Chapter 47: National Youth Team Players Study Abroad, the Era of Internationalization Arrives When Chen Tao heard Lin Feng's proposal, he couldn't help but consider it seriously. Through this negotiation with Shenyang Jinde, he felt very dissatisfied with the business ability of his current agent. Not only did they fail to solve the problem, they even spoke on behalf of the club and advised him to stay in the country. If the other party is really considering himself, then he should know that studying abroad is his best choice. This made Chen Tao wonder if the other party had received benefits from the club, so he said that? Furthermore, his agent only has some influence in the country, but has no connections abroad. Therefore, the idea of changing agents after studying abroad actually came into being as early as the World Youth Championship. Chen Tao originally planned to sign a contract with an agent who has influence in the top five leagues so that he could develop better in the top five leagues. But now he owed Lin Feng such a big favor, it was difficult for him to refuse the other party's invitation, so he had to agree. Seeing Chen Tao nodded in agreement, Lin Feng immediately sent his phone number to his eldest brother, who personally finalized the details of the contract with Chen Tao. When the eldest brother Lin Feng learned that the other party was Chen Tao from the National Youth Team, and that this was a client introduced to him by his younger brother, he gave Chen Tao a considerable concession in the contract.
According to the traditional contracts between players and agents in Europe, agents generally receive a commission of around 10% from the players' transfer fees, bonuses and annual salaries. However, Raymond Lam only charged a symbolic 1% commission, retaining only the normal commission on commercial sponsorship. This condition made Chen Tao very satisfied and could help him save a lot of money. As for the income from commercial sponsorship, he needs to rely on his agent to use his connections to find people to cooperate with. The more commission the other party takes, the more income he will earn in this aspect. He naturally had no objection! So the two sides hit it off and quickly finalized the details of the contract. After Lin Feng transferred the money to him to fill the difference in the transfer fee, Chen Tao's transfer was finally successful. On July 7, Shenyang Jinde officially announced the news of Chen Tao's transfer to Werder Bremen. As soon as the news came out, it once again attracted attention and heated discussion from the entire network. Many fans who don’t know much about the Bundesliga are asking about Werder Bremen’s situation. "What level of team is Werder Bremen? Is it a good choice for Chen Tao to go there?" "Werder Bremen is quite strong. It was the Bundesliga champion last year (03-04 season). It has been ranked high in the standings in recent years and often participates in European competitions." "This team has Elton in front and Klose in the back, and they are always lucky enough to get top strikers. If it weren't for the lack of financial resources and unstable performance, I am very optimistic that they can compete with Bayern!" "Is it so awesome? Doesn't that mean Chen Tao has joined a quasi-elite team?" When Chen Tao's fans heard that Chen Tao had joined such an awesome team, they were immediately overjoyed and excited. Their previous worries about the lack of news on Chen Tao's transfer had completely disappeared at this moment. "It's really impressive. Judging from their aggressive recruitment this season, they are definitely going to compete with Bayern again in the new season and win back the Bundesliga title!" "More importantly, Werder Bremen's midfield is not strong. There is only one player who can play, Miku. After Chen Tao goes there, it should be easy for him to get promoted!" "Haha, I can only say that Chen Tao and Werder Bremen are truly a match made in heaven!" …… With Lin Feng, Feng Xiaoting and Chen Tao leading the way, the other players of the national youth team also went abroad smoothly. Zhou Haibin, who performed well in the World Youth Championship, was signed by the Dutch Eredivisie giants PSV Eindhoven for a transfer fee of 260 million euros.
There is a very interesting episode here. Eindhoven's initial offer was 250 million euros, but after learning the meaning of this number in China, they added another 10 euros, so that the player did not have to bear the title of 250. Compared with Chen Tao's parent team that held on to the player, Shandong Luneng strongly supported Zhou Haibin's overseas study. Not only did they give the green light all the way, they even accepted the other party's offer without bargaining. I have to say that Luneng still has a vision. Hao Junmin, an 18-year-old young player of the National Youth Team who also performed well, was spotted by Schalke 04 and successfully transferred to the team for 220 million euros, becoming the fourth Chinese player to join the Bundesliga after Yang Chen, Shao Jiayi and Chen Tao. If we count Xie Hui who joined the German 2nd Division at the beginning of the last century, Lin Feng who played in the German 2nd Division for two years, and the ancient great Gu Guangming, he is the eighth Chinese player to land in the German league. Shortly after Hao Junmin joined Schalke, Zhu Ting also landed in the Bundesliga. The team that extended an olive branch to him was also a northern team, Hamburg, Werder Bremen's neighbor. Now, the Bundesliga has three Chinese players, and we will be able to see several Chinese derbies in the Bundesliga in the new season. Hamburg offered a transfer fee of 150 million euros for Zhu Ting, which was less than the previous transfer fees. But this transfer fee is really not low. If the young players of the national youth team did not have the halo of the World Youth Championship champion, Hamburg would be willing to pay 50 euros at most, and would definitely not add another 100 million. The reason why this group of players from the national youth team were able to go abroad so smoothly was mainly because of the added halo of the World Youth Championship champions, which allowed them to gain more attention and recognition from more teams, greatly increasing their chances of going abroad, which is naturally incomparable to the quarterfinals of the World Youth Championship that year. Not long after, the Chinese National Youth Team midfielder Zhao Xuri, introduced by his fellow countryman Sun Jihai, joined Manchester City for 120 million pounds, becoming the third Chinese player to land in the Premier League after Sun Jihai and Li Tie. Cui Peng, who also plays the defensive midfielder position, was spotted by French Ligue 110 team Marseille and joined Ligue for million euros, making it the first time that Chinese players have active players in the five major leagues. Later, Yuan Weiwei, Wang Hongliang, Tan Wangsong, Mao Biao, Zheng Tao and others were also recruited by major European leagues, and joined the Belgian First Division, Portuguese Super League, Scottish Premier League, Turkish Super League and other leagues with transfer fees ranging from 30 to 70 euros. These young players from the national youth team have gone abroad and blossomed all over Europe. This is an unprecedented transfer boom in Chinese football. Never before have so many players gone abroad, and never before have the leagues involved been so diverse. Their successful overseas study has brought deep stimulation to other Chinese Super League players playing in China. After the Chinese Football Association issued the latest salary cap policy, the stars whose maximum salary was limited to 100 million yuan are no longer interested in playing in the Chinese Super League. They have gone abroad to try out with European clubs and actively sought opportunities to study abroad. For example, Du Wei, a national team player who plays for Shanghai Shenhua, followed the footsteps of the young national youth players in studying abroad and successfully reached an agreement with the Scottish Premier League giants Celtic. On August 8, the last day of the transfer window, he officially joined Celtic. Zheng Zhi, who was also affected by the salary cap order, left the Chinese Super League two years in advance and joined the Premier League team Charlton. Seeing so many Chinese players going abroad to Europe to receive training in the world's top football leagues, domestic fans rarely praised the Football Association. The Football Association’s salary cap order is a good thing. It is precisely because of this policy that the players are forced to find a better way out for themselves and no longer focus on the domestic market. Before this, fans had never had a good attitude towards the Football Association, and calling it a "pig association" was considered to be a gesture of mercy. With so many players studying abroad, there is no guarantee that everyone will be successful, but this change in trend has given fans hope. "Haha, when we meet the Japanese and Korean teams in the future, we can also straighten our backs and ask: What league are your players from?" (End of this chapter)