Soccer: If they're using these kinds of cheats, what's the point of training?

"Zhang!" The voice on the other end of the phone carried an excitement he'd never heard before. "Where are you?"

"Still in Grenoble, but I'm about to head back to Paris."

"Okay, then come to the company when you go back to Paris."

"What's wrong?"

"Great news!" Jonathan's voice rose an octave. "The whole of Europe is going crazy over the video of your game yesterday! My phone hasn't stopped ringing since last night!"

Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Juventus, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Bayern Munich—they all called! They all fucking called!

This isn't a test; they've given us the terms directly, so you need to come quickly so we can discuss it. The summer transfer window in July isn't far off, so we can take our time negotiating.

Zhang Kuang was stunned for a moment.

"All of them? They've all submitted offers?"

"Yes, you heard right, every single top club has made an offer!" Jonathan's voice trembled. "Zhang, you're not a rookie playing in Ligue 1 anymore. You're the hottest player in all of Europe, bar none. Come over here right now, we need to have a serious talk."

The phone hangs up.

Zhang Kuang quickly packed his things, while the four female reporters were just exhausted, not asleep, so they got firsthand information.

After their frantic walk, they struggled to their feet and began writing a press release—it was big news.

-

Zhang Kuang boarded the earliest train and headed towards Paris. On the train, he browsed the news on his phone for a while, looking at reports related to him. After reading them, he was very satisfied.

Three and a half hours later, in the offices of Sport Cover agency in Paris.

The moment Zhang Kuang pushed open the door, he was startled by the scene before him.

The company is small, with only six workstations and a meeting room. During normal working hours, it's quiet here, with only the sound of keyboards clicking and the occasional phone ringing.

But today—

The phones rang incessantly; every workstation's landline was ringing. Two interns were each holding a phone, answering them; their voices were already hoarse.

Business Director Clara Leroy sat at her desk, holding a cell phone in her left hand and a landline receiver in her right, with her laptop open in front of her and an email interface on the screen.

"Wait a moment, my other phone is ringing... Yes, we received your club's letter of interest, but the specific terms need to be discussed with Jonathan... Okay, I'll pass it on..."

Clara hung up the landline and said into the phone, "Please repeat your club's offer? £150,000 per week? Signing fee? Okay, I've got it..."

She saw Zhang Kuang come in, waved to him, and pointed in the direction of the conference room.

Zhang Kuang walked arrogantly into the conference room.

Pushing open the door, I found Jonathan LeBlanc sitting at one end of a long table, a thick stack of faxes and emails spread out in front of him. His hair was more disheveled than usual, the top two buttons of his shirt were undone, and his tie was pulled down somewhere.

Newspapers from at least seven or eight countries were scattered on the table—French, English, Italian, Spanish, German—and the headlines in each language were all about arrogance.

"You're here?" Jonathan looked up, his eyes showing obvious dark circles, but his gaze was frighteningly bright. "Sit down."

Zhang Kuang sat down opposite him.

Without exchanging pleasantries, Jonathan picked up a stack of faxes from the table and threw them in front of Zhang Kuang.

"Chelsea".

Zhang Kuang glanced down—the fax was on Chelsea Football Club's official letterhead, dated today. It contained a formal inquiry and a letter communicating the player's intentions; the wording was very official, but the core information was clear.

"Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti called me personally," Jonathan said, his voice hoarse but his speech rapid. "He didn't go through the sporting director; he called my cell phone directly."

Do you know what this means? It means Chelsea's desire for this player has exceeded the normal transfer process. Ancelotti doesn't want to wait; he wants to get there first.

"Oh? What did he say?"

"He said—'Arrogance is the kind of player we need. He can play center forward, he can play winger, he can solve problems single-handedly. Chelsea needs that kind of player right now.'" Jonathan paused, "His exact words."

Zhang Kuang didn't say anything and turned to the next page of the fax.

Manchester United.

Jonathan's voice carried a different tone: "Ferguson didn't call himself, but his assistant coach Mike Phelan did. Manchester United's offer was very formal – £150,000 a week, a five-year contract, a key player role, the attacking focal point."

