Youth National Team Players Head Abroad En Masse, the Era of Internationalization Arrives

Chen Tao began to seriously consider Lin Feng's proposal.

Through his recent negotiations with Shenyang Ginde, he felt extremely dissatisfied with the professional capabilities of his current agent.

Not only could the agent not solve any problems, but he had even sided with the club, trying to persuade him to stay in the country.

If the other party were truly acting in his best interest, he should have known that going abroad to study abroad was his best option.

This made Chen Tao suspect that perhaps the agent had received kickbacks from the club, which was why he spoke that way.

Furthermore, his agent only had some influence domestically and lacked any connections abroad.

Therefore, the idea of changing agents after going abroad had actually been on his mind since the Youth World Cup.

Chen Tao had originally intended to sign with an agent who had influence in the Big Five Leagues, as that would allow him to develop better in those top-tier environments.

But now that he owed Lin Feng such a huge favor, he found it difficult to refuse the invitation, so he had no choice but to agree.

Seeing Chen Tao nod in agreement, Lin Feng immediately sent his phone number to his older brother, who would personally step in to finalize the contract details with Chen Tao.

When Lin Feng learned that the player was Chen Tao from the China Youth Team and that he was a guest introduced by his younger brother, he offered Chen Tao significant concessions in the contract.

According to the traditional contracts between players and agents in Europe, agents typically receive a commission of about 10% from the player's transfer fee, bonuses, and annual salary.

However, Lin Feng only charged a symbolic 1% commission, retaining only the standard commission on commercial endorsements.

This condition left Chen Tao very satisfied, as it would save him a considerable amount of money.

As for the income from commercial endorsements, it naturally required an agent to pull strings and find partners; the higher the agent's commission, the more it meant he would earn in that area as well.

He naturally had no objections!

Thus, the two parties hit it off immediately, quickly finalizing the details of the contract. After Lin Feng transferred the money to him to cover the difference in the transfer fee, Chen Tao's transfer was finally a success.

On July 15, Shenyang Ginde officially announced the news of Chen Tao's transfer to Werder Bremen.

As soon as the news broke, it once again attracted attention and heated discussion across the entire internet.

Many fans who were not familiar with the Bundesliga were inquiring about the situation at Werder Bremen.

"What level of team is Werder Bremen? Is it a good choice for Chen Tao to go there?"

"Werder Bremen is quite strong. They were the Bundesliga champions last year (the 03-04 season), have been ranked high in the standings for the past few years, and frequently participate in European competitions."

"This team has Ailton up front and Klose in the back; they always seem to have the luck to land top-tier forwards. If it weren't for their lack of financial resources and inconsistent performance, I would be very optimistic about them going head-to-head with Bayern!"

"Are they that impressive? Doesn't that mean Chen Tao has joined a quasi-giant level team?"

Upon hearing that Chen Tao had joined such a formidable team, his fans were overjoyed and incredibly excited.

The worries they had previously felt due to the lack of movement in Chen Tao's transfer had now completely vanished.

"They are indeed very strong. Judging by their aggressive recruitment moves this season, they definitely want to challenge Bayern again in the new season and reclaim the Bundesliga title!"

"More importantly, Werder Bremen's midfield isn't very strong; the only one who can really play is Miku. After Chen Tao goes there, it should be easy for him to secure a starting spot!"

"Haha, I can only say that Chen Tao and Werder Bremen are truly a match made in heaven!"

With Lin Feng, Feng Xiaoting, and Chen Tao leading the way, the paths for other players from the China Youth Team to study abroad also went relatively smoothly.

Zhou Haibin, who performed brilliantly at the Youth World Cup, was signed by the Eredivisie giant PSV Eindhoven for a transfer fee of 2.6 million Euro.

There was an interesting little anecdote here: PSV Eindhoven's initial offer was 2.5 million Euro, but upon learning the meaning of that number in China, they added another 100,000 Euro, finally sparing the player from being labeled with the "250" moniker.

