Football: I am only 16 years old, and you want me to retire and make a comeback?

Chapter 929 United Development Group and Japan Elite Soccer Academy

3-2 comeback victory! 9 people witnessed the Chinese national football team win the championship at the Bird's Nest.

China's national football team wins its second consecutive Asian Cup title; Tang Ye wins MVP award again.

Undisputed strongest in Asia? The Chinese team has achieved the best results among Asian teams in all A-level competitions in the past 5 years.

The news of the Chinese national football team winning the championship quickly dominated the trending topics on major platforms, with Douyin (TikTok) being the most active.

One of the characteristics of the Douyin app is its strong ability to track current events. Once a very exciting event occurs, it will immediately attract countless reposts and derivative works.

Simply put, there are a lot of "cloud imps".

Although I don't usually watch matches or follow news about the Chinese national football team, I still have to say a few words after seeing that the team won the Asian Cup. For example, some people say things like, "I knew it, the national team would definitely bounce back," or "As expected, the Chinese team is awesome." Some people even post a picture of Tang Ye holding the championship trophy facing the stands on their WeChat Moments, with the caption: "My ideal GOAT."

These online fans may not understand football, but they have done a lot of "free publicity" for the Chinese team, which can be considered a contribution.

"Team China!"

"Brilliant!"

"Team China!"

"Brilliant!"

CCTV5

"Coach He, how are you feeling now?"

Huang Jianxiang looked at He Wei beside him, who seemed somewhat moved.

"...We have fantasized many times that the Chinese football team could achieve a so-called 'bottoming out and rebound,' but all we have encountered are setbacks and ridicule. This has led to a significant decrease in the number of fans and supporters of Chinese football due to poor performance."

"Of course, I know that there is still a large group of fans who have always stood behind the Chinese national team and provided spiritual support for the Chinese men's football team they love. This also makes them one of the few 'companions' who have witnessed the entire process of Chinese football's decline and rise."

"call……"

He Wei took a deep breath: "So what I want to say is that it's never because there is hope that we choose to persevere. It's because only by persevering can we see hope. Here I want to thank the loyal Chinese team fans in front of the TV. It is because of your support that the Chinese men's football team has come this far, and that we can see players like Tang Ye emerge."

"At the same time, I also believe that what you are seeing now is just the process of Chinese football going uphill, not the final destination. We may no longer be at the foot of the mountain, or even far from it, but we have not yet reached the top. We are on the way to the top halfway up the mountain, and all of you in the audience will become witnesses to this legendary journey."

"China Media Group! Thank you for watching. That concludes our program for today."

……

The Sun's front-page headline: Two-time Asian Cup champions! TY single-handedly changed the landscape of the Asian Cup; is the path forward for Chinese football unstoppable?
"TY's performance in the two Asian Cups was impeccable. According to the newspaper's experts, combined with Manchester United's six-title season and China's Asian Cup title, TY's market value is expected to exceed 380 million euros, which means that he has a high probability of breaking his own record again."

"In addition, the Chinese national team is currently ranked 26th in the FIFA world rankings. After winning the Asian Cup, this ranking will rise, and the Chinese team may become the only men's national team in Asia to enter the top 20 in the FIFA rankings."

The Sun is at it again, offering hindsight advice. Publishing news praising the Chinese team at this point won't attract much traffic, since global media are already reporting on it.

Conversely, if you were to ask fans questions like "When will the Chinese team surpass European teams?" at this point, the comments section would become very lively.

Spanish fans are starting to tremble. They thought it would be an upset, but they just can't beat them... We'd better not draw China in the next World Cup; dark horses are really hard to beat.

[China is no longer considered a dark horse. TY has one World Cup bronze medal and two Asian Cup titles, which is enough to contend for the World Cup. However, their overall squad doesn't seem particularly strong. I only learned from the introduction that several of their players are valued at less than 1 million euros.]

Tom's strength lies in his ability to control the game; even teammates with a €50 salary can play like they're worth €1000 million. I'm a Manchester United fan, but I'm rooting for China. For the next World Cup, I'll support both England and China.

