I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

Chapter 244: Chapter 2: Transfer (Part 2)

”Alright!”

”I got it!”

The chattering of his friends gave Chen Zhong a bit of a headache. The players present, especially those who moved up to the first team this season, mostly decided to stay because of Chen Zhong’s performance last season.

Take Granero for example.

He was originally set to go to Getafe, but because of Baptista’s departure and Chen Zhong’s performance last season, he ultimately decided to stay, even joking with Chen Zhong that the two of them made a perfect offensive and defensive pair.

Parejo was in a similar position.

Last season, he became the main midfielder for Castilla. He was supposed to be loaned out to Queens Park Rangers in the English Championship this season, but in the end, some strings were pulled, and he stayed at Real Madrid.

He firmly believes he will find an opportunity.

Lastly, there’s Callejon.

Callejon was initially set to go to Espanyol, but Robinho’s sudden breakout made Callejon see an opportunity. He didn’t hastily agree to move to Espanyol and kept waiting for the result of Robinho’s transfer, ultimately making the right bet.

Real Madrid announced during the summer transfer window that they had 100 million euros for signings, but so far, the only legitimate expenditure they’ve made in the transfer market is on...

A player from the Netherlands, Van der Vaart.

The price was only 13 million euros.

This has been Real Madrid’s stingiest period since 1995.

Last season, Calderon broke Florentino’s club investment record. A year later, Real Madrid’s caution in spending has stirred much discussion.

At this crucial time of an impending election, many people have brought up accusations of Calderon’s financial fraud again.

Coincidentally, Cristiano Ronaldo, who originally rejected returning due to injury, finally chose to return to Manchester United, attend a press conference, and stated that he would fully commit to playing for Manchester United, aiming to help the team win their fourth Champions League trophy.

This dashed the fans’ hopes of a ”transfer of the century.”

Robinho’s departure further undermined Schuster’s authority. Within the club, Schuster and Mijatovic were like polar opposites.

At the start of last season, Schuster disapproved of Robinho’s extravagance and wanted to sell him, while Mijatovic firmly opposed it. However, this season, Schuster opposed selling Robinho, yet Mijatovic agreed.

No matter the process, the fact remained that Robinho was sold.

Moreover, the conflict between Schuster and Mijatovic grew more intense with Schuster’s increasing arrogance and Mijatovic’s relentless resistance. Since joining Real Madrid, Schuster proposed many players, but Mijatovic rejected most of them.

Recently, someone even leaked to the media: ”Mijatovic never liked Schuster. He never wanted the German to coach Real Madrid, but it was Calderon’s decision. Now, Mijatovic believes Real Madrid can also fire Schuster.”

Real Madrid has a special committee that reviews every transfer plan.

This special committee consists of Real Madrid’s president Calderon, general manager Mijatovic, head coach Schuster, manager Jose Sanchez, club advisor Portugal, and captain Raul.

But each person has a different level of influence within the committee.

Surprisingly, Schuster’s influence is even less than Raul’s, as Raul can almost daily converse with Calderon, while Schuster cannot.

This may be a significant reason why Schuster wants to support the Dutch contingent.

Because Raul doesn’t assist him in transfers and even opposes him.

Schuster wanted Diego from Bremen, Huntelaar, Villa, and Cazorla.

But what he got were Negredo, Granero, Callejon, Parejo, and even lost Robinho, which began to make Schuster irrational, especially after last season when he led Real Madrid to win La Liga, the Spanish Super Cup, and break several records.

Even having Barcelona form a guard of honor for the champions at Bernabeu, and other such achievements.

Schuster believed he now had the capacity, status, and qualifications to make some demands.

But Real Madrid harshly showed Schuster the reality.

He doesn’t!

...

The small meeting in Chen Zhong’s room ended, and the players gradually left.

He didn’t want to be involved in these complex matters, only wanted to play football well, and let his compatriots back home see him on TV—that was it.

But these issues involuntarily entangled him.

”Knock knock knock.”

Someone knocked on the door, and when Chen Zhong opened it, it was Raul standing there.

The two of them had quite a history; though Raul initially played for Atletico Madrid’s youth team, he later spent time at Castilla, and reached the required tenure to be regarded as a Real Madrid youth player.

In Raul’s long career at Real Madrid, even Guti, who had a troubled relationship with Raul, had already moved past Raul’s history in Atletico Madrid’s youth setup.

After all, compared to what he achieved at Real Madrid, his stint at Atletico Madrid had long been insignificant.

When Chen Zhong first joined Real Madrid’s first team, it was Raul who led him there, and Chen Zhong’s first league goal for Real Madrid came from Raul allowing him to take the penalty.

Likewise, Raul’s 200th league goal was made possible by Chen Zhong passing up the penalty opportunity.

It’s worth noting that at that time, Chen Zhong had already scored twice, and taking the penalty would have given him his first career hat-trick.

But he gave up that chance and let Raul score his 200th league goal.

Raul’s intent was straightforward; he briefly talked about some locker room issues, and even brought up a past event.

”Do you remember the friction you had with Drenthe on the training ground?”

”And then the showdown with Van Nistelrooy on the training ground?”

”I must say, when you finally blocked Van Nistelrooy, you really were like a gorilla, roaring and beating your chest, but it also showed us the vibrancy of youth.”

In a casual tone, Raul expressed their ”advice” and shared their thoughts on Chen Zhong back then.

Finally, Raul patted Chen Zhong on the shoulder and said, ”Our issues with them started back in 2006, but I don’t want similar things to happen in the next generation after us.”

”You have a good relationship with Pepe, Marcelo, Higuain, and Robben.”

”Keep it that way.”

The locker room issue at Real Madrid has been longstanding; the Dutch contingent isn’t exclusive to Real Madrid—it has appeared at Barcelona too.

The older generation of players can no longer change this locker room problem. Even though they know it will disperse their energy, they can only continue on this path.

Raul’s visit wasn’t to gain the support of the ”newcomers.”

But to tell the new leaders that this kind of conflict should end with their generation.

And in the future, when they grow old and leave,

Real Madrid’s locker room will change, having only one voice.

This will make Real Madrid’s locker room incredibly formidable, and will make the club’s executives, or future coaches, incredibly ”afraid.”