The Godfather of Football

In a hospital in Sao Paulo, Ye Qiu found Kaka, who had injured his spine while swimming at his grandmother's house.

It was not an easy thing, because Ye Qiu used Ajax's familiar scouts in Sao Paulo, and through the relationship with the Sao Paulo club, he finally found Kaká.

This 18-year-old Brazilian boy, who looked extremely immature, wore a neck brace and was lying upright on the hospital bed. He felt like he had narrowly escaped death. He was also very touched by Ye Qiu's visit because he heard his parents say, The Ajax head coach made a special trip from the Netherlands to check on his condition.

"Have a good rest, I believe you will recover soon!" Ye Qiu also noticed Kaka's lack of energy and comforted him.

"Perhaps, the next time we meet, it will be in Europe!"

Before leaving, Ye Qiu did not forget to leave his phone number for Kaka, telling him that he could call him if he had anything to do and that he would do his best to help. Then he left the hospital with Kaka's parents seeing him off.

After walking out of the hospital's inpatient building, Ye Qiu turned around and looked at the ward where Kaka was. He sighed, but smiled.

"I'm a little confused!" Roland looked puzzled from the side.

"What don't you understand?" Ye Qiuxiao asked.

Roland pointed to the hospital building, "You asked your agent to help you contact Sao Paulo, and finally found Kaka, but you didn't do it to introduce him. What is going on?"

Ye Qiu sighed deeply again. Could he say that he was a fan of Kaká in his previous life and liked the Brazilian star very much?

After spending two days in Sao Paulo, making a few phone calls and spending some money, Ye Qiu felt that it was really nothing but the fulfillment of a wish.

"He is not suitable for my tactics!" Ye Qiu felt very sorry for this.

The tactics he tailored for Ajax were high defense, which emphasized pressure in the midfield and frontcourt. This resulted in the team's midfield and frontcourt, especially the center, becoming very crowded, but Kaká was He is the kind of star who must have space to exert his power, so Kaka is not suitable for Ye Qiu's tactics.

In Ye Qiu's view, Sneijder plays in the middle, Robben and Van der Vaart are separated on both sides, and with the addition of a forward, the space in the frontcourt is full. One more Kaka is not only not a good thing, but a bad thing, and serious. Break the overall framework and pattern of the team.

Yes, he likes Kaká very much, and he also hopes that Kaká can play for him, but that is based on the premise that Kaká can bring help to the team. Otherwise, he can only reluctantly part with him. .

"Then you came here specifically to see him?" Roland thought Ye Qiu was strange.

Ye Qiu smiled and said, "Don't think what I just said to Kaka was a joke. Just wait and see, if he goes to Europe, he will definitely surprise everyone in the world. He will become the world's most famous person." The best and the best superstar!”

But after this excitement, Ye Qiu's face darkened, "But it must not be in my Ajax!"

This is indeed a pity, but it is also so realistic.

Ye Qiu was not too sad, he quickly looked away, because in his opinion, if you can't be a master and apprentice, it's not bad to be an opponent!

Roland listened to Ye Qiu's words, but still didn't understand why Ye Qiu came to see Kaka. Is it because he is a future superstar? How could Ye Qiu be so sure?

"Let's go, Roland, we should go do some serious things!" Ye Qiu ignored Roland's confusion and walked forward with a smile.

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Brazil can be said to have the most intensive competition system in the world, but it is also the most chaotic country.

Their so-called A-League has a total of 25 teams, a single round-robin, and the schedule is from July to November, followed by a four-round double-leg playoffs that ends in December. Basically, it does not cross the New Year. .

In addition, each state in Brazil has its own league, and there are even some cups and competitions between states, and Brazil also has some cups of its own. Someone once calculated that if a Brazilian team wants To win all the championships, you need to play at least 80 games a year.

One game every four days, all year round. The intensity of such events can simply be described as jaw-dropping.

Not only is the league in chaos, but even player ownership in Brazil is also very chaotic. It often happens that some clubs go to court for the ownership of a certain player, and there are even many individuals who own the ownership of players.

In this chaotic country, there are a lot of phenomena that are simply difficult for outsiders to understand.

But, it is certain that in this country, they have their own set of effective rules.

It is such a set of rules that has made Brazilian players the most popular player group in the world's football, and has also made Brazilian football the world's largest star supply base and the largest birthplace of players in the world.

Ye Qiu arrived in Belo Horizonte, and the person who came to receive them at the airport was Lucas, a familiar scout from Ajax in Brazil.

Lucas is a part-time scout for Ajax. He also does some player transfers and other matters on weekdays. He even works part-time as an agent and collects commissions. In short, he can do anything that can make money, just like He is a salesman who runs orders.

According to Lucas, it is almost impossible for people who do not understand Brazilian rules to introduce players from Brazil, because most of the players in Brazilian clubs are not owned by the club, either through agents or some other players. Investment companies, and even private individuals with no guarantee at all.

