Chapter 719 - 644: That’s Vieri!

Chapter 719: Chapter 644: That’s Vieri!

Chen Yu had actually met Chen Xudong before.

During a previous inspection trip to Jiang City, they had shared a meal.

So, this meeting wasn’t between strangers.

And Chen Yu wasn’t surprised by Chen Xudong’s arrival.

The pursuit of profit is a natural driving force, and it was impossible for others not to be envious of Pioneer’s financial success.

Whether it was during the Jia A or the Chinese Super League era, figuring out how to make money was the most pressing problem for many clubs.

Chen Yu had already booked his flight back to the United States, so he didn’t go out of his way to host Chen Xudong. Instead, that afternoon, he simply found a teahouse where they could sit and talk for a while.

"Boss Chen."

Chen Yu cut Chen Xudong off.

"Just call me Dr. Chen," Chen Yu said with a smile.

Among his many titles, "doctor" was still the one Chen Yu liked best.

Chen Xudong nodded, not bothering with excessive pleasantries.

He had dealt with Chen Yu before and knew his style. There was no need to beat around the bush; it was best to get straight to the point.

He took the folded copy of the Southern Sports newspaper from Wang Xiangping, pointed to a specific sentence, and asked, "Dr. Chen, were you serious when you said this?"

"Of course."

Chen Yu nodded. "But you need to be mentally prepared. The cost of bringing these world-class stars to the Chinese Super League is not small."

Setting aside the prestige factor, a four-million-US Dollar annual salary was already among the highest in the football world.

If you want to sign a star and replicate Pioneer’s approach, you first need to have the money ready.

And as far as Chen Yu knew, Huanghe Tower was not a wealthy club.

After all, they had just been promoted from Jia B.

Chen Xudong knew exactly what "cost" Chen Yu was talking about. He gritted his teeth and said, "Dr. Chen, let’s not mince words. Before coming here, I had a serious discussion with our Chairman Shen. He’s willing to give it a try. Do you think this amount is enough?"

He cautiously held up two fingers.

Chen Yu’s expression didn’t change.

Two million.

It was obviously not in RMB.

"US Dollars or Euros?" Chen Yu asked bluntly.

There was a significant difference between the US Dollar and Euro exchange rates.

Although he understood, Chen Xudong was still unaccustomed to such a direct conversational style. Most importantly, he felt completely out of his depth.

His usual methods of communication—probing with words and trying to read people—were completely useless in front of Chen Yu.

The man just asked directly, interested only in hard cash.

"What if it’s in US Dollars?" Chen Xudong asked tentatively.

Chen Yu just smiled and said, "Let’s make it Euros."

With that, Chen Yu took a sip of his tea and continued, "I do have an option I can offer you. You should be familiar with Vieri, Manager Chen."

"Who?"

Chen Xudong exclaimed in shock.

Beside him, Wang Xiangping, who had been sipping his tea quietly, gave a violent shudder, nearly dropping his cup.

"The Vieri from Inter Milan?" Chen Xudong’s heart began to pound uncontrollably.

For a moment, he felt like he was dreaming.

That was Christian Vieri! A top striker in Serie A, a superstar hailed as the number one center forward in Italy, and perhaps even the world.

"That’s right, that Vieri," Chen Yu confirmed with a smiling nod.

Chen Xudong was stunned. "But he hasn’t retired, has he?" he said in disbelief. "I remember he’s only in his early thirties this year... how old was he again?"

"Thirty-two!"

Wang Xiangping immediately interjected from the side.

Chen Xudong nodded quickly. ’Thirty-two... for a striker, even if he’s past his absolute prime, he’s still in his peak years.’

’He’s not like Batty, who’s almost forty and might come to the Chinese Super League for a year just for the money.’

’But Vieri is still in his prime. Why on earth would he come to the Chinese Super League?!’

Chen Yu said, "That’s correct, Christian is only thirty-two, still quite young. As for why he might come to the Chinese Super League, I’m afraid I can’t disclose too much."

The reasons were multifaceted.

Of course, Chen Yu knew Vieri very well.

So, personal connection was part of it.

Secondly, Vieri was not having a good year at Inter Milan.

The conflict between him and his old teammate, Mancini, was far more serious than the media reports suggested. In Moratti’s words, the two were like a bull and a matador; once in the ring, only one could survive.

