Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

"It's kind of you to come back and see me. Everything is fine here, so you don't need to worry about me. If you have the ability, you can help introduce a few more players to go abroad. A few good prospects have come to the training base. I'm afraid that if we keep them in China for training, we'll ruin them."

Xu Genbao was well aware that there was a significant gap between his football base and those in foreign countries, especially in Western Europe, where youth training was highly developed and football powerhouses were far behind.

Wu Lei visited him not long ago. After two years of training and study at La Masia, Wu Lei has made great progress. His footwork and football awareness are now completely different from before.

This is because Wu Lei arrived relatively late, which caused a significant delay.

If he had joined La Masia before he turned 12, his skills would probably be even better now.

Seeing such a big change in Wu Lei, Xu Genbao couldn't help but doubt the training capabilities of his training base.

He was genuinely worried that keeping these kids in China and training them with him would hinder their development.

Lin Feng agreed to Xu Genbao's request on behalf of his elder brother:
"I'll talk to my brother about this. He owns an agency and has connections in Europe, especially in Germany. It shouldn't be a problem for him to arrange trials for some young players. If a player is really outstanding, it's not impossible for them to stay and play for a local club."

Although youth training in China is developing rapidly, it is not systematic and lacks the reputation and strength of century-old brands like those in Europe.

The Genbao Football Base is probably the most formal or professional one, although its youth training program, if placed in a foreign country, might not even be as good as the youth training program of an average team in the top five leagues.

The young players at the training base were very curious about the arrival of Lin Feng and Zhang Linpeng.

They had been clamoring for a holiday, but when the holiday actually came, none of them left. They all stood around, eagerly watching Lin Feng and Zhang Linpeng, waiting for their autographs!

Lin Feng's fame is known to everyone in the Chinese football circle.

Many young football players idolize him, and the group of boys at the Genbao Football Base are no exception.

According to Xu Genbao, the dormitories of these young players are almost entirely covered with posters of Lin Feng.

Whenever Lin Feng has a game, the young players automatically gather to watch the game attentively without him having to organize it.

Because of him, the number 8 jersey on the team was so popular that these guys were practically fighting over it.

Everyone was vying to wear the number eight jersey; even players who weren't midfielders wanted to join in the fun.

On the contrary, the previously most popular number 10 and number 7 jerseys were neglected by the players.

The power of role models is limitless. Currently, the biggest shortage of midfielders in various youth training camps across the country is the number eight jersey. Young players are eager to wear the number eight jersey and become the next Lin Feng!
If things continue like this, Lin Feng is starting to wonder if, in a dozen years or so, the Chinese team will become the Spanish team!
The team has an abundance of midfield talent, but lacks a leader in attack.

Fortunately, Wu Lei is making rapid progress. If he doesn't suffer any major injuries, he should become a mainstay of the national team's attack in the next fifteen years.

Perhaps one day, after Wu Lei establishes himself in a top club, a new wave of interest in strikers will sweep across China.

……

While Lin Feng was on vacation back in China, a storm was brewing in the European transfer market.

After a disappointing first half of the season, Real Madrid is determined to significantly strengthen the squad during the winter break.

On January 8, Real Madrid officially announced their first transfer – Karim Benzema, the French striker from Lyon, officially joined Real Madrid.

It is said that Real Madrid swayed Lyon's management with a huge transfer fee of 4000 million euros, which led them to decide to release the player during this winter break.

Clearly, Real Madrid paid a high premium in this transfer deal.

External estimates place Benzema's market value at around 3000 to 3500 million euros.

However, Real Madrid, who are severely lacking in attack, urgently need to strengthen their forward line to fill the void left by Van Nistelrooy.

So even though it cost nearly ten million euros more, they gritted their teeth and bought it.

The announcement of this transfer sparked a heated discussion in the football world.

Aside from Real Madrid fans, fans of other clubs are mocking Real Madrid for being foolish and wasteful:

[4000 million for Benzema? Real Madrid is really foolish to spend so much money. If I were a Lyon fan, I'd be laughing in my sleep!]

