"Royal" robe donned, it's only the beginning.

The post-match gathering was not just the "private gathering" of Negredo and Chen Zhong, Soldado also joined.

The three sat in the private room, chatting merrily, with Negredo occasionally sharing the latest comments from the forums with his two friends.

"Who is Negredo!"

"When Almeria's number 9 passed the ball to a teammate faced with defense."

"When he scored a decisive penalty."

"Real Madrid fans might raise such a question."

In the private room, Negredo was reading the online comments with a smile. With Chen Zhong's outstanding performance this season, Real Madrid fans had already started paying attention to the youth players. This time, more people sighed: "Just like countless times before, we have fallen at the hands of one of our own."

Negredo, the main striker for Almeria, delivered a performance that could be described as "stunning," fully showcasing his speed during counterattacks. Real Madrid's conceded goals included a heel pass from Negredo that helped a teammate score, and a composed penalty following a foul he created.

In fact, even without this assist and goal, Negredo was the brightest new star on Almeria's front line this season.

Soldado looked at Negredo with mixed emotions. Sitting on the bench, watching Negredo assist and score the penalty, his heart felt "sour yet satisfying."

And now, seeing him reading others' comments made the feeling even more apparent.

Negredo was Almeria's number 9.

But what was Real Madrid's number 9, Soldado, doing?

"Tone it down, you!"

Chen Zhong noticed Soldado's gloom and forcefully patted Negredo. Realizing Soldado's mood, Negredo toned it down quite a bit.

In the 05-06 season, they were teammates at Castilla, and also bona fide rivals.

Soldado held the absolute main position in the competition, consistently overshadowing Negredo, until Soldado got promoted to the first team, giving Negredo the chance to shine.

In the 06-07 season, Negredo became the main striker and top scorer for Castilla.

Back then, Real Madrid's youth team brought forth numerous talented players each year. But due to the star policy, only a few could make it to the first team, don the "Royal" robe, and play at Bernabeu.

At that point, Soldado's call-up seemed like a ray of hope shining into the hearts of all young players, but unfortunately, both Negredo and Soldado merely "shone" briefly.

Until the appearance of Chen Zhong, giving all young players a beacon and example to look up to.

It turned out that besides goalkeepers, there was hope to hold one's ground in other positions.

A future, an expectation, a hope, mattered more than anything. This was why Chen Zhong had such a significant reputation in Sports City, across various levels of youth squads.

Seeing Chen Zhong seemed like looking at their future selves.

Even within Negredo's heart, he felt that his potential buyback by Real Madrid was partly due to his performance at Almeria and also because Chen Zhong's success had boosted the club's confidence in youth players.

Negredo glanced at Soldado; so what if Soldado was the current owner of Real Madrid's number 9 jersey?

One was a league regular with 7 goals, appearing 19 times, becoming Almeria's absolute mainstay.

The other was a peripheral player at Real Madrid, despite wearing the number 9 jersey, having played only once with 0 goals this season, dubbed by the media as the most unnoticed number 9 in Real Madrid's history.

One earned ovations with on-field performance and goals, while the other merely warmed the bench, needing to stretch his numb legs after games, quietly heading to the locker room.

The atmosphere grew somewhat heavy; if Negredo came to Real Madrid, what would happen to Soldado?

Would he still be Real Madrid's number 9?

"Van Nistelrooy is injured."

Chen Zhong patted the table and looked at Soldado, comforting him: "Perhaps, the next match against Valladolid is your opportunity."

...

Elsewhere, Schuster and Francisco also discussed player selections.

First, they watched the same round's Barcelona match, where Messi officially returned, and Xavi's last-minute goal in the 88th minute closed the gap between the two teams to 6 points.

Schuster read the reports with annoyance, saying: "What does it mean 'the championship's fate now has new suspense'?"

"We will definitely defend the league title!"

"Right now, the main issue we need to consider is our front line," Francisco said to Schuster. "With Van Nistelrooy injured, we need more rotation up front."

"Rotation?"

"Who to use?"

For Schuster, apart from Van Nistelrooy and Raul, there were no forwards at Real Madrid that he trusted.

If he had to pick one player from those who could play as center forward, it wouldn't be number 9 Soldado, but Higuain.

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