Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

AC Milan has had a tough few years. After the Calciopoli scandal, AC Milan began its decline.

After failing to qualify for the Champions League in the 06-07 season, AC Milan lost all morale from top to bottom.

Affected by the failure to qualify for the Champions League, Milan's performance in the Serie A season in 07-08 was very poor, and they were more than 20 points behind Inter Milan and Roma in the standings.

Finally, in their quest for a Champions League spot next season, they were defeated by Napoli in the penultimate round, finishing fifth with a two-point deficit and failing to qualify for the Champions League group stage this season.

The lack of exposure from Champions League matches has significantly impacted Milan's commercial value and team morale.

The Champions League not only provides a lot of exposure, but also allows participating teams to earn substantial prize money.

Taking last season's UEFA prize money distribution as an example, securing a Champions League spot would earn a reward of 300 million euros.

After participating in six group stage matches, he can earn 40 euros per match, for a total appearance fee of 240 million euros.

Winning a group stage match will earn an extra 60, while a draw will earn 30.

Advancing to the round of 16 will earn an additional 220 million euros, and reaching the quarterfinals will earn an extra 250 million euros.

The team that makes it to the semi-finals will receive an additional 300 million euros. The two teams that reach the finals will receive a 700 million euro prize for the champion and a 400 million euro consolation prize for the runner-up.

In addition, there is a broadcast revenue share with varying amounts. The more famous the club is, the higher the viewership of the matches they participate in worldwide, and the more broadcast revenue they can earn.

Real Madrid earned a total of 4470 million euros in Champions League prize money and revenue sharing last season. Even for Real Madrid, the highest-earning team in football, this is still a considerable sum.

As for the other teams, although they didn't receive as much bonus as Real Madrid, they generally received over 2000 million, which was enough to cover the salary expenses of two or three core players.

Arsène Wenger's Arsenal did not go bankrupt due to the huge loans incurred for stadium repairs, almost entirely because the professor was able to lead the team to the Champions League every year and earn at least 2500 million euros in bonuses, saving them from financial ruin.

If Arsenal misses out on the Champions League for even one year, their finances will likely collapse immediately.

And now, AC Milan is facing just such a problem.

Without Champions League matches to play, the team's revenue has plummeted.

Even more critically, not only has revenue plummeted, but the lack of exposure from Champions League matches has also drastically reduced Milan's appeal to star players.

The main reason there have been so many rumors about Kaká leaving this season is because he hasn't played in the Champions League.

A player's career is short-lived. Kaka, born in 1982, is already 27 years old this year, and he doesn't have many years left in his prime.

If he continues to languish in Milan, his prime years will be wasted, and he will likely have a huge regret for the rest of his life.

Kaka himself has not responded to the rumors circulating outside.

This is actually an attitude.

Given Kaká's affection for Milan, he would have been the first to step forward and refute the rumors at this time in the past, dispelling the doubts of the club and the fans.

But this time he didn't do it, and clearly Kaka himself was hesitant.

The Calciopoli scandal and Lin Feng's departure made Kaka realize that Serie A was indeed on a downward spiral.

Judging from the investment Serie A has made in the transfer market over the past few seasons, the league's future performance will only get worse and worse, and it will become less and less competitive in the Champions League.

As for his own AC Milan, just looking at Milan's current squad is enough to make him despair.

In the past two years, apart from signing Pato, almost all of Milan's other signings have been veterans.

Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Beckham on loan, and Zambrotta, who was brought in from Barcelona for free, are all veterans who are over thirty and have come here to retire.

They are either former superstars who have passed their peak and have been released by other teams.

These players aren't very good at the game, but they're paid very high salaries, which prevents the team from improving its performance. Also, because the veterans are taking up too much salary space, the team can't make big-money signings in the transfer market, and AC Milan doesn't have that much money anyway.

If they were really rich, they wouldn't be able to acquire so many veterans for free without transfer fees.

“I know you have feelings for the team, but staying in Milan will only hinder your talent and affect your position in the national team next year.”

Kaka's agent, who is also his father, advised him to transfer away.