[Eskeriva is really clever. If it were me, I would definitely have chosen to stay at Dortmund. But this guy went to China to start the second spring of his coaching career... It turns out that pandering to China was the answer.]

[Flattery towards China isn't the point, okay? It's people like you who want to smear Ferran that are truly annoying. Ferran went to China because of Tom; he knew he could achieve results playing with Tom, and then he actually did.]

"..."

Escriva's phone screen switched back and forth between Twitter and Instagram, repeatedly browsing the fans' comments, getting more and more excited and incredibly happy.

It's often said that the Asian Cup title is second only to the Champions League title in prestige for Escriva, but that's not actually the case.

In terms of difficulty, winning the Asian Cup is actually more difficult than winning the Champions League, because the overall strength of the Chinese team is extremely unbalanced, and designing a suitable tactic is not an easy task.

Needless to say, the sense of accomplishment was immense. For Escudeva himself, the Asian Cup title was undoubtedly the most meaningful trophy of his coaching career, as it silenced almost all previous doubts.

"Will you renew your contract with China?"

Matti noticed the contents of Eskriva's phone.

"why not?"

Escriva looked at Matti, who laughed: "We might not be able to win championships like this again, right? Or do you think we can?"

"You should know about Tom and the Football Association. The situation of Chinese football in the next few years will be quite complicated. If you want to stay, you have to be prepared."

"Preparation? No preparation is needed."

Escriva casually shrugged: "We never rely on preparation, whether it's the World Cup or the Asian Cup. As you said, dealing with unforeseen challenges is exactly what we do well, and it always has been."

"I don't care about Tom and the Football Association, I'm sure I'll continue to win championships here."

Eskeriva's eyes lit up: "More championships."

Being a coach for the Chinese national team is indeed a risky job, because Chinese football is in the early stages of reform, and you have no idea what the future holds.

Furthermore, due to the lack of a suitable successor after Chen Xuyuan's downfall, the Chinese Football Association is currently the only national football association in the world without a formal chairman. The current top leader of the Chinese Football Association is still former national team coach Gao Hongbo, who is only in charge temporarily.

"Okay, I agree with you."

Marty leaned back on the sofa, carefully examining the "Asian Cup Best Coach" trophy on the table. An interesting question suddenly popped into his mind: "You want to stay because you think Tom can succeed?"

"..."

Eskeriva gaped. “Of course I hope he succeeds. But as you can see… if I had to say, I don’t think he can.” “If China were a smaller country, I would definitely believe Tom, his Bubble Bond is rich enough to change a lot of things.”

"But China is too big, that's the biggest problem. If you ask me to do this, I have absolutely no idea how to do it."

Escriva sighed: "Marty, our mission is the national team, we don't want to think about anything else."

……

Domestic sources say that 2-3 players are expected to retire from the national team after the Asian Cup, possibly including Wu Xi.

Sports Weekly – Great news! After winning the Asian Cup, Tang Ye personally paid for a banquet for all members of the national football team.

Italian journalist Romano: Real Madrid has officially made an offer to Manchester United for TY, with an estimated transfer fee of up to 2.2 million euros (to be paid in 3-5 years), and has proposed to use a signing bonus of 1.2 million euros to compensate for the salary issues under the wage cap.

Previously it was all just rumors, but this time it's really happening.

According to Romano, Real Madrid had been preparing for this transfer for at least a year and a half, with the goal of acquiring Tang Ye in the summer of 2023.

Manchester United has not yet responded to this, but reporters are not in a hurry.

Because they know very well that Tang Ye's contract with Manchester United has only one year left, and in order to avoid the huge loss to the team caused by Tang Ye leaving on a free transfer, Manchester United's management must make a decision on Tang Ye's future before the summer transfer window closes!
The editor-in-chief of the Manchester Evening News: The transfer windows in recent seasons have been too uneventful. Judging from past patterns, something "amazing" will happen this summer.

……

On July 15, less than a month before the start of the new Premier League season, Tang Ye, who was invited, visited Tokyo, Japan, to meet with the Japan Football Association.

