Fox in the Penalty Area

When Hu Lai returned to the locker room, he was surprised to find that none of his teammates left.

As soon as they saw him coming in, they all locked their eyes on him.

So he knew that maybe it was time to show his teammates in the locker room.

At least not to deceive them.

Seeing Hu Lai, Charlie Potter couldn't wait to lean over and asked, "Hu, what does the boss want you for?"

"He asked me about those transfers."

Hearing what Hu Lai said, the locker room suddenly became extremely quiet, as if a needle could be heard on the ground.

Charlie Potter didn't expect Hu Lai to be so frank, he stammered: "So... so you, uh, what do you think?"

Hu Lai looked at the other people in the locker room, and everyone looked at him, obviously caring about his answer.

"I don't want to deceive you," he said, "I do want a change of scenery."

"what……"

There was a sigh in the locker room.

Charlie was a little excited: "Why? Are you unhappy here?"

"No, I'm very happy..." Hu Lai explained. "It's just... Although I'm very happy here, I still want to see the scenery of other places. Can you understand this feeling, Charlie?"

"Okay, Charlie." Captain Lorenzo stood up again, "Be more professional. Everyone is a professional player. What can't be understood?"

Jay Adams also said: "Honestly speaking, it is Hu's freedom whether to stay or not. He made his decision, and we respect him."

Charlie stopped talking, and neither did anyone else in the locker room.

The atmosphere suddenly became a little weird.

Hu Lai glanced at Junpei Morikawa who was sitting on the stool with his backpack in his arms.

The latter got up and walked towards him.

The two left the locker room in full view.

※※※

"Morikawa,

Do you think I did something wrong just now? "

On the way home, Hu Lai suddenly asked a question.

Junpei Morikawa, who was sitting in the co-pilot, turned to look at him: "Why do you say that, Hu Lai?"

"After I told the truth, I feel that the atmosphere in the locker room has changed... Don't you think it was a little awkward at the time?"

Morikawa Junpei nodded: "A little bit."

"Maybe I should lie to them and say that I don't want to leave, and it's just a false rumor... At least everyone can live with their face."

Junpei Morikawa shook his head: "What's the point? Unless you really don't leave. Otherwise, if people know that you have cheated them, wouldn't everyone be more angry? I don't think there is anything wrong with being honest. Just like Charlie, he may now It’s not very acceptable, but it’s always figured out.”

"Actually, I also thought about staying for one more season and getting a good vaccination in advance. Then use the outstanding performance in this season to gain everyone's understanding and support, and finally leave Leeds City happily. Hello, hello, hello everyone... But after winning the UEFA Europa League, I suddenly felt that staying for one more season was meaningless to me. I got everything I should get, so what else can I do?" Hu Lai was driving Tell Morikawa Junpei.

"Leeds City is really good. The coaches, teammates, fans, and even the executives of the club have treated me very well. I feel like a real home here, very relaxed and at ease. The tactics revolve around me. To formulate, staffing is also to meet my characteristics as much as possible... Everything is to take care of me. In this team, I can play my characteristics without distraction. If I am over 30 years old, then I can be in Leeds played until I retired. But I'm only twenty-three."

Morikawa Junpei didn't speak, just looked ahead of the road and listened quietly to Hu Lai.

"I don't think I should continue to stay in a very comfortable place. I am afraid that if I continue like this, I will degenerate—physical degeneration, technical degeneration, and mental degeneration. I will be content with the status quo and be a frog at the bottom of the well, thus losing all ambitions. Just like in the World Cup, we were content to draw Brazil 3-3 in the group stage."

Junpei Morikawa also knew about that game, because they also discussed this issue in the group, and mentioned it more than once.

It can be seen that the game had a particularly large and far-reaching impact on them.

At first, Junpei Morikawa was very surprised when he knew that the Chinese team had a 3:3 draw with the former world champion Brazil, and he was also sincerely happy for them.

As a result, when I heard them talk about it later, it seemed that it was not a highlight moment for them to show off in the World Cup, but it became a shameful record instead.

They feel that it is a shame that they did not continue to pursue the victory after tying the score at the end of the game and defeating Brazil...

When I saw everyone discussing this in the group, Morikawa Junpei deeply realized that in the next ten years at least, this Chinese team will be the number one enemy of the Japanese team.

Is the enemy of fate.

Fortunately, in the previous Asian Cup, the Japanese team was eliminated by the Chinese team, which was a wake-up call for them. Otherwise, it will be defeated by the Chinese team in the future.

These people are horrible!

