the end of your career. So it's definitely Mourinho who will leave!"

Seeing that the other party answered very sincerely, Lin Feng smiled, stood up, and extended his hand:

"Mr. Jorge, I hope our future cooperation will be pleasant!"

Even though Mendes is very shrewd, he couldn't help but show a look of joy at this moment—he had finally won over Lin Feng!
Mendes quickly stood up, extended his hand to shake Lin Feng's hand, and solemnly promised:

"Mr. Lin, please rest assured, I will use my professional knowledge and sincere service to protect you and help you ascend to the throne of football king as soon as possible!"

"King of Football? Heh, it's too early to talk about that now. After all, my national team is very weak, and it's almost impossible for us to win four World Cups!"

Mendes seemed somewhat surprised by Lin Feng's statement:
"No one says that a football king has to be tied to the World Cup, right? As long as your performance at the club level is outstanding enough, even if you don't win the World Cup with the national team, it won't affect your title as king!"

The saying "Having a World Cup doesn't make you a football king, but a football king must have a World Cup" hadn't yet become widely known at that time.

Judging from Mendes' reaction, he does not agree with this statement.

Lin Feng didn't dwell on the topic. After deciding to hire Mendes as his agent, he immediately assigned Mendes two tasks:

1. Contact Inter Milan to find out their true attitude.

2. Contact Real Madrid as an agent to see what kind of terms they can offer.

“It’s already mid-August, and there’s not much time left before the start of the new season. I don’t want to drag things out on transfers for too long.”

"Yes, I'll handle the transfer as soon as possible. If it drags on and becomes a soap opera, it will damage your image in the eyes of the fans." (End of Chapter)