Jonathan Woodgate returns home from Tottenham Hotspur's Chigwell training base in Enfield.
As soon as he entered the door, he threw the car keys on the sofa and slumped down.
In the empty mansion, it was so quiet that only his own movement was left.
If he stayed still, he could probably hear his own heartbeat.
I don't know since when, he has become accustomed to this kind of life, and people have become accustomed to not seeing him.
Interestingly, he still plays for Tottenham Hotspur, a strong Premier League team, and he is also the player with the highest annual salary in the team.
In January 2008, in order to lure Woodgate to Tottenham Hotspur, the North London team offered him a weekly salary of 65,000 pounds, which was not the highest in the Premier League at the time.
First grade, but it is already considered very high.
When he first arrived, he was in very good form and once again proved that he is Europe's top central defender.
He not only plays in the Premier League, but also in the Europa League, the FA Cup and the League Cup.
Although there were groin strains and back strains during this period, they basically only affected him for one or two games.
But from the beginning of the 2009-10 season, he felt something was wrong.
From the 2008 to 2009 season, he played a total of 44 games and 3,833 minutes for Tottenham. Such a high attendance rate made everyone think that he had emerged from the quagmire of injuries, but only Woodgate knew it.
, his body couldn’t bear it.
Not only him, he also privately sought help from Buenaventura, his mentor at Real Madrid and a member of the experienced coaching staff. The latter clearly told him that he could not play so much.
But the team's performance pressure at that time forced him to earn such a high salary and he had to earn it.
The consequences finally appeared in the 2009-10 season.
Throughout the season, due to repeated groin strains, he only played three times for Tottenham. He was a substitute for 14 minutes once and played the full game twice. What is interesting is that the two times he played the full game, one was 2-0.
Beating Sunderland and beating Wigan Athletic 9-1, Tottenham performed very steadily.
Everyone knows that Woodgate has strength, but the prerequisite is that he must be healthy.
A healthy Woodgate is definitely Europe's top central defender, but he has too many injuries.
What is even more unfortunate is that starting from 2010, the Premier League ushered in a new policy.
Each team can only apply for a roster of up to 25 players, of which eight must be locally trained players.
Under such restrictions, no team would be willing to leave a precious playing spot to a glass man who could only play three games throughout the season. Therefore, Redknapp had to tell Woodgate that he
will be excluded from the squad.
This means that he has not played even a minute in the Premier League so far.
So far this season, his only appearance has been in the Europa League, where he served as a substitute for 31 minutes. Unfortunately, the long-term lack of games has made him unable to adapt to the intensity of the game.
After playing this game, he was diagnosed with an adductor strain, and later a calf strain.
He was injured again and again. When this part healed, he would change it to another part...
This made him feel desperate, as if no part of his body was healthy.
But what made him even more desperate was the huge gap.
Everyone, from coaches to teammates to staff, even the team doctor who was supposed to be responsible for him, everyone is alienating him because no one is willing to waste precious time and money on a person who is injured all day long.
resource.
Gradually, I don’t know when he started, but he completely became a marginalized figure at the Chigwell Training Base.
Many times, no one even notified him of team gatherings.
He even suspected that if he didn't go to the training base one day, no one would care.
Of course, Daniel Levi will definitely settle accounts with him.
Yes, it literally means settling accounts.
The shrewd CEO has long disliked him and has been looking for faults in him.
If he is absent, you don't have to guess that Levi will treat him with the harshest punishment.
Because he doesn't have to play a single game, but he receives a weekly salary of 65,000 pounds from the club every week.
This is higher than Modric, Van der Vaart and others.
Sometimes, Woodgate also feels that this may be the reason why he is really unpopular.
As early as the beginning of the season, Levy approached Woodgate and expressed the hope that he could modify the contract and pay him according to his playing time.
Actually, this is quite reasonable, but the timing is wrong.
Because at that time, Woodgate was excluded from the registration list. Signing this new contract means that he may not receive a penny in salary for a season, but his ownership still belongs to Tottenham.
Let me ask, who would sign such a contract?
More importantly, when I joined Tottenham, the contract period was three and a half years, which happened to expire in one year.
No matter from which point of view, Woodgate has no reason to accept the contract offered by Levy.
Even if he leaves on a free transfer after this summer.
At thirty-one, Woodgate clearly sees that his career is approaching its twilight years.
He must prepare in advance.
Therefore, even if many Tottenham fans accuse him and criticize him for being greedy for money, he will stay at Tottenham.
Because he never felt that he was not worthy.
The reason why he has had so many injuries in the past two years is because he played too much time in the first two seasons after joining.
