Chapter 249: German transfer price first place, Golden Globe Awards Ceremony

And what price did Manchester United pay?

In addition to the exchange of Kovacic, 48 million euros were paid.

In fact, most fans did not expect Kante to leave.

After all, Kante made a huge contribution to Chelsea's Premier League title, and he is still one of the world's top defensive midfielders.

However, Kante himself and the head coach had a huge disagreement on their own positioning.

Sarri not only insisted on giving the defensive midfielder position to his favorite disciple Joninho, he even said that Kante's passing and receiving ability did not meet his requirements, and forcibly changed Kante's position to attacking midfielder.

Kante is clearly not adapting to the new position, as can be seen from his recent personal data.

In fact, when the summer transfer window opened this season, Chelsea had already priced Kante at 98 million euros, and the British media Daily Mail also confirmed the news.

So it is not surprising that they were sold during the winter window.

As for Kante himself, his idea is very simple. Not being able to play in a familiar position in the club will inevitably affect his position in the national team.

And there were problems in his contract renewal negotiations with Chelsea.

Kante's original weekly salary was only 150,000 pounds, which is not high for a world-class defensive midfielder, so he hopes to increase his weekly salary to 300,000 pounds.

But the problem is that Chelsea's current highest weekly salary, Hazard, is only 200,000 pounds.

If Kante's weekly salary is higher than Hazard's, will the latter refuse to renew his contract with Chelsea and switch to Real Madrid, which he has already set his sights on?

Of course there is more than one reason.

Chelsea's recent performance has been dismal, having dropped to sixth in the Premier League standings and having lost the initiative to compete for the top four.

Chelsea ranked fifth last season and can only play in the Europa League this season.

Will they miss out on the Champions League next season? Any outstanding player with ideals and ambitions cannot accept not being able to play in the Champions League.

After all, it is the highest honor of the players' club.

There was also internal strife in the Chelsea dressing room.

It turns out that both Mourinho and Conte caught the traitor in the second year after winning the championship, but Sarri directly detonated the locker room in the first year.

In the match against Manchester City some time ago, Sarri wanted to replace Kepa with Caballero, but the latter refused to leave the field and Chelsea eventually lost the game.

You have to know that in the history of the five major leagues for so many years, there has never been a player who refused to be substituted.

It means players challenging and even humiliating their head coaches.

After the game, Sarri's calm surface concealed a raging rage, but he could only impose some mild punishment, because Kepa was bought by the management at a high price.

This incident directly caused the Chelsea locker room to lose control.

Of course, Hazard was the one who made trouble. He was forced to sit on the bench and even asked to be a tool for his teammates. He had long been dissatisfied.

In front of the media, he said: "I will play my way. I don't care what others say!"

But this was not the straw that broke the camel's back.

Just at the beginning of this month, Sarri sent out main players such as William, Giroud, Kante, plus several substitutes, to play a training match with the Chelsea youth team.

The final result was that Chelsea was tied 3-3 by the youth team.

If they can't even beat the youth team, how can they compete for the top four? Kante decisively chose to refuse to renew his contract and applied to the club, hoping to leave in the winter transfer window.

As soon as the news came out, major clubs began to make offers.

The most active among them are Real Madrid, Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain.

Let’s talk about Real Madrid first.

Because they did not score a goal for 400 minutes under Lopetegui's leadership, Real Madrid fans have begun to miss Ronaldo.

After all, Real Madrid's strongest point was its offensive ability, but now neither Benzema, Bale, nor Vinicius can play a key role.

As a result, Real Madrid's frontcourt became like a stagnant pool of water.

Then Real Madrid urgently replaced the head coach with Santiago in October. It turned out that this guy was not as good as Lopetegui, and directly led the team to a poor record of 9 wins, 3 draws, 6 losses and 30 points.

Real Madrid management has already approached Zidane, hoping he can take charge of the Galacticos again.

But Zidane put forward six demands, including having absolute say in the locker room, the right to sell players he doesn't need, etc.

To put it simply, it is power, salary and goals.

Some people may ask what the goal is? Try to sign Chu Feng, Mbappe or Kante.

