Chapter 353 European Golden Ball Award

"Dear Su, on behalf of France Football magazine, I announce that you have officially become the fifth Barcelona player to win the Ballon d'Or, the first Chinese player, the first Asian player, and the second Sporting Lisbon player. Congratulations!"

At the award ceremony, when the editor-in-chief of French Football Magazine, Elno, solemnly handed the Golden Ball to Su Dong, even though Su Dong had felt it once before, he was still very excited.

Winning this award will change his career dramatically.

From now on, he is no longer an ordinary professional player, no longer an ordinary superstar.

He is the winner of the Ballon d'Or! After receiving the award, Su Dong sat down and was interviewed by Denissot, the head of the sports department of Canal+ TV.

From landing in Portugal, to joining Sporting Lisbon, to transferring to Valencia, and now to Barcelona, ​​Su Dong's career has been wandering, changing teams almost every year.

Regarding this, Su Dong joked that he had no choice.

Elno explained for him, saying that from another perspective, Su Dong's progress was too fast, one step forward every year, and he had almost rushed into the ranks of Golden Globe superstars at a rocket-like speed.

Su Dong expressed his gratitude to several teams and head coaches he had played for before, except Boloni.

Everyone knows that his relationship with Boloni is very bad, so much so that some media reported that when Sudon joined Barcelona for a record transfer fee of 80 million euros, Boloni vowed in an interview with Romanian media that this was a very bad deal and Barcelona would definitely regret it.

In addition to the head coach and the team, Su Dong also thanked his teammates in Barcelona and Valencia, saying that his achievement was inseparable from their help.

Since Barcelona president Laporta was sitting in the live broadcast room, Su Dong also specially thanked the management of Barcelona and Valencia. He emphasized Laporta and believed that the trust of the Barcelona president in him was the key factor in his joining Barcelona.

Sure enough, Su Dong’s thanks were soon praised by Laporta.

The Barcelona president said that he knew for sure the first time he saw Su Dong, "He is the player Barcelona needs. He will become a world-class superstar! I am glad that he has fulfilled our original expectations of him."

Laporta also said that people including Cruyff and Rijkaard recommended Sudon to him in turn, which was why he decided to pay a transfer fee of 80 million euros.

"I know that such a huge transfer fee seemed unbelievable at the time, but looking back now, we have to be proud because we made a very wise deal!"

The TV station also created a surprise by inviting Spanish legend, Inter Milan chairman advisor and Ballon d'Or winner Luis Suarez to the scene.

Seeing his old friend, Su Dong couldn't hide his surprise and joy. He immediately jumped up from his seat, strode over, hugged Luis Suarez, and kept saying that he really gave him a lot of help.

Luis Suarez also talked about the whole process of his acquaintance with Sudong. He said that he was very surprised at Sudong's speed of progress and at becoming the youngest winner of the Golden Ball Award in history.

"But I also think that this is as it should be, because he is really the most hardworking and diligent player I have ever seen, and he is also the most capable player. I believe he will be the most dominant star in European football in the next ten years!"

When the host Deniso threw these words to Barcelona president Laporta, the Barcelona president smiled and expressed his agreement.

Laporta revealed that a team had contacted Barcelona not long ago. He could not disclose who the team was, but the other party offered twice the transfer fee, hoping to take Su Dong away.

"But I refused without hesitation because he is our best player at Barca and we had no reason to let him leave."

Laporta said that as long as he is the chairman of Barcelona, ​​he will never let Su Dong leave Barcelona.

…

After the live broadcast ended, the new Golden Ball winner Su Dong, host Denissot and French Football magazine editor-in-chief Elno were immediately surrounded by media reporters, and they held a press conference on the spot.

Reporters from all over the world were vying to interview Su Dong, but most of the questions were repetitive, and Su Dong had answered them many times before. However, he still patiently answered all the questions with a smile on his face.

Anyone can see that he is in a very good mood at this moment!

The half-hour press conference exceeded the time limit, so much so that the fans waiting outside became impatient and simply broke through the security guards who were blocking the way and broke into the press conference, thus ending the press conference.

Afterwards, Su Dong satisfied the needs of these fans who came specifically for him one by one. Whether it was signing autographs or taking photos, he agreed to everything.

This also caused the regular cocktail party originally planned to be held at blackjack to be delayed by half an hour. In the end, the organizer arranged for security to intervene and separate Su Dong and this group of fanatical fans.

