Volume 1: Males Come and Go, People Pay Attention to Chapter 185: Persistence

Chapter 185: Perseverance

Aurelio De Laurentiis did not make Chen Yingxiong reconsider the signing. He just told Chen Yingxiong his ambitions and two five-year plan blueprints, and then left.

"What do you think, hero?" When leaving this high-end Italian restaurant, manager Dracula asked Chen Yingxiong.

"People are quite interesting." Chen Yingxiong said truthfully. He always thought that the boss of the club should be the kind of person who is very airy and speaks very inscrutable, that is, he said a lot of seemingly mysterious things, but you didn't understand a word. But I didn't expect this club owner to be particularly frank and straightforward. This surprised him, and he had a better impression of De Laurentiis.

"No, I'm asking about your trip to Naples..." Chen Yingxiong answered irrelevantly, and Dracula had to explain clearly.

"Oh, what else can I think? They haven't mentioned the signing anymore. I think it's probably because I said that they are a relegation team and angered them, so I came here to clarify this point." Chen Yingxiong shrugged. He felt that after speaking ill of others, the matter was basically considered dirty. It can be seen from the conversation that De Laurentiis looked very frank and told him a lot about Naples, but he just didn't talk about the signing, and never mentioned it, as if Naples never planned to sign with Chen Yingxiong...

Dracula frowned slightly. To be honest, after listening to what De Laurentiis said, he actually thinks that this team can be seriously considered, because their owner is rich and ambitious.

Going to this team, whether it is to win the championship or as a springboard to go to the giants, is very good-if this team intends to participate in the European war, then the chances of Chen Yingxiong to show up in Europe will increase, and it will naturally attract the attention of those giants.

If it is said that the Russian league is still too closed, playing in the Russian Super League is unknown. So what about playing in the Italian Football League, once known as the "Little World Cup"? That's completely different. Even if you can't participate in the European competition, just relying on your performance in Serie A is enough to attract the attention of those giants.

This is why Serie A is more attractive than the Russian Super League.

It is Chen Yingxiong who has so many demands. If it is replaced by other players, what relegation team? What qualifies for European competition? People don't think about it at all, as long as you are a Serie A team, they are willing to join, even if it is a team that has been relegated every year in Serie A, they are willing to give up their life in the Russian Super League giants and come to your team.

For the players of the Russian Super League, the temptation of Europe's mainstream top leagues is too great.

In fact, he felt a little pity. Chen Yingxiong's decision to refuse was too hasty. He didn't understand what kind of team Naples was at all, but he rashly defined the "relegation team" when he heard that they were a newly promoted team. They don't even know where they are currently ranked in the league.

He looked at Chen Yingxiong and found that Chen Yingxiong seemed to feel a little regretful.

"Go back?" He opened the car door and looked at Chen Yingxiong.

Chen Yingxiong nodded.

On the way back, he was silent all the time, unlike the usual chatter with Dracula, just like talking.

He may finally be thinking seriously about his future, too.

Dracula thought it might be a good thing for this simple-minded Chen Yingxiong, right?

One night later, Chen Yingxiong sat in front of the computer and used QQ's video call mode to communicate with his parents. His parents have finally learned how to use QQ video chat proficiently. Now they have to talk once a week, and the one-hour call is like a rare sacred ceremony for mom and dad. Every time Chen Yingxiong turns on the video, he can see the parents sitting in front of him on the computer, just like the leaders in the video conference in the news.

Through the video call, the mother can see her own appearance and hear her own voice, which can somewhat relieve her longing for her son.

At this time, the agent Dracula called Chen Yingxiong.

"Ah, I have a phone. Wait a minute, Mom and Dad." After Chen Yingxiong finished speaking, he took off the headset and picked up the phone.

"Naples is looking for me."

"Can you change the opening line? It's been three days in a row...wait! Who do you think is looking for you?" Chen Yingxiong was originally complaining about the agent's lack of creativity and the author's laziness, but at this moment he suddenly realized that there was an unusual taste in this repetition.

"The Naples club, they called me again, hoping to discuss the contract again."

"Uh..." Chen Yingxiong originally thought that the story between himself and Naples was over, but he didn't expect the other party to be so persistent.

"Should I say no?" Dracula asked.

"Hmm... no." Chen Yingxiong made a decision after thinking about it for a while. "Look at their conditions first."

"What if it's appropriate?"

"If it's suitable... I can only sign with them now, can't I? Other teams that are interested in me have been rejected by the club."

"Actually, you can also have a big fight with the club and force them to agree to the offer of your favorite team. If they don't agree, you stop training and don't work hard in the game..." Dracula said.

Chen Yingxiong interrupted him: "That's not my style. Besides, St. Petersburg gave me a chance. Anyway, this team is kind to me. The fans here like me and support me, and the teammates here have a good relationship with me. Anyway, I don't want to make the relationship with the club too rigid..."

After he finished speaking, he didn't hear any voice from the phone. "Hello? Is the signal bad?"

"No. I'm surprised to hear you say that." Dracula's voice came back.

"Hey, do you think I'm really the kind of ungrateful person!"

"No, I just feel that this kind of tender words come out of your mouth, and I feel a little disobedient."