Zidane knew that Real Madrid's weakness lay in offense. Originally, they had strong players to suppress their opponents, which greatly reduced the defensive pressure in the midfield and backcourt.

Now that Ronaldo has left, the truth has been revealed.

However, Zidane also knew the difficulty of signing the first two, so he chose Kante as the second best option to directly increase the defensive strength.

Faced with Zidane's extremely harsh conditions, Florentino agreed to all of them. After all, Real Madrid was already at its most dangerous time.

Manchester United just received an offer for Chu Feng a few days ago.

210 million euros! To be honest, Woodward's heart couldn't help but beat faster after seeing the fax.

But that's all, no idea at all.

Because in the just updated Transfermarkt valuation, the first place is not Neymar and Mbappe, nor is it Messi and Ronaldo.

But it is Chu Feng from Manchester United, whose value is exactly 210 million euros.

The second place is Mbappe (200 million euros), and the third and fourth places are Neymar and Messi, both with 150 million euros.

If we rank them further, Salah, Harry Kane, Griezmann, De Bruyne, Coutinho and Hazard are worth nearly 150 million euros.

Outside the top ten are Sterling, Dybala, Kante, Ali, Sane, Ronaldo and so on.

According to the traditional practice of the five major leagues, the player transfer value will be higher than the transfer price.

Besides, Chu Feng is the signboard of Manchester United, and no one can sell him! Unless Woodward wants to receive a death threat letter, he decisively rejected Real Madrid and joined the team competing for Kante.

In fact, it has become a habit for Manchester United to poach players from Chelsea.

For example, Matic and David Luiz, in fact Lukaku can also be considered as one, because Chelsea and Everton had the same intention at that time, but Manchester United used money to snatch them away.

Mourinho was thinking of exchanging Kovacic for Kante, and then giving Chelsea some extra money.

For this reason, he had a serious talk with Kovacic in advance. Manchester United currently has redundant midfielders, and Mourinho still likes defensive tactics, and basically will start two defensive midfielders.

So Kovacic could only sit on the bench.

But it was completely different when he went to Chelsea. Although Sarri was an Italian coach, he used offensive tactics.

Moreover, Chelsea is lacking in advancing midfielders, where Kovacic can develop better.

After the painstaking analysis, Kovacic was a little tempted. He now has championships such as the Champions League, La Liga, Premier League, and Club World Cup. It can be said that there are not many honors to pursue.

But he didn't win those awards as a main player, so a platform to showcase himself is more important.

In the end, the two teams hit it off.

January 12, 2019.

Chu Feng met Kante at the training base, a player who looked very simple.

"I didn't expect that we would become teammates. I think you will be able to integrate into the team quickly, just like Matic, Luiz and Mahrez."

Chu Feng took the initiative to step forward and stretched out his right hand.

"Thanks!"

Kant showed his snow-white teeth and held Chu Feng's hand tightly.

In fact, he had been constantly bewitched by Matic before, saying that the atmosphere in Manchester United was good and everyone was like a family.

Why was the team able to create a miracle last season? In addition to Chu Feng’s superb performance, it was also inseparable from the united locker room.

However, Kante is still a little worried, because Mourinho has a previous experience of "catching the ghost" every few years.

Later, David Luiz transferred to Manchester United and continued to brainwash him.

"The boss is very nice to us now. He is not as rude as before and often jokes with us."

"Besides, what are you worried about with Chu here? You don't need to ask about his relationship with the boss!"

"And aren't you very comfortable partnering with Paul in the national team?"

really!

The more Kanter thought about it, the more it made sense.

He partnered with Pogba in the national team and won the World Cup directly. He will definitely be stronger in the club.

Later, Mahrez also joined the team of persuasion, praising the advantages of Manchester United and directly using himself as an example.

Of course, there was another very important reason that finally made him decide to join Manchester United.

That is Chu Feng.

As a pure defensive player, my biggest worry is the team's poor offense.

This is the case with Chelsea this season. The defense is almost exhausted, and the players in the front court keep wasting opportunities.