And between the player and the coach, Moratti had once again chosen to side with the coach. It was highly likely he would terminate Vieri’s contract early.

They couldn’t even wait for the season to end, which showed just how intense the conflict was.

Finally, there were his injuries.

Vieri’s situation was similar to Albertini’s.

A couple of years ago, Chen Yu had helped him with an Achilles tendon issue, but it later became a burden on his career.

Then came all sorts of minor injuries: his knee, his ankle, his back.

The guy was truly fragile.

In the last two years, Chen Yu had shifted his focus to other businesses and often simply didn’t have the time, so Vieri had some of his injuries treated locally in Italy.

You couldn’t say the treatment was bad, but it was never as good as when Chen Yu treated him personally.

Over these past two years, Vieri, who had just turned thirty, saw his form decline to a visibly noticeable degree, and he gradually lost his place at Inter.

He was genuinely on the verge of losing his spot.

With Ronaldo gone, the young Adriano had become Moratti’s new favorite.

The young man still contacted Chen Yu often, his words full of gratitude for the surgery Chen Yu had performed on his father years ago.

Then there was Martins, who was improving at lightning speed. Meanwhile, Vieri, accustomed to being the star, was not someone willing to sit on the bench.

He was injured and had talked with Chen Yu more than once about wanting to take time to recover properly.

But he definitely couldn’t accept the kind of recovery that would mean being sidelined for an entire season.

As a playboy, he couldn’t live without money.

Besides, his injuries weren’t severe enough to require writing off the whole season.

Most importantly, next year was the World Cup. It would likely be his last, and he didn’t want to miss it.

In his current condition, it was far from certain that he would be selected for next year’s National Team.

Therefore, he could do just as Albertini did and come to the Chinese Super League to recuperate for half a year.

Given the intensity of the Chinese Super League, for a star of his caliber, it would basically be a rest period.

By the winter break, once his injuries were healed, he would have plenty of options, whether to stay in Serie A or move to another league.

He could play moderately intense matches to maintain his form, earn a high salary, and maybe even open up the commercial market in China. It really wasn’t a losing proposition.

He had a lot of fans in China.

The super-striker duo he had formed with Ronaldo was a vivid memory for countless Chinese fans.

Chen Xudong just murmured an "oh," not daring to ask for more details.

But his heart was still racing.

’Vieri!’

’He’d told Pei Encai he would give him the chance to coach a world-class star. It was just a joke at the time, but he never thought it could actually come true.’

’If Vieri could join Huanghe Tower, the entire city of Jiang City would go crazy.’

"However," Chen Yu’s tone shifted, shattering Chen Xudong’s daydream.

Chen Yu held up three fingers. "Two million is not enough. It’ll take at least three million, and that’s not even including our ten percent agency fee."

Vieri’s annual salary was seven million Euros. For half a year of play, even at a discount, it would have to be three million Euros.

Even that price would be difficult to negotiate.

If Inter hadn’t terminated his contract early, allowing him to collect over ten million from Moratti, Chen Yu would never have dared to start the bidding at three million.

"Three million?" It was as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped on Chen Xudong’s head, snapping him back to reality.

Three million Euros, and that was a minimum. Add to that Chen Yu’s ten percent agency fee, and at the current exchange rate, it would be over thirty million RMB.

Two million Euros... their chairman might be able to scrape that together by gritting his teeth.

But over thirty million for a single player... such a massive investment with no guarantee of recouping the cost, let alone turning a profit. This wasn’t some minor affair; it was a huge gamble.

Chen Yu, however, remained as calm as a fisherman on a riverbank. "Secondly," he said lightly, "I should give you a heads-up. Your home stadium is too small. If you want to make a profit, you’ll need to change venues first."

How could you possibly break even with the ten-thousand-seat Xinhua Stadium?

At the very least, you’d need a sixty-thousand-seat venue like Tianhe Stadium.

"Right, there’s also the stadium."

At the mention of their home ground, Chen Xudong’s brows furrowed immediately.

It wasn’t that they didn’t want to rent a bigger stadium.

Jiang City had one readily available: the Jiangcheng Sports Center, which could also hold sixty thousand people.

The problem was, the Xinhua Road Stadium was a shareholder in their club. When they invested, they had required the club to make the Xinhua Road Stadium its home ground.