"Chen!"

"You're truly a monster."

"When are you going to take us out for a meal, you big star?"

In foreign countries, personal privacy is valued more, especially regarding things like salary. Generally, it's not exposed or discussed voluntarily. In Mata's eyes, Chen Zhong must be earning quite a bit now.

"You're the real star!"

"In our next match, please go easy on us!"

"ε=(´ο｀*))) Sigh," Mata's voice sounded somewhat bitter over the phone. The last time they gathered, he was valued by coach Flores and became a main player on the team. But after Valencia's two consecutive defeats and Flores' dismissal by the club, his position as a main player felt transient, like a cloud: "The coach who valued me has been fired. I don't know what habits the new coach has or whether he will value me."

A lot happened in the ninth round of the La Liga. Sevilla, who were defeated by Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup, were "abandoned" by their coach, Juan de Ramos. He moved to Tottenham Hotspur and secured an annual salary of 7 million Euros, more than double his salary at Sevilla.

Juan de Ramos's departure was not graceful, but Sevilla seemed to have anticipated his "fickleness" early on. At least, the newly appointed Sevilla B team coach Manolo Jimenez wasn't flustered.

In the last game, perhaps due to the sense of abandonment, Sevilla unleashed an astonishing fighting spirit, defeating Valencia 3-0, seemingly proving something to Juan de Ramos.

This game also led to Flores's dismissal.

Valencia's strength wasn't lacking. Although they were currently ranked only fourth in the league, they were just 4 points behind Real Madrid and still in the title contention. At the start of the season, when Flores clashed with the sporting director Caboni, the club's chairman Solari supported Flores and chose to renew his contract. So when the news of Flores's dismissal came out, many were shocked.

According to Chinese time, the match was lost around midnight, and by 4 A.M., Flores was dismissed. Many Valencia fans were still in shock.

"It's quite complicated, Chen." Mata explained the situation over the phone, basically saying that Flores, with the players' support, drove away Caboni back then.

The players didn't like Caboni because, in the previous season, Chairman Solari thought the players' salaries were too high and had Caboni implement pay cuts and clean-ups. With a common enemy, the players, despite many injuries, reached the Champions League quarter-finals and secured a spot in the new season's Champions League.

However, Flores, whom they supported, "betrayed" the supporting players in the new season. Flores benched Canizares and followed Caboni's old path, causing most players, especially the core players, to be dissatisfied with Flores, and Flores lost control of the locker room.

"It really is quite complex..." After hearing Mata's account, Chen Zhong mentally prepared himself for potential locker room issues and comforted Mata: "There's a saying in our country that gold will always shine."

"I believe in your abilities because we were once teammates."

After some more casual chatting, Chen Zhong hung up the phone. That evening, Raiola and Pimenta came over, having already talked with Chen Zhong's family, officially establishing an employment relationship.

After signing the contract, Raiola looked at Chen Zhong and said, "I'll handle all the troubles for you. You just need to focus on one thing, which is to play well. You don't have to think about anything else; Pimenta and I will take care of it."

"We've already started contract negotiations."

"You will soon have a new contract."

The three talked a bit more. Raiola and Pimenta had clearly done their homework. Chen Zhong's current contract, less than 100,000 Euros, was clearly signed with him regarded as a young player.

Raiola and Pimenta's demand for the new contract was between 1-2 million Euros a year. Right now, players like Marcelo and Drenthe at Real Madrid are earning about 1 million Euros.

Casillas's first contract made public at Real Madrid was around 2 million Euros. By the first renewal in 2005, his salary reached around 4.2 million Euros, exceeding Casillas's own expectation of 4 million Euros.

Referring to Chen Zhong's performance, although it may not reach the level of Casillas's salary back then, reaching the million-Euro level shouldn't be an issue. This showcases Real Madrid's spending power.

After all, Messi's current salary might only be around two to three hundred thousand Euros.

...

Madrid, Spain

In the office, Schuster and Francisco were having their private moment. Flores's dismissal caught them a bit off guard, and they were somewhat worried about the next match against Valencia.

"Damn it."

"It would have been better if he got sacked after playing against us."

"That conservative guy, once he lifts his butt, I know exactly what he's going to do."

Schuster put on a pained expression. Ever since he became the coach of Real Madrid, he's been diligently working every day. Flores is undoubtedly a "great" coach. Back then, he was just a "rookie" with only one year of La Liga experience. When he took over Ranieri's mess, he led the team to third place in the league in his first year, which is undoubtedly a great achievement.

"This might be a good thing."

"After all, if it's Flores."

"Valencia is still quite a tough opponent. It's not easy for us to win against them."

Under Flores's leadership, Valencia has always maintained its original style. It is also the only team in La Liga over the years that hasn't changed styles. Although this style isn't attractive, most of the time, they manage to win games.

Flores's Valencia might not offer any surprises, but the players' understanding of tactics and their mutual synergy is troublesome.

"By the way."

"What do you think of Valencia's captain?"

"That guy named Raul Albiol, can we bring him to Bernabeu?"

Schuster has been troubled by the team's defense issues. Cannavaro is already 34 and keeps getting injured. Pepe seems to be made of glass, and Metzelder needs no further comment, as he's like two different players when it comes to national and club matches, with a fair share of injuries.

From this perspective, Chen Zhong is the most stable choice for the defense. However, Schuster doesn't want Chen Zhong to only shine as a center-back, and Calderon has been inquiring about Chen Zhong multiple times recently.

From Calderon's words and actions, it seems he wants Chen Zhong to stand out more.

"That's not our concern." Francisco softly reminded, saying that at Real Madrid, they can express what type of players they want, but the decision on whom to buy isn't up to the coach: "By the way, here's the match footage of Barcelona against Almeria."

"Rijkaard seems to have encountered new troubles."

Francisco's words shifted Schuster's attention. The league match against Barcelona is getting closer, and Schuster's focus on Barcelona is increasing.

He first carefully watched the match. In this game, Barcelona didn't perform outstandingly, and Almeria's number 9, Negredo, caught Schuster's attention once again.

"He seems to be a Castilla player?"

"That's right!" Francisco straightened up a bit and added: "There's a buyback clause in his contract. If needed, we can bring him to Bernabeu."

Schuster raised his eyebrows, seemingly intrigued, and continued watching the game. Throughout the game, although Barcelona won 2:0 against Almeria, their performance was not dazzling.

Henry's first goal involved a lot of luck.

"If Barcelona continues to overuse horizontal and short passes, then Henry's performance will just be like this."

"To enhance Henry's threat, his teammates should look for him more with through passes and long balls. It's been months, and when does Henry have to rely on luck to score?"

Schuster pursed his lips, showing a bit of disdain: "With such a performance, it's no wonder they ended up drawing with Glasgow Rangers in the last match."

Glasgow Rangers is a Scottish Premiership team. In the recent Champions League group match, Barcelona was held to a draw by this team. At the time, Schuster didn't pay much attention, but after watching this match, he confirmed that Barcelona had some issues.

The first goal was due to Henry's luck, and the second goal came from Dos Santos diving, which earned Messi a penalty.

In the footage, you can clearly see that Dos Santos's dive was deliberate. Of course, one can't entirely blame this young man. Ronaldinho's poor performance on the field is also a significant reason for Barcelona's unsatisfactory display. There were even boos from the stands to express dissatisfaction with Ronaldinho.

Interestingly, after this match, Barcelona's chairman made a speech, saying, "If someone is not in form, let someone else play."

Watching Francisco, Schuster said, "Barcelona is now trying to establish Henry as the new king of the team."

"Ronaldinho plays more for Brazil than for his club."

"Our Chen is rising steadily."

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