Chapter 625 Familiar Stranger
Matt Dawn, who was sitting in the car, turned to look curiously at the street scene of Jincheng outside the window.
This was his first time in China, but unexpectedly, he felt some intimacy with it.
Perhaps it was because the city with drizzle outside the car reminded him of England. Whether it was Portsmouth or Leeds, where he had stayed, it was always like this in winter.
It's the same winter, with the same gloomy sky and non-stop rain, and the same damp chill that penetrates my skin.
He said to the sports director Nevin Ball who came with him: "This is really a great discovery, Mr. Ball! The climate here in Jincheng is very similar to Leeds. Perhaps this will help Hu adapt to his time in Leeds." Life..."
Seeing Matt so happy, Naven couldn't laugh. He frowned and said: "You are thinking too far, Matt. To be honest, I don't think we can successfully get out of the situation if we go and chat with the other club. No player in his right mind would choose a relegation team like ours when facing the favor of Kings of Madrid and Catalonia." >
Thanks to the Kings of Madrid and Catalonia, at least now Nevin Ball will not think that Hulay is an insignificant young man. Otherwise, how could Tony convince him to introduce Hulay so easily? But at the same time, he also has to worry about how to steal people from the two giants.
"Mr. Ball, you have some confidence in yourself. At least Flash Star Club agreed to our request for an interview. I think this is a huge progress. Otherwise, why would they call us here from England, thousands of miles away?"
Hearing what Matt said, Nevin Ball asked: "Have you brought everything?"
"Don't worry, Mr. Ball. It's all in my bag, and I made a PPT for them. And in case they can't understand English, I also asked someone to translate it. Make sure they fully feel our sincerity. ”
After Matt finished speaking, he continued to turn his head and look at this strange and mysterious Eastern city outside the car window.
Everything that came before his eyes was new and interesting to him.
The first thing that impressed him was "big".
The city is really big. They set off from the hotel to the training base of Flash Star Club. The car had been driving for half an hour. There were high-rise buildings and bustling street scenes along the way, but they had not yet reached their destination.
In the time he spent in Leeds, he had walked through almost the entire city - on foot.
The second thing that impressed him deeply was "more".
There are many people and many cars.
The non-motorized lanes were almost filled with bicycles and "motorcycles" of various colors - he didn't know if they were motorcycles, because they didn't seem to have exhaust pipes. The motorway is also full of cars. Looking forward, there are red brake lights ahead, which is quite spectacular in the rain and fog. There are also overcrowded bus stations. Although there are several buses queuing up to pick up passengers at the platform, the number of passengers on the station does not seem to have decreased at all...
Leeds, where Matt Dawn is located, is the third largest city in the UK, but Matt feels that if it were placed in China, it might not even be ranked in the top 300.
The third thing that attracts Matt is the exotic style, which is mainly reflected in the signs and advertisements on the shops and buildings along the street.
It was filled with words he didn't recognize. Although he didn't know what those words meant, he thought it was cool.
Ah, this is the mysterious Eastern culture...
He took out his cell phone and took photos of some of the signboards that impressed him.
Next to Nevin Ball, he saw Matt looking like he was here for sightseeing, and he couldn't help but hold his forehead - he didn't look like he could successfully convince the Flash Star Club...
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Matt Dawn and Nevin Ball were sitting in the conference room of the Flash Star Club. The staff of the Flash Star Club who had just brought them in had left, and now they were the only two people left in the huge conference room. They hired a translator here.
Matt did not just sit on the chair and wait, but ran to the window, looked longingly through the window, and saw the training ground of the Flash Star Club.
Because the Chinese Super League season has ended, there are no teams training on the training ground, but many staff are busy maintaining the turf.
Judging from the number of training grounds and the quality of the turf, this club is still very formal... It is not large in scale, but it has all the necessary facilities, and the turf is maintained very seriously. Maybe it’s because of this level of management that players like Hu Lai can be cultivated...
Matt Dawn made his own evaluation in his mind.
