Aurelio De Laurentiis didn't give Chen Hero a chance to reconsider the signing. He simply reiterated his ambitions and two five-year plan blueprints to Chen Hero before bidding farewell.

"What do you think, Hero?" Agent Dekura asked Chen Hero as they left the upscale Italian restaurant.

"He's an interesting guy," Chen Hero said truthfully. He had always thought that club owners should be the type with great airs, speaking in profound and inscrutable ways, saying a lot of things that sounded mysterious, but you didn't understand a word. But he didn't expect this club owner to be so frank and straightforward. This surprised him, and his impression of De Laurentiis was quite good.

"No, I'm asking about going to Naples..." Chen Hero's answer was irrelevant, so Dekura had to be more specific.

"Oh, what else is there to think? They didn't mention the signing again. I reckon I pissed him off by saying they were a relegation-threatened team, and he came all the way here to clarify that." Chen Hero shrugged. He felt that after saying bad things about them, the matter was basically over. From the conversation, it was clear that De Laurentiis seemed particularly candid, telling him a lot about Naples, but he just didn't mention the signing, as if Naples had never intended to sign Chen Hero in the first place...

Dekura frowned slightly. To be honest, after listening to De Laurentiis's words, he actually felt that this team was worth serious consideration, because their owner was rich and ambitious, the club's financial situation was good, they had a solid fan base, and they had a glorious history, so they were destined not to be content with being a relegation-threatened team.

Going to this team was a good choice, whether you wanted to win championships or use it as a stepping stone to a big club—if this team was determined to participate in European competitions, then Chen Hero's chances of appearing in Europe would greatly increase, and he would naturally attract the attention of those big clubs.

If the Russian league was too closed off, and playing in the Russian Premier League was unknown, then what about playing in the Italian Serie A, once known as "Little World Cup"? That would be completely different. Even if you couldn't participate in European competitions, just relying on your performance in Serie A would be enough to attract the attention of those big clubs.

That was why Serie A was more attractive than the Russian Premier League.

It was only because Chen Hero had so many requirements. If it were other players, what relegation-threatened team? What European competition qualification? They wouldn't even consider it. As long as you were a Serie A team, they would be willing to join, even if it was a team that was relegated every year in Serie A, they would be willing to give up their life in a Russian Super League powerhouse and come to your team.

For the players in the Russian Premier League, the temptation of Europe's top leagues was too great.

In fact, he felt a little sorry. Chen Hero's decision to refuse was too hasty. He didn't understand what kind of team Naples was at all, and he rashly defined them as a "relegation-threatened team" just because he heard they were a newly promoted team. He didn't even know what their current ranking was in the league.

He looked at Chen Hero and found that Chen Hero seemed to feel a little regretful as well.

"Let's go back?" He opened the car door and looked at Chen Hero.

Chen Hero nodded.

On the way back, he was very silent, unlike usual when he would chat with Dekura about everything, like a chatterbox.

Perhaps he was finally seriously thinking about his future.

Dekura thought that for Chen Hero, who was a little simple-minded, it might be a good thing?

※※※

The next day, Chen Hero sat in front of his computer, communicating with his parents using QQ's video call mode. His parents had finally learned how to use QQ video chat proficiently, and now they had a call every week, and this hour-long call was like a rare and sacred ritual for his mother and father. Every time Chen Hero opened the video, he could see his parents sitting upright on the other side, like the leaders in the news who were holding video conference calls.

Through video calls, his mother could see her son's appearance and hear his voice, which could relieve her longing for her son to some extent.

At this moment, agent Dekura called Chen Hero.

"Ah, I have a call, wait a moment, Mom and Dad." Chen Hero finished speaking and took off his headset, answering the phone.

"Naples is looking for me."

"Can you change your opening line? It's been three days in a row... Wait! Who did you say was looking for you?" Chen Hero was originally complaining about his agent's lack of creativity and the author's laziness, but at this moment, he suddenly realized that this repetition revealed a hint of unusualness.

"Naples club, they called me again, hoping to talk about the contract again."

"Uh..." Chen Hero originally thought that his story with Naples had ended, but he didn't expect the other party to be so persistent.

"Reject it?" Dekura asked.

"Um... no." Chen Hero thought for a moment and made a decision. "Let's see what their conditions are first."

"What if it's suitable?"

"If it's suitable... I can only sign with them now, can't I? The club rejected all the other teams that were interested in me."

"Actually, you can make a big fuss with the club and force them to agree to the offer from your favorite team. If they don't agree, you can go on strike and not put in any effort in the game..." Dekura said.

Chen Hero interrupted him: "That's not my style. Besides, St. Petersburg gave me a chance, and no matter what, this team has been kind to me. The fans here like me and support me, and I have a good relationship with my teammates. No matter what, I don't want to strain my relationship with the club too much..."

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

"No. I'm just surprised to hear you say that." Dekura's voice rang out again.

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

"No, I just feel that it's a little strange to hear such warm words from your mouth."

"Damn it, go to hell!" If Dekura was in front of Chen Hero at this time, he would definitely raise a middle finger to greet him.

