Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

After playing the last league match of the first half of the season, the winter break finally began.

Although the winter break in La Liga is not as long as that in the Bundesliga, Lin Feng and his team only got a two-week vacation.

But after fighting on multiple fronts for most of the season, having two weeks to rest and catch your breath is a good thing. It's better than the Premier League having to rush around Christmas cars right now, right?

Therefore, he never envies the high salaries of Premier League players. Although their salaries are high, they also really suffer!
Putting everything else aside, the lack of a winter break, coupled with the fast-paced schedule around Christmas, with five or six games in two weeks, is a grueling schedule that most players can't handle.

Therefore, those who can play in the Premier League and make a name for themselves are all remarkable individuals.

Many big-name stars, such as those who are worth tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars, still find it difficult to adapt to the fast pace and intense physical contact of the Premier League, and are regarded as flops by fans.

For any player, going to the Premier League should be a serious decision, because the environment there is not something everyone can adapt to.

If you can't adapt and end up wasting several years there, it could have a huge negative impact on your entire career.

From this perspective, it is quite remarkable that Sun Jihai and Zheng Zhi were able to establish themselves in the Premier League.

Of course, for the younger generation of players, it's best to avoid the English Premier League as their first stop abroad.

Among the top five European leagues, the Bundesliga is undoubtedly the best for beginners.

Apart from Bayern Munich, the other teams in the Bundesliga are not far apart in terms of strength, and the pressure on each team to achieve results is not great, so they are very willing to promote and give important roles to new players.

The Bundesliga's tactics are unrestrained, neither as defensively focused as Serie A nor as technically demanding as La Liga.

Here, players who rely on their physicality or technical skills can find their niche. Moreover, the intensity of the Bundesliga is moderate. The physical confrontation is stronger than in China, but it is far less intense than the Premier League. It is the most suitable training ground for young players who have just arrived in the top five leagues and still need to adapt to the local pace of the game.

Besides the Bundesliga, the Portuguese Primeira Liga, the Dutch Eredivisie, and the Belgian First Division A are also good options.

The intensity of the matches here is a level lower than that of the top five European leagues, but because of competitions such as the Champions League and Europa League, we can often interact with strong teams from the top five leagues, so we won't fall behind in terms of tactics and playing styles.

Moreover, because of the existence of European competitions, their players can easily attract the attention of major clubs if they perform well against strong teams in European competitions.

Even if they don't end up at a top club, they can easily be snatched up by mid-to-lower-tier teams in the top five European leagues.

Therefore, it is very suitable for beginners to level up, and after they have mastered the skills, they can use these teams as a springboard to transfer to the top five leagues.

Since the Chinese youth team won the 2005 FIFA U-20 World Cup, the trend of Chinese players playing abroad has been on a continuous upward trajectory.

In recent years, apart from the national youth team generation, two promising midfielders, Huang Bowen and Wu Xi, have been confirmed to join European leagues during this winter break.

One of them joined Mainz in the German second division, and the other joined Guimarães in the Portuguese league.

Both of them are players under Lin Feng's company, so Lin Feng also gave some advice as a reference when arranging for them to play abroad.

Huang Bowen and Wu Xi are both talented, and with the influence and reputation of Chinese players like Lin Feng overseas, some teams in the top five European leagues have shown interest in them. They seem to be fantasizing about whether they can draw a card as useful as Lin Feng. After all, both of them are Chinese and play midfield. If they really draw a big prize, they will make a fortune.

Moreover, neither player's transfer fee is particularly high. Huang Bowen's estimated transfer fee is 80 euros, while Wu Xi's is slightly lower, at around 60 euros.

This amount of money is nothing to teams in the top five leagues; if they really can't perform well, they can simply sell the player.

Such a young player, as long as he doesn't suffer any major injuries, will basically be easy to sell.

Therefore, there are quite a few clubs willing to sign Chinese players, but based on their actual situations, Lin Feng judged that it would be difficult for them to establish themselves in the top five leagues.

This wasn't because he looked down on the two players, but rather a rational judgment based on the overseas experiences of his teammates from the national youth team.

Of the players from the 05 national youth team, only four or five have managed to establish themselves in their respective teams and become key or even core players after three and a half years of playing abroad.

The vast majority of players are still substitutes or rotation players, striving to earn more playing time.

These two players are currently not as good as their teammates from the national youth team. If they were to join one of the top five leagues, they would likely spend a long time on the bench.

