Chapter I

On June 9, 2006, at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, the eyes and cameras of the world gathered here.

In three hours, the XVIII World Cup will kick off here, with hosts Germany and Costa Rica battling it out.

The press corps of various media marched towards the stadium in a big way, and their teams were huge, carrying □□ short cannons that looked like daredevils who were about to go to the battlefield.

In addition to reporters, there were also a large number of fans within a 10-kilometer radius of the Allianz Stadium. Some of them wore national flags, and some had oil paintings printed on their cheeks, making their stance clear in various ways.

The German World Cup Organizing Committee had anticipated this situation in advance, and they sent a large number of manpower to maintain order in the neighborhood, and the streets were constantly flowing with people in an orderly manner.

A reporter from China Central Television caught a random fan on the side of the road and asked him about the team he was favorites for this World Cup.

"Who's going to be the winner, you ask? Isn't that nonsense? Germany! Germany will win!"

As the night deepened, at such a high-profile point in time, Yan Jing sat in an elegant small restaurant in Zaragoza, Spain, and tasted the local sangria.

As is customary in the Spaniards, he made an appointment with the target of the team's recruitment for dinner at 9 o'clock to discuss the possibility of joining Borussia Dortmund.

Yan Jing came to the reserved private room an hour in advance, took out the notebook from the computer bag he carried before the other party arrived, and began to write with his slender fingers crackling on the keyboard.

Just a few days ago, he was contacted by Jule Lambert, a journalist with whom he had a good relationship at the Dortmund Evening News.

Lambert said he hoped he would open a small column in the newspaper during the World Cup, where he could write his views on the game or predict the next game. Of course, the manuscript fee will not be less, and there is no requirement for the number of words, just write one sentence.

This errand was quite easy for Yan Jing, considering that he had always had a good relationship with the Dortmund Evening News, Yan Jing agreed without much thought.

-- The German team was eliminated in the group stage of the last European Cup, and the German Football Association learned from the pain and vigorously reformed the domestic youth training. The amount of energy and money they put into this is huge, and I know it as a former youth coach. In Klinsmann's squad this time, there are several young rookies that I am very optimistic about, such as Podolski, Schweinsteiger and Lahm. I think these future stars will surprise everyone and I fancy Germany to reach the last four at this World Cup.

At this point, Yan Jing stopped his finger movements and sent it to Lambert as an errand. Looking at the time in the lower right corner of the screen, there are still ten minutes to reach the agreed point.

He put the computer away, cocked the corners of his mouth and looked at the face in the glass window next to him, it was good, and there was the confidence of a successful person in his smile.

After several years of experience, Yan Jing's technique of "cheating and abduction" has become more and more mature. At first, he was smashed by the young Muller with a snowball and shouted bad luck, but now, the average young player is restrained and cautious in front of him, hoping to make a good impression on him.

Two minutes later, David Villa, affectionately known to local fans as the "Asturian Boy", arrived in the private room on time, accompanied by his agent, Tamag.

Yan Jing was the first to get up and stretched out his hand to him in a friendly manner.

"Good evening, David. ”

Villa smiled and shook Yan Jing's hand in response, looking quite relaxed, but Tamag next to him looked very nervous, and did not wait for his employer to finish chatting with potential buyers.

"Mr. Yan Jing, let's ...... this time"

Villa's frown as he interrupted his opening, and he glared at him silently as he motioned for him to have something to say later.

Yan Jing took this scene into his eyes, and he looked at the unqualified agent who was fired by Villa in the future because of his bad work and took Villa to court, and immediately stretched out his hand to him with a graceful manner.

"Mr. Tamag, sit down and order, I've been salivating over the famous paella for a long time. ”

When Yan Jing said this, Tamag stopped the words in his mouth and nodded, and the three of them sat down together with the interpreter. Yan Jing called the waiter and asked Villa to order.

The restaurant had been booked by Villa, and he was so familiar with the menu that he didn't even have to look at the menu.

He looked up and asked the taste of the Chinese opposite: "Mr. Yan Jing, do you have any taboos?"

Yan Jing shook his head: "In the face of food, I have no taboos. ”

It was a typical Spanish dinner. The appetizer is a ham melon salad with hash browns and sangria.

The main course is, of course, the famous paella. The precious spice saffron makes the soft glutinous rice grains clear yellow, and seafood ingredients such as shrimp, crab, black clams, clams, oysters, and squid are added in large quantities by the chefs. Onions, cooking wine, olive oil and fresh lemon juice are the condiments that bring out the aromas of the seafood.

