I build a giant in the Premier League

Chapter 5 I'll just buy the cheapest one!
Due to various reasons including war, there are still no direct flights from London to Zagreb, the capital of Croatia.

Yang Cheng had to take Lufthansa to Frankfurt, Germany, and then transfer from Frankfurt to Zagreb.

As a dual-use military and civil airport, Zagreb's Presso Airport has only a very small terminal building and very simple facilities.

This also shows that Zagreb has not yet completely emerged from the shadow of the war.

After exchanging some Croatian kuna for daily expenses at the airport, Yang Cheng called a taxi and headed to Ilica Street in the center of Zagreb.

This is known as the busiest street in Zagreb.

But, it's still disappointing.

This country, which has only been free from war for a few years, has obviously not had time to develop its economy.

Fortunately, Yang Cheng’s trip was not for vacation.

The next day after arriving in Zagreb, Yang Cheng went to visit Dinamo Zagreb.

He was received by Dinamo Zagreb chairman, Zedravko Mamic.

The 44-year-old Mamic is the best football agent in Croatia and is also well-known in European football.

He was a member of the board of directors of Dinamo Zagreb early on and also ran a football school.

This football school gathers the most talented young football players from all over Croatia and brings them together in Zagreb for training and improvement.

When they reach a certain age, the best children are selected to join Dinamo Zagreb.

At the beginning, Mamić looked down on Yang Cheng, a young man from China, and even wanted to deceive him.

But who is Yang Cheng?
In his previous life, Yang Cheng had dealt with not only young Karami like Mamic, but also top agents like Raiola and Mendes.

After a few words, Yang Cheng made Mamiqi look at him in a new light and he no longer dared to be blindly arrogant.

He even took the initiative to get close to her.

"My brother Zoran Mamic plays for Fürth in the German second division as a central defender. He told me that there is a Chinese striker among his teammates who is very strong."

Yang Cheng nodded without comment.

He knew who it was.

Just recently, Mamic took over as chairman of the board of directors of Dinamo Zagreb.

The first decision after taking office was to form a second team.

This is also a project that Mamic attaches great importance to.

Ilya Lonkarevic, the director in charge of youth training, introduced that the second team is composed of young players aged 16 to 18, all of whom are the most talented players in the football school, Dinamo Zagreb, and even in the whole of Croatia.

The head coach is Romeo Jozak, who is well-known in Croatia.

Yang Cheng didn't know him, but he remembered the name.

Romeo Yozak later became the head coach of the Kuwait national team.

Dinamo Zagreb's training grounds and facilities are not very good, but they are complete and professional.

This should also be the main factor that enables them to attract many young talents in the country.

Yang Cheng seemed to be watching casually, but he was actually paying attention.

As Lonkarevic said, Dinamo Zagreb's second team is indeed full of talents.

For example, a left-back named Glowachki Kale is very strong.

There is also Marco Cindric, who plays on the right side. He is very fast and has great impact.

Vedran Djordjevic, who once played for Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League, will become familiar to many fans in the next few years. He can play as a central defender and midfielder. He is tall and strong, and has solid footwork.

On the court, when competing with peers, he was really dominant and it was eye-opening.

"This player will become a great player in the future!" Yang Cheng "couldn't help" praising.

Both Mamic and Lonkarevic agreed with this and nodded complacently.

Yang Cheng did not find his goal on the training ground.

But he didn't ask any questions.

There has never been a fixed price standard in the European football transfer market, and the price often depends on the negotiating parties.

This is a very complex game.

Yang Cheng tentatively asked about the worth of Joel Luka, Cindric, and Kalai.

The result was as he expected.

When facing buyers from England, Mamic was ruthless in his attacks.

He even offered a whopping 1500 million Croatian Kunas for Joel Luka, the team's most talented player.

According to the current exchange rate between Croatian Kuna and Euro, it is about 200 million Euros.

Yang Cheng smiled bitterly in his heart, but remained calm on the surface.

Not to mention the two or three players with the best talent that can be seen with the naked eye, even the slightly inferior players like Saric, Gravina, Kardum, Mikulic, etc., have asking prices of hundreds of thousands or even nearly a million euros.

Yang Cheng deliberately looked embarrassed and said that he needed to communicate with London.

Mamic and others naturally would not object.

……

At noon, Mamić invited Yang Cheng to a restaurant called Kolovom.

In the afternoon, you can stroll around Zagreb and appreciate the scenery of the Croatian capital.

The next morning, Yang Cheng came to the training ground again.

This time Mamic didn't show up.

Obviously, he realized that Yang Cheng was not the "fat sheep" buyer he expected.

On the contrary, this club in the third tier of English football is not well-off.

The person responsible for receiving him this time was the club's CEO, Damir Vbanovich.

He also has another very prominent business card, member of UEFA's Executive Committee.

This title looks intimidating, but it is actually of no use.

Moreover, he only took office in 02 and has very little experience.

But when talking, Yang Cheng deliberately catered to Vbanovic's identity and talked to him about various things in European football, which surprised the Croatian again and again.