"...So I want to go out and have a look, stay away from my comfort zone, it can be regarded as forcing me to continue to improve. This is the reason why I must leave Leeds City. I'm just sorry, you have only been here for half a season. I'm leaving again."

Morikawa Junpei turned to look at Hu Laisang, and said to him seriously: "Don't worry about me, Hu Laisang. Please just go after the better you!"

Hu Lai grinned: "I knew you would support me!"

"Because you are my role model, Hu Laisang, of course I hope you will get better and better, so that I will have the motivation to catch up with you."

Hu Lai let out a breath: "After you say that, I don't dare to stop."

He looked at the undulating road stretching towards the distant horizon, and stepped on the accelerator.

The roar of the engine and the speeding scenery outside the car window were all thrown behind them.

※※※

In the office of the general manager of the club, Eric Duffy, Harry Bradley, and Nevin Ball waited for the head coach Tony Clark.

They stared at Clark eagerly, wanting to know the answer.

Clark cut to the chase: "I've talked to Hu, and he wants to go."

After the three people heard the answer, they had different reactions. Eric sighed, Bradley showed an unsurprised expression, and Ball asked: "Tony, did you try to keep him, even if you stay for one more season?" Okay, at least give us time to prepare..."

Clark nodded: "Of course I did. I asked him if he could stay and play for one more season. He said that if the club and I both wanted him to do so, he would respect the contract with the club. But he still hopes to leave this summer. .”

Ball caught the key word: "So we can actually keep him for another season?"

Clark shook his head: "But I don't think it is necessary to do so. Staying one more season will not bring us much. On the contrary, we will lose Hu's respect and friendship. We have been working with him happily for a long time, and I don't want to leave. It made everyone look bad."

Ball fell silent.

The general manager Eric Duffy next to him asked: "Tony, you are the head coach of the team, and you have the most say in the affairs of the team. You tell us how much the team will be affected if Hu is lost. ?”

Clark didn't think for a long time, obviously he had already thought about the problem.

"There will definitely be an impact, but I can't say how big it will be. I can only say that we will be relegated from the championship team to a mid-range team... probably that's it. Of course, if we can use the transfer fee from the sale of Hu to attract If we help strengthen the team, it may not be impossible to continue to compete for the championship. Our main task this season is to strengthen the defense. Offensively... If we lose Hu, then we must keep Kamara, Lasky, and Pete, as long as the basic structure of the offensive lineup is there, it's fine."

After hearing this, Du Fei didn't speak again.

The question was replaced by the commercial director Bradley: "The problem in the Chinese market..."

"We have identified the next target of signing Chinese players. Although he is not as popular as Hu, we can guarantee that our team still has Chinese elements. Moreover, he is also a leader among young Chinese players and has good potential. His arrival can be a good successor to Lorenzo's class-except for Hu, the new season is also Lorenzo's last season in the team."

Ball said: "Looks like I'm going to China again."

Bradley sighed: "Do you know what I regret most now? We didn't plan a trip to China in Asia while Hu was still on our team! We played a warm-up match in Singapore last summer, but we didn't Go to China. How many opportunities to make money have we lost!"

"You can plan now, while he's still on our team," Clark joked.

Bradley waved his hand: "Where is the time now, how can this kind of thing be decided temporarily... I'm just talking casually."

Duffy looked at Clark: "Tony, why do I think you are prepared?"

Clark shrugged: "Because I never thought that Hu would always play for Leeds City from the beginning. Even if we won those championships, it is not the capital we can keep Hu. It may not sound good to say this, but We all know who brought the championship."

The three people in the office fell into a wordless silence.

After a while, Du Fei laughed: "It seems that after winning consecutive championships, we are all inflated. It seems that Leeds City is already a wealthy family. But in fact... let's go back to our original positioning. , Leeds City is a small team, and it is our luck to have a superstar..."

Duffy used "superstar" to describe Hou Lai, which surprised both Bradley and Ball. There are many superstars in this football world, but in their opinion, Hu Lai has not yet reached that level. Even Meli and Kabanka are not yet at the level of superstars.

Because they are still young.

Duffy continued: "Tony is right. If Hu must leave, then we can get together and leave. But we also want to let Hu know that the club will never let him go casually. Since he is a superstar, then You must have the status of a superstar."

His words set the tone for Hu Lai's transfer.

It means that Hu Lai will no longer be a non-sale item of the club, but to get him, you need to pay a very, very high price.

"The 'transfer window' set Hu Lai's value at 90 million yuan, and anything lower than this price will not be discussed. In addition, hurry up and get the Chinese player's signings, don't waste time on it."