Time waits for no one. After Lin Feng transferred to Real Madrid, he began to compete with Messi of Barcelona, ​​and for a time, he overshadowed all the young players, including Kaká and Ronaldo.

This gave him a huge sense of crisis.

Of the four new generation players, Kaka is the oldest.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Lin Feng are all still very young and have a long peak period ahead of them.

Kaka's peak period is almost over, especially since his style of play relies on explosiveness and speed, his peak period will be shorter than that of most players.

Since last year, Kaka's popularity has been declining, and this year he has been completely overshadowed by the other three.

Staying in the decaying Serie A league and with a team like AC Milan, whose squad is aging and uncompetitive, will only lead to his exposure decreasing further.

Although AC Milan has been talking about rebuilding, rebuilding requires a lot of money, and after the Calciopoli scandal, the investment AC Milan received began to decline, and the team's financial situation became increasingly tight.

Money isn't everything, but you can't do anything without it.

Lacking funds, AC Milan, in the eyes of Kaká's father, was less attractive and had a less promising future than this nouveau riche Premier League team.

After all, these Middle Eastern tycoons are genuinely wealthy and willing to spend money.

Since the other side bought Manchester City last year, their transfer activity in the transfer market has been impossible for anyone who follows football to miss.

The sheer scale of the money they're spending clearly reveals their ambition.

This time, the other party showed great sincerity.

Not only did they offer AC Milan an astronomical price that they couldn't refuse, but they also promised Kaká the highest annual salary in football at the time.

Kaka's father was moved by the other party's 'sincerity', which is why he persuaded Kaka to accept the invitation.

As players' agents, they can earn a cut from the players' transfer fees and salaries.

Even according to the industry standard of 10% commission, at least £1 million can be taken from a £1000 million transfer fee.

Even 20 years from now, this is a huge sum of money, and few people would be able to resist it.

"If you don't want to go to the Premier League, there is another good option, which is Real Madrid."

Seeing that Kaka had not responded, Kaka's father sighed and mentioned the backup option.

In the years when Kaká shone brightly on the field, countless top clubs pursued him, including Real Madrid. Real Madrid made several offers to AC Milan, hoping to bring Kaká to the Bernabéu.

AC Milan rejected all offers, but Real Madrid never gave up. Even after signing Lin Feng, they continued to make offers to AC Milan every summer, with the latest offer reportedly reaching 7000 million euros.

Although it's almost half of Manchester City's £100 million, this amount is still astonishing in the football world, ranking among the top three in football history for transfer fees.

He knew his son's concerns: Manchester City, though rich, lacked a strong foundation and the team was not very strong.

Given their current squad and the intensity of the Premier League, it will be very difficult for them to break through the league and secure a Champions League spot, let alone win the title.

Joining Manchester City at this time could easily give the impression that Kaká left AC Milan for money.

This is clearly inconsistent with Kaka's character.

But if he really goes to Real Madrid, wouldn't that be like joining a team he can't beat and clinging to Lin Feng's coattails?
This doesn't sound good if it gets out, and it will likely draw criticism from the outside world.

Is there really no chance for Milan to rise again?

Kaka, still not giving up, asked one more question.

He has been playing for AC Milan for seven years and has long since adapted to everything here.

If he had a choice, he wouldn't want to go anywhere else; he just wanted to stay in Milan and, like captain Maldini, retire as a Milan player.

Maldini has confirmed that he will retire from the field after this season, ending his 25-year professional career.

In those 25 years, he only played for one team, AC Milan.

AC Milan should be grateful to have a legendary player like Maldini, because his spirit has influenced many players who followed, such as Kaká.

"If Milan can secure investment from Middle Eastern tycoons and catch up with top clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona in terms of funding, then there might still be some hope."

Milan's problem lies in its aging squad. As long as they have the money to buy new players, improving the team's performance is not a difficult task, given Milan's rich history.

As one of the most successful clubs in Europe, AC Milan's influence in Europe is second only to Real Madrid.

Even before Real Madrid won the title last year, there was still controversy about who was the most successful club in Europe, and many fans would have sided with AC Milan.