Compared to Chen Tao's parent club, which held onto their player tightly, Shandong Luneng gave strong support to Zhou Haibin's move abroad, not only clearing all obstacles but even accepting the offer directly without any haggling.

It must be said that Luneng still had vision.

The 18-year-old China Youth Team youngster Hao Junmin, who also performed well, was scouted by Schalke 04 and successfully transferred for an offer of 2.2 million Euro, becoming the fourth Chinese player to join the Bundesliga after Yang Chen, Shao Jiayi, and Chen Tao.

If one counts Xie Hui, who joined the German 2. Bundesliga at the turn of the century, as well as Lin Feng, who played in the German 2. Bundesliga for two years, and the legendary master Gu Guangming, he was the eighth Chinese player to land in the German leagues.

Not long after Hao Junmin joined Schalke, Zhu Ting also landed in the Bundesliga. The team that extended an olive branch to him was also a northern team, Werder Bremen's neighbor, Hamburg.

Now, there were three Chinese players in the Bundesliga, and there would be several Chinese Derbies to watch in the new season.

The transfer fee Hamburg paid for Zhu Ting was 1.5 million Euro, which, although less than the previous ones, was truly not low. If the China Youth Team youngsters didn't have the halo of being Youth World Cup champions, Hamburg would have been lucky to pay 500,000 Euro, and certainly would not have added another million.

The reason this group of China Youth Team players was able to study abroad so smoothly was mainly due to the bonus of the Youth World Cup championship halo, which allowed them to receive more attention and recognition from teams, greatly increasing their opportunities to study abroad—something that naturally could not be compared to the Youth World Cup quarter-finalists of the past.

Shortly after, the China Youth Team's defensive midfielder Zhao Xuri, under the introduction of his fellow townsman Sun Jihai, joined Manchester City for 1.2 million Pound Sterling, becoming the third Chinese player to land in the Premier League after Sun Jihai and Li Tie.

Cui Peng, who also played as a defensive midfielder, was scouted by the Ligue 1 team Olympique de Marseille and landed in Ligue 1 for 1.1 million Euro, marking the first time Chinese players had achieved the feat of having active players in all of the Big Five Leagues.

As for the others like Yuan Weiwei, Wang Hongliang, Tan Wensong, Mao Biao, and Zheng Tao, they were also recruited by various major European leagues, joining the Belgian First Division A, Primeira Liga, Scottish Premiership, and Süper Lig with transfer fees ranging from 300,000 to 700,000 Euro.

This group of youngsters from the China Youth Team went abroad one after another, blossoming everywhere across Europe.

This was a golden age of transfers that Chinese football had never seen before; never had so many players gone abroad to study, and never had the leagues involved been so diverse.

Their successful moves abroad brought deep stimulation to other Chinese Super League players playing domestically.

After the Football Association promulgated the latest Salary Cap Order policy, the star players whose annual salary was capped at 1 million RMB were no longer interested in playing in the Chinese Super League, and they flocked to Europe for trials with clubs, actively seeking opportunities to study abroad.

For example, the national team player Du Wei, who played for Shanghai Shenhua, followed the footsteps of the China Youth Team youngsters and successfully reached an agreement with the Scottish Premiership giant Celtic. On August 31, the final day of the transfer window, he officially joined Celtic.

Zheng Zhi, who was also affected by the Salary Cap Order, left the Chinese Super League two years early to join the Premier League team Charlton Athletic.

Seeing so many Chinese players heading abroad to train in high-level European football leagues, domestic fans gave the Football Association some rare praise.

The Football Association's Salary Cap Order could be considered a good deed.

It was precisely because of this policy that players were forced to seek better paths for themselves, no longer keeping their sights set solely on the small patch of land at home.

Before this, fans had never given the Football Association a kind look; calling them the "Pig Association" was considered letting them off easy.

With so many players going abroad to study, while it couldn't be guaranteed that everyone would achieve success, this shift in the atmosphere already allowed fans to see a glimmer of hope.

"Heh, in the future, when we meet the Japan team or the South Korea team, we can finally stand tall and ask: 'What league do your players play in?'"