At the cocktail party, Barcelona president Laporta was sitting next to Su Dong, and he revealed a piece of news to Su Dong.

…

"Next, the club will have two big moves."

Laporta leaned close to Su Dong and spoke in a low voice.

"One is the contract extension with head coach Rijkaard. We signed a two-plus-two contract with him. From the club's perspective, we still hope to implement the contract extension as soon as possible to be safe."

The so-called two-plus-two contract means that Barcelona signed a two-year contract with Rijkaard. After the two-year contract expires, it can be automatically renewed for another two years, but a procedure needs to be completed, which requires Rijkaard's consent, otherwise the contract will be automatically terminated.

This is very common in the head coach contracts of many top teams because coaching performance must be taken into consideration.

Maybe many people don’t believe it, but being a head coach in the four major leagues is really a high-risk job. You can be fired at any minute, so the pressure is extremely high.

Rijkaard was almost fired during the winter break of last season, but he was finally able to stay in his position. His coaching results have improved, and this season he has had the best start in Barcelona's history. Renewal of his contract has become the club's top priority. After all, at this time, stability is paramount.

Su Dong vaguely sensed something strange from Laporta's words, so he listened silently.

Sure enough, after Laporta finished speaking, he sighed.

"We have contacted Frank and he wants to renew his contract with us, but the problem is that he feels he can no longer work with Russell, so he needs to think about it seriously."

Su Dong thought to himself, as expected.

Although Rijkaard is always gentle and elegant, if you really think he is a soft persimmon and a good guy, you are wrong. Who can play football at his level is a simple person? Besides, if Rijkaard was simple, would Cruyff support him?

For example, at the beginning of the season, during the captain election, he cast his precious vote for Ronaldinho, thereby winning the hearts of the Brazilian players and preventing them from causing any trouble this season.

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In some of his daily dealings, he seems to be ruling by doing nothing, but in fact, someone is speaking up for him.

For example, when it comes to disciplining Ronaldinho and the Brazilian gang, it’s Ten Cate who’s the bad guy.

There was also the incident in which Ten Cate criticized Rosell, which caused a sensation in the city. Could it be that Rijkaard was really unaware of it?

Is it true that there is no agreement between him and Ten Cate?

If so, wouldn't he be a stranger to his chief assistant coach?

Su Dong has always believed that even if Rijkaard did not instigate the attack on Rosell, he must have known about it.

Su Dong really admires his predecessor and head coach.

Rijkaard is completely different from Benítez. Benítez does all the dirty work and offends people himself, but Rijkaard always manages to clear himself of all blame.

Now that he had the chips and the confidence, he started to confront Russell.

Needless to say, there was only one reason why Laporta told him this news at this time, that is, he regarded Su Dong as his own.

This is not something that Su Dong can deny.

From the moment he was signed by Laporta, he was regarded by Rosell as Laporta's man.

"That's the second thing I want to say. I will discuss this with the board and other parties. If the team can continue its performance in the first half of this season, I believe it is highly likely that Rijkaard will stay in office."

Laporta was reluctant to say more on the Rosell issue.

Smart people speak only to the point.

"Su, your performance this season is indeed very good. I have discussed this with the club's management. I hope you can continue to perform well in the second half of the season and strive to help the team win the La Liga championship after an absence of six years. Then, go as far as possible in the Champions League and even win the championship."

Laporta obviously has high hopes for Su Dong and the current Barcelona.

"As long as the team performs well, we will start renewing your contract after the end of the season. I promise to make you the undisputed number one in the team!" Laporta made a very serious promise.

The Su Dong of today is no longer the Su Dong who just joined the team half a year ago. He has a considerable influence among Barcelona fans.

The so-called contract renewal and the true number one position means raising Su Dong's salary and further establishing his core position in the Barcelona locker room. From then on, Su Dong will receive full support from the club both on and off the court!

"Don't worry, Juan, even without your promise, I will definitely do my best to perform well and help Barcelona win more championships and honors. This is my purpose of coming to Barcelona!"

He is not here to compete for the top spot, nor is he here to gild his reputation; he is here to establish his own position.

Is it the end of the world if I win the Ballon d'Or? No, that's not the end.

On the contrary, winning the Ballon d'Or is just a starting point.

Su Dong still wants more! 　There is one more chapter, I will continue.

(End of this chapter)