Chapter 262: Chapter 261: The unknown golden boot winner for years, becomes known to all after a transfer (Seeking full subscription)
Jardel had played with Deco for two years, Deco knew his needs well, and he hoped to work with Deco.
This matter was clearly known by Porto, who were recently trying to woo Jardel’s agent.
Good grief!
I haven’t even secured your forward yet, and you’re trying to poach my midfield star?
"Twenty million euros!" Porto made another offer.
"Throw in a Postiga on top of that? Otherwise, we’ll be left without a forward," Maxa counter-offered.
"Impossible, Postiga is the future of our team, his value is at least seven million euros!" Porto refused.
"Then twenty-five million euros, letting you earn an easy two million," Maxa wavered.
"Twenty-two million euros, we can’t offer more, this is our utmost sincerity!" Porto was desperate.
"Twenty-three million euros, without Jardel, we need to find a reliable forward from other leagues during this period; you know how difficult that is!" Maxa expressed his deep regret, he looked at Deng Kai’s hand gestures by his side and felt that Kai was being a bit too greedy.
The other side had clearly stated, twenty-two million was their final offer.
"Alright, deal! Twenty-three million euros!" The people at Porto were grinding their teeth.
Why go through all this trouble?
They sold Jardel last year because he demanded the top salary in the Primeira Liga and wanted a five-year major contract.
They felt that their own academy player Postiga could succeed Jardel, so they didn’t give in and even made a profit of seventeen million euros from Jardel’s transfer fee.
But this year, they bought Jardel back for twenty-three million euros. Not to mention the six million euro loss in transfer fees, Jardel’s salary still topped the chart, and the champion had gone and played a year of football for someone else.
What was this all for?
After securing the deal, Porto immediately fired the sporting director who had advocated selling Jardel last year.
Idiot!
This was simply a case of "if you don’t manage your finances, financial issues won’t leave you."
The more they stirred things up, the more they lost.
If this year they can’t make it into the Champions League knockout stages under the leadership of Jardel and Deco, Porto would really incur a huge loss.
On the other hand.
Trigella was still somewhat stunned after completing the Jardel transaction.
The owner had said that at least ten million euros had to be invested in the club this season.
After much difficulty, they had hardly managed to spend eight million euros, and now with the sale of Jardel, twenty-three million euros came back in.
What should they do?
Isn’t this deceiving the fans?
Could it cause dissatisfaction among the fans?
How should they explain this to the fans?
It was tough, Trigella’s hair was practically turning white with worry.
Maxa, with a heavy heart, informed Jardel that he had been traded, and as a mentor to Jardel, he had a heartfelt talk with him.
"The transfer market is about to close, there’s not enough time. Porto won’t let Deco go, and none of the youngsters at Sporting Lisbon are up to scratch, so if you stay at the club, there’s a high chance you’ll be delayed another year." Maxa was on the verge of tears, "I really don’t want you to leave, you’re the best forward I’ve ever encountered."
"But this year the World Cup qualifiers will be played, and as long as your performance is good enough, even if the Brazil national team isn’t keen on you, they’ll have to give you a chance to play."
"With your ability, once you’re in the national team, Ronaldo will be no concern of yours. In the 2002 World Cup, you will become the starting forward for Brazil and lead the Samba Boys to victory, adding another star to the crest of the Brazil national team!"
"I can’t let my personal desires delay your life."
"Going to a team that can make a killing in the Primeira Liga and has Champions League qualification is the most important thing for you right now!"
Jardel was moved to tears.
The point about the national team hit home for him, something he had not considered before.
O Sporting Club is to me, a rebirth, a grace like that of my own parents!
Jardel was certain to leave the team, and quickly signed a new contract with Porto.
On August 25th, just five days before the transfer window closed, a major deal was announced in the Primeira Liga.
Porto took the three-time Primeira Liga Golden Boot winner, Mario Jardel, from Sporting Lisbon for €23 million!
This deal, the same amount as Claudio Lopez’s transfer fee, barely made it into the top ten biggest transfers of the summer!
The Brazilian striker Jardel, famed throughout Europe!
Even the Brazilian fans, who had stopped caring about other strikers after Ronaldo, started to ask, just who is this Jardel?
And Jardel’s past achievements, they were nothing short of spectacular.
In four years in the Primeira Liga, he was a champion for the first three years, and a Golden Boot winner for the last three.
In the season before last and last season, he had also been honored with the European Bronze Boot.
He was truly a super striker that you wouldn’t know until you looked, and when you did, it was quite the shock!
Suddenly, the people of Brazil were calling for Jardel to be given a chance, to join the national team as Ronaldo’s backup.
Jardel’s long-standing Golden Boot record was unknown, but his high-profile transfer brought it to the world’s attention!
He finally reached the peak moment of his life!
And he believed that this was just the starting point of his legendary career.
...
Alcochete Base, U19 training field.
"Okay, that’s it for today’s training. U19 players can disperse, first team players stay," Maxa spoke by the book.
Deng Kai took the initiative to comfort his U19 teammates.
Because over the past week, they had been thoroughly trounced by the first-team players.
In terms of age, both sides seemed not too different, with the first-team players being slightly older.
But in terms of strength, they were worlds apart.
In the U19 side, apart from Veloso who barely had the strength to fight, the rest really got strung up and beaten by Ibrahimovic, Drogba, Barzagli, Pepe, Feng Te, and the others.
Especially Wu Xudong, Yu Shihao, Chen Tao, Shao Jiawei, Hao Junmin, and the rest of the Chinese group.
After landing in the Primeira Liga, it had been smooth sailing.
The team was harmonious.
They had even won the league championship in U17, feeling like they had no rivals in their age group.
They even thought that the European prodigies were nothing special.
Until recently, when Sporting Lisbon’s new wave of players came in, they were almost turned into "ball-phobics."
Apart from Ibrahimovic, who was known as a bit of a genius, they hadn’t heard of the rest.
Two of them had even come up from lower division leagues.
If you’re talented, aren’t you supposed to be in a big club’s youth academy?
It was only the unwanted who would go into lower division teams so early.
But it was these very "scraps" that could thoroughly teach them a lesson.
This couldn’t help but make the U19 players feel dejected, and they almost lost their confidence.
"It’s okay, don’t think too much about it. These newly bought players by the club are actually very strong. Even in the first team, they would have a place. So, don’t take it too hard," Deng Kai constantly comforted his old teammates. "Just wait and see our results this year. Then you’ll know just how crazy the bunch of players you’ve played with for over a week are."
This week, besides the training matches, the players sent down from the first team also mixed with the U19s for training.
This was definitely beneficial for these U19 players.
