Full-level pass, please call me the speaker of the Three Lions

Chapter 257: Trip to Thailand, three consecutive wins

In the first season after returning to the Premier League after ten years, Leicester City finished fifth in the league as a newly promoted team and once again qualified for the Europa League next season.

Thanks to such excellent performance and the performance of core players such as Ling Feng, the popularity and influence of Leicester City has rapidly expanded in the past year.

Not only in the British peninsula, but also in the entire European fan circle, many people are also familiar with this fearless blue fox located in a small town of 300,000 people in central England!

For the club's owner, Vichai, the club's good results are also an opportunity to expand the brand influence of his travel group.

Ever since, in order to reward the team for their hard work on the court and to expand the club's influence in Thailand and even Asia, Vichai specially arranged for the team to travel and train in Thailand, and also play two friendly matches with two Asian giants. , earn some ticket money.

Although the team's star Ling Feng is still in the Czech Republic.

However, when all Leicester City players arrived at Bangkok Airport in Thailand, they still received an extremely warm welcome.

Thai fans, wearing Leicester City's home jersey for the new season, holding various placards in their hands, waved and screamed at the Blue Fox generals who had just gotten off the plane.

Seeing this battle, Mahrest took out his mobile phone and took a picture of the Thai girls holding signs such as "Love Tiger Oil, Ling!" and then sent the video to Ling Feng in the Czech Republic.

Therefore, as long as they can get a salary increase, they are basically willing to sign a new contract and continue to play for Leicester City.

But for the team, it is a very critical opportunity!

Subsequently, the club offered another young central defender on loan, Harry Maguire, for five million pounds!

This is one of the reasons why Vichai invited the whole team to travel to Thailand!

While the team is feeling the enthusiasm of Thai fans, the club's scouting department is also actively looking for suitable signings in the transfer market.

The club is focused on renewing contracts for only four people.

Of course, an experienced veteran like Fox who is exempt from signing a contract in his prime is a favorite in the eyes of many small and medium-sized teams.

These two loan transactions completed in the winter window will obviously contribute to Leicester City's defensive improvement in the second half of the season.

It’s just that the conditions need to be carefully considered.

When Abramovich took charge of the Blues, Walsh recommended players such as Cech from Rennes, Didier Drogba from Marseille, and Essien from Lyon to Mourinho.

As the team's scouting director, Walsh, known as "Hawkeye" by insiders, personally flew to various parts of Europe to start looking for suitable candidates for the team.

Therefore, this time Walsh also decided to go to France to see if he could find some good and cheap seeds.

Therefore, when they negotiated the contract with Leicester City, they did not agree to Leicester City's inclusion of a buyout clause.

Because they can also feel that Leicester City's good team atmosphere is something that other teams cannot provide.

While all the major players in the Premier League have already purchased strong reinforcements, Leicester City's first transaction this summer came quietly.

However, in the second half of the season, especially when captain Morgan was injured, the central defender combination of Huth and Maguire helped the team maintain a certain degree of competitiveness in both the league and the Europa League, so as not to fall behind.

. . .

Even though all four have received offers from other clubs.

That is the Three Musketeers of Blue Fox plus Brother Drinking Water!
As offensive midfielders, these four are the four most indispensable players in Leicester City's offensive system.

In Leicester City's formation, Mahrez is another treasure discovered by Walsh in Ligue 2.

Being able to retain most of the structure of the current lineup is a big victory!

Among them, Schalke 04's main left back Christian Fox's contract is about to expire.

However, judging from the players' willingness to renew their contracts, all four of them are willing to stay on the team.

If they can recruit a famous Bundesliga player like Fox, the team will have a guarantee at the left back position.

Leicester City are in close contact with their agent in an attempt to bring the experienced Austria international to the King Power Stadium.

Although the playing time is not much.

They just bought out the 31-year-old German central defender Robert Huth, who was on loan from Stoke City for three million pounds.

Due to being relegated from the Premier League this season, Hull City originally wanted to let Maguire, who has been trained, return to serve as the team's main central defender and key training target.