For example, when talking about UEFA Vice President and Spanish Football Association President Villar, Yang Cheng could even accurately tell the detailed address of his home in Madrid and some of the surrounding conditions.

All of this was based on Yang Cheng's past life experiences and observations. As for some of UEFA's insider rumors, Yang Cheng was even more familiar with them.

For example, he reminded Vbanovich to pay attention to Frenchman Michel Platini.

"As early as March last year, he was already an executive member of FIFA. At the same time, he joined UEFA as an executive member as the vice president of the French Football Association. Guess..."

Yang Cheng's pretending to be mysterious immediately made Vbanovich's eyes light up.

After making this association, the look he gave Yang Cheng became different.

More enthusiastic.

There were a few more people in today's training session, but they were obviously not the main players.

When they were divided into groups, they all received substitute vests.

This time, Yang Cheng found the purpose of his trip.

Luka Modric.

Luka Modric, who doesn't turn 9 until September, is the shortest of the group and also the thinnest.

Especially when standing with tall and strong men like Joel Luca, he really looks like a little Karami.

It turns out that his position in the team is indeed that of Little Karami.

"Luka's skills are really good. Look at how he handles the ball and stops the ball. It's really good."

Vbanovich introduced Yang Cheng enthusiastically.

"But he was too short, too skinny and very bad at physical confrontation."

"Other players like him who are not very tall, like Marko Cindric, who is only 1 meters tall, are very fast, which makes him even better on the court."

"Luka Modric, on the other hand, has neither the physical confrontation nor the speed of the shorter players. We tried many different positions, but he never performed well."

Vbanovic also revealed that whether Modric was in Mamic's football school or in Dinamo Zagreb II, his contract treatment and status in the team were the worst.

Yang Cheng was not surprised by this.

He knew these things from Modric in his previous life.

Many fans like to read the autobiographies of stars.

However, few people know that those autobiographies are usually written for the media and fans after becoming famous.

Not to mention beautification, fiction is commonplace in the content.

In his autobiography, Modric described the careful training he received at Dinamo Zagreb, the importance that Mamic attached to him, etc. However, a careful analysis shows that these descriptions do not hold up to scrutiny.

Later, Modric told Yang Cheng that his early experience at Dinamo Zagreb was very bad.

He had the lowest salary and the lowest status in the team, and Mamic did not take him seriously.

why?
Because everyone around him is stronger than him.

So, when the team needed to loan a few players to Zlinski in the Bosnian League, Dinamo Zagreb sent Modric, the least valued player in the second team, over there.

During that time, Modric and his family were in great pain.

Because the Bosnian league is known for its fierce physical confrontation.

This was indeed a very difficult decision for the short and thin Modric.

After Zielinski's success, Dinamo Zagreb loaned him to Sapresic in the same country.

Of course, Modric kicked it out.

Therefore, his two loan spells were glorified in his autobiography as the club's targeted and focused cultivation of him.

Otherwise, what else can I say?

But Yang Cheng knew clearly that at this moment, in the minds of everyone in Dinamo Zagreb, Modric was a young player who was neither high nor low, with obvious strengths and weaknesses and uncertain career prospects.

……

After knowing what was going on, Yang Cheng did not continue to dwell on Modric, but changed the subject.

After having a "very pleasant conversation" with Vbanovich, he took the initiative to reveal the difficulties of his trip.

A rich second-generation, eager to prove himself in front of his elders, comes to Croatia to select football talents with a limited budget.

Yang Cheng first entangled with Vbanovich for a long time over Jorluka, but the price was never agreed upon.

After that, several other players were involved, but no agreement was reached.

"No, Yang, Kalai is the most talented player in our youth team. Although he is a defender, his price will never be less than 500 million kuna."

500 million kuna is equivalent to more than 60 euros.

But Yang Cheng still looked conflicted.

“It’s still beyond my budget.”

After saying that, Yang Cheng sighed again and looked at Vbanovich with frustration.

"Could it be that, Damir, my friend, there is really no destiny between us?"

Vbanovich benefited a lot from the conversation with Yang Cheng. He learned a lot of secrets of European football and was very impressed with Yang Cheng.

It feels like we met too late.

At this moment, hearing him say this, it really feels a bit regrettable.

"How about you take a look at the other players?" suggested Vbanovich.

Yang Cheng shook his head. "I'm only interested in these players. We don't want any bad players."

"Then I really can't do anything." Vbanovich was also helpless.

Although he is the club's CEO and a member of UEFA's Executive Committee, the core power in the team is basically in Mamic's hands.

Given Mamic's character, he would never sell young players at a low price.

These are all treasures!
Yang Cheng looked at Vbanovich, thought about it, and clicked his tongue twice.

"Forget it, who makes us good friends?"

"Well, the cheapest one here is the one called Luka Modric, right?"

"Yes, he is the one with the least future."

"It's a rare trip for me, and I can't go back empty-handed. Just give me a friendly price, and I'll take him away. I'll consider it as making a friend of yours. Is that okay with you?"

　During the period of the new book, I beg for votes, thank you very much!!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)