Chapter 133 We are willing to pay your penalty

After the weekend break, Porto ushered in a new week of training. In order to ensure that the players can play to their best in the remaining two games, Lopetegui asked Klein to greatly reduce the tasks of physical training, reducing the physical burden on the players while increasing the time for small-scale teamwork training.

The training project is a set piece. Players need to kick a long pass from 25 yards (23 meters) away from the goal. If the ball hits the crossbar, it is a success, otherwise it is a failure.

When queuing up to play football, each player has to wait about 2 minutes before it is his turn, and each player has to kick 3 balls. For professional players, this is not intense at all.

The training intensity is not high, but the difficulty is still very high. The distance of 23 meters is not far, but it is definitely not close either.

"Which of you comes first?"

Lopetegui said with a smile that he was in a relatively relaxed mood. After all, whether they could win the championship now depended on Benfica's attitude. Benfica had to lose a game to Porto to have hope.

In this case, you might as well relax a little and not put too much pressure on yourself.

"I go first!"

Casemiro stuck out his tongue, placed the ball on the white line, then ran up, swung his legs, and stretched his instep to sweep the bottom of the ball.

This is a standard straight long pass. For this kind of hanging beam training task, the accuracy requirement is very high.

The ball flew out, passed the crossbar, and finally fell into the bushes beside the training ground. The ball disappeared without a trace. It was obvious that Casemiro had made a fly ball.

"nice shot!"

Jiang Yuan started clapping directly to put pressure on Casemiro. Neves on the side was also not afraid of making trouble and clapped his hands louder than Jiang Yuan.

"Jiang, don't be happy too soon!"

After saying that, Casemiro took the pass from Hemiel and put it in position.

Another kick, this one was not an airplane kick, but it did not hit the crossbar either. Instead, the force was not enough and the ball went into the net.

"Wow!"

Neves touched his cheeks with both hands, showing surprise, and then imitated the voice of the Portuguese Super League commentator: "GOLO! GOLO!"

"What a goal from Carlos-Casemiroooo——!!!"

"Hahahahaha!"

The players burst into laughter, and Jiang Yuan gave Neves a thumbs up: "Reuben, your voice is exactly the same as the commentator's!"

Quaresma came over with the ball and said, "Yeah, I'm excited about what you just said!"

Casemiro, who was laughed at by everyone, stood aside with his hands on his hips to express his helplessness.

Lopetegui pointed to the football piled on the grass and nudged Cassemiro: "Carlos, you still have one ball!"

Casemiro stood directly behind Jiang Yuan: "Let me see how they play first!"

Casemiro, who suffered a loss, became smarter and thought that as long as everyone else made mistakes, his mistakes would not matter.

"Okay, I'll be next!"

Quaresma stepped up and Hemiel immediately passed the ball to the Portuguese star, who kicked the ball and it flew out with a downward spin.

"duang——"

Exactly, right on the crossbar.

"Clap clap clap!"

The players applauded. Jiang Yuan and Neves also applauded, but this time they were not joking. They were expressing their genuine admiration for Quaresma's accuracy.

Don't think that hitting the crossbar from 25 yards is an easy thing for professional players. In fact, top midfielders and forwards have a hit rate of less than one-third. Quaresma did it in one fell swoop, which is enough to reflect the Portuguese star's mature hitting feel.

In the next two goals, Quaresma hit the target once with an airplane shot and made two out of three, with a terrifying success rate!
After scoring three goals, Quaresma walked up to Casemiro and put a hand on his shoulder: "Man, you still need to practice!"

"..."

Casemiro curled his lips and said, "Ricardo, not everyone has your accuracy!"

Hearing Casemiro say this, Quaresma turned around and said: "Did you hear that? He was questioning you just now!"

"Haha, Ricardo, you really don't mind making trouble. Let me do it!"

After saying that, captain Martinez stood up, with the same shooting position, but his running distance was longer than Quaresma's.

"duang!"

The crossbar swayed up and down for a while, and captain Martinez scored three goals and one goal. It was not a particularly good performance for him, but at least it was within the normal range.

After the kick, Martinez faced Casemiro and pouted, as if saying to Casemiro: Sorry, I didn’t want to kick it either!
"...You are all veterans. You will get the hang of it if you practice more!"

Casemiro is maintaining his last bit of dignity. It is true that veteran players are generally more accurate in this shot.

"Okay!"

Lopetegui walked towards Jiang Yuan and Neves and said, "Jiang, Ruben, who will go first? Show Carlos what it means to be a Portuguese Super League player."

