On the evening of August 22.

The offices at the Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid are still as brightly lit as day.

The club's chief executive, Angel Sanchez, is still busy working overtime in his office, while other staff from all departments have stayed on to work, ready to deal with any unforeseen circumstances.

Tonight, in the senior conference room at the Bernabeu Stadium, a big decision is about to be made.

Will James Rodriguez buy it, or not?

Sanchez sat in his office chair with his back to his desk, looking out the window at the Bernabéu Stadium, stunned.

He still remembers very well that when he came to the Bernabeu, the club's president, the first-term Florentino, was in high spirits and threatened to bring the best superstars in the world to the Bernabeu to build an unprecedented, star-studded galaxy that would make this Real Madrid legend.

In fact, later Florentino really did it.

The pinnacle of the first phase of the Galaxy brought together Zidane, Figo, Raul, Beckham, Ronaldo, Owen, Casillas, Robert Carlos...... Superstars in almost every position.

But such a team has encountered an unprecedented crisis, since the departure of Bosque in 03, the team's results have been declining, not to mention that there have been no titles for many years, and even the Champions League, which the club is proud of, has been stopped in the round of 16 for many years until last season.

Florentino's second term made a profound summary and reflection on the first term, learned from the pain, and set the criteria for bringing in superstars, one of which is that the stars must not be too old to play for Real Madrid for a long time.

But who would have thought that in recent years, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, two super capital predators have emerged in European football, with the help of the strong attraction of the high cold, swallowing many superstar players in Europe in one go, which has caused a strong talent crisis in European football, so that even rookies like Carroll, Neymar and James Rodriguez can be sold for a high price.

Real Madrid's business operations have been quite good in recent years, and their financial income has been rising, and they can afford to run a higher-priced star, but do they really want to invest 80 million euros in a player like James Rodriguez?

Sanchez finds it absurd to think about.

But this is the current situation in the European transfer market, the seller's market, and Real Madrid, as the buyer, does not have much initiative.

No, after nearly two months of talking and a month of in-depth contact, Chinatown held on to its mouth, and the day before yesterday, Armando Marcos, the general manager of Chinatown, even called Sanchez and gave an ultimatum.

"We will have a press conference on the morning of the 23rd to announce the squad and if no agreement is reached before then, then James Rodriguez will appear in the Champions League on the evening of the 23rd. ”

Armando Marcos' tone was soothing, but unmistakable.

Chinatown has also been choked by this transfer in recent times, and the players have been reluctant to express their positions, which makes Real Madrid very passive, mainly because coach Jose Mourinho does not want James Rodriguez, so so far, the Portuguese has never even made a statement about the transfer of James Rodriguez, let alone a phone call to the player.

Presumably, Mendes, who is well-eyed, is also well aware of Mourinho's attitude towards James Rodriguez.

With the current situation of the Colombian, can the transfer to Real Madrid be reused?

Sanchez exhaled heavily and shook his head helplessly.

European transfers, especially this kind of blockbuster transfer, are becoming more and more difficult to operate.

Just when Sanchez had a headache, the mobile phone on the table suddenly vibrate, turned around, took the phone, and looked at it, the caller ID was Jorge Mendes.

This made the CEO of Real Madrid frown and a little resistant.

"Hey, hello, Jorge. Sanchez eventually got on the phone.

"Angel, it's ten o'clock now, and I'd like to know what your final opinion is?" Mendes asked over the phone.

"Mr. Perez is in a meeting with several directors, you know, we are a membership team, such a blockbuster transfer is not a decision that Mr. Perez can make alone, it must have the participation of the board of directors, in short, I promise you, as soon as there is news, okay?"

Mendez on the other end of the phone sighed lightly, "Okay then, I'll wait for your news." ”

"Good. Sanchez also said helplessly, "By the way, are you with Hames now?"

"No, I'm at home, he's staying at the training centre tonight, and he's going to get ready for tomorrow night. ”

Sanchez's heart moved when he heard this, even when it came to this, James Rodriguez still didn't have the slightest intention of betraying Chinatown, Gao Han's team didn't say anything else, but in terms of club culture, it was indeed very successful.

Of course, this has a lot to do with Gao Han's background as a head coach.

"Well, anyway, I'll let you know as soon as possible. ”

"Good. ”

Hanging up Mendes' phone, Sanchez let out another heavy breath.

Mendes is a very friendly partner, he has a close relationship with Gao Han, but business is business, and he is very reassuring to do things, which is why he has been able to quickly rise in European football in just a few years and become the world's number one agent, compared to Jose Vega, Mourinho's agent.

