Even Chen Zhong's parents have started to lay back.

His dad opened a wellness center and spends every day soaking in it, watching TV and getting foot massages. His mom started an education training business and is planning to open a private school to fulfill her dream of education.

If not for his parents' "dreams," Chen Zhong's savings should have been around 100 million RMB, but for him, this is merely the beginning.

Besides Real Madrid's annual salary, he has advertisements, endorsements, Ballon d'Or, appearance fees, championship bonuses, and so on.

Salary was never Chen Zhong's main income. It's the appearance fees from sponsor events and various brand endorsements that are his primary income source.

"Yes."

"Do you know Florentino?"

"The former Real Madrid president!" Chen Zhong said, somewhat puzzled: "Wasn't it said he wasn't running in the election? What's his involvement now?"

"His team proactively reached out to our side."

Pimenta expressed some emotions when saying this, knowing Florentino would never really let go of Real Madrid—his return was just a matter of time.

He never thought Florentino would seize the "timing" so subtly.

Real Madrid no longer has the past glamour; the Merengues eagerly wish for someone to step up and restore the former glory of the club, and Florentino is evidently "the one everyone expects."

Although Florentino hasn't yet announced he's becoming president of Real Madrid, he has already disclosed the news to some "pre-decided" individuals.

For instance, Chen Zhong's agent, Pimenta's company, knows Florentino has decided to run, and once he runs, he will surely be elected. Everything being done now is just... for "hype"!

Just like player transfers.

Perhaps the transfer was already set, but there's a prolonged "hype" to keep the player and club on the news boards more enduringly for considering the club's commercial value and the player's personal fame.

"Cristiano Ronaldo will transfer to Real Madrid in the next summer window."

"Because he has already signed an agreement with Calderon, unless something unexpected happens, he will become a member of Real Madrid."

"Cristiano!" A flash of surprise appeared in Chen Zhong's eyes. At the recently concluded Ballon d'Or ceremony, Cristiano Ronaldo surpassed Messi and Kaka to become the newly crowned Ballon d'Or winner.

Not only that, he also won the European Golden Boot for the first time, suddenly becoming the football world's most talked-about figure among fans.

Of course, this season, Barcelona's performance has been extremely strong, and there's a high demand for Messi to win the Ballon d'Or.

The debate over who among Messi, C. Ronaldo, and Kaka is the top player in football has started to become frequent, with Kaka clearly having fallen behind in this contest.

"Yes."

"Cristiano Ronaldo."

"He will join Real Madrid, but Florentino wants to set your salary as the team's highest." Pimenta's statement struck Chen Zhong like a sledgehammer, leaving him somewhat dizzy.

"Me????"

"Highest salary????"

Chen Zhong couldn't believe what he heard, although he has gained some reputation in the football world, comparing to Cristiano Ronaldo, he is nothing.

This Ballon d'Or winner joins Real Madrid, yet he isn't the highest paid?

The highest salary is for me?

Isn't this a joke?

Bear in mind, salary also signifies a player's status in the locker room and in football, and the top salary means you're an "important player" or the "absolute core" in the team.

With Raul, Guti, and other players still present, how could it possibly be his turn!

"Do you know who Pepe's agent is?"

"I know, it seems to be Mendes?" Chen Zhong seemed to realize something and spoke: "Is there something I don't know?"

Pimenta paused slightly before saying: "That's right, it's Mendes."

"Pepe's agent is Mendes, Cristiano Ronaldo's agent is also Mendes, and Mourinho's agent is still Mendes."

"Have you seen Barcelona's performance this season?"

"Florentino intends to invite Mourinho to be the team's manager, maybe not next season, but Juan de Ramos evidently can't continue to oversee Real Madrid."

"And with Mourinho and Mendes, and his players, just look at Chelsea and Inter Milan."

The relationship between Mourinho, Mendes, and his players may have different answers later, but currently, starting from the Porto-Mendes-Mourinho iron triangle period, then to Mourinho heading to Chelsea taking a large batch of Mendes's players—such as Cavaleiro, Ferreira, Thiago, Deco..., and then joining Inter Milan and taking Quaresma...

There's no need to elaborate on their relationship anymore.

During the Porto period, Mendes wasn't actually Mourinho's agent, but after Mourinho coached Chelsea, he was.

When Mourinho coached a team, he would recommend Mendes's players to the club.

And the main culprit that had Mourinho "confirmed" was indeed Quaresma's transfer; many media criticized that Inter Milan signing Quaresma was Mourinho helping Mendes "launder money," and when Chen Zhong was at Real Madrid, Pepe also suffered similar "criticism."

Calderon stepped down also due to some factors involving this.

Pimenta explained some interests to Chen Zhong, simply put, Florentino hopes the team's locker room can be in the hands of "his people," and among them, the person he sees as his people and the team's future leader is Chen Zhong.

On the one hand, Chen Zhong has great prestige among the younger generation and youth team, and on the other hand, Casillas and Ramos have some "flaws," with Casillas pressuring the club for pay raises not once or twice, while Ramos isn't a Real Madrid youth product, and he has a tendency to learn from Casillas.

Florentino believes that they will still do similar things in the future, pressuring the club's top management, as they are greedy, but Chen Zhong is different.

He knows the contract Chen Zhong signed with Raiola contains detailed statements about "money," and Chen Zhong's performance within the club, even when Schuster treated him that way, was still "for the greater good."

This directly filled Florentino with good impressions.

Which manager wouldn't like native youth training, obedient, competent, powerful, and player with leadership qualities?

Even playing Football Manager prefers effective, obedient, non-troublemaking, and capable of persuading other players—good seedlings!

Pimenta briefly conveyed Florentino's intention; he hopes Chen Zhong can showcase a good performance and status while at Milan.

This way, when Chen Zhong returns, there's more room for maneuvering the top salary issue.

Pimenta also analyzed Florentino's intentions.

"His idea is actually simple."

"Your highest salary could possibly be stopped at 10 million euros."

"And for a very long time, the club can maintain a healthy salary rhythm."

"But if they get the top salary, 10 million euros? 20 million euros? How much is the highest salary? They will always crave more, especially in this era."

In this "golden era," numerous past experiences are refreshed repeatedly, although the football world hasn't reached a player salary of ten million euros per year, everyone knows this era is near.

And everything that comes with high salary, Milan already set an example for all teams.

While Pimenta and Chen Zhong were communicating, Milan and Real Madrid Club already started some private talks.

Florentino hasn't formally run yet, but none of the current candidates have paid the required deposit for running.

Those outside may not see the subtleties, but insiders can instantly spot the intricacies.

What intricacies?

That as long as Florentino runs, and pays the required deposit, without other candidates paying the deposit, he will directly become Real Madrid's new president.

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