The next morning, Li Ang went out to pick up the newspaper.
The neighbors greeted him happily. They also held up the newspaper in their hands. Needless to say, it was the Gijón media praising Sporting de Gijón and Li Ang.
Li Ang smiled and waved his hand to thank them.
After retrieving the newspaper, Li Ang ate his simple breakfast while reading the newspaper.
When he turned to the sports section, the first thing he saw was Marca. The people of Madrid were the happiest when Valencia lost the game. Therefore, Marca continued to praise Sporting de Gijón and Li Ang. Obviously, although Sporting de Gijón was ranked second in the league after winning the game, in the eyes of Real Madrid, the defending champion, Valencia, was the real enemy. Although Sporting de Gijón had just defeated Real Madrid, Real Madrid still did not see Sporting de Gijón as a league opponent. They did not think that this newly promoted team would continue to perform so well.
Marca praised Sporting de Gijón, especially Carlos. They praised Carlos as Spain's star of hope and flattered him. The media had forgotten their previous criticism and attacks on Carlos, especially in the Copa del Rey final last season. Carlos's "tricks" caused Zidane to be sent off with a red card. At that time, the Madrid media scolded Carlos. They criticized that "such a despicable player's future achievements are limited." Now, Carlos had become Spain's "star of hope."
Marca praised: "Juan Carlos, the lad who is about to turn 17, is undoubtedly the biggest discovery of the La Liga season. He is Sporting de Gijón's biggest barrier in the midfield. Now, the lad is even better. He has begun to show his talent in offense. Spain's star of hope shines in Gijón."
At the end of the article, Marca reporter Phelps did not forget to remind Real Madrid to poach him. "… Such an outstanding local player should wear the white shirt of Real Madrid."
F * ck off! You want to poach my woman? Dream on!
Li Ang cursed!
*****
Then, Catalonia's media, El Mundo Deportivo, also praised Sporting de Gijón. They were very satisfied with Li Ang, who they thought was an "old friend of Barcelona." Li Ang's team had slaughtered Real Madrid and defeated Valencia. It could be said that they had stopped Barcelona's title rivals one after another.
El Mundo Deportivo also praised Sporting de Gijón's current second-place ranking in La Liga. It was a great achievement and something worthy of celebration.
Li Ang pursed his lips. Although it was a compliment, he read a strong sense of "disregard" from the Catalonia's media. Sporting de Gijón was currently second in the league. Sporting de Gijón had 19 points, while the leader, Barcelona, had 26 points. Although a seven-point difference was enough to let Barcelona rest easy, it could be seen that Barcelona did not even look Sporting de Gijón in the eye. They did not feel that Sporting de Gijón was a threat to them. If Real Madrid were in second place, seven points behind Barcelona, would Barcelona still be so calm?!
Well, although Barcelona's strength was indeed qualified to look down on Sporting de Gijón, Li Ang was still very unhappy to be ignored like this.
What made Li Ang even more unhappy was that, after El Mundo Deportivo praised Carlos, it said that if Carlos's technique was better, he would be qualified to wear the Barcelona jersey.
Damn it, if his technique was better, he would be qualified to go to Barcelona.
What right did he have? What was there to be proud of?
Li Ang was a little depressed.
After that, he saw that the other media did not have a sense of superiority. They were all praising Sporting de Gijón, saying that this newly promoted team was second in La Liga and could be called great. They praised Li Ang for gaining the upper hand in the duel with Ranieri and praised Sporting de Gijón for setting off a youth storm in Spanish football.
Seeing such reports, Li Ang's mood improved.
And the reports from the local media in Gijón made him even happier.
*****
On the Voice of Gihon, I saw the words "Carlos! Carlos!! Carlos!!! " Big headline, he smiled. Needless to say, this must be Mitra's idea. This reporter was a very thoughtful and smart person. Otherwise, this person would not have been the first to take the initiative to offer an olive branch when Li Ang had just coached Sporting de Gijón's first team and faced the sarcasm and suspicion of many media outlets.
Seeing the words congratulating Carlos on his birthday under the big headline, Li Ang slapped his head. That kid's birthday was coming.
He was going to be seventeen years old!
