I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

Chapter 266: Chapter 13: Pay Raise? Top Salary? Me???

After this match, Ancelotti has developed a unique insight into using Chen Zhong.

In the post-match interview, faced with the media’s questions, he was full of praise, ”Chen is a very potential player, if I could, I hope he could always stay in Milan.”

Ancelotti’s words were quite serious, and there’s even a precedent for such a thing.

Beckham is the precedent.

Originally, Beckham was only loaned for 3 months, but under Galliani’s maneuvering, he was successfully loaned for a season, with even an extension clause.

So why can’t Chen Zhong extend his stay?

As for why Chen Zhong left Real Madrid, Ancelotti has also heard a bit. It seems that fearing the club’s internal chaos might affect Chen Zhong’s future development, they let Chen Zhong go out for a while.

Now, with Chen Zhong loaned to Milan for a season, helping you train for free, then...

Isn’t that good?

Ancelotti’s statement immediately sparked protests from two groups of fans. One group was the Chinese fans, many of whom were completely bored with Serie A matches, and coupled with the inconvenient timing, they expressed, ”I refuse this marriage.” The other group, Real Madrid fans, seemed really worried about Chen Zhong continuing in Milan for another season, taking to the streets to protest at the club’s entrance.

Some even demanded that current candidates must promise to bring back Chen Zhong, and even demanded building the team around him.

Even Florentino, who hasn’t announced his candidacy, was called upon by the fans.

If it were other requests, Florentino, currently calculating and watching the ”heat,” might hesitate a bit, but for this request...

It’s almost a perfect match!

Florentino even wanted to publicly boast, telling those fans who let Chen Zhong leave this mess and go to Milan, it was me, it was me, it was me!

Florentino: Darling! Wait a little longer, I’m about to take office, then we’ll create a ”Youth Army” era together.

Meanwhile, in Milan’s training, Ancelotti is getting Chen Zhong to develop a new habit, which is to surge forward from the back, making more forward runs from midfield.

No way, Berlusconi has spoken. He needs to guarantee Pato’s playing time, but he also doesn’t want to give up on Chen Zhong, so he developed the ”false center forward” tactic, which means surging forward from the midfield’s back row.

This has led Milan’s 4321 formation, the Christmas tree formation familiar to other fans, to begin steadily phasing out, now in a rather magical state.

This also became an early variant when Ancelotti later opted for the 433 formation.

In the right-wing position, Ancelotti prefers to use players with attacking midfielder playstyle, mainly delivering more threatening passes, not as wingers but more withdrawn, becoming a connector between midfield and the front line.

Of course, as Kaka is the top choice for this position in Milan, he will also have the duty to surge from the back row, sometimes Beckham will move forward to take on the attacking midfielder’s role, while Kaka swaps positions with Pato to become the forward or a second striker.

On the left flank, Milan more often chooses players who operate within the penalty area; later in Ancelotti’s coaching career, he was particularly good at activating players in the left-wing and center forward positions.

Ancelotti was indeed playing some tricks.

Although the team’s tactical style was reformed, externally, he wouldn’t reveal his trump card but maintained the 4321 tactical framework, making others think Milan was still playing the ”Christmas tree.”

But in reality, the quality of Milan’s players could no longer meet past standards.

Last season, it was thanks to Kaka’s explosive performance that Milan had some highlights, but this season, with Kaka showing a certain standard, Ancelotti placed his bet on Chen Zhong.

After defeating Parma, Milan soon faced a match against Lazio.

In the Italian Cup 1/8 finals in December, Lazio drew with Milan in regular time and then eliminated Milan in the penalty shootout. This incident created some tension between Milan and Lazio fans.

Milan fans held on to a grudge, hoping for revenge, and now they have the chance.

During this period, Chen Zhong’s agent, Pimenta, also contacted him.

”Chen!”

”Did you know the club plans to increase your salary?”

Although Chen Zhong is now wearing the red and black jersey, his ownership still belongs to Real Madrid, he is merely on loan to Milan, and for only half a season.

After this season ends, Chen Zhong will leave Milan and return to Real Madrid.

Of course, Milan is also trying to see if they can loan Chen Zhong longer, but unfortunately, Real Madrid won’t agree.

”A raise?”

Chen Zhong’s annual salary before tax at Real Madrid is about 2 million euros, with 1 million euros after tax, and championship bonuses are calculated separately.

During his time at Real Madrid, Chen Zhong already has over 5 million euros in his bank account, equivalent to over 50 million RMB.

A young man just over 17 years old, possessing over 50 million RMB savings, is already a substantial sum in 2009.