Ultimate Demon Sword

Chapter 356 International Champions Cup

[PS: Since the timeline of this book is ahead of time, the transfer of the winter window will be postponed to the summer window]

Considering that Yan Junling was completely unfamiliar with the place when he first arrived in Madrid, Wen Zhihao naturally wanted to help him as much as he could.So Wen Zhihao asked him to live here temporarily, and he can move out at any time after renting a house to gain a firm foothold here.

Yan Junling's off-court personality is actually not extroverted, and he is a little shy. He is very embarrassed and feels that this is very troublesome to Wen Zhihao.Wen Zhihao said directly to him: "Dayan, you don't have to have so many worries. In fact, when I first came to Europe from China, Zhang Yuning invited me to live together in this way. Later we got along very well. We left our country and came here. It was not easy for us all, and it was right for us to help each other. And since we know each other so well, I believe we will have a good time together. Besides, this house is not small, and living alone is empty, so you can contribute to your popularity by living here. Is it better than a hotel?"

"That's fine. I'll pack up my things and move them in in two days, and I'll trouble you later." Sensing that Wen Zhihao's kindness could not be turned back, Yan Junling finally accepted his kindness.

"What are you talking about, don't be polite to me." Wen Zhihao waved his hand, but suddenly thought of his eldest brother Zhang Yuning, as if there was no news after he went to Bremen, and he didn't even play in the World Cup...

Atletico Madrid did not announce a transfer news on the official website until the day before the first team concentration: the club signed a two-year contract with Chinese goalkeeper Yan Junling, with a transfer fee of 350 million euros.

This transfer news caused quite a stir in the Spanish media. This is the second season that Atletico Madrid has introduced Chinese players in the transfer window. Obviously, all media believe that Wen Zhihao has given Atletico Madrid a taste of the sweetness, so Atletico Madrid has increased its attention to Chinese players.In other words, Yan Junling got Wen Zhihao's favor.

In the Chinese media circle, it's not that everyone doesn't feel at all about Yan Junling's landing in a European giant.Instead, he had already noticed the clues before.Although Atletico Madrid's secrecy measures are strict enough, there is no impenetrable wall in the world. Shanghai SIPG's secrecy work has not been done so well. In addition, after the World Cup, the Chinese media have a premonition that these international footballers may collectively have a big move, so they focus on them. With the ability of the Chinese media to spy on the news, it is difficult to keep their secrets.

Even so, after the transfer was finalized, China's domestic sports media still rushed to report and wrote a lot. "Domestic football first newspaper" "Football Weekly" commented: Yan Junling became the second Chinese player to land in a European giant, and Wen Zhihao played a very active leading role.This statement was quoted by most media, and for a while this view became the mainstream of public opinion.

In fact, if Wen Zhihao is really regarded as a pioneer, his role is far more than that.Yan Junling's joining Atletico Madrid is just the beginning of another wave of overseas study after the World Cup.

Chinese players who received unanimous praise from the media at the World Cup have landed in Europe from China. This summer transfer window is a holiday for all Chinese fans.

Four days after Atletico Madrid official Xuan Yan Junling joined, last season's La Liga champion and newly promoted La Liga Vallecano announced that the Chinese international striker Wuqiu Wang would join with a transfer fee of 400 million euros.Become the second Chinese player in club history after Zhang Chengdong in the 2015-16 season.The way Zhang Chengdong joined at the beginning was on loan, so strictly speaking, the martial arts king is the first Chinese player in the true sense of the history of the Vallecano team.

Subsequently, another La Liga newly promoted Huesca club announced that it had reached an agreement with Guangzhou Evergrande, the overlord of the Chinese Super League, to join the team for one year on loan from the international full-back Deng Hanwen who had just finished the World Cup.In addition, according to sources in the Evergrande team, if Deng Hanwen can meet Huesca’s requirements to stay in the team after the lease expires, the team will fully support Deng Hanwen to stay in the European arena for training, and Huesca has Deng Hanwen’s first right to buy out.

This is actually not over yet, even some older players in the Chinese team are rumored to have scandals with European clubs.Bundesliga Hertha Berlin and Mainz are revealed to be very interested in Hao Junmin, who has experience in Bundesliga Schalke 04.However, there has been no official response from either side.Public opinion also waits and sees and expects.