Li Ang knocked on the table. It was time to give Carlos a real professional contract. According to the rules of the Spanish Football Federation, players had to be at least seventeen years old to sign an official professional contract. Before the age of seventeen, they could only sign a youth contract, and youth contracts had very little binding force. This was also the reason why Arsenal manager Wenger was able to take advantage of the situation to poach Fàbregas to Arsenal last year.
Although Li Ang was sure that Carlos would not be poached by other teams, giving this kid a professional contract as his birthday present at the age of seventeen was the best present, was it not?!
*****
Just then, the phone rang.
"Hello, ah, beautiful Venita, what's the matter?" Li Ang was in a good mood and joked with the club's general manager, Venita Manuel, who had called.
Venita was very surprised. Since the last incident, this guy had been avoiding her like the plague. Why was he so lively this time, even a little frivolous?
"Dear, can't I call you?" Venita's beautiful eyes rolled as she said.
Li Ang immediately calmed down as if a basin of cold water had been poured over him. The girl on the other end of the phone was not someone to joke about. He could not wait to avoid her. Li Ang immediately raised his hands in surrender. "I was wrong, sorry, I was wrong! Mr. General Manager, what's the matter? "
"Coward!" Venita clenched her teeth and spat. "Of course there's something!"
"Is it about Carlos?" Li Ang immediately guessed the purpose of Venita's call.
Carlos had become famous in one match. Yes, Carlos had performed well in the past, with nicknames such as "Gihon's Little Gattuso" and "Albelda's Successor." However, as a pure defensive player, he was destined to receive little attention in the Spanish football world, which advocated offense. However, it was different now. The two brilliant goals against Valencia had made Carlos famous almost overnight. Now, the important pages of the major media were filled with photos of Carlos's goals. All kinds of comments and articles were praising this young player.
It was said that the Spanish national team's manager, Aragonés, had also praised Carlos after watching the match live. Aragonés had always been a tight-lipped person, and it was not easy to hear praises from him. Some of the media had even started to speculate when Carlos would enter the Spanish national team!
This was incredible!
Carlos was not yet seventeen years old. There had never been a Spanish national footballer under the age of seventeen in the history of the Spanish football world.
Therefore, Carlos was now famous, very famous!
At the same time that he became famous, it was believed that many teams had begun to pay attention to this young man from Sporting de Gijón, especially when they knew that Carlos was not yet seventeen years old and had only signed a youth contract with Sporting de Gijón. He was a hot commodity that could be poached!
Therefore, it was clear that Venita was also anxious. The most likely reason for the call was to discuss Carlos's professional contract.
*****
"Yes." When they started to talk about business, Venita said seriously, "According to the information I received, many teams have taken a fancy to Carlos, and we have only signed a youth contract with him. This is very disadvantageous for us."
Venita did not know the relationship between Carlos and Li Ang. She did not know that this young player could be said to be Li Ang's brother-in-law. Therefore, her worry was justified. She was worried that Carlos would not be able to withstand the temptation of other clubs, especially some big or even powerhouse clubs, and would choose to climb up the social ladder.
"Don't worry, Carlos will not go to other clubs," Li Ang said.
"Why are you so confident?" Venita said anxiously. "Don't think that a player that you have trained will listen to you. When faced with enough benefits, there is no reason for him not to be tempted."
"All right." Li Ang did not want to talk about his other relationship with Carlos. He said, "Then we will do as you say. In three days, when he turns seventeen years old, we will sign a professional contract."
“OK！” Venita nodded. "I will carefully consider the details of the contract. We have to do our best to keep this young man."
"Well, the contract can be as generous as possible." Li Ang said. Anyway, Carlos's salary was paid by the club. If he could fight for more for this kid, he did not mind helping. After all, they were on the same side. It could not be said that Li Ang was selfish. With Carlos's current talent and potential, he deserved a generous salary. Of course, this generous salary was only relative to his peers. It could not be compared to veterans like Hierro and Albertini.
After hanging up the call with Venita, Li Ang rubbed his temples. From Venita's call, he read a message, which was that there were indeed many teams that had begun to have ideas about Carlos.
*****
Just as Li Ang got up and was about to pack his things and go to the Maleo training base, his cell phone rang again.
Seeing the caller ID, Li Ang was stunned.
The call was from the team's vice president, Albertini.
A call from Demetrio?!
What's the matter?
Li Ang was surprised and picked up the phone.
PS: First Update, K League, 7/14.
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