Although Real Madrid has won many titles, five of them are ancient titles, which are relatively less prestigious.

Such a powerful and influential top club has a huge appeal to young players.

For the same player, Milan might only spend two-thirds or even half the money of a team like Manchester City, which lacks a strong history, and the player himself would be more willing to join Milan.

Wearing a red and black jersey is an honor, but wearing a Manchester City jersey has no such effect at all, and most people may not even recognize what a Manchester City jersey looks like.

Hearing her father's words, Kaka's heart was rekindled with a glimmer of hope.

There were rumors recently that Middle Eastern capital was in contact with AC Milan's owner to discuss the acquisition of AC Milan's shares.

This investment company is attracted by AC Milan's international influence and wants to enter the sports industry by acquiring a stake, thereby expanding its influence and business empire.

Of course, AC Milan is not their only option; it is said that Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1 is also on their shopping list.

If negotiations with AC Milan fail, they will likely take over Paris Saint-Germain.

……

Lin Feng is also paying close attention to the transfer rumors surrounding Kaka.

In the original timeline, Kaka ultimately joined Real Madrid, but in this dimension, due to the butterfly effect he created, whether Kaka will still choose Real Madrid is a big question mark.

His relationship with Kaka was neither good nor bad; there were no irreconcilable conflicts between them, so he supported Kaka's joining the team.

However, it is also obvious that there is a competitive relationship between the two.

This is completely different from the situation when Kaká and Ronaldo joined Real Madrid at the same time. Ronaldo was a striker and Kaká was a midfielder, so their positions did not overlap.

However, Lin Feng and Kaka are both midfielders with similar playing styles, resulting in significant overlap in their positions and functions.

With Real Madrid already having Lin Feng, it would be unwise to spend a high price to buy Kaka, as the two are unlikely to be compatible.

With so much money, it would be better to spend it on Manchester United to buy Ronaldo; that would be more effective than buying Kaká.

However, Real Madrid's midfield definitely needs strengthening, a point that the Real Madrid management had already discussed with him in advance during the first half of the season.

But Real Madrid has already decided on the player they want to buy: Liverpool's midfield maestro, Xabi Alonso.

Last summer, he almost joined Real Madrid, but Liverpool backed out at the last minute, causing the transfer to fall through.

If Alonso had joined the team last season, with him anchoring the backfield to direct and supply the ball, Lin Feng would have faced much less pressure and could have focused more on attacking. In that case, Real Madrid's performance this season might not have been so dismal.

……

With the end of the winter break, La Liga teams have gradually resumed training.

After not seeing each other for more than two weeks, when Lin Feng returned to the training ground, he found that many of his teammates had changed their physiques.

"What did you guys eat? How come you look like you've gained weight in just half a month?"

Lin Feng punched Peipei's belly, and wow, there was a ripple around it!
"I don't know! I don't think I ate much, but I've gained weight without even realizing it!"

Pepe looked completely innocent, and his teammates echoed his sentiments:
"Who can argue with that? I've been carefully controlling my diet, but I still can't control my weight!"

"I feel like I gain weight even from drinking cold water. I'm hopeless! I can't even imagine how much weight I'll gain after I retire!"

After everyone complained for a while, their eyes all fixed on Lin Feng, scrutinizing him from head to toe several times.

"Strange, Brother Lin, you don't seem to have changed at all. The Chinese food looks so greasy, it's completely illogical that you haven't gained weight!"

Westerners have a stereotype of Chinese food, only seeing that Chinese food uses a lot of cooking oil, but not seeing that Chinese food is stir-fried and has a large proportion of vegetables, so the calories are not high.

Compared to various fried fast foods and sugary, sweet foods in Western cuisine, it is many times healthier.

The reason these guys are fat is either because they're consuming too many calories or because they're not exercising enough; it's definitely not because they're drinking water!

Athletes consume a lot of energy due to long-term high-intensity exercise, and therefore eat much more than the average person.

Once their activity level decreases and they don't control their diet, it's perfectly normal for them to gain weight rapidly. These guys can't possibly not understand that; they're just being stubborn. (End of Chapter)