Charlie Potter was telling jokes with his teammates in the locker room, making everyone laugh. At this moment, he felt someone tap him on his right shoulder, but when he turned his head to look, he didn't look.
to people.
Instead, a voice came from the left: "Where are you looking, Charlie?"
“Pete!” Potter didn’t even turn around, he just heard the voice and shouted.
Then he was surprised to see a smiling Pete Williams, who smiled at him and said: "Good morning, Charlie."
He then greeted others in the locker room: "Good morning, captain."
“Good morning, Mikael.”
“Hi, Farek.”
…
When he saw Hu Lai, the corners of his mouth curled up: "Hello, Hu."
He greeted everyone in this way until he came to his own locker.
Behind him, the originally lively locker room gradually became quiet. Everyone including Charlie Potter, the captain and others looked at his back in surprise.
Hu Lai was also quite surprised - ever since he came to Leeds City, when he saw Peter Williams, he always frowned slightly, looking worried, with almost no smile on his face, and he didn't talk much. And because
He heard that this man was a rare talented player in Leeds City, which made him think of Brother Huan before he "put himself to death to survive", and wondered if all geniuses were like this... No, they were all so cold.
?
Unexpectedly, after arriving at the training base today, I found that Pete Williams, who had always been indifferent to him in the past, could actually greet me with a smile...
It’s really a hell.
Did he get any stimulation last night?
Hu Lai couldn't help but speculate in his mind.
Other teammates were also surprised by the changes in Pete Williams. They have been in contact with Williams for longer than Hulay, and naturally understand better than Hulay what Williams' changes mean.
Captain Lorenzo looked at everyone, and then asked: "Pete, your contract extension...is done?"
Williams turned around and looked at the concerned people, shaking his head: "I made an agreement with the club that relegation is the most important thing now, so we won't talk about contract renewal until the end of the season."
The other players looked at each other.
Williams spread his hands and said to them: "I'm sorry that I haven't performed well during this period... I have indeed been affected by some off-court influences. But it won't happen again. I promise everyone that I will do my best to help.
The team is relegated. I don’t want my hometown team to disappear from the Premier League.”
Lorenzo walked up and patted him on the shoulder: "No one blames you, Peter, everyone understands the pressure you are under. None of us want the team to be relegated."
Charlie Potter also went up and high-fived Williams: "Hey, Pete, if you have any troubles in the future, you can come to me and I will take you to play. I will make sure that all your troubles will be gone! You know, stay with me
Together you will be more likely to be favored by girls, except Vieira..."
“FUCK, Charlie!” Spanish player Jose Vieira greeted Porter with his best English word.
There was a burst of laughter in the locker room.
While laughing, Williams glanced at Hu Lai and found that he was also laughing with the others.
Smiling, he seemed to notice someone looking at him, and glanced at Williams.
Seeing this, Williams quickly looked away, lowered his head and continued to change clothes.
※※※
When Hulay turned his attention to Williams, he only saw the other person's lowering of his head.
He was looking at himself just now?
This question only flashed through Hu Lai's mind, and he didn't take it to heart.
He is more concerned about the meaning of Williams' abnormal performance today.
No, it’s not an abnormality. It’s an abnormality for myself, but judging from the performance of the captain, Charlie, and other teammates, the top talent in the team seems to be back to normal.
This should be good news...
The team's core midfielder expressed that he must concentrate on relegation, which will definitely be a major benefit to Leeds City's relegation.
Hullet certainly doesn’t want him to have to play in the English Championship after just half a season in the Premier League.
Besides, he still has another task to do. The matter of relegation is not decided by him alone. Having more people to help will increase the chance of success.
When the mission is completed, you will get two hundred thousand points and a bottle of [Powerful Charming Essence Lotion]. Isn’t it delicious?
※※※
After the day's training, Hu Lai was stayed by Tony Clark, and the two chatted alone outside the locker room.
"Although there are still a few days until the next game, I still want to inform you in advance, Hu." Clark said, "I plan to put you in the squad for our next home game against Sydenham.
.”
Hu Lai looked at him, and he looked at Hu Lai: "You don't seem surprised at all."
Hu Lai then said: "Ah? Is it too late for me to look surprised now, boss?"
Clark waved his hands somewhat speechlessly: "Forget it, I didn't do it to see you surprised. I was just curious about why you weren't surprised."
“I think you, boss, didn’t sign me here just for me to train, right?” Hu Lai explained. “So I will definitely play, it’s just a matter of time. Don’t worry, boss, I have a very good mentality.”
Hearing Hu Lai's explanation, Clark smiled and said: "You know, Hu Matt once told me that after he signed you in the game "The Godfather of Champions", you went through an adaptation period of about six months.
He put you on the field in the pre-season warm-up match, but you performed poorly. It wasn't until three months after the league started that you scored your first official goal..."
Hu Lai's eyes widened. This time he was really surprised: "Is it so miserable?"
“But in fact, in my eyes and his, your performance is already a miracle. Oh, I forgot to mention that this performance is in 2023.”
2023? Hu Lai frowned and thought for a moment. It was the second year of his career. In July of the previous year, he transferred from the Poseidon youth team to the Stars first team, and then played half of the season in the Stars.
In the Chinese League One this season, he scored 11 goals.
No wonder the boss would say that this performance is a miracle - according to the game time, he has just played for a year in the Stars and then moved to a British championship team. A player with basically no professional game experience, transferred
To be able to score his first goal in the Championship in just six months is truly remarkable.
"I talked to Sam about you before. I thought you could score five goals in the remaining games of the season, but Sam thought I was too optimistic. I used your performance in the game as evidence, but
Sam laughed at me. He said it was just a game. How could the performance in the game be taken seriously? It was really funny. I used the same reason to face Matt who recommended you to me, but in the end I still signed you.