As for Maguire's outstanding performance in Leicester City, Hull City would never have expected it.

According to the original plan, Leicester City will stay in Thailand for a week.

Among them, it is not difficult to renew the contracts of most of the main players and rotation players.

This summer, for Leicester City, reinforcements can be put aside first.

It is worth mentioning that France is definitely a blessed place for Walsh.

In addition to discussing contract renewal with Ling Feng, the club is also intensively renewing contracts with other main players.

Moreover, they are also afraid that the team will look down on their level and replace them with better players.

This period of time is a relaxing vacation for the team.

And add:
"Man, the fans in this place are so passionate! You have a lot of fans too."

Then he will play two friendly matches before returning to England to start pre-season training.

Although Schlupp is part of the team's youth training, his defense is really not reassuring.

As long as the players feel that the club and fans value them in Thailand, and they are happy, they may directly renew their contracts.

But Schalke does not intend to renew his contract.

However, if you buy it back for 2.5 million pounds and sell it for 5 million pounds, you will make double the profit once it is resold.

For Hull City, this is also a good deal.

Of course, people are greedy.

Seeing Maguire following England in the European Youth Championship, Maguire's value will definitely increase slightly once he wins the championship.

If it is sold again by then, the price will definitely be higher.

What's more, after the team is relegated, the team's lineup and salary will be affected, and existing players may not be able to be retained.

Keeping the young and promising Maguire can also help the team surpass the league.

Therefore, Hull City does not want to sell Maguire.

However, Maguire, who had been personally recruited by Ling Feng, conveyed his strong intention to transfer to Leicester City directly to the club through his agent. Since the players want to leave, Hull City can't keep them.

And Hull City is not indispensable for Maguire's team positioning.

Want to go?

can.

Show sincerity!
The two sides will definitely negotiate and discuss the transfer fee next.

However, judging from Hull City's attitude, Maguire should be able to continue to play for the Blue Foxes next season!
Before the start of the European Youth Championship, he specifically mentioned it to head coach Pearson, claiming that he hoped the club could keep Maguire.

And praised Maguire in front of Pearson as a player with great potential who can help the team.

Pearson also heard what he meant, and praised Maguire's importance to the team's defense, and assured Lingfeng that the club would find ways to keep Maguire.

Learning from Maguire that the two clubs were negotiating, Ling Feng was satisfied with the club's positive attitude.

Ever since, he also reminded Mendes to renew his contract with the team as soon as possible so that the team can make signings with peace of mind.

After all, as the team's star, if he doesn't renew his contract first, other players on the team will be panicked, fearing that Ling Feng will not transfer and leave this summer.

Once Leicester City does not have Ling Feng, the team's strength will definitely plummet, and the main players who originally wanted to stay may not necessarily stay.

Not to mention that players who had the opportunity to join the team would not hesitate to book the earliest train or flight and run away overnight if they saw Ling Feng, the core of the team, leaving the team!

Under Ling Feng's "urge", Mendes had no choice but to fly directly to Thailand to negotiate with the club director and head coach in person.

At present, there is still a huge difference between the two parties regarding weekly salary.

In Mendes' view, with Ling Feng's current top-level strength and reputation in the Premier League, there is nothing wrong with earning the same weekly salary of 180,000 as Arsenal Ego.

Especially in terms of commercial value, he is one of the most profitable players in the entire Premier League and can bring more additional income to the team.

That being said.

But a weekly salary of 180,000 yuan is simply an astronomical figure!
For wealthy BIG6 teams such as Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Chelsea, a weekly salary of is the maximum salary within the team.

Not to mention Leicester City, which has just returned to the Premier League for a year!
One hundred and eighty thousand a week, fifty-two weeks a year, that’s 9.36 million pounds!

Coupled with goal bonuses, assist bonuses and other miscellaneous bonuses, Ling Feng's salary and bonuses alone for a year will cost tens of millions of pounds!
This is something that Leicester City, which operates on a small budget, cannot afford.