"Fuck, go to hell!" If Dracula was in front of Chen Yingxiong at this time, he would definitely wave his middle finger as a greeting.

Dracula followed Chen Yingxiong's instructions to contact the representatives of Naples, while Chen Yingxiong continued to wear the headset and chat with his parents who had been waiting for a while.

"Whose call was it, hero?" Dad asked.

"Dad, Mom, do you want to see me on CCTV every weekend?" Chen Yingxiong asked.

Aurelio De Laurentiis, who had returned to his home in Los Angeles, received a call from Marino. On the phone, Marino told him that the club was negotiating a contract with Chen Yingxiong's agent. He was still surprised that Chen Yingxiong changed his attitude for some reason——De Laurentiis didn't tell him that he went to St. Petersburg to find Chen Yingxiong in person, otherwise he would be surprised. Because as the owner of the team, he never went to find any player in person. He just left all the specific management work of the club to Marino. What he said to him was simple: "I will give you the money, and you are responsible for spending them."

Marino is responsible for specific affairs, while he is responsible for the general direction of the club's development.

This was the first time for him to intervene in the club's specific business affairs, because he was worried that if he didn't make a move, this ideal center that met his standards would be snatched away by other clubs-due to the behavior involving commercial secrets, he didn't know that Zenit Club rejected all other competitors, so he only agreed to the offer from Naples, which was forcing Chen Yingxiong to move to Naples, so that Zenit could earn several million euros more. So he has no competition at all.

From this incident, he also discovered that Marino is a good player in running the team. He is good at buying young players with potential at a low price. After training, the value of these players will increase several times, or even more than ten times. Under his management, the team achieved a financial surplus. In this era when almost every family is losing money, Naples is one of the few clubs that can make a profit.

But De Laurentiis wasn't short on money, and he wasn't just content with that. Last summer, after the team returned to the first division, he increased his investment, whether it was in salary or transfer fee.

He knows that it is impossible for a team to become the world's top giants within five years without spending money.

But Marino's business philosophy is too petty... Maybe it's because he stayed too long under the stingy boss of Udinese, he is always reluctant to spend money in the transfer market. I said to him every year: "I will give you the money, and you are responsible for spending it." As a result, he can't spend it all!

How can the team grow like this?

If Marino knew what his boss thought of him, he would feel more wronged than Dou E—if he knew who Dou E was.

Wrong! I am dedicated to the team, to save money for you, the boss, and to work hard. I never thought that what the boss wants is not to make money, but to spend money! !

Regarding the personal contract, the principle that Chen Yingxiong gave to his agent Dracula is very simple - no less than what he earned in Zenit. How could he be embarrassed if he worked so hard to transfer out and earn less than Zenit?

A weekly salary of 100,000 euros is a joke, but it cannot be less than 40,000 euros.

Marino is in trouble again. Naples can even maintain profitability, which has a lot to do with the salary cap they implemented.

There are currently only two players in the team whose annual salary exceeds one million euros. Ravitch 1.4 million euros, Hamsik 1.3 million.

This is already the highest in the team.

But Chen Yingxiong has an annual salary of two million euros in Zenit St. Petersburg, and he requires that it should not be lower than what he earns in Zenit, which means that the annual salary is at least two million euros. That would go well beyond Napoli's salary cap.

Marino is worried that the arrival of Chen Yingxiong will break the team's salary balance. It is not news that Lavezzi and others are asking for a salary increase. Just last year, when the team was promoted to Serie A, Lavezzi used to rely on himself as a major contributor to the team's promotion and asked the club for a salary increase. Guess what boss De Laurentiis replied to him?

"If an actor was like you, I'd eat him raw!"

Sometimes the boss is generous and generous, and sometimes he is as stingy as Grandet. As unpredictable as his character.

Because of Lavitch's lessons learned, Marino felt that De Laurentiis would definitely not agree to Chen Yingxiong's request, but he had to report this matter to the boss...

After hearing Marino's report, De Laurentiis asked, "How much is his agent asking for?"

"The weekly salary of 80,000 euros is still after tax." This is the reason why Marino feels that the matter cannot be negotiated. Italy's taxes are very heavy. Among the five major European leagues, Italy's tax rate is the highest - 48%, nearly 50%.

In other words, if the club agrees to Chen Yingxiong's agent's weekly salary of 80,000 euros after tax, the actual salary that Naples pays is about 160,000 euros per week.

De Laurentiis laughed. "What a vampire!" He thought of the manager's name—Vlad Dracula. Isn't that the name of the legendary vampire count? He didn't know if the agent was doing it on purpose or just a coincidence, but the way he was asking the club lions for money was really vampire-like.

Hearing what the boss said, Marino felt even more that the matter could not be discussed.

"Tell him, the maximum after tax is 50,000 euros. This can't be discussed, but we can talk about bonuses. Tell him, didn't he say he can score goals? Then link the bonus income to his goals. Each goal is 10,000 euros. The more he scores, the more he gets."

Marino had to admire his boss, he was really shrewd!

The annual salary is fixed and the bonus is floating. In this way, whether you earn more or less, it all depends on the hard work of your players. If you earn less, you can't say that the club is stingy. It's because you haven't worked hard enough and are not strong enough. Want to make big money? Just play and score goals!