"Many people don't understand our rules and our ways here. They come here rashly and don't even know they've been cheated. They think they've taken advantage of us. So in Brazilian football, agents are the most powerful. people!"

After saying this, Lucas did not forget to add, "And my big boss, Figel, is the king of agents!"

Figel's agency companies are spread far and wide, and there are many cooperative companies. For example, in Portugal, Mendes, who will be prosperous in the future, is only Figel's agent. Not long ago, he helped Figel get Figo's contract from The deal of the century from Barcelona to Real Madrid.

It can even be said that wherever there are Brazilian players, you can definitely find Figel's tentacles.

"I know!" Ye Qiu is no stranger to Figel's affairs. He is the godfather of Brazilian football. How could he be?

The three of them took Lucas' second-hand pickup truck and entered the city of Belo Horizonte with a bumpy ride.

Although the Brazilian league is chaotic, the buying and selling of players is not chaotic at all.

Atletico Mineiro's stadium is in the north of Belo Horizonte, but they built a three-story white office building in the most prosperous area of ​​the city, with a huge black and white Mineiro hanging outside. The team logo of Atletico Luo.

"The club is a club and the players are players, it's very clear!" Lucas said with a smile.

The car parked outside this white office building. Ye Qiu glanced at it and found that this building was no different from other regular company office buildings on the street. There was a lobby downstairs, and the second and third floors should be offices.

"This is where Atletico Mineiro specializes in player transfers!" Lucas laughed.

After parking the car and walking in, Lucas reported his name and reservation to the black waitress at the front desk of the lobby. The waitress looked at Ye Qiu and Roland specifically, and then made a phone call. Then he said something to Lucas.

"Second floor, let's go!" Lucas smiled and walked in front.

Ye Qiu had to sigh, everything here was run like a regular company, how could it be like a football club?

"Hello, friends from Europe!" As soon as he walked to the door, he saw a big black man in the office greeting him with open arms, as if he was welcoming the God of Wealth.

In fact, in their view, all visitors from European football clubs are gods of wealth.

"Hello!" Ye Qiu smiled and stretched out his hand to shake his hand.

"Welcome to Atletico Mineiro!" The big black man enthusiastically took Ye Qiu's hand, led them to sit down on the sofa in the guest area, and introduced himself, "I am the transfer manager of Atletico Mineiro. You can Call me Rollo!"

Like many Brazilians, this should be a nickname. The specific name may be scary.

"Rolo, this is the new head coach of Ajax, Mr. Ye Qiu, whom I mentioned to you yesterday!" Lucas introduced with a smile. Part of his job is to guide this group of European guests. Then earn some commission from it.

"I heard from Lucas that you are interested in our players?" Rollo grinned widely, "Mr. Ye Qiu is really discerning. Although our performance in the state league this season is not very good, but The quality of our players is very high and we have full confidence in coach Pereira and his team.”

Pereira is a well-known champion coach in Brazil and now heads Atlético Mineiro.

"My scout told me that you have a player named Gilberto Silva here, who was introduced from the American team at the beginning of the year." This is a defensive midfielder known as the "Moving Wall". Qiu is well aware of his strength.

When Rollo heard the name, he immediately took a document from the table next to him.

Ye Qiu noticed that this document contained a long list of players, probably dozens of them, and there was another page at the bottom. After the players' names, there should be some introductions to them.

This also makes it a bit unimaginable for him that a club's transfer manager can't even remember the names of the players. It is probably due to the fact that there are too many players and they move too frequently.

Just like what Lucas said, in the Brazilian League, playing for one team today and another team tomorrow is very normal and everyone is used to it.

"Oh, yes, Gilberto Silva, 23 years old, central defender, right?"

Ye Qiu nodded, "He switched to midfield!"

Luo Luo was a little embarrassed because his own player was even stranger than Ye Qiu. It was really interesting.

"He is the main force of our team this season and performed very well. Pereira attaches great importance to him." Rollo said with a smile.

Ye Qiu knew it was nonsense as soon as he heard it, because Lucas told him before that in Brazil, players have no say in the transfer of players to head coaches, and even many transfers do not even have a say in the club. Now Rolo takes Perre It's just to raise the price.

"I have no experience with the national team. I played in the second division league before and my performance this season is pretty good. However, I have not been trained in the European leagues and I am a defensive player. Mr. Rollo, please give me a price!" Ye Qiu laughed. said.

Rollo understood what Ye Qiu meant. What Ye Qiu said was Gilberto Silva's weakness. In addition, in Brazil, defensive players are actually worthless. Everyone still admires offensive players more, just like Ronaldinho of Gremio, who can always be sold at a sky-high price.

"Mr. Ye Qiu, you were introduced by Lucas, so I won't tell you much. For $2 million, we will help you to handle the ownership and transfer procedures of Gilberto Silva and ensure that he will play for Ajax in the new season."