Even though Ling Feng is the indispensable core of the team, he is also one of the best players in the entire Premier League.
Of course, the lion's mouth is just Mendes' usual negotiation tactic.

Afterwards, Mendes ignored the club for a few days and claimed that the players loved the club very much and were eager to stay, so they were willing to lower their salary requirements.

Not 180,000, not 168,000, just 140,000!

Then the signing fee can be reduced a bit.

For Mendes, this difficult opponent, Blue Fox director Rudkin, who was in charge of contract renewal negotiations, was also cursing in his heart.

Although the weekly salary is 140,000, it is still an unacceptable figure for the club.

However, at least the contract renewal negotiations are making progress.
While Mendes and the club were arguing over issues such as weekly salary, signing fee and termination fee, Lingfeng and England U21 in the Czech Republic also ushered in the third game of the group stage.

Their opponent is Italy, the "Legis Azzurri".

In last year's World Cup in Brazil, Ling Feng made his World Cup debut against Italy.

And helped England equalize the score, thus changing the Three Lions' fate of being eliminated from the group.

In that game, the scene when Ling Feng passed Pirlo with the ball became one of the classic scenes in that World Cup and made him famous.

Nowadays, he really has no interest in facing the Italian national youth team which does not have many stars.

However, when looking at the Italian National Youth starting lineup from the perspective of a later-generation fan, he discovered something interesting:

That is, this Italian national youth team has gathered the tricolor babes who will be loved by future generations of fans!
Tricolor Babe is actually the collective name given by later generations of fans to three local rising stars in Italy who are of similar age and whose names all begin with the word "bei".

The three-color babes are "Green Babe" Berardi, who plays for Sassuolo;

"Red Babe" Belotti, plays for Palermo;
"Purple Babe" Bernardeschi, plays for Fiorentina.

All three are Italian forward stars who have emerged in the past year.

Among them, Berardi, who plays for Sassuolo, is the most famous.

The most talked about thing is the nickname "Milan Killer".

This season, the demon striker scored a hat trick against AC Milan in the league.

Last season against Milan, he also scored four goals and led the team to a comeback and win!

In addition to the Tricolor Babe, the Italian team also has several well-known Italian stars such as Romarioli, Biraghi, Rugani, and Sturaro.

A year later, compared to himself in the World Cup, Ling Feng has become much stronger visibly.

And he is so confident that even if he encounters the midfield combination of Verratti, Pirlo and De Rossi again, it will be impossible to defend him.

Not to mention little Karami like Sturaro and Benassi? !
Although his quota has been locked in advance, Southgate has also made a certain range of rotations.

However, in the past two games, both Southgate and all fans have been very clear about one fact:
With Ling Feng on the court, and without Ling Feng on the court, the fighting power of this young lion is completely different!
Therefore, in order to ensure that the team won three consecutive victories and maintain its momentum, Southgate could only let Ling Feng, the captain and the core of the team, continue to start.

And in this game, Ling Feng's performance was still outstanding!

In the 16th minute of the game, he first made a pass on the right wing and then sent a fatal cross to help Kane score his fourth goal in this European Youth Championship.

Then five minutes later, he shot a super long shot 35 meters away from the goal, causing the goalkeeper to take it off. Ings, who played as a right winger, made a smart follow-up shot, extending the score to 2-0.

Returning to the locker room with a two-goal lead, Southgate went to Ling Feng privately and asked him if he needed a rest.

Ling Feng also said that he was not tired yet and could play for another twenty minutes.

Although two goals ahead. However, Ling Feng was really afraid that after he came off the field, Italy would score two goals in a row and even come back from behind.

At the 63rd minute of the second half, he personally scored the third goal, and Ling Feng was relieved to be replaced.

The score of the game was finally fixed at three to zero.

After defeating Italy, England won three consecutive games in the group stage. In addition to reaching the semi-finals of the European Youth Championship as the group leader, England also successfully qualified for next year's Rio Olympics.

However, just as Ling Feng was leading England to great heights in the European Youth Championship, he suddenly received unexpected bad news!
(End of this chapter)