Therefore, Lin Feng advised them from the beginning to avoid the top five leagues and instead train in lower-level leagues to gain experience and adapt to the intensity of European competitions before seeking a transfer.

Both were loyal fans of Lin Feng, and naturally listened to his advice without hesitation. As a result, their transfers were completed smoothly without much trouble.

Compared to these two, the transfer of another player is a bit more complicated.

“Zhang Xizhe is a promising talent. His footwork and ability to pass forward are excellent. Although he is a bit thin and weak in physical confrontation, these can be improved. But his awareness, vision and overall understanding are rare among Chinese players. He is a promising talent, and I really don’t want him to be buried!”

When Lin Feng inquired about Zhang Xizhe's transfer, his elder brother Lin Feng couldn't help but frown.

"What are the specific difficulties? Is it that the players themselves have too high demands, or that no clubs want them?"

Lin Feng took a can of beer from the refrigerator, opened it, and handed it to his older brother.

He poured himself a glass of juice. Although it was a holiday, Lin Feng maintained the self-discipline of a player, avoiding smoking, alcohol and unhealthy food.

"It's not that no club wanted him. I edited his performance at Beijing Guoan, especially his goals and assists, into a highlight reel and sent it to various clubs. Some teams then showed great interest in him and wanted to invite him for a trial."

"Isn't this great? What went wrong?"

Lin Feng was very puzzled. Zhang Xizhe was not even eighteen years old yet. For a young player under eighteen to be noticed by a European club showed that his job prospects were very good.

How could the transfer have failed?

"The player himself longs to play abroad, but the attitudes of his parents and the club are hard to fathom."

Firstly, there's the club. After letting Huang Bowen go, Beijing Guoan planned to focus on developing Zhang Xizhe and was unwilling to let him go so early, because players of that age simply wouldn't fetch a good price if sold.

As for his parents, I don't know whose slander they listened to, but they think their child is an unparalleled genius and that he can become the second you. Therefore, they have high requirements for the team he transfers to, requiring at least a top club in one of the top five leagues.

That's an outrageous requirement. Any player who can establish themselves in a top team in one of the five major leagues at the age of eighteen is a genius among geniuses.
Although Zhang Xizhe has good potential, he is far from reaching that level.

However, his outstanding performance in the Chinese Super League has led to excessive praise from the outside world, especially the news media, who frequently compare him to others, causing the expectations of players, clubs, and players' parents to be raised to an extreme.

I've used my connections in China to inquire, and the club's bottom line is a transfer fee of 5 million euros. A player who's not even 18 years old, asking for 5 million euros—they really have the nerve to ask for that!

When this matter is mentioned, the older brother can't help but shake his head.

With the Chinese Super League strictly enforcing salary caps, team operating costs have decreased significantly compared to a few years ago.

At the current exchange rate of euro to yuan, 500 million euros is roughly equivalent to 5000 million yuan.

That's roughly enough to cover the annual expenses of an average Chinese Super League team. Beijing Guoan is a powerhouse, so their expenses might be a bit higher, but they still wouldn't exceed 150 million RMB. For a transfer fee for a player under 18 to cover a third of the club's total annual expenses—isn't that robbery?
It was precisely because of these unreasonable demands that Zhang Xizhe's transfer process was not smooth from the very beginning.

Lin Feng sighed inwardly after hearing this.

Zhang Xizhe has ability, and his talent is also obvious to the naked eye.

Among players born in the 1990s, he belongs to the most talented group.

He debuted at the same time as Wu Lei. In his early years, Zhang Xizhe's performance was clearly better than Wu Lei's. However, due to an unsuccessful overseas stint and the changes in the team's position and tactics after returning to Beijing Guoan, he was unable to make further progress. Instead, he gradually lost his flair and fell into mediocrity, which is truly regrettable.

So after discovering Zhang Xizhe's talent in the Chinese Super League, Lin Feng had the idea of ​​sending him to Europe to play abroad ahead of schedule.

The results of studying abroad at the age of eighteen are completely different from studying abroad at the age of 24 when one's skills have already been developed.

It's a pity, though. Given the immense resistance, Lin Feng had no choice but to give up.

"What about Zeng Cheng? Are there any European teams willing to take him on?"

In Lin Feng's eyes, there are only two goalkeepers for the Chinese national football team in the next ten years: Wang Dalei and Zeng Cheng.