Throughout the dinner, Yan Jing and Villa didn't mention half of the words about transfers, chatting about all kinds of homely topics.

Tamag next to him couldn't help it several times and wanted to interject to talk about business, but was stopped by Villa with his eyes.

"Is the food here still to your liking?"

"David, this dinner gave me the urge to move to Spain. ”

Yan Jing took out a tissue to wipe his lips, then leaned over and took out a document from his briefcase and handed it to Villa: "David, this is the contract that Dortmund drafted for you." ”

The anxious Tamag couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when he saw that he had finally entered the most important stage.

At this time last year, Valencia had already revealed to him his intention to buy Villa, but his employer suddenly suffered a serious injury and had to recuperate for more than half a year.

After his comeback, Villa seems to be still cowering due to injury, and the club that originally wanted to buy him has no news, and the door of the national team is no longer open to him.

He also had bad luck with his employer - Villa could not move to Valencia, which cost Tamargue a large sum of euros.

At this time, he received a phone call from Germany.

Borussia Dortmund's sporting manager, Zorc, said the team wanted to buy Villa and would pay him €1 million as a "hardship fee" if it worked out.

Villa himself is not in a hurry to seek the opportunity to play abroad, having played in Spain since he was a child, he feels that he will be more comfortable playing at home. Although he suffered a heavy injury and did not have enough confidence when he first recovered, he now believes that this summer's training will be enough to get him back to his best.

Villa nodded after reading the contract: "I am very satisfied with this contract. ”

As soon as he heard Villa's words, Tamag was in a hurry again.

Satisfied? Why is this kid so upright, this is satisfied? This is about one-tenth of his commission!

The agent quickly took the contract and looked at the most important clause.

With an annual salary of one million euros, is this a beggar? My David is also a person who has entered the national team!

"Mr. Yan Jing, I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation. Tamag grabbed Yan Jing and said, "I think David deserves more." ”

Yan Jing's first impression of Tamag was not good, and he secretly rolled his eyes in his heart.

"Don't worry, Mr. Tamag, this is just the initial draft contract. If you are not satisfied with anything, we can discuss it later. ”

Seeing that there was still room for negotiation, Tamag breathed a sigh of relief: "Zaragoza has accepted Dortmund's offer of 10 million euros, as long as we negotiate, David will wear the Dortmund shirt next season." ”

Yan Jing didn't look at Tamag, his eyes kept on Villa: "David, what do you mean?"

"To be honest, I don't really want to play abroad right now. ”

Villa's answer poured cold water on Tamag's head, and he turned his head to look at Villa anxiously, trying not to let his inner feelings leak out.

David, didn't we say it a long time ago? You told me before you entered the store that you would like to play in Dortmund!

Villa didn't notice Tamag's gaze, he stared at Yan Jing and waited for a response.

Yan Jing didn't respond immediately, he smiled and asked: "David, why don't you want to play abroad? Are you worried about the language barrier, or do you feel that you can't fit into the general environment of German football?"

Villa pursed his lips and thought for a while, then said, "Both." ”

"Actually, I was supposed to keep this matter a secret until next month, but now I have to reveal this little secret to you. ”

Yan Jing sighed, his expression solemn, as if he had really made great determination to shake out the so-called "secret".

"David, do you know another David? He played in Celta last season. ”

Celta's David Villa had a spin in his head and knew that Yan Jing was talking about David Silva, who was excellent in the 0506 season.

"Yes, I know him. Villa is concerned about the situation, "Valencia are said to recall him next season because he is really good. ”

Speaking of David Silva, he has a little regret in his heart.

If I hadn't suffered that injury last season, I might have been teammates with another David......

Yan Jing smiled and shook his head: "No, he will be the No. 8 player in the Dortmund team next season." ”

Villa's eyelids jumped suddenly, he looked at Yan Jing, this news was really unexpected by him.

"The contracts between all three of us have been signed and will be announced as soon as the transfer window opens. ”

Yan Jing shook the wine glass in his hand, and the flesh of various colors swirled away in the purple wine with the bubbles in the sangria.

"It's about twenty days before the summer window opens, and I'm telling you the news, but it's nothing else. ”

"If you just listen to me spit on me here, you may still end up believing me. Why don't you ask your fellow citizens?"