"Karin, let's try a piece of hairtail, Madeira is the only place in Europe where hairtail fish is produced."

While Zhuang Mingge and Karin were enjoying the fresh hairtail from Madeira at the Palace Hotel, Rui Costa walked into the lobby of the hotel with his agent and walked towards Zhuang Mingge's table.

After exchanging pleasantries, the two sides sat back down and began negotiations over Costa's treatment in Florence.

The negotiations went as smoothly as Zhuang expected, with a weekly salary of $10,000 and a five-year contract, Costa agreed to the contract without bargaining with Zhuang or putting forward any strings attached, and then motioned to his agent to check the details of the contract. If there are no problems with the contract, then it only takes a short while for the Portuguese to sign his name on the contract.

"Rui, weishenme, will you agree to our Florence offer so quickly?" When Costa signed his name on the contract, Zhuang Mingge finally raised the doubts in his heart.

"No, Mr. Corleone, it's time to call you boss." Costa smiled bitterly and said, "As the president of the Serie A winning team, you can go to Madeira yourself in order to bring in a young player like me who is not very famous, and the chairman of Azerado didn't call me until after he sold me, 'You have been sold to Florence', and he didn't even send anyone to call me before!" ”

Zhuang Mingge nodded, saying that he understood Rui Costa's feelings, although the status of players was very low before the Boseman Act appeared, and they had no say in the transfer, but the club should also notify the parties when carrying out the transfer operation, which is the minimum respect for the player. Otherwise, even if it is a star cultivated by Benfica itself, I am afraid that it will be difficult to remember the good of the parent team after becoming famous.

It is no wonder that after the Bosman Act, Benfica fell the fastest among the three traditional giants in Portugal, and the bane was planted at this time......

……

Madeira is located in the Atlantic Ocean southwest of mainland Portugal, 869 km from mainland Europe. The Portuguese have settled on the island since 1420, and today it is one of the most famous tourist cities in Europe.

Therefore, as a Portuguese Rui Costa, it was only natural that he should be the host and invite his boss to visit Madeira.

"Hah, cheers! It's a wonderful thing to be able to drink such a refreshing wine in the land of grapes......" Zhuang Ming said with a smile as he held up a glass of wine.

On the beach at night, Zhuang Mingge, Karin, Costa and others gathered together to enjoy the local Portuguese cuisine - the wine is made locally in Porto and then directly flown in, although Madeira also produces fine wine, but according to Costa himself, Madeira wine is stored in wooden barrels for at least 20 years and stored in the bottle for two years before it can be considered a real wine, and many of the blended wines sold in the market are not as good as drinking freshly made Porto.

"Boss, we don't only have good wine in Portugal, there are also special meat skewers from Madeira, which are skewered with laurel branches, boss, come and try it."

"It's so long, it has to be at least a meter, right?" Zhuang Mingge looked at the kebab in Costa's hand and was startled.

"Haha, boss, you haven't tried it before, have you? Porto's sweet wine paired with this meat skewer is simply the best in the world! ”

"Really? Then I must try it. ”

Before the moon knew it, the moon was already hanging high in the middle of the night sky, Costa and Zhuang Mingge and others were drinking happily, and their words were no longer as restrained as at the beginning, and the topic gradually turned to their common hobby - football.

"Antonio, although we Portugal are not able to catch up with the rest of the European Union economically, but in football, the Portuguese will definitely not lose to any European power!" A half-drunk Costa said.

"Yes, yes, Rui, Portugal's golden generation is indeed good, Jishu is first-class, and the cooperation is tacit...... But your national team now has a very big shortcoming. ”

"Uh...... Can there be drawbacks? Costa burped, a little dissatisfied.

"Portugal, there are no strikers" Zhuang Mingge said vaguely, holding the wine bottle and falling asleep, but his words made Costa on the side fall into thought.

There are no strikers...... Is it?

Among the top players of Portugal's golden generation, the midfielders are Figo, Costa, Paulo Sousa; In the back line, Jorge Costa and Fernando Couto; Even the goalkeeper position has emerged with top goalkeepers like Baia, but there is no top scorer on the front line who can convert Figo's wonderful passes into goals!

Although there are two strikers in the golden generation, Sa-Pinto and Jorge Pinto, neither of them has scored more than 10 goals in a single season in the Portuguese league, let alone in international competitions?

Who would have thought that the country that once gave birth to "Black Panther" Eusebio would now be worried about the lack of a top scorer?

Boss, you're really in a word. Costa shook his head and smiled bitterly, it seems that his dream of the national team is still far away......

"So, that, are you Mr. Rui Costa?" Just when Costa was saddened by Zhuang Mingge's words, a woman's voice came from beside him.

"Yes, I am." Costa had drunk a lot, but he was still sober, and even if he was drunk, there was a Miss Karin next to him who claimed to be the boss's secretary who could take care of sending them both back to the hotel.

"I have a son who loves football and the kids here who are much older can't play him, but we don't have the money to train him in more professional training......," said the woman, who turned out to be the chef who had been cooking the barbecue for them.

Costa understood the woman's intentions as soon as he heard it, after all, Portugal's economy can only rank last in the European Union, let alone this small island that is a remote area in Portugal.

Although Madeira is famous for its tourism industry, there are not many locals who actually rely on it to become wealthy, and most of the profits are made by big businessmen from outside, and the locals basically make a living by working for these hotels (the Portuguese in Madeira have a per capita income of less than US$4,000).

Moved by compassion, Costa readily agreed to the chef's request, and agreed to visit her the next day to see the child, who the mother claimed was "absolutely gifted".

Anyway, I am also on vacation, if I find a good seedling, I can bring it to my new boss as a meeting gift; If not, you don't have anything to lose, do you?

"By the way, your child, what's his name?" Before leaving, Costa remembered that he hadn't asked the child's name yet.

"Cristiano Ronaldo."