The continuous appearance of official announcements of Chinese players studying abroad made the fans crazy, and the media was completely blown up.Facts have proved that there are indeed many benefits to playing a good World Cup.

No, seeing the second wave of collective study abroad of Chinese players is coming!

And when was the last time the national team collectively studied abroad?It was also after the Chinese team competed in the World Cup in Korea and Japan in 2002.

Although the Chinese team's performance in that World Cup was dismal, and they lost all three games and were eliminated from the group, the international players still got the attention of European clubs.The biggest beneficiary was Li Tie, the main midfielder of the national team at the time. He joined Everton in the Premier League after the World Cup and once occupied the main force to play in the Premier League.The "Chinese Derby" played by Li Tie and Sun Jihai in the Premier League was even talked about by fans.Although Li Weifeng, who joined Everton with him, failed to gain a foothold, the "big head" was able to be favored by the Korean K-League team Suwon Samsung in the latter part of his career. It cannot be ruled out that it is also because he has World Cup experience. Although he is old, his experience is trustworthy.

Not only that, after that World Cup, even the then 33-year-old national football captain Ma Mingyu got the opportunity to go to the Serie A team Perugia for trial training...

After a lapse of more than ten years, fans are looking forward to another wave of studying abroad, because the players favored by European clubs are younger, and even the martial arts champion who has been criticized by fans in China actually has room for improvement, let alone Deng Hanwen.

Another point of concern for Chinese fans is the transfer of Chinese players' overseas gatherings.

Japanese and South Korean players regard the Bundesliga, which has a completely open foreign aid policy and is good at cultivating young players, as a destination for studying abroad. The Bundesliga has always been regarded as the best springboard for Asian players to enter the five major leagues.With Wen Zhihao's success in Atletico Madrid, Chinese players began to become attached to La Liga teams one after another.Originally, the biggest obstacle for Chinese players to land in La Liga was that the technical ability of Chinese players was completely unmatched by the high standards of La Liga's technical flow, but now, La Liga teams seem to be willing to spend money on Chinese players to help Chinese players improve.

This is the manifestation of Wen Zhihao's star effect.Played the role of a leader Because of the successful specimens, the team and players have goals.This is the same as when Sun Jihai flourished in Manchester City, and then Li Tie and Li Weifeng followed in his footsteps to join the Premier League.

Wen Zhihao's star effect has brought benefits to Chinese players, but on the other hand, it has driven Simeone crazy.

The reason is simple. The first team lost too much blood this summer. No. 20 goalkeeper Moya, defensive midfielder Augusto Fernandez, Gameiro, Vietto, Belgium international Carrasco and Argentina international winger Gaitan left the team one after another.Simeone seemed very anxious. The people on his signing list were not in place for a long time, which greatly affected the team's pre-season preparations.

Moreover, three of the six Atletico Madrid left the team will go to the Chinese Super League next stop!Augusto Fernandez transferred to the newly promoted Chinese Super League BJ Renhe for 500 million euros, while Carrasco and Gaitan both joined the newly promoted Chinese Super League Dalian Yifang for 3000 million euros and 1000 million euros respectively.

The two made such a choice, which can be said to have shocked the entire Spanish and even European football. Although Simeone used the WCG combination as the offensive pillar in the second half of last season, the chances of the two players dropped sharply, but the media never expected that the two would go to China for gold, especially Carrasco.

However, the media is very clear that the success of this transaction has a lot to do with the fact that the original second shareholder of Atletico Madrid and the current financial backer of the Chinese Super League Dalian Yifang are the same group.This transaction also created a new model of football transfer transactions: shares for players...

Closer to home, although the first team is temporarily short of major generals, Simeone has been advancing in an orderly manner in the normal preparations before the season.

As last season's Triple Crown, Atletico Madrid received an invitation from the International Champions Cup Organizing Committee to participate in this international commercial event held before the start of the summer season every summer.

The predecessor of the International Champions Cup was the International Football Challenge that began in 2009. Except for the suspension of the World Cup in South Africa in 2010, the competition is held once a year.