Jiang Yuan was about to raise his hand relying on the existence of the system, but Neves next to him got there first.

"duang!"

"duang!"

Neves is worthy of being the best set-piece midfielder in Porto. He achieved the same good result as Quaresma, scoring three goals and two goals!
Then it was Jiang Yuan's turn. Before kicking the ball, Casemiro directly used language to interfere with Jiang Yuan: "Jiang, can you please give me some face and not kick it in?"

Jiang Yuan turned around and gave Casemiro a thumbs up: "Carlos, I must give you enough face!"

Hearing Jiang Yuan say this, Casemiro breathed a sigh of relief. As long as he was not the only starting player who had not scored a goal, he would not have to be too embarrassed.

Jiang Yuan placed the ball, took a few steps back, looked up ahead, and then started to run.

In an instant, a feeling of kicking an elevator ball flooded into Jiang Yuan's brain, and the long pass with the instep turned into a ball wrapped with the inside of the instep.

"duang!"

A direct hit!

The ball didn't spin much in the air, but it had some arcs. It wasn't a long pass, nor was it an elevator, but it hit the target!

Lopetegui raised his eyebrows. The experienced man immediately saw the characteristics of the ball. Although Jiang Yuan hit the crossbar like the previous three, Jiang Yuan's ball was faster.

And faster ball speed often means higher difficulty!

"..."

Casemiro was stunned. Everyone else was passing the ball, but Jiang Yuan shot directly and it went in?
Jiang Yuan looked back at Casemiro and continued, "Don't be surprised, I still have 2 goals!"

After saying that, Jiang Yuan stopped Hemiel's pass, then stood to the left side of the ball and made a long pass with his left foot!

Unfortunately, Jiang Yuan used too much force in this shot and the ball flew over the crossbar.

"Come again!"

Quaresma applauded and kicked the ball towards the crossbar with his left foot. This was extremely difficult!

Neves also encouraged Jiang Yuan. As a set-piece expert, he knew how difficult this shot was: "Jiang, come on!"

Jiang Yuan took another ball and placed it on the white line, still standing on the left.

"hiss--"

"call--"

Take a deep breath and let it out slowly.

Then... swing your legs!
"Dang——"

The ball hit the bottom of the crossbar, bounced on the ground, and finally went into the net.

"Wow!"

Jiang Yuan shouted excitedly. According to the rules, his ball hit the crossbar and was considered a goal, killing two birds with one stone.

"it is good!"

Lopetegui, who witnessed it with his own eyes, couldn't help but applaud.

What does it mean to have no weakness? This is what it means to have no weakness!

Now, everyone's eyes turned to Casemiro who was hiding behind. It's not embarrassing if you can't score, but it's embarrassing when everyone else scores but you don't.

Casemiro touched his nose and said with a red face: "You all had three chances, and I only kicked two goals..."

Hearing this, Martinez picked up a ball from the ground and handed it to Casemiro. Neves took the opportunity to say, "Carlos, I didn't say you can't kick three balls, just kick it."

Casemiro was silent for a while, and finally touched his nose: "Forget it, I'm a little tired... Of course, I will definitely score if I kick another ball!"

"Hahaha!"

It’s not that everyone doesn’t give Casemiro face, but the Brazilian’s expression is really funny.

"Hey……"

Jiang Yuan walked over and put his hand on Casemiro's shoulder, imitating Quaresma: "Hey, man, you still need to practice..."

……

At night, Porto U17 dormitory.

"Hiss—Joao, be gentle!"

"No, it hurts, ahhh!"

“You can go a little further inside. It will feel better. Try reaching in. Yes, yes, Joao, harder!”

"Fuck, that hurts!"

Jiang Yuan was lying on the bed, Felix was supporting the ceiling with his hands, and then stepping on the muscles on the back of Jiang Yuan's thighs with his feet.

This relaxation method is generally welcomed by all kinds of athletes both at home and abroad. It has two advantages. First, it uses the thighs and body weight to stimulate the deep muscles of athletes. Second, it is easier for the person who helps to relax. Just step on it with your feet. Anyone weighing more than 60kg can do it. It is convenient and easy!
"Hey!"

Felix was lying on the bed, looking at Jiang Yuan beside him and couldn't help complaining: "Jiang, why are you so afraid of pain? How can you become stronger like this!"

Jiang Yuan was lying on the bed, still not fully recovered from the pain. Muscle relaxation is a very mysterious thing. The more you practice, the tighter your muscles become, and the more tired you become when you relax. Because the intensity of team training has been greatly reduced in the past few days, no matter how much Jiang Yuan practices, it is difficult to trigger the cell regeneration reward.