Benzema's performance in Ligue 1 has been quite good, hasn't it? I think he scored 20 goals last season!

The intensity of Ligue 1 matches is too low, and Lyon, as the dominant force in Ligue 1, has a significant lead over other clubs. While 20 goals seem impressive, given their system, it's actually just average. Furthermore, Benzema's performance this season has been mediocre; in 18 appearances, he's only scored 7 goals, a 50% drop in scoring efficiency compared to last year!

[4000 million is definitely too much. His stats aren't even as good as Atletico Madrid's Aguero. Do you think Aguero is worth 4000 million?]

But he's still young and has room to grow; who knows, he might just break out of the league in the future?

"What you're saying is ridiculous. There are so many young strikers in football. Ajax's Suarez was born in the same year as him, and his stats this season are even more explosive, but his market value is only 750 million. Why is Benzema worth 4000 million?"

Suarez is indeed excellent. He scored 20 goals for Ajax last year, and his goal tally this season will definitely surpass that. The €750 million price tag was just for Ajax; his value has already skyrocketed. Transfermarkt values ​​him at €2000 million. By Transfermarkt's standards, you can forget about signing him for less than €3000 million!

[What you're talking about are young talents who have shone for one or two seasons. In my opinion, Real Madrid needs strong, immediately impactful strikers—powerful forwards who have proven themselves at top clubs. By that standard, Inter Milan's Torres is the most suitable. Moreover, Torres' current market value is only around 4000-4500 million euros. Considering Torres, Real Madrid definitely overpaid in this transfer!]

Real Madrid fans remained silent in the face of criticism and ridicule from the outside world.

Many people are even asking each other, "Who is Benzema?" A young player they've hardly heard of who cost the club 4000 million euros.

Furthermore, due to Champions League registration issues, Benzema, who joined the team during the winter break, will be unable to represent the team in the Champions League.

Spending 4000 million to buy a striker just to play in a league that's only half full is considered a ridiculous waste of money, even by Real Madrid fans.

Lin Feng was also a little disappointed when he learned about the transfer.

Benzema is a strong player, so buying him wasn't a bad deal.

But in his mind, the most worthwhile striker to buy at this time is actually Lewandowski. This guy hasn't even played in one of the top five leagues yet, his fame is very low, and his transfer fee is practically dirt cheap.

In the summer of 2010, Borussia Dortmund signed him from the Polish league for only €475 million.

If this future football prodigy were signed now, it might cost less than 400 million.

This amount of money wouldn't even buy a leg of a striker like Aguero, Suarez, or Benzema!

Even disregarding the competitive aspect, from an investment perspective, signing Lewandowski is a sure-fire way to make money.

Thinking of this, Lin Feng called his older brother and asked him to go to Poland after he finished dealing with things in China and sign Lewandowski before other big-name agents could.

Although the eldest brother's agency mainly deals with domestic players, it is difficult to make a name for oneself by relying solely on domestic players in small-scale activities.

If they had several players of Lewandowski's caliber under their wing, their influence in the football world would be much greater, and the difficulty of facilitating trials or overseas training for young domestic players would be greatly reduced.

Lin Feng's agent, Mendes, is an absolute expert in this regard. He has many big-name players under his wing, but every time he sells someone, he does bundle marketing, selling some less well-known players together with the big-name players.

After signing Benzema, a major signing, Real Madrid's activity in the transfer market has not stopped.

Just two days later, Real Madrid announced on its official website its second signing of the winter break – Dutch striker Huntelaar from Ajax, who joined Real Madrid for 2700 million euros.

Compared to the huge controversy and ridicule caused by the previous transfer, this transfer deal has received far less criticism.

Many even believe that Real Madrid made a profit from this transfer.

Because Huntelaar was last season's Eredivisie Golden Boot winner, scoring 33 goals in the league, averaging 1 goal per game!
He is one of the top strikers in Europe, second only to Lin Feng and Messi.

Such a top-tier striker only cost 2700 million euros; by any measure, it's a profit.