The transfer of Brazilian players is actually very shady. The chaotic ownership is only part of it. There is also the cross-border transfer procedures, which is also very troublesome. If not handled properly, it may cause the player's transfer to be stranded. This is why so many European teams like to buy players directly from agents for convenience and trouble-free.

But then the agent must make a profit from it, or even a big profit.

"I don't like to be long-winded. One price, $1 million, I'll take Gilberto Silva away."

After hearing this, Rollo shook his head vigorously, "Mr. Ye Qiu, $1 million is enough to introduce our main players. Do you think it's possible?"

"Well, I'll lower it a little, $1.8 million!"

Ye Qiu shook his head, "I can give you a maximum of 1.2 million, no more!" After saying that, he also said to Roland in English that if the negotiation fails, he can only leave and go to other teams to find another suitable candidate. This was deliberately said to Rollo.

"1.5 million US dollars, we cover it all!" Rollo gritted his teeth.

Don't underestimate this $1.5 million. For Brazilian clubs, one or two million US dollars can almost buy a championship.

Today's Brazilian clubs generally have serious wage arrears. At the beginning of the year, Vasco da Gama, which represented South America and Manchester United in the Club World Championship, broke out the scandal of players' wage arrears and strike before the game, which completely exposed the miserable operation of Brazilian football clubs.

Because of the arrears of wages, the players are very mobile. Players go to play football wherever they can pay their salaries.

Therefore, in many cases, if the club has one or two million dollars in hand, it can attract many powerful stars to play and help the team win the championship, because although Brazilian players have many competitions, their salaries are very low.

"Deal!" Ye Qiu smiled and nodded.

1.5 million US dollars is still a bit expensive. Ye Qiu's psychological price is about 1 million US dollars, but the problem is that they have everything covered, that is, Atletico Mineiro will be responsible for all the transfer operations and procedures related to Gilberto Silva, and Ajax does not need to worry about this aspect at all.

"Mr. Ye Qiu, we have several excellent players here. You can take a look by the way. If you find a suitable one, just ask and I will give you a discount!" Luo Luo also felt that 1.5 million was worthwhile, so he was busy introducing other things to Ye Qiu.

After finally waiting for a sponsor, he naturally wanted to strive for more orders.

However, Ye Qiu was not too impressed with the players of Atletico Mineiro, so he didn't make a deal in the end.

The transfer fee was paid in half first and the other half after the player transferred. Ye Qiu signed this agreement with Rollo on the spot, which means that from this moment on, Gilberto Silva belonged to Ajax.

"Being a head coach in Brazil is really a headache!" Ye Qiu shook his head with a wry smile when he walked out of the Atlético Mineiro office building, because he could understand Pereira's mood when he learned that Gilberto Silva was going to transfer.

After finally promoting and cultivating a player who performed well, he was suddenly sold by the club. Pereira must be furious. If it were Ye Qiu, he would directly submit his resignation.

"To coach in Brazil, you have to learn to get used to such things first!" Lucas was very open-minded. He facilitated this deal and could get a considerable commission from Ajax and Atlético Mineiro. At least he could earn 20,000 to 30,000 US dollars, which was very good for him.

"So, many people say that only those who can successfully coach in Brazil can be world-famous coaches!" Ye Qiu joked with a smile.

Ye Qiu found it difficult to explain the football of this country.

Brazilian football and the league are in chaos now, but there are many talents. However, after a few years, the league was reorganized and the football world was rectified, but the talents suddenly fell into a gap, especially around 2010, there were no geniuses who were too eye-catching. From beginning to end, Neymar was being hyped there, which was really regrettable.

When Ye Qiu asked Lucas this question, the old man who had been immersed in the football world for many years smiled.

"Many people only saw the chaos of Brazilian football, but never thought that if all the players, clubs and football practitioners did not have the sense of crisis brought by the chaos, and did not have the various opportunities created by the chaos, would Brazilian football still be able to continuously produce talents like this?"

Lucas' words made sense.

Perhaps, this was an unexplainable paradox from the beginning.

"By the way, Lucas, have you found the two people I asked you to find?" Ye Qiu got into Lucas' car and asked with concern.

Lucas looked apologetic, "According to the clues you provided, we found one of them, but not the other."

Ye Qiu had to choose between the two, and since he found one, that was fine.

"Currently playing in a small team in the third-tier league. I have called them as you said, and there should be a response soon!"

After hearing this, Ye Qiu kept nodding his head, especially after he found out who it was, he was in a good mood.

"Don't worry, Lucas, you will be indispensable in the commission!" Ye Qiu smiled and patted Lucas on the shoulder and said.

If you want the horse to run, you have to let it eat grass.

Lucas is so diligent, isn't it just for the commission?

Sure enough, after hearing this, Lucas became more passionate about his work, and kept introducing some Brazilian football situations to Ye Qiu along the way, so that Ye Qiu had a deeper understanding of the rules of Brazilian football.