"Brother Chen, how are things progressing with your transfer?"
After being signed by Barcelona, Feng Xiaoting called Lin Feng to share the good news and invited him to get together when they had time.
They were all working hard in a foreign land, so naturally they needed to stick together.
Lin Feng readily accepted the invitation.
He also suggested that once Chen Tao's transfer was settled, they should bring Chen Tao along and the three of them could get together.
After hanging up on Feng Xiaoting, Lin Feng called Chen Tao to ask about his situation.
There had been almost no movement on Chen Tao's side lately. Even the rumors in Europe about his transfer had been scarce.
That made Lin Feng feel that something was off. Something must have happened, or it would not have been this quiet.
"Heh, it hasn't been going very smoothly."
Chen Tao sounded tired, as though he had done something or gone through something that had completely drained him.
"What happened?"
Lin Feng knew Chen Tao was not the kind of person who liked to joke. If he said things were not going smoothly, then they were actually going very badly.
"The club refuses to let me go. They want the other side to pay a transfer fee of 7 million euros, but the other side is only willing to offer 5 million. There's a gap of another 2 million."
Chen Tao wore a bitter smile. If it had been 2 million yuan, he might have managed to scrape it together by borrowing from relatives and friends.
But the club wanted 2 million euros, nearly 20 million yuan. That amount was far beyond what he could afford. Even if he borrowed from every friend he had, he still could not raise it.
During this period, he and his agent had approached the club several times to negotiate, hoping they would show some mercy and stop demanding such an outrageous price.
But with tens of millions of yuan in profit at stake, the club clearly had no intention of backing down.
Besides, even Feng Xiaoting's transfer fee had reached 5.5 million euros. Chen Tao, a talented player like him, had no reason to be cheaper!
If there were not so few suckers like Inter Milan, they would have even dared to ask for the same 20 million euro transfer fee as Lin Feng.
That was why Shenyang Ginde believed it had already made a huge concession. Seven million euros was their bottom line.
Because the club's attitude had been so firm, negotiations had repeatedly failed, and he truly could not come up with enough money to cover the gap, Chen Tao had become so exhausted and worn down.
He felt that his hope of playing abroad had already been wiped out.
"What is the name of the European club that contacted you? I'll ask around and see what's going on with them."
"That team is from the Bundesliga. They're called Werder Bremen, supposedly one of the stronger teams in the Bundesliga."
So it was Werder Bremen!
Lin Feng had heard of that team many times while playing in the German 2. Bundesliga.
They were a northern Bundesliga club. They were not quite a giant, but judging from their results over the past few seasons, they truly were a strong side, the kind that could compete with Bayern Munich for the title.
Werder Bremen would actually be a pretty good destination for Chen Tao.
The team had the Double K partnership of world-class forwards Klose and Krasniqi. Their attacking firepower up front was extremely formidable, making them the most explosive attacking team in the Bundesliga, without question.
Werder Bremen's current starting midfielder was the 32-year-old French international Johan Micoud.
He was an exceptional player, a true midfield maestro. Every season, he could consistently create more than 20 goals for the team. Without him, Werder Bremen's attack would drop by an entire level.
But the Frenchman was getting old. After being left out of the French National Team, he had become disheartened and was preparing to leave the Bundesliga and return to Ligue 1 to see out his career.
Under those circumstances, Werder Bremen urgently wanted to find a midfield core who could replace Miku.
And Chen Tao's performance at the Youth World Cup fit Werder Bremen's requirements perfectly.
For a non-giant club like Werder Bremen, a transfer fee of 5 million euros was definitely no small sum.
That showed just how sincere they were.
But Shenyang Ginde had demanded 7 million, which was completely beyond what they could bear.
Werder Bremen was not Bayern Munich. Where would they get that kind of money?
Lin Feng still had some connections in the German Football World, so he asked around and confirmed that this was Werder Bremen's bottom line.
In fact, with Shenyang Ginde delaying its acceptance of their offer, they were already considering giving up on Chen Tao and looking for someone else.
That was undoubtedly extremely unfavorable for Chen Tao.
Once he missed this opportunity, it would be far too difficult to find another team that suited him so well.
Chen Tao clearly understood that as well, which was why he was so anxious.
"Heh, Brother Chen, pack your things and get ready to report to the team!"
"Yeah, I was planning to go to the club and admit my mistake. Since I can't play abroad, I'll still have to make a living at Ginde in the future. I have no choice but to bow my head."
Chen Tao let out a long sigh, as if he had resigned himself to fate.
This was not the first time he had yielded to Shenyang Ginde. At the start of the year, when the team had forced them to renew their contracts, they had resisted too, but ultimately failed. He had already apologized and backed down before the club once then.
Now that it was happening again, his psychological resistance was not as strong as before.
"Huh? I meant report to Werder Bremen. What are you thinking?"
Lin Feng was practically speechless. How could Chen Tao be this pessimistic?
Just because your relatives and friends can't come up with that much money doesn't mean I can't. Why didn't you ask me for help?
"Report to Werder Bremen? But those 2 million..."
"Don't worry about the 2 million for now. Go report to the team first. Consider that money a loan from me. If you feel embarrassed about it, just treat me to a meal later."
"I really feel too bad about this. I'm afraid I won't be able to pay back 2 million for a very long time!"
Chen Tao felt terribly guilty about owing Lin Feng such a huge favor.
The sum was far too large. They had not known each other for long, nor did they know each other very deeply, yet Lin Feng was still willing to take such a huge risk and lend him the money.
Chen Tao was so moved that he did not even know what to say.
"Stop being so fussy. Are you still a man if you're going to keep hemming and hawing? If you really feel bad about it, I do have an idea."
"Oh? What idea?"
"Borrow nine, repay thirteen!"
"That's way too ruthless! You might as well make me sell myself to you!"
Chen Tao protested loudly. He already felt that he could not repay 2 million. If such high interest were added on top, it would truly be the same as signing himself away.
"That could work too. My big brother opened an agency, and he hasn't signed any players yet. How about you suffer a little and become his first signed player?"
Before you continue