Come down..." Clark said.
"I really couldn't convince Sam with game data, so I made a bet with him. I bet you can score five goals, and he bet you can't. What do you think of this bet, Hu?"
Hu Lai asked first: "Boss, do you have any bets?"
“Twenty pounds.”
“Boss, if you win, can you share half of it with me?”
Clark was surprised: "You want ten pounds? Your bonus for scoring five goals is far more than that..."
Hu Lai moved to Leeds City and signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with the club. The annual salary in the first year was two million pounds, which converted into a weekly salary of about 38,000 pounds. This weekly salary level is simply not enough when looking at the entire Premier League.
, Leeds City is also in the middle of the pack.
However, the contract stipulates that all income from the image rights belongs to Hu Lai personally, which means that in addition to the club having to pay additional money if it wants to use his image, all the endorsement advertising income he receives from outside does not need to be shared with the club.
In addition to the basic salary, there are also various bonuses, such as the goal award, which Hu Lai insists on. Yong Jun negotiated for 50,000 pounds per goal.
So no wonder Clark said this.
Hullet scoring five goals is worth 250,000 pounds, so why should he be worth 20 pounds?
In addition, Yong Jun also helped him negotiate some progress-related bonuses.
For example, the contract stipulates that if Hulay's number of goals in Leeds City - the sum of goals and assists - reaches 30, he will receive a bonus of two million pounds.
Also, if Hulay wins the Premier League Golden Boot in Leeds City, he will also receive an additional reward of one million pounds.
When Nevin Ball was negotiating the terms of this contract with Yong Jun, he couldn't understand how the agent had the confidence to negotiate such conditions for a player who had never played in Europe.
Do you really think Hu Lai can win the Premier League Golden Boot?
How did he know that these clauses were actually proposed by Hu Lai to Yong Jun, hoping that Yong Jun would add them to the contract no matter what.
Hu Lai's idea is - don't worry about whether I can do it now, just write it down. If I do it, but there is no reward, wouldn't I lose money?
Yong Jun already understood Hu Lai’s thoughts very well, so naturally he didn’t hesitate and tried his best to help him incorporate such requirements into the contract.
Leeds City also thinks it doesn't matter. Anyway, the money will be given to Hu Lai only after he gets the golden boot. If he doesn't get it, the club will not lose a penny. They are also happy to join the contract, showing that they are hungry for talent.
So looking at the annual salary alone, Hu Lai doesn't earn much, but if you add in various bonuses, Hu Lai's income is actually very considerable. After all, these figures are in pounds, and if converted into RMB, they are
It has to be multiplied by ten. Judging from their current simple outlook on life, they already have wealth and freedom.
After listening to the coach's words, Hu Lai said: "Boss, there is a saying in China that meat the size of a mosquito is also meat. Besides, the most important thing about these ten pounds is that it is commemorative. After all, it is what I use."
Five Premier League goals in exchange for it..."
Clark laughed: "Okay, I won't give you the money. If you can score five goals this season, I will allow you to indulge and treat you to a Chinese meal at the Red Chili Peppers. You see
How about it?"
On the first day he came to the team, Hulay was warned by Clark, asking him to stay away from Chinese food as much as possible and strictly follow the nutritious meal recipe formulated by Ms. Schmidt.
I have to say that although Ms. Schmidt’s recipe is very healthy and nutritious and meets the physical needs of professional athletes, to a Chinese taste, it is really unpalatable...
Even though Uncle Yong, the chef, has tried his best to make the dishes as delicious as possible according to the recipes, every time he eats, it is still painful for Hu Lai.
Now that he heard that the head coach wanted to treat him to a Chinese meal, Hu Lai's eyes lit up.
After coming to Leeds, he heard that "Red Pepper" is a famous Chinese restaurant in Leeds. The Chinese food there tastes good, especially Hu Lai's hometown dish, Anton cuisine, which is even more authentic. Even the ingredients are from Jincheng.
Bought.
“Boss, are you serious?” Hu Lai looked at Clark with wide eyes.
“Of course it’s true, I keep what I say. As long as you score five goals, I’ll treat you to a ‘red pepper’ meal!” Clark said with certainty.
※※※
On the way back to his office, Tony Clark was still thinking about Hu Lai's happy appearance just now.
It seems that the bet story he made up worked and successfully inspired the young people's fighting spirit.
The price he paid was just a "red pepper" Chinese meal...
Dohulay's five goals may make the team's hope of relegation even greater.
If one meal can be exchanged for the team's relegation, it will be a huge profit. There is no more cost-effective deal in the world.
Young people are good, and if you give them some sweetness, they can reach heaven.
Clark happily walked back to his office, and then met assistant coach Sam Landill at the door.
“Did you tell Hu about selecting him for the squad, Tony?” Randhir asked.
“Yes, Sam.”
“What was his reaction? Was he nervous?”
The two of us discussed the decision before informing Hu Lai. We were afraid that the young man would lose his composure, so we gave him a few days to digest the decision. This way, when the game day comes, he will probably have a calm mind.
Already.
Clark thought about Hu Lai's behavior after learning the news, and then suddenly realized that the kid was not as excited about being included in the competition squad as he was when he heard that I was going to treat him to Chinese food...
“Sam…”
"how?"
"I think... we thought too much before. Matt said that the reason why he thinks Hu can become a top forward is because of Hu's calmness attribute..." Seeing that Sam was a little confused, he changed his explanation.
, "Well, to put it simply, this kid has a big heart. Just putting him on the game roster is impossible to make him feel nervous."
Sam Landill didn’t play “The Godfather,” but he understood after Clark said it differently.
“That’s good, I hope his big heart can come into play when we let him play.”
