Chapter 409 Best Friend
It's really comfortable to play under Rijkaard.
Why do I say that? When other La Liga teams have already started intensive training and Real Madrid has already played a warm-up match in Mexico, Barcelona has just gathered the team and is preparing to go to Denmark for pre-season training.
Brazil wants to recruit Ronaldinho to play in the Confederations Cup? The Brazilian superstar also wants to go? Okay, then go!
Messi played in the World Youth Championship? No problem, just be back before the end of the month.
Deco held his wedding in Brazil? Damn it! He is getting married for the second time, but he still made a big fuss. The key is that he did not invite Barcelona players to attend. Too much! You can only have a week for your honeymoon at most. Denmark, gather together!
Look, Rijkaard's way of managing the locker room is really very humane and comfortable.
Even when the players returned to Barcelona on time, Rijkaard sent a text message to everyone, telling them that the team training would be postponed for one day because several players' flights were delayed.
So, Su Dong, Iniesta, and Messi, who was forced by Su Dong to return to the team early, sat in the courtyard of Su Dong's villa, shirtless, wearing shorts, basking in the warm sun.
"I'm considering buying a house here too," Iniesta said suddenly.
"So fast?" Messi was a little surprised.
Iniesta has just renewed his contract and received a large signing fee, which I guess was something he had been planning for a long time.
"That's good." Su Dong laughed, "Just buy it nearby. It's convenient to go around. You can walk there."
Iniesta nodded. "I've asked an agent to help me find one. There aren't many houses here, but I can still find one."
Su Dong smiled and nodded, and then seeing Messi's envious and eager look, he secretly laughed in his heart and reached out to touch the Argentine boy's head. This player had just shined in the World Youth Championship, won the Golden Ball Award of the World Youth Championship, and received praise from Maradona. For the first time, he made the front page headlines of many media including Marca and L'Equipe.
Messi's status in the Barcelona locker room is now higher than before, but if he wants to challenge Giuly's starting position, he still needs to work harder.
"What? Have you considered buying a house here?" Su Dong asked.
Macy smiled awkwardly, "Of course I do. You know, I dream of buying your house."
"That's so heartless. I let you eat and drink for free, but you actually want to take over the house. That's too much." Su Dong scolded with a smile, but he was very happy in his heart.
"Well, you also received a signing fee for this contract renewal, right?"
Messi nodded, but didn't understand what Su Dong meant.
"Go back and talk to your dad, and start looking for houses in the surrounding area. You guys try to get as much as you can, and I'll help you with the remaining amount."
"Ah? This..." Messi was a little at a loss.
Iniesta was also a little dumbfounded. "Isn't this too biased? We are both buying a house, why do you help him to pay for it, and what about me?"
"The same to you, just look around and buy the ones you like!" Su Dong was also very generous.
"Then I won't be polite." Iniesta was more free and easy.
Messi hesitated, not knowing what to say.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm just tired of you eating and drinking for free at my place all day. Hurry up and buy a house and move out. I'd like some peace and quiet."
Messi and Iniesta both laughed, but didn't take it seriously.
The way Su Dong treated them was really impeccable.
Whether in the locker room, on the court, or even outside the court, they are given special care.
No matter what, as long as they ask, Su Dong will help them as long as he can do it.
Of course, most of the things they were troubled by were not a big deal to Su Dong.
For example, if Messi wants to buy a house, for Su Dong, advance payment is actually nothing.
It’s really hard to think about it.
Messi and his family have been in Barcelona for four or five years and have been living in a small apartment in the city. Now that Messi has renewed his contract and his annual salary has increased to one million euros, they dare not say they want to buy a house. They just want to temporarily rent a better and larger house and buy one when they have saved enough money.
Su Dong was very generous and directly funded them to buy a house. This was definitely the best testimony of their close friendship.
Little do people know that Messi is still young. Although he showed his potential in the World Youth Championship, he still has a long way to go before he can become a successful player.
Maybe an injury would ruin his future. Who would Su Dong ask for the money he lent? But because of this, it was even more precious.
Messi is not a talkative person. He looked at Su Dong deeply and hid all his thoughts and feelings in his heart.
He will always remember it.
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It was originally the first day of the training camp, but because Rijkaard temporarily postponed it, Barcelona’s board meeting was changed to the day before the training camp, and club president Laporta released the financial report of the previous season.
Barcelona still has huge debts, but last season, the team made a profit of 70 million euros, which far exceeded the expectations of the outside world and Barcelona's directors.
