Episode 205: Because I Love You -3
Birds hear the words spoken by day, mice hear the words spoken by night.
To think there have been sayings like this since time immemorial; in modern society, where the information age began long ago, can something called a secret truly exist?
Originally, negotiations or contracts between clubs and players are naturally kept under wraps until concluded, but in today's world, that has long become an absurd notion.
Rather, people often learn the truth first from a specialist journalist’s SNS than from an official club announcement.
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fabrizorom BREAKING: Summer transfer window’s biggest prospect Jian Lee, contract extension/renewal negotiations with parent club Fiorentina break down.
-Fiorentina and Lee still have remaining contract time, but Fiorentina wishes to extend the contract.
-Fiorentina is known to have sat at the negotiation table with Lee a total of 3 times.
-Fiorentina promised club-history-best treatment, but Lee refused.
-All of Europe’s big clubs are confirmed to have put in offers, and Lee, having refused renewal, has his future open in every direction.
Among the countless European dailies and journalists, there is one who has made a name for himself with high credibility.
So credible is he that his personal SNS account has over twenty million followers.
About a week after the European summer transfer window opened.
News that Jian Lee had refused renewal with Fiorentina was uploaded to that journalist’s account.
The repercussions this post brought were tremendous.
The moment the post went up, likes began rising like crazy, and thousands of comments were posted.
Looking at the reactions in those comments, Fiorentina fans’ reaction was, as expected, ‘regret,’ and other fans’ reactions were ‘anticipation.’
bluesindus
Chelsea
skylizion_99
Come to City♥
88gracio
What suits him is Real’s emblem
laumdoz25
All Munich fans are waiting for you.
Man_is_red
I guarantee that a red uniform suits him best.
sonnylove
Hyung, let’s go to Tottenham
lamabunde
Lee has Barcelona DNA flowing in him
Mozi_alberto
Don’t stay in Serie A. If you’re going to stay in Serie A, come to Inter.
While Fiorentina fans fell into light despair, other teams’ fans were overflowing with anticipation.
Fans of other Serie A teams besides Fiorentina were filled with hope that they would no longer have to face Jian Lee in the league, and fans of teams linked with Jian Lee desperately wished he would come to their team.
If you only looked at the comments, it was almost an atmosphere as if Jian Lee had already become their team’s player.
Rather, there were more comments praising Jian Lee than even from Fiorentina fans.
On the other hand, Fiorentina fans could not hide their disappointment.
Immanu_02
Sad news. I knew it would come to this, but now that it’s reality, it’s sad.
bluviola87
Even if they call it the best treatment in club history, compared to big club offers, wasn’t it just a drop in the bucket?
mudzik__
I wish he had stayed even just one more year. Lee, please. You love our team.
Ar_no93
The word romance became something only fools use long ago. Reality is money. If there is anyone blaming Lee, they aren’t a Fiorentina fan.
xxMoka_7
As a Viola I respect his choice. But as a fan, it’s true I’m disappointed. The Viola isn’t ready to send him off yet.
They had expected it to some extent.
But they were Fiorentina fans who could not let go of a sliver of hope.
In their heads they thought sending Jian Lee away was the right thing, but how could their hearts do the same?
In their hearts, they only wished he would wear the Fiorentina shirt and run a little longer, if not for long, then even just one more season.
However, with the news that he had refused renewal, the fans had no way to hide their disappointment.
Of course, there were no fans criticizing him.
Even if such comments appeared occasionally, hundreds of replies poured even harsher criticism and buried them.
All fans respected his choice.
They went beyond respect and even sent him support.
It was Jian Lee, who had shown performance that made no sense compared to his salary all this time.
Last season, and the season that had just ended.
If you tried to measure the performance he showed with a salary, no matter how much money was given, it wouldn’t be enough.
So for him to receive proper treatment, fair treatment, and have his value recognized.
Fiorentina fans sincerely cheered for that.
But a few days later.
When another piece of news went up on the journalist’s SNS account, Fiorentina fans were quite taken aback.
Because the negotiation conditions Jian Lee had demanded were revealed.
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fabrizorom BREAKING: Liverpool, who approached Jian Lee, show difficulty with the massive transfer fee presented by Fiorentina.
-To proceed with personal negotiations with Lee, they must first prove they can pay the transfer fee presented by Fiorentina.
-This is Lee’s request; he wants Fiorentina to earn as much transfer fee as possible in the transfer process rather than his own salary.
-He thinks this is the last repayment he can give his parent club. It is known that this is also why he refused renewal.
The fans couldn’t help but be surprised.
What the fans wanted was for Jian Lee to go to a team where he could receive treatment befitting his ability, that is, a team that could pay a high salary.
