Chapter 1 When Chen Hero Was Training Hard

While Chen Hero was training hard in the training instance, his phone rang.

Chen Hero was already used to receiving calls while training in the instance. He exited the training instance with practiced ease, and in the blink of an eye, he was back in his bedroom.

It was his agent, Dekura, calling.

"Napoli is looking for me," he said, getting straight to the point. Dekura had a habit of cutting to the chase, instead of beating around the bush with small talk about the weather. The downside to this was… it wasn't convenient for padding word count.

"Huh? Didn't I say I wasn't interested?" Chen Hero asked, puzzled.

"Zenit has accepted their offer, so they're contacting you to discuss personal terms."

Chen Hero was stunned—he didn't know anything about it, but he was already being sold!

"What's going on?"

"Napoli offered thirteen million euros, plus another two million in performance-related bonuses," Dekura explained.

"So, I'm worth fifteen million?" Chen Hero was actually quite pleased to hear the offer. Fifteen million! How many years would it take him to earn that much?

"Wait! I never said I wanted to go to Napoli!" He quickly realized.

"Club-level negotiations don't consider where you want to go," Dekura continued. "But if you don't want to go, you can refuse them during the personal contract negotiations."

"Alright, help me turn them down. Just say I'm not interested in joining a relegation-threatened team."

"Are you sure?" Dekura asked habitually, out of his usual caution.

"Very sure!" Chen Hero waved his hand. "That's it, then. I'm going back to training!"

"Okay, I'll give them your response."

Chen Hero hung up. After thinking about it, he felt that it was all a bit bizarre. The team he didn't want to join was the one that came knocking in the end… But why wasn't it a big club?

He still dreamed of joining a top team…

He shook his head, put the matter behind him, and began to focus on rebuilding the training instance.

In the blink of an eye, he reappeared on the bustling training ground, where his teammates and coach were waiting for him to return.

※※※

Aurelio De Laurentiis was enjoying the California sun in the courtyard of his Los Angeles home when his phone rang. The expression on his face after the call was hard to describe.

It was the club's general manager, Marino (Pierpaolo Marino), calling to report some bad news.

As the club president, Chen Hero, the striker he had personally set his sights on, had rejected the contract offered by the club… No, he hadn't even discussed the contract with Napoli. He had told Marino very bluntly that he would not discuss any contract with a relegation-threatened team, even if they offered him a weekly wage of 100,000 euros!

While listening to Marino relay these words from Chen Hero's agent, De Laurentiis's expression changed constantly, from surprise to anger to helplessness to a smile.

By the time he finished the call, that was the expression he wore.

He wanted to laugh but couldn't quite bring himself to, because he didn't know if he was laughing at himself or at that ignorant little brat.

He had known about this person for about a month. At the time, his club had received a disc from someone claiming to be Chen Hero's agent, containing all twenty-seven of Chen Hero's goals from the previous season in the Russian Premier League, as well as a few goals from the UEFA Cup. Napoli received such self-promotional discs and letters every day.

This shouldn't have been something that the busy club owner would know about. But the agent, named Dekura, had spoken very highly of Chen Hero, saying things like, "Twenty-seven goals in a single season, and in the past six seasons, no single top scorer has scored more than twenty goals in a single season. Since the creation of the Russian Premier League, no one has ever scored more than twenty-five goals in a single season… Most importantly, he is only nineteen years old, he has unlimited potential, and his outstanding physical condition ensures that he will not be injured easily. He can continue to improve and grow… Now, this young and highly promising player's contract with his current club, Zenit, is about to expire, and Zenit wants to sell him for cash, so acquiring him won't cost too much money…”

The text was clearly written, listing Chen Hero's strengths and achievements in a way that was easy to understand. It was also very persuasive, arousing the interest of the club's general manager, Pierpaolo Marino.

At a time when Italian football was in economic decline and its influence was dwindling, one team could be considered a small miracle: Udinese. Udinese maintained sufficient competitiveness and a good economic situation. Udinese didn't pay its players high wages, but it never defaulted on payments, which was rare among small and medium-sized Italian teams.

Udinese's success was largely due to its shrewd and capable general manager.

After De Laurentiis took over Napoli in 2004, he brought Marino from Udinese to serve as the team's general manager. During his tenure, he brought in players with high-cost performance ratios such as Hamsik and Lavezzi, who had become the core players of Napoli today.

Out of trust in his management skills, De Laurentiis allowed Marino to run the club.

After watching Chen Hero's goal compilation, Marino's keen intuition told him that he was a player with talents like Hamsik and Lavezzi. If it really didn't cost much, as his agent said, it would be a worthwhile deal.

So he asked Zenit for a price.

When Zenit quoted eighteen million euros, Marino backed down.