Thinking of this, Sanchez got up from his chair, got up and walked out of the office.

As soon as they heard him open the door, the other staff in the office reflexively stood up, and when they saw that it was Sanchez, they couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, and sat back down.

Sanchez could understand their feelings, and looked back at the door of the high-level conference room was still closed, and he shook his head helplessly and sighed, how long will this be opened?

Just as Sanchez turned to walk back to his office, the door to the conference room clicked and opened.

Everyone immediately looked in unison, only to see Florentino and the five directors coming out of it.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it. ”

"We believe in you, Florentino. ”

Florentino watched the five directors leave the office, stood beside Sanchez, rubbed the corners of his astringent eyes, and shook his head, "Angel, call Mendes and Armando Marcos right away, and ......"

The president of Real Madrid paused and took a deep breath, as if this decision was also quite difficult for him.

The eyes of everyone at the scene were focused on him, waiting for him to finish.

"Let's say, James Rodriguez, 80 million euros, we bought it!" Florentino said in one breath.

"Bought it?" Sanchez confirmed.

Florentino hesitated, nodded heavily, and said, "Bought it!"

With that, he turned around and walked back to his office.

When Sanchez heard the news, his eyes, which had been somewhat blank, suddenly became wonderful again, and he clapped his hands vigorously.

"Everyone, if you hear it, act immediately!"

As soon as he said hello, the staff of the various departments in the office began to operate in order.

The sky-high transfer price of 80 million euros involves too many things.

…………

…………

'We're sorry that James Rodriguez didn't get permission from the team doctor, so we couldn't arrange him for tonight's game, but we're still confident that we can beat Odanse at home. ”

Early the next morning, at a press conference at the Chinatown training center, after head coach Mauricio Pochettino announced the team's 18-man squad, reporters asked questions when they found out that there was still no James Rodriguez.

But no one will believe Pochettino's words, because last night, the news had been leaked from Real Madrid, and the Galaxy finally couldn't hold on in the tug-of-war, and agreed to Chinatown's request and decided to pay a release fee of up to 80 million euros for James Rodriguez.

This will set a new high price in the transfer market of world football this summer, and James Rodriguez will surpass Neymar to become the new king of the transfer market this summer.

But Pochettino said he had not heard anything about it and refused to answer the media's question.

The Chinatown head coach has only stressed time and time again that he is confident of beating Odans at home.

Even without James Rodriguez, the team would have won.

Pochettino's resounding assurances proved to be reliable.

In the second leg of the fourth round of the Champions League qualifying round at Block Stadium that night, Odans, who won the upset at home, can be said to have come to Madrid with the determination to defend, and from the beginning of the game, he strictly guarded in front of the penalty area and did not give Chinatown the slightest chance.

The first half was still 0-0, with China City overwhelmingly dominating, but it was slow to break through Odans' goal, which made the fans a little nervous, and the team was still a goal behind on aggregate.

However, after the break, Pochettino made adjustments, and centre-forward Pelle was very active at the start of the second half and finally made a difference in the 50th minute.

Eden Hazard cut inside on the left and passed to Ander Herrera, who slotted to Pelle.

The Italian center forward leaned on the opponent's central defender with his body at the edge of the penalty area, and deftly passed behind him, Aubameyang quickly inserted back, calmly grasped the opportunity, and scored a single goal, 1-0!

After scoring a goal, China City was in full swing, and Odan was cracking in the defense as his fitness declined.

In the 66th minute, left-back Alba quickly inserted the side, and after forming a cooperation with Hazard, the Belgian kicked a straight ball at the front of the penalty area and passed it into the penalty area.

After the reversal, Oldans was demoralized and midfielder Kadri received a second yellow card of the game after a foul in defence and was sent off the pitch with a red card, while Chinatown continued to keep the pressure on and added another in the 82nd minute, this time from a corner by centre-back Miranda.

In the end, China City won 3-0 at home against Odans and successfully advanced to the Champions League group stage with an aggregate score of 3-1.

This victory finally ushered in a respite for Chinatown, and the newly signed center forward Pelle also showed his head with a pass and a shot, which gradually changed everyone's doubts about him.

This, coupled with the progress of Eden Hazard and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, also makes people realize that Chinatown is still good this season.

The day after beating Odants in Chinatown, Paris Saint-Germain also beat Luxembourg's Divdag 3-0 at home to advance to the main draw 7-0.

After Paris Saint-Germain promoted, Real Madrid and Chinatown announced at the same time that James Rodriguez officially transferred to Real Madrid, and the Colombian genius is worth as much as 80 million euros, once again setting a new transfer record this summer and becoming the new king.

(End of chapter)