Kanter was so anxious! Chu Feng's mouth twitched wildly. Kanter could pronounce "thank you" as "fuck you", which was simply too much to complain about.

"Come on, I'll show you around the Carrington training base!"

Chu Feng did not correct Kant's pronunciation, thinking that this was actually a good idea.

Then the two of them took a brief tour and came to the busy locker room.

Pogba stretched out his arms and hugged Kante tightly: "N'Golo, I miss you so much!"

Although Pogba is like a child on weekdays and has had conflicts with many players, his relationship with Kante is really strong.

If you want to delve into the reasons.

Kante is humble, kind, professional, never complains and works diligently.

With Kante cleaning up the mess for him, Pogba can attack to his heart's content and display his football talent.

"I said you were everywhere on the court, and you would suddenly appear outside the court! It turned out to be true!" Pogba excitedly put his arm around Kante's shoulders, "Come, let me introduce you to everyone. This is my favorite person. Don't be fooled by his honest appearance. In fact, he cheats every time he plays cards!"

There was laughter in the locker room.

There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!

Kante looked at Matic and Luiz, who were winking at him, and felt like he was still in the Chelsea dressing room.

"Pay attention to the team training today! Don't let N'Golo look down on us!"

Chu Feng clapped his hands vigorously.

Half an hour later, on the training ground.

Mahrez broke through Ashley Young and was just about to cut inside to shoot when a boiled egg suddenly rushed out from his blind spot on the side and snatched the ball away cleanly.

Then he kicked the ball directly to Pogba in front.

Pogba stepped and pulled to create space, and his precise through pass tore through the defense line.

Chu Feng relied on his powerful explosive speed to overtake Maguire who had just half turned, and facing De Gea who was in a K-shaped posture, he easily pushed the ball into the far corner to score.

"Great defense!"

"Nice post!"

"Nice shot!"

Chu Feng, Kante and Pogba high-fived to celebrate and praised each other.

Mahrez also said with emotion: "Compared to when we were in Leicester City, both of us have improved a lot."

"Have you improved? Did I see wrongly? Weren't you intercepted?"

Rashford made a joke.

"Go away!" Mahrez cursed.

The Manchester United players immediately fought together, and their relationship instantly became much closer.

Faria, who was recording data on the sidelines, said excitedly: "Boss, Kante covers a large area, which makes up for the lack of mobility of McTominay and Matic. The 4-3-1-2 formation is really useful!"

"There are many tactical derivatives." Mourinho nodded, "For example, when facing Liverpool and Manchester City again, we can use Kante and Herrera at the same time. Both of them are good at dealing with small and fast players."

Manchester United's current lineup is close to perfect, and coupled with his carefully prepared tactics, it can be said that there are basically no weaknesses.

Of course, the actual effect still needs to be tested.

Didn't Real Madrid have a galactico before? That lineup was truly luxurious, but didn't they finish in the 16th place in the Champions League every year? So Mourinho will not underestimate his opponents.

"Let's take the match against Tottenham on January 14 as a touchstone!" Mourinho muttered to himself. ——After all the training that day was over, Chu Feng boarded the plane to Paris, accompanied by Mourinho, Pogba, Kante and others.

They were going to attend an annual feast.

2018 Golden Globe Awards Ceremony!

When Chu Feng arrived at the scene in a suit and tie, the reporters surrounded Chu Feng tightly like sharks smelling blood.

"Chu, who do you think will win the Golden Globe?"

“Do you have confidence in yourself?”

“.”

"Sorry, any prediction is meaningless before the winners come out."

Chu Feng politely declined the reporter's question.

Anyway, he knew that he had little hope. It was already good enough to win the UEFA Best Player award. To win the Ballon d'Or in the World Cup year was probably harder than climbing to the sky.

When he entered the venue, he saw many familiar faces. Chu Feng greeted them and they exchanged pleasantries for a while.

Looking back to the last Golden Globe Awards ceremony, he was not even qualified to attend and could only sit in front of the TV and watch enviously.

But now, Chu Feng walked to the front of the venue and sat in the first row, next to him were football superstars such as Mbappe and Modric.