The Napoli general manager didn't make an offer, but his mind kept replaying the scene of Chen Hero high in the air, smashing through opposing defenders and hammering the ball into the goal… He was somewhat unwilling to give up. If such an excellent player could be bought and nurtured, who knew if he might become the next Hamsik and Lavezzi? Maybe even… the next Vieri was not impossible!

But a price tag of eighteen million euros was too expensive for Chen Hero, a player who had not yet made a name for himself… He had no reputation in the world at all. At least, he had never heard of this person before.

It wasn't until after the UEFA Cup match between Marseille and Zenit St. Petersburg… Because Fiorentina was confirmed to meet Zenit in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup, the Italian media began to report on the team, and he noticed that the biggest contributor to Zenit's elimination of Marseille was this Chen Hero…

He couldn't sit still anymore—this kid was starting to make a name for himself. What if someone else snatched him up if he didn't make a move?

But he really couldn't approve eighteen million… He decided to report to the owner, De Laurentiis.

And so, the busy Italian film mogul De Laurentiis heard the slightly arrogant and domineering name of Chen Hero for the first time.

After watching the disc Marino had copied for him, the eccentric and rebellious film tycoon, was deeply attracted by Chen Hero's passionate goals. He was an amateur when it came to football, but he had his own understanding of it.

He believed that his dream center forward should be like this. He had always felt that Napoli was missing something… After watching Chen Hero's goal footage, he finally knew what it was missing—a powerful center forward as domineering and arrogant as a monster! Someone with absolute dominance in the penalty area, almost no one could shake him. Lavezzi was good, but he was a bit soft…

He jumped high, he headed the ball and the opposing defender into the goal together, and then took off his jersey, baring his upper body in the icy snow, revealing his strong muscles and arrogant tattoos…

That's it!

After seeing Chen Hero's goal highlights, De Laurentiis's eyes lit up. He felt that he had found the center forward of his dreams.

He called Marino and offered twelve million euros to negotiate with Zenit.

Although the agent said that Zenit was in a hurry to sell, and it might not take much money to get him, he was worried that such an outstanding center forward would be snatched away by other clubs—he always felt that if a football layman like him could see the potential, would those more professional team managers turn a blind eye?

It was better to strike first and conquer the opposing club with financial power. Anyway, he wasn't short of money.

And so, under his direct instruction, Marino and Zenit's general manager, Sasannia, began frequent contact and negotiations, eventually reaching an agreement with Zenit for thirteen million euros plus two million euros in floating bonuses.

Napoli finally obtained the qualification to contact the player himself.

He originally thought that everything would go smoothly. He had already dealt with the most difficult part, the club, so how could he not deal with a player? In any case, Napoli was also a Serie A team, with a status and reputation many times higher than Zenit St. Petersburg in the Russian Premier League. He felt that he didn't need to say much, just announce that they were a Serie A team, and the player should happily agree to the contract.

But who would have thought…

He was rejected! And he was rejected without even being given the opportunity to offer a contract!

The reason the other party rejected him was actually…"You are a relegation-threatened team!"

"You are a relegation-threatened team!"

A relegation-threatened team…

Relegation-threatened…

Relegation…

These words kept swirling in De Laurentiis's mind, lingering like a lingering sound.

Did this kid even know what kind of team Napoli was? Did he know what kind of club president Aurelio De Laurentiis was?

He wouldn't have gotten upset if they said Napoli didn't have a European competition qualification, but they had to say they were a relegation-threatened team… Had he ever seen a relegation-threatened team ranked ninth in the league!

Ninth place in the league meant there was a chance to qualify for the International Toto Cup—Italy's Toto Cup slots were for eighth place in the league, and currently ninth place, which might be eighth place by the end of the league season. And after three rounds of the Toto Cup, the eleven winning teams could qualify for the UEFA Cup—according to UEFA rules, Italian teams get a bye in the first two rounds of the Toto Cup and directly participate in the final third round. Two home and away games, and as long as Napoli could win those two games, they could qualify for the UEFA Cup. In other words, Toto Cup qualification meant UEFA Cup qualification. Being able to participate in the Toto Cup meant there was a possibility of participating in the UEFA Cup, which meant they could compete in Europe next season!

What's more, the league wasn't over yet. Could today's ninth place not become seventh, sixth, or fifth place by the end of the season? Those could all directly qualify for the UEFA Cup.

Was this the future of a relegation-threatened team!

He sat in his beach chair, the warm Californian sun shining on him, but his mind was not on it at all.

He picked up his phone and dialed his private secretary's number: "Emma, book me a flight to St. Petersburg, Russia. Yes, for the day after tomorrow!"

Little brat, you look down on my team? You look down on Napoli, the team that the King of Football, Maradona, once played for?

Then let me tell you!

Face to face!

※※※

ps, here comes the bonus chapter!

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