Dekura went to contact the representatives of Naples according to Chen Hero's instructions, while Chen Hero continued to put on his headset and chat with his parents, who had been waiting for a while.

"Who was that on the phone just now, Hero?" Dad asked.

"Mom, Dad, would you like to see me on CCTV every weekend?" Chen Hero 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 talking to Chen Hero's agent about the contract. He was still surprised that Chen Hero had changed his attitude for some reason—De Laurentiis did not tell him that he had personally gone to St. Petersburg to find Chen Hero. Otherwise, he would have been even more surprised. Because as the owner of the team, he had never personally looked for any player. He had always left all the club's specific management work to Marino, and what he said to him was very simple: "I'll give you the money, and you're responsible for spending it."

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

This was the first time he had interfered in the club's specific management affairs, because he was worried that if he didn't take action, the ideal center forward who met his standards would be snatched away by other clubs—due to the confidential nature of the business, he did not know that Zenit Club had rejected all other competitors and only agreed to Naples's offer. This was forcing Chen Hero to transfer to Naples so that Zenit could earn a few million more euros. So he had no competitors at all.

From this matter, he also discovered that Marino was a good hand at managing the team. He was good at buying those young players with potential at low prices, and after training them, the value of these players would increase several times, or even more than ten times. Under his management, the team achieved a financial surplus. In this era of almost universal losses, Naples was one of the few clubs that could make a profit.

But De Laurentiis wasn't short of money, and he wasn't just satisfied with that. After the team returned to Serie A last summer, he increased his investment, both in terms of wages and transfer fees.

He knew that if a team wanted to become a world-class powerhouse within five years, it would be impossible without spending money.

But Marino's management philosophy was too petty... Perhaps it was because he had spent too long under the stingy boss of Udinese that he was always reluctant to spend money in the transfer market. He told him every year: "I'll give you this money, and you're responsible for spending it." As a result, he could never spend it all!

How could the team grow like this?

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

I'm wronged! I'm wholeheartedly for the team, saving money for you, boss, and working hard to manage it. I never thought that what the boss wanted was not to make money, but to spend it!

※※※

Regarding the personal contract, the principle Chen Hero gave to agent Dekura was very simple—it must not be less than what he earned in Zenit. He worked so hard to transfer out. If he earned less than he did in Zenit, he would be so embarrassed?

A weekly salary of 100,000 euros was a joke, but it couldn't be less than 40,000 euros.

Marino was in trouble again. Naples's ability to maintain profitability had a lot to do with their implementation of a salary cap.

Currently, only two players in the team had an annual salary of more than one million euros. Lavezzi had 1.4 million euros, and Hamsik had 1.3 million.

This was already the highest in the team.

But Chen Hero had an annual salary of 2 million euros in St. Petersburg Zenit. He demanded that it not be less than what he earned in Zenit, which meant that the minimum annual salary was 2 million euros. This would far exceed Naples's salary cap level.

Marino was worried that Chen Hero's arrival would disrupt the team's salary balance. You should know that it was not news that Lavezzi and others were asking for a raise. Just last year, when the team was promoted to Serie A, Lavezzi had used the fact that he was a great contributor to the team's promotion to ask the club for a raise. Guess how the boss, De Laurentiis, answered him?

"If an actor acted like you, I would eat him alive!"

This boss was generous and generous sometimes, and as stingy as Scrooge at other times. Just like his personality, he was unpredictable.

Because of Lavezzi's example, Marino felt that De Laurentiis would definitely not agree to Chen Hero's request, but he still had to report this matter to the boss...

After De Laurentiis heard Marino's report, he asked, "How much did his agent ask for?"

"80,000 euros a week after tax." This was the reason why Marino felt that the matter could not be negotiated. Italy's taxes were very high. Among the five major leagues in Europe, Italy's tax rate was the highest—48%, almost 50%.

In other words, if the club agreed to Chen Hero's agent's request for a weekly salary of 80,000 euros after tax, Naples would actually pay a salary of about 160,000 euros per week.

De Laurentiis smiled. "What a vampire!" He thought of the agent's name—Vlad Dekura. Wasn't that the name of the legendary vampire Count? He didn't know if the agent was doing it on purpose or if it was purely coincidental, but his style of asking the club for a sky-high price really had the demeanor of a vampire.

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

"Tell him, the highest is 50,000 euros after tax. This is not negotiable, but we can talk about bonuses. Tell him, didn't he say he was particularly good at scoring goals? Then link the bonus income to his goals. 10,000 euros per goal. The more he scores, the more he gets."

Marino had to admire his boss. He was really shrewd!

The annual salary was fixed, and the bonus was floating. In this way, whether you earn more or less depends entirely on your own efforts as a player. If you earn less, you can't say that the club is stingy. It's because you're not working hard enough and your strength is not good enough. Want to make big money? Then score goals like crazy!

※※※

ps, today is Friday, and tomorrow is Saturday. On Saturdays and Sundays, don't forget to participate in the prize-winning book review event!

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