According to the results announced by Laporta, 29 million euros of this profit came from a real estate project, which is also the profit brought by Barcelona after using the club's original land to operate real estate.
The rest comes entirely from the club's revenue, including the income it generates from the Champions League.
Laporta said that Barcelona made a lot of money in last season's Asian tour, with commercial income doubling that of previous years. "This is due to the fact that we have the most influential and commercially valuable superstar in Asia!"
The Barcelona president also revealed that in the past year, Barcelona has cooperated with Nike to sell Barcelona jerseys all over the world, which is also a major source of income for Barcelona. "I want to say that for every three jerseys we sell, nearly two are from Su Dong. The sales volume created by his No. 9 jersey far exceeds that of all the superstars of other teams."
Laporta also looked ahead to the coming season, saying that the management is confident that it can help the team continue to perform at its best in La Liga, the Champions League, and even the Copa del Rey in the coming season, and strive to become the first triple crown winner in La Liga history.
“This is our goal for the team this season!”
In addition, Laporta also solemnly announced that the team has completed the contract extension with Su Dong, "Before 2010, he will not leave us, and we will not let him leave. We hope that he can stay in Camp Nou, just like those legendary superstars in the history of our club."
The media also revealed that Laporta's financial report was very encouraging, far exceeding expectations, so much so that his financial budget for the new season no longer needed to be voted on at the general meeting of members, but could be directly passed at the board meeting.
In addition, Laporta is seeking to extend his term in office, hoping to postpone the presidential election to 2007, rather than 2006 as the opposition has been emphasizing.
According to the Barcelona club's constitution, Laporta took over the team at the end of the season, so his term included the 2002-2003 season and therefore only lasted until 2006. However, Laporta believed that that year should not be counted, so he wanted to delay it until 2007.
Not only that, Laporta's contract renewals with most of the team's players are all based on the year 2010. The management calls this the "2010 Project", and the purpose is also for future elections.
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For the new season's training camp, Barcelona officially moved to the Joan Gamper Sports City.
This training base is obviously more advanced than the old sports city. Personnel from many departments have been re-recruited or specially trained with the aim of creating a world-class training base in terms of software and hardware.
Su Dong's personal coaching team also contributed a little to the construction of the Gamper Sports City.
Due to the high number of injuries to Barcelona players last season, many players were absent, and the regular first-team lineup even had only twelve players at one point, which was not enough to make an eighteen-man roster, which gave Rijkaard a headache.
Players such as Edmilson, Motta and Gabriel Gabri missed most of last season due to cruciate ligament injuries, which seriously affected Barcelona's games and preparations.
Therefore, this season Barcelona decided to invest money in player physical monitoring and physiotherapy.
In this regard, Su Dong's personal trainer team Nuno Cruz and physiotherapist Grant Downing are all leaders in the industry. Especially after Su Dong became famous in recent years, they also became famous and became leaders in the industry.
Naturally, Barcelona would not go far away and took the initiative to contact Su Dong's personal coaching team. Through their introduction, they purchased a batch of the most advanced medical instruments and equipment from the United States, mainly for the rehabilitation and prevention of players' injuries.
In addition, Nuno Cruz and others also agreed to help Barcelona train staff, but their work focus is still on Su Dong.
Su Dong didn't mind, nor did he worry.
In the past two or three years, there have been many teams and individuals who wanted to poach Nuno Cruz and others, but they remained unmoved.
On the one hand, the salary offered by Su Dong was very high, and the benefits and treatment were very good, which made them have no idea of changing jobs. In addition, they had been together for a long time and were very familiar with Su Dong. It looked like an employment relationship, but in fact it was more like a friendship.
Watching Su Dong climb step by step to the top of professional players, they all followed suit and enjoyed the good life.
In that case, why rush to change jobs?
…
After last season's polishing, Barcelona's lineup has basically stabilized.
The goalkeeper is Valdes, the defense line is Van Bronckhorst, Marcos, Puyol and Belletti, the midfielder is Marcos Senna, Deco and Xavi are in the front, and Ronaldinho, Sudon and Giuly form the front trident.
The biggest suspense now is whether Van Bommel, who joined on a free transfer, can shake Marcos Senna's position? In the central defender position, can Marcos suppress competitors such as Edmilson and Oleguer?
There are also young players Iniesta and Messi. Can they challenge Giuly successfully?
Although there were no new signings, with the return of injured players and the rise of two young players, Iniesta and Messi, Barcelona's lineup is not bad at all, but stronger than last season.
At least, Marcos Senna can play in the Champions League for Barcelona!
(End of this chapter)
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