I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

Chapter 95: Chapter 13: Fame Across the World (Part 2)

In fact, there are already some clubs interested in Chen Zhong. Being able to consistently perform like this in the Champions League group stage at the age of 16 is enough to make some clubs want to buy this lottery ticket and scratch it.

Florentino, after seeing Chen Zhong become famous, showed a gratified smile on his face. As the helmsman of the first phase of the Galaxy, and the former president of Real Madrid,

he has always wanted to help the team open up the Asian market and the Chinese market.

And the most effective way is to unearth a player from that country. Some fans who are not aware of the inside story might think that Chen Zhong’s fame is Calderon’s achievement.

But in fact, it was Florentino who decided on Chen Zhong joining Real Madrid’s youth academy and even met Chen Zhong several times.

Florentino still remembers the scene from that time.

Chen Zhong had just finished a match where he scored twice, attacking like a battering ram, far exceeding the level of his peers.

After the game, he reached out to ruffle the boy’s hair, but the boy deftly dodged it and then looked at him with a disdainful glance.

That was the first meeting between the two, and Florentino at that time felt that the player he had always wanted to find seemed to be in his grasp.

”Very soon, I really hope this fool can be a bit smarter.” Florentino clearly saw what kind of person Calderon was, and with someone like him for comparison, it would reduce many troubles for Florentino’s return to power.

During his tenure, the Merengues had already become very demanding.

Did he really think the players brought in this summer were enough to satisfy the Merengues?

And selling the genius players from the youth academy so ostentatiously was truly a foolish action. Thinking about this made Florentino’s heart ache slightly.

In Florentino’s heart, there was always a distant dream: he wanted to build an indestructible Youth Army within ten years, but Calderon’s actions were destroying the foundation of Real Madrid’s youth academy.

However, Florentino did not just sit idly by. At least he twisted Calderon’s intentions in some ways by inserting buy-back clauses into the players sold from the youth academy and discovered a ”potential stock” called Calafate. He was an interesting young man who had no talent for playing football, yet he discovered Chen Zhong in China.

And now, he has also provided a name to the club’s youth department in faraway Brazil, Carlos Henrique Casemiro, a young player in the Brazilian league. Florentino had seen him play and found it very interesting.

In the future, this dream of a Youth Army might indeed be realized by Calafate. The future chief scout did not disappoint Florentino’s expectations, as he was later called the ”Soul Behind the Scenes.”

His first signing was Chen Zhong, followed by the acquisitions of Valverde, Vinicius, Rodrigo, Chuameni, Camavinga, Endrick, Militao...

All of which made the title ”Soul Behind the Scenes” so well-deserved.

...

The outside world’s storms and showers were something Chen Zhong originally didn’t want to pay attention to, but after this match, he truly felt the impact of becoming famous.

When he walked out of the dormitory as usual, reporters would come up wanting to interview him. He answered some questions from Chinese journalists, one of whom asked if he would play for his country. Chen Zhong still used the same tone, ”I want to focus more on my club matches and not divert my energy to friendly matches, warm-ups, and such.”

Journalists also asked some sensitive questions, and also shared some opinions from domestic fans, along with some ”institutions” shouting from afar.

Chen Zhong remained firm in his stance, saying, ”I will not change my mind. I have signed a professional contract with the club. I am a professional player and will not consider returning to play in China. I need to maintain my state and energy to secure my position in the team.”

”To even say something not quite pleasant, I think that now in the entire football world, or to narrow it down, only in Asia do we still use these outdated methods.”

”We have a saying, ’to learn from the mistakes of others,’ and we have players playing abroad, but why are the results like this? I think it’s very clear. Being behind means being beaten. Sending more players abroad and integrating internationally is beneficial.”

When these words of Chen Zhong were transmitted back to his home country, it caused a huge uproar, creating very contentious topics. Some people straightforwardly criticized Chen Zhong’s age, saying, ”What does such a young kid know!”

”Is the moon in foreign countries rounder?”

”This kid is finished! Look at those predecessors and then look at him.”

However, some fans who understood football thought what Chen Zhong said made sense: ”I think there’s nothing wrong.”

”The Manchester United Director seems to have been ruined because of this.”

”Every time they just get in form, and after a few trips back and forth, the form is gone.”

But Chen Zhong could not hear these controversies, and even if he could, he didn’t care much. Besides, he always felt these journalists were making something out of nothing; he has never received any selection notifications, not even from the youth team.

After daily training, after parting ways with Marcelo and others, Chen Zhong received a call from home. His father said a few simple words, then passed the phone to his mother, who chattered about her hardships before getting to the main point.

”Son, a lot of people have been contacting me recently.”

”And they all call in the middle of the night, mom’s hair is falling out quite a bit.”

”Mom thinks you should find a professional agent. Many people in China are looking for you, but mom feels their intentions aren’t pure. However, she also doesn’t know anyone abroad.”

”But there is one person, mom thinks he’s pretty good. His name is something like Lalala?”

”I inquired a bit, and it seems he treats his players well and helps them negotiate with clubs for benefits and such. I think having him as your agent isn’t a bad idea, maybe you should meet him sometime.”

”He is currently in Madrid.”

”No, mom.” Chen Zhong frowned slightly, ”I hope to have someone who won’t cause trouble for the club, someone who doesn’t need to fight too much for my benefits.”

”I play for Real Madrid. Do you know what kind of club Real Madrid is?”

”It’s equivalent to our Tsinghua or Peking University, right? In terms of treatment, as long as you perform well, it will naturally improve.”

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a while, and after quite some time, a muffled voice came through. Indeed, mom had put it on speaker for dad to listen in.

”Son.”

”You’re still too naive.”

”People are complicated, you can’t be like this.”

”You should listen to your mother about this, would mom and dad harm you?”

”Phew~” Chen Zhong let out a long breath and said, ”I actually think for this matter, since my mom doesn’t have much to do anyway, why not teach yourself to be my agent?”

”What are you talking about!!!” Mom’s voice came through the phone, ”I’m still waiting for you to become a superstar and make lots of money for mom to spend! Mom will only be responsible for having fun by then, I don’t want to think about these things!”

”Anyway, I gave him your phone number. It won’t hurt to meet him tomorrow.”