Chapter 643: The Real Drama
Since Portuguese superstar Figo was forced to switch to his old club in 2010 because his agent was calculated by Lafayette, the two giants of Real Madrid and Barcelona have rarely had player exchanges, and if you look back carefully, there are only three strikers, Ronaldo, Eto'o and Saviola.
The main reason why the above three failed to cause such a big sensation is that they are not descendants of any team, even if the "African Cheetah" who came to the Bernabeu at the age of 16 can be counted as Real Madrid's youth training according to the rules of world football, but the perennial loan career made his relationship with the Galaxy Battleship not close, and even in the end, there was a Qiong Yao-style drama of love and hatred.
And Ronaldo has only been at Camp Nou for a year, and was sold to Inter Milan by Barcelona for a high price because of his outstanding performance, and the relationship between him and the Catalan giants can be said to be very flat, which can be seen from the fact that he has always considered himself a Real Madrid celebrity.
As for the only Argentine rabbit who directly changed his jersey from red and blue stripes to pure white, the impact was even less. When he joined Barcelona, it was just in time for a low period for the La Liga giants, and Saviola's performance was far from meeting the expectations of the club and fans, after all, he won the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball in the World Youth Championships that year, and set a record for the youngest South American gentleman, and the light completely crushed the idol of Boss Mei's Aymar. So when he was given up by Rijkaard and announced that he would switch to Real Madrid as a free agent, it didn't cause much waves, and the reality after that proved that the Galaxy didn't pay much attention to him.
But Jose Martinez's situation is completely different from theirs, because when he left Camp Nou two years ago, he had a falling out with Barcelona over playing time, forcing the club to sell him to Sevilla, which in the eyes of fans is a white-eyed wolf who does not know how to be grateful. Now in order to seek better development, he has turned to the account of the sworn enemy Real Madrid, which is simply a typical example of unkindness, injustice and filial piety.
So strictly speaking, the reference of this central defender should be Luis Enrique, the former Barcelona and Spain national team coach was after five seasons at Real Madrid, due to the lack of access to his favorite position and salary problems, the fierce player actually switched to Real Madrid's arch-rival Barcelona in the summer of 1996, which was a super news sensation in the entire European football scene at the time.
Since then, the Predator, who has strong overall ability and better mental attributes such as willpower, has been on the list of the most hated people in the Galaxy Battleship, and has directly rushed to the top, so that he has not seen the ancients before and has not seen the comers. And Enrique's own hatred for Real Madrid can also be said to be very likely to be unrelieved for life, he said in an interview with reporters when he took over the Barcelona coaching whip in 2012, he said that he had nothing to say about his old club, showing his hostile attitude.
Therefore, according to this precedent, Martinez's status has risen to the level of being on a par with Figo in the minds of Barcelona people in less than a week, and it is easy to be understood by the outside world.
It's just that compared to Enrique, who has a hot temper and often responds to trolls, Jose Martinez, who has a very calm and restrained personality, has not made any retaliation at all, and even when he was asked questions by reporters at the debut meeting held by Real Madrid for these new signings, he never said anything about the fans who hurt him.
The main reason why Li Mudi risked the world's disapproval to sign this central defender is not only that the latter's technical ability and characteristics are indeed very in line with his own requirements, but also because he likes his character that will not be easily affected by the outside world. After experiencing the crisis of almost infighting last season, the Real Madrid coach desperately needed to get rid of the original thorns in the team and replace them with some players with excellent professional attitude and more team spirit, and the next few operations were carried out along this line.
France's Vita Benoit Bediachal soon joined the new Champions League winner from Borussia Dortmund for 46.8 million euros, and the reason why the transfer fee did not reach the level previously predicted by the outside world was because Real Madrid ceded the team's young full-back and Egypt's new international Ursa as a voucher station to the Hornets, which reduced the cash payment figure.
After that, the team's academy-trained homegrown centre-back/defender Martin Calderón also officially announced his return to fill the void left by Ceballos' departure. This operation has also been praised by experts, as the midfielder, who has been hailed as Xavi Alonso's successor, has shown great progress over the past three seasons with the likes of Numancia, Espanyol and Celta Vigo year on year, and it is expected that he will be back in the shirt of his parent club. As for Ceballos, who joined Bayern, he lost his position as the main player in the team last season and is no longer the darling in the hearts of fans, so everyone is still optimistic about this adjustment.
So far, after winning the treble, Real Madrid's bold move to update the team's lineup on a large scale has been widely recognized by the outside world. Although the loss of Courtois, Andre Lunin, Varane, Melle and Ceballos, five powerful generals, made some of the emotional Meilinger feel very reluctant, but from an overall point of view, the choice of Li Mudi and Hierro is the best for the team. The strength of the new signings is not only not worse than the old players, but also because of the reduction of age, and the potential is surpassed.
On top of that, this summer's renewal did not cost the club much money, and in the end, it was only about 21 million euros, which is less than a quarter of the transfer fee used by Fulham, who had just been bought by the Middle East oil tycoon, to buy Colombian striker Juan Hernandez, and was evaluated by all the media as the best example of how to do more with small money.
"Marca" even joked that Raul may be able to advance his plan to renovate the Bernabeu stadium, and the hundreds of millions of dollars lying in Real Madrid's bank account are no longer of much use, in order to avoid being charged high fees by the tax department and losing tens of millions of funds in vain, it is better to spend it as soon as possible.