In Real Madrid, he was able to maintain the highest level of output because Gao Shen specially arranged physical therapy for him and only allowed him to play one game a week at most. It can be said that he used it carefully.
But at Tottenham...
Woodgate was lying on the sofa, staring at the ceiling blankly. He didn't even turn on the light.
He was once a young man chasing excitement, restless, and even made many mistakes. But I don't know when he started to learn to enjoy this kind of tranquility and got used to this kind of loneliness.
People say this is called maturity.
Maybe.
No matter what, I am much more mature than most people.
At least he can still receive a salary of 65,000 pounds a week.
But what about the future?
…
A sudden cell phone ringing disturbed Woodgate in the darkness.
The Englishman didn't even bother to move. He reached out and grabbed the mobile phone in his trouser pocket. As soon as he saw the caller ID, he sat up suddenly.
There was so much movement that he almost sprained his waist.
"Hello, boss." When Woodgate answered the phone, he was very excited.
They say they enjoy loneliness, but who doesn’t want to be noticed?
"Jonathan, where are you?" asked Gao Shen on the other side of the phone.
"London, where are you at home?" Woodgate replied, "Where are you, boss?"
"Still busy." Gao Shen replied.
Woodgate remained silent.
is not that right?
Manchester City is about to play the Champions League semi-finals against Manchester United, and Gao Shen must be very busy at this time.
But what happened when he called me in the middle of his busy schedule?
The current Manchester City lineup is very strong. Woodgate is self-aware and he does not dare to think this way.
"Let me get straight to the point. I have something to ask you."
"you say."
"Are you interested in returning to Leeds United?"
"Leeds United?" Woodgate was surprised again.
That was where he made his debut, where he became famous, and where he made many mistakes.
But isn’t this team in the Championship now?
"Yes, Leeds United, but I can only say that you must take a significant, very significant salary cut, otherwise, Leeds United cannot afford your weekly salary of 65,000 pounds." Gao Shen said at the end,
They couldn't help laughing.
Compared with Gao Shen, this salary is really nothing, but for Leeds United, it is indeed a sky-high price.
"Boss, I don't quite understand." Woodgate was confused.
Gao Shen on the other side of the phone smiled lightly, "Not long ago, Leeds United announced on its official website that it had reached an exclusive acquisition agreement with a foreign investor?"
"Is it you?" Woodgate was so surprised this time that he jumped up.
Oh my gosh, this is absolutely breaking news.
If word spreads, the entire European football world will definitely go crazy.
"Calm down and remember to keep it a secret for me." Gao Shen smiled, "Strictly speaking, it's not me, it's my fiancée."
Woodgate immediately understood that what Gao Shen said was serious.
Return to Leeds United?
It seems pretty good.
"In terms of salary, we will definitely have to renegotiate it and it must be reduced to what Leeds United can afford, but what I can promise is that we will have great trust in your ability and experience. We need an old player like you to come.
Drive new players, so you will be the captain who does your duty."
Woodgate listened attentively, constantly thinking about various situations and problems in his mind.
"Fernando Lucas will be the CEO of the team, Rudolf Borrell, you haven't worked with him, but you know him, he is the technical director, Sarri is my current assistant coach,
He will be the team's head coach."
They are all acquaintances.
Woodgate felt relieved.
"I have discussed it with them, and we all feel that you are a very suitable candidate. The only obstacles are salary and your personal wishes, so I want to ask you to see if you are interested."
After a pause, Gao Shen said again: "You know, at the age of thirty-one, you can't play for much longer. It's time to think about the future. If you come to Leeds United, you can get more involved in the coaching staff."
Work, or work in a youth training camp, and when you retire in the future, you can transition to coaching."
It must be said that Woodgate was really tempted.
The most popular head coach now is Gao Shen, but to be honest, it is unrealistic to have to be Gao Shen's assistant as soon as he retires.
Because all Gao Shen's staff are the best professional coaches in the world of football today.
But being able to work with senior right-hand assistants such as Lucas, Borrell and Sarri is already a very, very valuable opportunity, not to mention that there will be opportunities to learn from senior players in the future.
Thinking of this, Woodgate had little to hesitate.
"Boss, I promise you, I will go to Leeds United!"
Gao Shen on the other side of the phone was a little surprised, "You don't want to think about it anymore?"
"Don't think about it. If it were someone else, I might still be a little worried, but I absolutely believe you!"
Gao Shen was silent for two or three seconds, "I will let Buenaventura and Pintus find time to study your matter. Don't worry, maybe you can play for a few more years and not retire so early."
"Help Leeds United get promoted back to the Premier League and I'll give you a salary increase!"