The timing of this visit is somewhat awkward, given that China had just defeated Japan in the Asian Cup final, and Tang Ye's visit carries a hint of provocation.

Of course, this was not a provocation, because Tang Ye was indeed personally invited by the Japan Football Association, and the reason they invited Tang Ye was that the latter had founded the "United Development Group (UDG)" in China.

Due to conflicts of interest, the relationship between UDG and the Chinese Football Association has always been very strange, and the two sides can hardly reach an agreement on league ownership and youth training.

However, the Japan Football Association had a keen sense of smell. After seeing the news, they conducted an in-depth investigation into the whole incident and, after determining that it was feasible, took advantage of the off-season to contact Tang Ye.

"Tang Sang!"

Moriyasu bowed and shook hands, then introduced Tajima Kozo, who was sitting next to him, to Tang Ye. Tajima Kozo was the president of the Japan Football Association.

"Would you like to speak English? If so, we don't need a translator."

Tajima Kozo led Tang Ye toward the office, accompanied by two translators speaking different languages.

"Yes, that's fine. English is fine; no translation is needed."

Tang Ye sat down in front of Tajima Kozo: "To be honest, coming here at this time is really awkward..."

"Tang Sang, there's no need to say that. After all, we invited you here."

Hajime Moriyasu seemed to have recovered from the bad mood of losing the Asian Cup final, which surprised Tang Ye, because he did not expect the Japanese coach to be so good at adjusting his emotions.

"You guys played really well," Tang Ye said.

The two exchanged compliments, both somewhat hesitant, until Tang Ye finally spoke first, after which Tajima Kozo began to get down to business.

When Tajima Kozo saw the news that United Development Group had signed agency contracts with several Chinese Super League clubs, he found it very interesting. Later, Moriyasu Hajime even offered a suggestion, saying that Japan needed to learn from China in order to ensure that Japanese football could be at the forefront of Asia.

Unlike China, Japan doesn't have a financial backer like Bubble Bond, so Kozo Tajima's idea was to cooperate with China.

"Tang Sang, do you know about Japan's J1 League? It's similar to your Chinese Super League. J1 is the best football league here."

Seeing that Tang Ye was about to speak, Tajima Kozo immediately added.

"Of course we are also willing to pay. If a J1 League player is sent to Europe, your company can share his transfer fee with our club on a proportional basis."

As former professional athletes, Tang Ye naturally knew what Tajima Kozo was talking about.

If the United Development Group's agent team sends a U17 player from Kawasaki Frontale to Europe, then the Japanese player's future will only have two possibilities.

1. Since the player ultimately failed to perform well, the United Development Group will bear part of the loss, while Kawasaki Frontale will receive a small profit.

2. The best outcome would be if this player made it big, for example, by joining a Ligue 1 team for a transfer fee of 20 million euros.

If the second scenario occurs, according to FIFA's youth development rules, Kawasaki Frontale, as the parent club, will receive approximately 200 million euros in transfer revenue.

Because of the cooperation agreement, Kawasaki Frontale must share the 200 million euros with UDG in a certain proportion.

"Our risks are too great."

Tang Ye quickly made his judgment: "Sir, only a few players will ultimately achieve success. We are more likely to lose money, while you are guaranteed to make a profit."

"We do this in China because we are willing to lose money, because it is beneficial to the development of football in our country."

“But this is Japan, Mr. Tajima, and I don’t think I have any reason to do this.”

"..."

"Yes, Tang Sang."

Kozo Tajima glanced at Hajime Moriyasu beside him, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "I have studied your plan carefully. You want to find talented players in China and send them directly to Europe, right? But, Mr. Tang, this is challenging. Not everyone can adapt to European leagues as quickly as you can. I think your players need to do some preparation before going to Europe."

Kozo Tajima opened his arms: "Japan has many internationally renowned elite football academies, in Tokyo, Osaka... not only in these places, but in every city we have excellent football academies. I think you need our help."

Seeing that Tang Ye was somewhat hesitant, Tajima Kozo continued, "China, Japan, and then Europe... Don't you think that's interesting?"

……

(End of this chapter)