At the same time, he is also full of expectations for the next conversation.
After all, if everything in this club is formal and the emphasis on management level means that the other party is professional, then the things you have prepared will come in handy.
Convincing the other party with professionalism is what he is good at.
If you encounter a club that doesn't know anything but asks for a lot of money, you'll be doomed. No matter how much you say, it can't be worth the question: "How much do you plan to pay?"
If we simply compare the asking prices, Leeds City will definitely not be able to compare with those wealthy and wealthy clubs.
But when it comes to understanding Hu Lai... Matt is not boasting, there should be no one in Europe who can compare with him!
Just as Matt was intoxicated by his familiarity with Hu Lai, the conference room door behind him was pushed open.
He turned around quickly, and at the same time, Nevin Ball, who was originally sitting, also stood up to greet him.
A fat man who looked like he was heavy came in at the door. After he squeezed in, the person behind him was revealed. .
Matt froze.
Hu Lai!
Originally, Matt Dawn thought that it was not easy for Flash Star Club to give him the opportunity to interview their general manager.
But he never thought that he would have the opportunity to face Hu Lai!
Looking at the figure in front of him who was very familiar to him but who was actually meeting him for the first time, Matt suddenly wanted to laugh, so he laughed.
It shocked everyone present.
Dong Wen and Hu Lai both looked at the freckle-faced British man with puzzled eyes, wondering what was wrong with this man.
Nevin Ball was very embarrassed. He glanced back at Matt and lowered his voice and said: "Damn it, Matt, can you be more serious! You will end our negotiation before it even starts!"
Matt ignored him, but suddenly rushed up and held Hu Lai's hand, his voice stuttered with excitement: "Hu... Hu... My God, I really... I didn't expect you to come... …They didn’t tell me, uh…”
It wasn't until this moment that Matt suddenly realized what he had done. He hurriedly let go of his hands, and was so nervous that he didn't know where to put his hands: "Sorry, Hu, sorry... I'm too excited. Because I In fact, I have known you for a long time, but this is the first time I see you face to face, so please forgive me..."
He didn't care whether Hu Lai could understand or not, he just kept talking.
The translator stood awkwardly nearby, trying to translate Matt's confusing words, but was unable to speak.
But it was obvious that Hu Lai did not need a translator. He widened his eyes and asked in an authentic and fluent English accent: "Sir, have you known me for a long time?"
"Yes, yes, of course...I have known you for twenty-five years..."
Nevin Ball covered his face. He had foreseen that he, Matt, and the translator would be kicked out of the club by the Chinese next - the big fat man seemed to be ready to call the security.
"How is it possible? Sir, I have only been playing football for five years..."
"Ah, sorry, I'm talking about the game, I'm in the game... Hey, can you understand me?" Matt Dawn finally came back to his senses, but quickly fell into confusion. "No, I can actually understand you?"
Dong Wen, who was standing next to him, finally couldn't help it anymore. He spread his hands and asked in English: "Okay, gentlemen, who can tell me what is going on?"
※※※
The translator specially hired by Leeds City Club for a large sum of money was sitting on the side, looking at the other four people in the room boredly - it was not convenient for him to just lower his head and play with his mobile phone, which would make him look very unprofessional.
Although the current situation does not actually require him to embody any profession at all.
Counting him, all five people present could speak English, and Hu Lai, who was originally thought to be the least likely to speak English, spoke it the most fluently.
So the four of them put aside the translator and started communicating.
There is no middleman to make a profit, and there is no need to worry about the message not being conveyed properly.
So this may be the easiest amount of money that a translator has ever made since he started working as a translator. He can earn 8,000 yuan a day without doing anything.
The translator put aside those messy thoughts and began to listen to what they were talking about - anyway, it was idle, so it was not bad to just sit here and listen to the gossip. Although nothing he heard could be revealed.
"So you know me through the game "The Godfather of Champions"?" Hu Lai was still a little incredulous after listening to the long story Matt Dawn just told, and asked him for confirmation.