The territory of the event is also expanding, with the main venue being the United States.Since 2013, the first International Champions Cup, renamed by the International Football Challenge, has been held in the United States. In 2014, the International Champions Cup has rapidly expanded its territory to 13 cities in the United States and Canada. In 2015, the International Champions Cup expanded to the Asia-Pacific region, taking place in China, Australia and the United States and Europe. In 2017, the International Champions Cup added the Singapore Division.

The teams invited to this event are all European traditional giants with a long-standing reputation and profound heritage.The duo of Real Madrid and Milan, including the Premier League giants Chelsea, have participated in many competitions, and this year is the first time Atletico Madrid has participated.

Although time is tight before the season, the European Super Cup is only half a month away, and there will be the Spanish Super Cup after that. Atletico Madrid do not want to give away the two champions before the season, but the club chairman Enrique Cerezo decided to play. Simeone is actually more worried about the state of the players. Hold it in your hand.

Of course, when Cerezo persuaded Simeone, he would definitely stand from another angle.

"Diego, isn't this just an opportunity to check everyone's status and prepare for the two Super Cups, and you don't have to worry, I guarantee that when the season really starts, your players will still be strong and strong."

The first team was short of personnel, and Simeone could only promote six players from the B team and the youth team in one go, gathered a 26-man roster, and rushed to Asia to participate in the International Champions Cup.

Atlético will play two legs of this year's International Champions Cup, the first of which will be in Singapore.They played against AC Milan and Arsenal respectively, and then the whole team will go to Guangzhou, China to face the Premier League giants Chelsea and the host Guangzhou Evergrande, which was invited to participate as a Chinese team for the first time.

The Chinese Super League team's first appearance in the International Champions Cup also reflects China's growing status in international football to a large extent.

As the former "king of celestial bodies", Wen Zhihao returned to Tianhe to fight against his old master. Just such a spectacle is enough to make Atletico Madrid gain a lot of popularity.

……

Since the main venue of the International Champions Cup is in the United States, there are only three teams in the two Asian divisions. Each team can play two rounds to determine the final champion.

In the Singapore Division, Atletico Madrid's first opponent is the seven-time Champions League winner and the traditional Serie A giants AC Milan.

However, this giant is no longer what it used to be. Last season, it finally ranked sixth in Serie A and could only participate in the Europa League, which is obviously a level behind the current Atletico Madrid.

There is no suspense in the final result, 4:1, Atletico Madrid won the first big victory of the International Champions Cup.

It is worth mentioning that although Atletico Madrid scored four goals, none of them belonged to Wen Zhihao.Simeone has sent a large number of young players. Wen Zhihao, as the core of the team, naturally understands that young players should have opportunities to perform, so he mainly does the job of threading the needle in the midfield and sending out key passes. He sent two assists. The teenager Barre, who had an outstanding performance in the Copa del Rey last season, and the striker star Giovanni both scored twice. Simeone looked a little better. At least these two players are a discovery.

In the second game in Singapore, the point of view against Arsenal is not Atletico Madrid. The main focus of the media is the transfer fee of 6300 million euros. What kind of performance can Aubameyang, who switched from Dortmund to Arsene Wenger, perform in his new club debut.

In this game, Simeone put some of last season's core players into the starting list.Griezmann, Godin and Saul started one after another.

It was Arsenal who broke the deadlock first.It was Aubameyang who scored the goal. No. 18 minutes.After Lacazette swayed away Lucas Hernandez from the wing, Aubameyang stuck his head out in front of the goal and rushed to the goal.

After conceding the ball, Atletico Madrid began to get serious. The overall high pressure in the midfield pushed Arsenal further and further back. Soon Atletico Madrid firmly controlled the rhythm of the game in their own hands.

This is Atletico Madrid's ultimate move last season, and it has been tried and tested in any game.Let Barcelona and Real Madrid suffer a lot. Arsenal's defense line is not considered airtight, and naturally it is even more powerless to parry.

In the end, Atletico Madrid scored three goals in a row and defeated Arsenal 3:1.In the two Champions Cup games in Singapore, he scored seven goals and conceded two goals, and his offensive power is still quite impressive.

At the end of the first race in Singapore, the Atletico Madrid team flew non-stop to Guangzhou to welcome the second International Champions Cup.

(End of this chapter)