Zhang Kuang pondered for a moment. He knew Manchester United's future trajectory—after Ferguson's retirement, Manchester United would experience a long period of decline.

Even if Ferguson were still here, Manchester United's competitiveness would decline year by year. Therefore, in his mind, Manchester United is a pass. Although he is a cultivator, he cannot yet reach an inhuman state. Football is a team sport of 11 players, and he cannot handle everything by himself.

Therefore, he cannot save Manchester United, nor will he go there.

Manchester City.

"Manchester City are the most proactive." Jonathan pulled a piece of paper from the table. "Their football director flew directly over, arrived in Paris last night, and is now staying at the Bristol Hotel."

He said they could meet and discuss it at any time, and that Manchester City's personal terms were probably the best of all the clubs—starting at 200,000 euros per week with no upper limit.

When Mancini made the phone call, he said, "If Zhang Kuang comes to Manchester City, he will be the core of our tactics, and the whole team will play around him."

Zhang Kuang remained silent for a few seconds.

Manchester City has money and ambition! They have a bright future, but—that would be during Guardiola's era, and Guardiola most likely wouldn't like a player like him.

Because he understood this bald coach, whose demands on tactics were too strict. Sometimes, even when a goal could be scored with just a few passes, the coach would insist on using complicated passing to complete the goal, which he couldn't stand.

Guardiola's logic is: use extreme ball control to kill the "randomness" of the game.

Manchester City, we'll see.

The current Mancini era has seen some ups and downs in results. Mancini is a first-class coach, but not a top-class coach. He is a bit soft and his emotions are easily out of control. Although he has won some league titles, he has struggled to achieve anything in the Champions League.

We'll see. This is a backup option, after all, it's expensive. At worst, he can leave Manchester City before Guardiola arrives.

Arsenal.

"Wenger called personally." Jonathan's expression became subtle. "He said a lot, but the core message was the same—Arsenal doesn't have the money to pay high salaries, but Arsenal has the best system for developing young players. If you go to Arsenal, you'll become the next Henry."

Zhang Kuang almost burst out laughing. The next Henry?

How many trophies did Henry win for Arsenal? Zero Champions League titles. What was Arsenal's situation during those years? Fighting for fourth place every year, selling their captain every year.

"Arsenal is out of the question," Zhang Kuang said arrogantly.

Jonathan glanced at him and crossed out Arsenal's fax.

"Tottenham also called, but I don't think it's necessary to consider it."

"Need not."

Jonathan put the Tottenham fax aside and continued scrolling down.

"La Liga. Real Madrid."

He picked up a fax and read aloud: "Real Madrid's official inquiry letter did not specify any personal terms, but their sporting director told me privately that Real Madrid could offer a weekly wage of around 150,000 euros, with a signing bonus to be discussed separately."

Pellegrini—their coach—said after watching your video, "He's more complete than Drogba and can work with Ronaldo like Rooney and Ronaldo." Of course, that might just be a polite remark.

Zhang shook his head wildly. Putting aside the fact that he could never compete with Ronaldo for the core player position, the more important thing is to look at Real Madrid's current lineup: Ronaldo, Kaká, Benzema, and Higuaín.

Real Madrid's attacking line is already overcrowded. If he goes to Real Madrid, who will he replace? The most likely replacement is Higuain, who will play as a center forward.

Forget it, forget it. He doesn't dream of playing for Real Madrid. If Ronaldo leaves Real Madrid, he might consider going to Real Madrid to give it a try.

"Barcelona?" Zhang Kuang was somewhat surprised.

"Barcelona also inquired about the price," Jonathan said, pointing to the fax. "But their attitude was rather ambiguous. Guardiola watched your video."

But Barcelona's current attacking line has Messi, Ibrahimovic, Henry, Pedro, and Bojan—Messi is the absolute core, and Ibrahimovic is the starting center forward. If you go to Barcelona, ​​you'll at best be a rotation player.

Zhang nodded wildly. Barcelona wouldn't consider him; he couldn't possibly be anyone's substitute.

Next, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Juventus, and others all made offers. Zhang Kuang looked at them one by one, and it was a real headache.

He genuinely hadn't thought carefully about where he wanted to transfer; he thought that was something to worry about at the end of the season.