"Yes, Hu!" Matt Dawn gave him a decisive answer. "That's why I say that I have known you for twenty-five years - you have been playing in various save files of my game for a total of twenty-five years."
"How do I perform in the game?"
"Excellent, perfect, great, unparalleled." Matt gave several adjectives in succession.
Hu Lai scratched his head: "It doesn't sound like you're talking about me... That's just me in the game."
"But "The Godfather of Champions" is highly sought after for its realistic enough simulation of reality, Hu. In fact, it was because I coached you many times in the game that I came up with the idea of signing you..."
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Hu Lai smiled: "A live-action version of "The Godfather of Champions"?"
"It's completely understandable, ha! But I don't just know you in the game, I also know you very well in reality, including your club games and Olympic games... As long as I can find videos on the Internet , I collected them all.”
After speaking, Matt Dawn opened the laptop he took out of his bag, plugged in his mobile hard drive, and showed it to Hu Lai and Dong Wen who were present.
Indeed, as he said, it is full of videos about Hu Lai's games.
It is also placed in different folders according to time and event category, making it clear at a glance. If you want to watch which game at which time period, you can quickly find it.
"Wow, it's really amazing..." Hu Lai couldn't help but exclaimed when he saw this scene.
This was the first time that someone from the team came to show him these things.
But Matt's "talent show" was not over yet. He opened the prepared PPT and began to tell Hu Lai and Dong Wen directly on the laptop about their Leeds City understanding of how Hu Lai, a forward, should be used.
The four grown men were standing head to head in front of the small screen of the laptop. Whether it was Dong Wen or Hu Lai, they would occasionally ask some questions, and then Matt Dawn would answer them all.
No matter what was asked, Matt always had a clear answer.
Even Hu Lai's performance in the Chinese Super League after returning from the Olympics is understood by Matt.
When Matt finally finished speaking on the PPT, the conference room, which had been full of noise, suddenly became quiet.
Nevin Ball could no longer keep up with the rhythm and went to the side early. After Matt finished speaking, he looked at Hu Lai.
Hu Lai and Dong Wen looked at each other.
Finally, it was Dong Wen who broke the silence in the conference room: "Mr. Dawn, and Mr. Power, how long will you stay here?"
"We'll go back tomorrow," Nevin Ball said. In fact, they came here just to have a face-to-face interview with the people from the Flashing Star Club. Now that everything that needs to be discussed has been discussed, there is no need to stay here any longer. Anyway, if the negotiation can be concluded, subsequent matters can be handled through email and fax, and no one is required to stay here.
"Then we need to think about it. Once we have the results, we will notify you as soon as possible."
"Of course, it should be."
※※※
Matt Dawn and Nevin Ball took a taxi back to their hotel.
The rain had stopped, but the ground was wet, and there was a moist air that they couldn't tell what it smelled like, but it was certainly fragrant.
"Mr. Ball, do you think I succeeded in convincing Hu and Dong?" Matt Dawn suddenly asked while looking at the street scene outside in the car.
"I don't know, Matt. When you were explaining to them, I kept observing the two of them. Hu seemed to be very interested in what you were talking about, but Dong was calm the whole time. I couldn't tell what he was doing. What do you think? And to be honest, Matt, what you have prepared is indeed more attractive to the players themselves, but the club’s general manager thinks about things from a different perspective than the players. They will still care more about the economic aspect. factors.”
"Then how much money can our club spend?"
"We don't just have one Hu to buy, so for him alone, the most we can offer is... eight million. If the director thinks it's low, there's nothing we can do. After all, Leeds City doesn't have a Middle Eastern investor."
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"Eight million..." Matt thought for a while, this was indeed the highest price that Leeds City could offer now. But in front of giants like Madrid Kings and Catalan United, they are simply a drop in the bucket. A little squeeze from the other side is enough to crush Leeds City.
What will Leeds City do to compete with the giants for Hu Lai?
After much deliberation, he could only hope that the young man could say no to the world's top giants. (End of chapter)