It's just that at this time, no one expected that the biggest deal of the Galaxy Battleship this summer has not yet appeared.
On July 25, when England and Brazil, two traditional giants, were not widely expected to meet on the stage of this World Cup final before the start of the tournament, attracting the attention of fans and media around the world, Madrid in North America no longer paid much attention after the 16-point final, Real Madrid's official website issued a notice that the number of players who had completed contract renewals with the team before the start of the season were announced in turn.
Among them, Mbappe's stay has become the biggest good news in the eyes of Meilinger, according to the subsequent revelations of some well-informed sources, the French king's new contract will be extended until 2031, when he is about to turn 32 years old, it can be said that the entire golden period of his playing career has been left to the galaxy. And in order to convince the club leader to sign his name on the contract, Real Madrid also made a rare generosity, giving an annual salary of up to 38 million euros after tax.
After that, the names of important members of the team such as Marcos Llorente, Kuchi and Rodrygo also appeared in the list of compatriots, indicating that they will not let everyone worry about leaving the team on free transfer for at least the next four years, and in order to reward their outstanding performance in recent seasons, the club has also given corresponding salary increases, which makes the mood of several players still very high. This is evident in the fact that those who have recently returned home from the World Cup have rushed back to their clubs for pre-season training camp.
And Zori, Elias Zidane and Jorge Solsano, the "Castilian Three Musketeers", have also received new contracts, and Riverola, who has just joined the team, has also been pulled by Li Mudili to the first team to train with the big brother, which also makes all the club supporters see a very bright future. For the journey of the new season, everyone is full of confidence, hoping that the game will come soon, so that we can see the performance of this new Real Madrid team.
It's just that someone who is interested still found a problem from it, that is, Asensio, the leader of the team's homegrown players, doesn't seem to have much dynamic after a somewhat bad World Cup journey. And judging from this report, he was not able to reach a contract extension with the team, which seems to reveal a feeling that something is not right.
As a result, before the speculation from the outside world could form a system, the news that the Three Lions had re-won the Hercules Cup after 60 years swept the entire world football scene, covering up some important events hidden beneath the surface.
It wasn't until everyone was talking about the vigorous cultivation of youth training in English football for the past two or three decades, and how to build the world's strongest league, which gradually lost its initial heat, that some sensitive media found out with hindsight that Asensio had not appeared in Real Madrid's squad for two consecutive warm-up games.
Although Rodrygo and Mbappe, who reached the semifinals of the World Cup with the team, also did not appear in these two games in terms of physical considerations, the Matadors returned home in the second round of the knockout round, and Marcos Llorente and Vallejo, who also went to North America as internationals, have already appeared in front of everyone, but only the lack of laughter shows something.
However, before the news of the ban on Spain's current star due to poor contract renewal came out, the British "Manchester Evening Post" broke the news that Blue Moon had reached an agreement with Real Madrid to sign Asensio, a superstar who can be ranked in the top ten or even the top five in world football today.
As soon as this news broke, it immediately attracted countless complaints, most of whom expressed serious doubts about the authenticity of the news. Although it is true that Manchester City's frontline has the problem of older players and needs to bring in some fresh blood to regain the lost supremacy of the Premier League, it is difficult to poach several recognized top superstars in the same level as them, just as Real Madrid will always receive a rejection when they ask De Ligt, and the core of other giants will not be seen too good at least this summer.
As the current leader of the Galacticos, since Asensio played the performance expected of him in the 2020-21 season, no one would have thought that he would leave the Bernabeu before the end of his prime, that is, before he was about 32 or 3 years old, after all, the heavy lesson brought by the last sale of the star has been deep enough, and the two-year trough can even be called a dark period that all Real Madrid people cannot bear, as long as there is no problem with the sanity of the club's management, There should never be a similar tragedy again.
It's just that no one thought that hidden under Li Mudi's always elegant and indifferent face would be so frightening and crazy Under the huge pressure of the job of football head coach, almost all the coaches of the top European leagues will give people a grumpy and moody feeling, in such a comparison, Li Mudi can indeed be regarded as a gentleman with a polite and polite image, so it is not a slot here.
As early as when Asensio was in the team because of the renewal issue, the Real Madrid coach moved the idea of purging him from the team, and the reason why he did not show it was to focus on the overall situation at the time, temporarily compromise for the team's results and honor, and secondly, it took time to do the work of Tonielo and especially Raul, so that they dared to make up their minds to sell the team's top brand in the past many years.
As a result, it was clear that his world number one coach won the support of two senior executives with his impressive resume and the trust of his friends, and when it was finally determined that Ah Xiao would not complete the contract extension this summer, and it was likely that the club would have to give in with the last year of his contract by this time next year, he immediately went to secretly search for a home through big-name agents who are very close to Real Madrid, such as Gines and Kaka, and finally waited for Manchester City's offer.
At 117 million euros, the 30-year-old Spanish winger became the third big-name star to drop from the Bernabeu to Manchester City after Isco and Casemiro, so that this summer window finally looked a little weak under the strong influence of the World Cup, and directly made a big explosion.
A day later, while the media was still exploring the truth behind the super-deal, Real Madrid quickly dispelled the suspicion that their strength would decline with a very obvious signing, and the Valencia winger Ferran Torres, born in 2000, joined the Galaxy for 87.7 million euros and became the latest owner of the magical No. 7 shirt of the Galaxy.