But Jian Lee was prioritizing the transfer fee the team would receive over his own salary.
They learned that his reason for deciding to transfer wasn’t to go to a better environment, but to help Fiorentina become a better environment.
From the fans’ perspective, what a heartbreakingly beautiful story this was.
Fans were trying to send him away because they loved him, and he was trying to leave because he loved the team.
It was undoubtedly a story proving that the word romance, which they thought had become a word only fools used, still remained in the world without being lost.
...
“We’ve been filtered!”
“By filtered...”
“It means many teams have been filtered out by the sieve of transfer fees, and only a few remain!”
At the agent’s words as he pulls papers from the envelope, I nod.
Though he says he hasn’t been sleeping well these days going back and forth between my house and the club, he looks rather overflowing with energy.
“Given the amount is what it is, only these four teams remain!”
Several sheets of paper are laid on the table.
The agent rotates them so I can read them more easily.
Then the names written at the top catch my eye.
Manchester City.
Newcastle United.
Bayern Munich.
Real Madrid.
I don’t know why, but looking at those names, I feel a slight chill.
They say it’s goosebumps.
“Manchester United and Arsenal were also in negotiations until recently, but they eventually fell out! These four are the ones still holding on!”
“Yes...”
Really... it’s a strange feeling.
That teams who give you goosebumps just from seeing their names are competing to have me.
The burden that had kept its distance for a while seemed to tap my shoulder as if saying it’s been a while, but if it was for the team, I was ready to fight that guy after a long time.
The agent asks.
“You haven’t changed your mind yet?”
At this, I nod.
A few days ago.
When I gathered courage and asked Jiwoo if she could go with me, and Jiwoo nodded.
My thoughts haven’t changed.
I don’t need anything else; I’m going to the team that can give our team the most money.
Of course, there are parts I’m concerned about.
Moving teams means moving where you live, so I can’t not think about that, and whether I can play at that team is also an important part.
However, the former has become something I don’t need to worry much about thanks to Jiwoo.
As long as Jiwoo is there, I won’t struggle to adapt like in the past.
What worries me is the latter.
But even this, will it change just because I worry?
It’s all the same anyway.
They are all teams that only geniuses among geniuses among geniuses can enter.
None of them are easy.
In that sense, there’s rather nothing to worry about.
“Then well, we’ll have to wait a bit more! If we go to the end, eventually only one team will remain!”
“Yes...”
That there isn’t much for me to worry about is good.
But on the other hand, I also think I wish this matter wouldn’t drag on too long.
Somehow because of the feeling that if things drag on... my thoughts might change.
Hesitating this way and that.
Indecisiveness isn’t my specialty, is it.
Before that happens, I just hoped a firm decision would come down.
...
-Newcastle United, who had been pushing to sign Jian Lee, eventually shifts course to signing AC Milan’s Tonali due to the burden of the enormous transfer fee.
-Manchester City accelerating squad trimming, pushing ahead with Cancelo permanent transfer.
-Real Madrid hasn’t given up on Mbappé, Jude Bellingham, and Jian yet... however reveals that negotiations with Fiorentina are not easy.
-Bayern Munich, giving up on Jian? Shows interest in signing England national team captain Harry Kane.
When was the first auction in human history?
There must be a first auction in recorded history.
But if one asks whether there was no auction system in history before it was recorded, that is probably highly unlikely.
Because the auction system has something that stimulates instinct.
As the competition to sign Jian Lee compressed into a four-way battle, his already high value only continued to rise.
It was an astronomical amount from the starting price.
Countless clubs gave up the moment they saw that starting price.
The clubs that held on and didn’t lift their backsides from there also packed up and left upon hearing other teams’ bids.
The four-way battle didn’t last long either.
Though not officially announced, Newcastle appeared to be the first to withdraw, showing signs of turning elsewhere.
Bundesliga big spender Bayern Munich also acknowledged links to Harry Kane and appeared to pull out from the Italian side.
In the end, the two teams that still showed strong will and looked like they had no intention of giving up were:
Premier League’s Manchester City.
La Liga’s Real Madrid.
A competition where it wouldn’t look strange no matter who won, whether by money or honor.
That these two teams were competing with their lives on the line was enough to show how precious the item at this auction was.
And among them, the one smiling was of course Fiorentina.
Who would have known two years ago.
That a boy quietly training in a small youth academy in Florence would make Fiorentina the world’s most powerful force in two years.
At any rate.
After the transfer window opened, time in Europe flowed faster than usual.
One hour felt like two, and a day felt like two days.
And one day.
Real Madrid officially announced that they had reached an agreement with Europe’s greatest talent.
-[OFFICIAL] Real Madrid completes signing of Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham... contract until 2029.