As for why Ronaldo and Messi didn't come? Because they knew they couldn't win the award, so they cancelled their trip to the scene.

“I am considered a big shot now.”

Chu Feng said secretly in his heart and couldn't help laughing.

After a long and boring prelude, the award ceremony finally began.

This year's Golden Globe Awards will be presented in the usual order from back to front, with other awards being presented in between.

The passionate melody echoed in the venue, and photos of the players appeared on the big screen.

30th place: Lori! Isco, Godin, Allison, Mandzukic, Oblak. As the names were announced one by one, the suspense was gradually revealed. Everyone held their breath, waiting for the final moment.

It’s just that FIFA is very good at creating suspense, interspersing the Women’s Ballon d’Or and Copa Award.

The winner of the former was Herberg, who led Lyon to three consecutive Champions League titles and won the inaugural Women's Golden Ball Award.

The winner of the latter was Chu Feng.

The Kopa Award is a newly established award by France Football, which aims to reward the best player under the age of 21 of the year. Its positioning is not much different from the European Golden Boy Award.

Based on the performance of the young players last year, only two people are qualified to get it, namely Chu Feng and Mbappe.

The two received very similar votes.

Although Mbappe won the World Cup and Ligue 1 titles, firstly, the value of Ligue 1 is far lower than that of the Premier League, and secondly, Mbappe's performance in the World Cup was not dominant.

However, Chu Feng scored a hat trick in the Champions League final and broke the Premier League goal record that had been untouched for many years.

So it's not surprising that he won the Kopa Trophy.

In fact, Chu Feng didn’t really care about the Copa Award. After all, it had just been established and didn’t have much influence. It was not as good as the European Golden Boy Award or the UEFA Best Player Award.

At most it's just icing on the cake.

Chu Feng buttoned up his suit, walked quickly to the podium, and delivered his long-prepared acceptance speech.

Then he left the stage amid warm applause.

The final suspense is about to be revealed, and the whole audience is boiling!

The big screen flashed again! Fifth place: Cristiano Ronaldo! Fourth place: Mbappe! Third place: Chu Feng!

Second place: Pogba! First place: Modric!

Pogba's eyes suddenly became lost and he lay weakly on the chair.

In fact, he won more honors last season, including the Premier League, Champions League and World Cup titles. Theoretically, he should have won the Ballon d'Or.

But in fact, before the advent of the "two great players" era, with the exception of Kaka, the winners of the Ballon d'Or for more than a decade in a row were not from the Champions League champion team.

It can be seen that there is no necessary connection between the Champions League and the Ballon d'Or.

After the era of the "two great players", didn't Sneijder and Ribery, who won the "triple crown" of the league, Champions League and cup, fail to win the Ballon d'Or?

Modric was able to rank first because he was the runner-up of the World Cup (the best player in the World Cup) and the runner-up of the Champions League (the highest-rated midfielder in Real Madrid).

In addition, the votes of French players Pogba, Mbappe, Varane and Griezmann were severely split, resulting in not many votes being received.

As for why Chu Feng ranked third? Even though he did not have the bonus of the World Cup last season, his club honors were so dazzling that he won the favor of many judges.

If it were not a World Cup year, he would most likely win the Ballon d'Or.

But it's a pity. However, because of this, Chu Feng also took away a lot of votes.

So, Modric got a bargain.

Modric walked to the podium excitedly. He broke the monopoly of Messi and Ronaldo and won the 2018 Golden Ball Award!

Chu Feng gave sincere applause.

He didn't have too many thoughts on it. After all, if you really look into it, Modric deserves the title.

There is no World Cup and European Cup this year, the Ballon d'Or is his ultimate goal! The process will definitely be very difficult, but it will also be very interesting, isn't it?

Chu Feng looked at the shining trophy on the stage, and he was suddenly filled with motivation.

After the award ceremony, Chu Feng and others did not attend the dinner, but rushed back to Manchester overnight.

Because the 22nd round of the Premier League is about to start! Tottenham vs. Manchester United!

(End of this chapter)