Fans just don't understand why Real Madrid bought Huntelaar after buying Benzema.
Moreover, given that Huntelaar is so much cheaper than Benzema, why waste money on Benzema?
Lin Feng also didn't quite understand this transfer. He remembered that Huntelaar didn't seem to stay at Real Madrid for very long before being sold off.

This shows that Huntelaar could not adapt to Real Madrid's tactical system and his performance after joining Real Madrid was not outstanding.

Therefore, the only explanation is that the club's management or Mourinho were so terrified of the team's injuries that they went to such lengths to stockpile strikers on the front line.

After spending nearly 7000 million euros to buy two strikers, Real Madrid's attacking lineup has become somewhat bloated, instead of being thin.

In the second half of the season, Real Madrid's attacking line will see a thrilling spectacle of four players vying for one or two positions.

In addition to the forward line, Real Madrid also strengthened the team's defense during the winter transfer window, signing the tall center-back Albiol from Valencia for €1500 million.

Cannavaro is getting old and his form has declined significantly. Real Madrid must plan ahead and build a new defense as soon as possible.

Real Madrid has already spent more than 8000 million euros in the winter break, a move that has attracted the attention of other clubs.

As Real Madrid's arch-rival in the league, Barcelona's management couldn't sit still after seeing Real Madrid's big-spending signings. They took the initiative to approach Guardiola to ask if he had any players he liked, seemingly intending to join this arms race.

Real Madrid has made such big moves; if Barcelona doesn't do anything, it will make the club's management seem inactive, and they'll be heavily criticized by the fans.

Guardiola is quite satisfied with the current squad. If he had to say something, the wing position could be strengthened, given Henry's age and Pedro's current performance, and the right wing position also needs a strong winger.

Guardiola then compiled a list of players he had his eye on and handed it over to the club's management.

When the higher-ups saw the first few names on the list, they didn't react much. Villa, David Silva, and others are all La Liga players, their transfer fees aren't too high, and they've proven their abilities in La Liga. Buying them as substitutes would be a very good deal.

But when they finished watching and didn't find any big-name stars, they became somewhat dissatisfied.

Our Barcelona team may not be as financially powerful as Real Madrid, but we're not that destitute either, are we?

So Barcelona's management made a bold move and added a star player's name to the list.

Guardiola's expression was somewhat strange after reading it:
"Ibrahimovic? Mr. Laporta, are you sure a player like that can fit into our Barcelona tactical system?"

Ibrahimovic is tall but rather clumsy, far less agile than Eto'o.

But Ibrahimovic has very delicate footwork and a more gorgeous and beautiful playing style.

Compared to Eto'o's simple and unpretentious playing style, Ibrahimovic's fancy dribbling and various fancy goal-scoring methods are obviously more entertaining and perfectly match the club's management's expectation of playing beautiful football.

Moreover, he has outstanding physical qualities and can act as a pivot in the attacking third, setting up teammates who make runs from behind.

This also aligns with Guardiola's tactical requirement to establish Messi as the team's attacking core, which is why Laporta believes Ibrahimovic is a good fit for Barcelona.

Would he be a good fit for Barcelona?
Guardiola initially had doubts, but when he heard that Ibrahimovic could assist Messi and further unleash Messi's power, he became somewhat tempted.

……

Seemingly spurred on by Real Madrid, major football clubs are all gearing up for a move this winter.

However, the most attention-grabbing club is neither Real Madrid nor Barcelona.

It's actually an ordinary team from the Premier League – Manchester City!

On January 12, according to Gazzetta dello Sport, a Premier League team is in contact with AC Milan's management in an attempt to sign AC Milan's key player, Kaká.

It is said that the club is willing to offer £1 million for Kaká!
If this deal goes through, it will break the record for the highest transfer fee in football, set by Lin Feng two years ago.

The news immediately caused a stir and drew attention throughout European football.

Countless Milan fans were shocked and anxious by the news, fearing Kaká would be lured away by another club, yet also reluctant to part with the enormous sum of £100 million. (End of Chapter)