Zeng Cheng's potential is not as high as Wang Dalei's, but his floor is very high and his consistency is very good. This kind of goalkeeper is very important for the national team.

However, the outdated goalkeeper training system in China can easily ruin a promising young player.

The best way to raise Zeng Cheng's ceiling is to quickly get him out of the Chinese Super League, where his poor performance only gets worse, and send him to Europe for further training.

However, it is precisely because domestic goalkeepers have long been out of step with international standards that goalkeeping has become the biggest gap between Chinese football and that of foreign powerhouses.

Zeng Cheng's abilities are absolutely outstanding in China, but they are completely inadequate abroad.

It will be more difficult for him to succeed in playing abroad than for other players.

"Forget about teams in the top five leagues, the Portuguese league, the Dutch league, and the Belgian league are out of the question. I've also tried the second divisions of the major leagues, but the chances aren't great."

As you know, any team that is serious about achieving results will not randomly field a rookie goalkeeper to train them.

The only teams he can join are those that aren't under much pressure to perform, happen to be short of goalkeepers, and don't have a sufficient transfer budget, preferring to pick up bargains or even acquire players for free.

Such teams can only be found in the third or even fourth tier.

Zeng Cheng has already represented the Chinese national team and won honors in international competitions. Although the Chinese team is not a top team, it is still a strong team ranked in the top 20 by FIFA.

Given his qualifications, would he really be willing to give up his current treatment and status to play in a third or even fourth-tier league?

Lin Feng fell silent. Germany's fourth-tier league is the German regional league, which is already a semi-professional and semi-amateur league.

It's somewhat insulting to send Zeng Cheng, a goalkeeper who can be a key player for a top domestic club, to play in a semi-amateur league abroad.

Moreover, the players in both the German third division and the German regional leagues are treated very poorly.

Playing football here not only won't earn you money, you might even lose money.

As teammates on the national team and the Olympic team, Lin Feng knew something about Zeng Cheng's situation.

His family was relatively poor, as they were a single-parent family and faced financial difficulties.

Zeng Cheng was loaned to the Indonesian league by Wuhan team a few years ago, where his salary and benefits were always poor. He only returned to the Chinese Super League after the Asian Cup last year, and played as a starter for only one year.

The Wuhan team is not considered a top-tier team, and the team's internal treatment is also quite average. The two foreign players, Vicente and Gilson, only earn $15 a year.

Zeng Cheng is a newcomer, and his annual salary will not exceed 30 RMB, and may even be lower.

This resulted in him not saving much money after only playing football in China for a year.

In this situation, even if the player is willing to play abroad for his dream, he probably can't afford it financially.

The cost of living in Germany is very high; at this time, it is more than five times that of China.

Earning euros and spending euros might be fine, but earning yuan and spending euros would be a bit difficult.

"Let's ask the player himself first. If he's willing to come, we can deal with the rest later!"

We're all from the same hometown, so we should help each other out if we can.

"You wouldn't be thinking of sponsoring him with money, would you?"

"Not really, but I have a way to help him earn some extra money. Hmm, it should be a decent income for him, right?"

The older brother looked at Lin Feng suspiciously, but was very interested in the money-making methods he was talking about.

Lin Feng didn't explain, but instead picked up his phone and called Zeng Cheng.

First, they need to confirm whether the other party is willing to study abroad. If not, then they don't need to go to such great lengths.

"Playing abroad? Me? I have teams willing to take me?"

Zeng Cheng was very surprised on the other end of the phone. He did not expect Lin Feng to call him, and he did not expect that the other party would talk about his study abroad.

Seeing his football teammates all going abroad to study, Zeng Cheng would be lying if he said he wasn't envious.

However, he had neither connections nor sufficient confidence. Although he longed to study abroad, he simply couldn't find a way to do so.

At this time, Lin Feng, a senior member of the national team, called him and specifically talked about his overseas experience, which was like a godsend for Zeng Cheng.

"Don't be too happy yet. There are some things I need to tell you beforehand, and you need to consider them carefully!"

Lin Feng explained that Zeng Cheng could only join a third or fourth-tier league, as well as the salary and benefits, and told him to think it over carefully before making a decision.

However, Zeng Cheng's attitude was exceptionally firm:
"I'm willing! Let alone the third tier league, I'd be willing to go to the fourth tier league if I could make it big!"

He understood that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and if he missed it, he might never have another chance. (End of Chapter)