This directly resulted in all the muscles in his body becoming stiff.

It is very difficult to relax, but it is also impossible not to relax, which is very uncomfortable!
Jiang Yuan muttered to himself, it seems that he has to get up at 4 o'clock tomorrow to train, otherwise it will be very uncomfortable if he can't refresh his condition. "Joao, I will get up at 4 o'clock tomorrow morning. I won't call you then, just set an alarm for yourself."

Jiang Yuan turned around and said,

Hearing that Jiang Yuan had to get up at 4 o'clock, Felix's eyes widened: "No, are you really crazy? It's 4 o'clock, and it's not even daybreak yet?"

"It's nothing. In the winter, I went out for training at 6 o'clock before dawn. It doesn't matter. It's just dribbling and shooting in a small area. You don't need to look too far."

Jiang Yuan looked indifferent, but what he said was indeed true. There were few clouds in Porto at night, and it would be no problem to see clearly just by moonlight, and one could even play a small 5v5 game.

Of course, if it rains, we can't play football. At that time, Jiang Yuan will choose to go to the strength room to train his physical fitness. Anyway, he won't rest.

Felix's face was full of admiration: "Jiang, I finally understand why you are ranked second on the best rookie list. How many goals have you scored now?"

"10 goals"

Jiang Yuan didn't even think about it. He must be the one who knew best how many goals he had scored.

"This includes the Portuguese League Cup, right? What about the Portuguese Super League? I remember you scored 6 goals in the Portuguese Super League, right?"

"Seven goals, one more the day before yesterday against Gil Vicente"

Jiang Yuan corrected.

"All right……"

Felix smacked his lips and looked at Jiang Yuan as if he was looking at a monster.

If someone asks Felix how long it takes to go from the U17s to the first team, Felix will answer without hesitation: less than 5 months.

Because there is a living example right next to him!
After thinking for a while, Felix asked Jiang Yuan the question in his mind: "Jiang, why did I practice as hard as you before, but I didn't become as strong as you?"

Felix had trained with Jiang Yuan for a period of time before, which lasted for almost a month. However, instead of improving his skills, Felix's over-training led to poor results when training with the U17 team.

Jiang Yuan was silent for a while. He really wanted to tell Felix that blindly training would not produce any results, but Jiang Yuan couldn't say it because he was a living example of how one could become stronger after blindly training.

Only Jiang Yuan knew why more training could make one stronger.

So, Jiang Yuan put his hand on Felix's shoulder and said earnestly: "Everyone has a training method that suits him. Mine is extra training, but yours is not. Joao, you have to understand that you are talented."

Felix was a little disappointed: "They all say that I am talented, but I feel that I am very ordinary in front of you..."

Jiang Yuan was speechless. The atmosphere in the dormitory reached a freezing point. Finally, the ringing of an iPhone broke the silence in the dormitory.

"Joao, did your mother call you?"

Felix picked up his phone from the bedside table. "Here's my phone, Jiang. It's obviously your number."

"All right!"

It made sense. If it was Felix's phone ringing, my voice shouldn't be coming from behind me.

Thinking that it might be Lopetegui calling him to discuss tactical arrangements, Jiang Yuan hurried back to his bed without even putting on slippers.

"+44?"

Jiang Yuan frowned. This should be a British phone number, but he had already noted Patras's phone number, so it was obviously not Patras's phone number.

Thinking that it might be someone else from Arsenal, Jiang Yuan answered the phone without thinking: "Man, it's useless for you to call me. You need to negotiate the transfer fee with my club. My dream since childhood is to play for Arsenal, but due to contract restrictions..."

"Uh? What are you talking about? Did Arsenal contact you?"

A familiar voice came from the other end of the phone. Of course, this didn't mean that Jiang Yuan knew the person on the other end of the phone, but the accent on the other end made Jiang Yuan feel very familiar. He always felt that he had heard English with this accent somewhere before.

Wait?

Jiang Yuan suddenly realized: "Are you Portuguese?"

"Well, Jiang, I'm Jose Mourinho. I got your contact information from Ricardo. As you know, Quaresma played for Chelsea for a while..."

After listening to Mourinho's speech, Jiang Yuan spoke the truth.

"Jiang, what's wrong?"

Felix asked, looking at Jiang Yuan's expression it looked like something terrible had happened.

Jiang Yuan stretched out his index finger and pressed it on his lips: "Shh, it's urgent, don't talk yet!"

Under Felix's puzzled gaze, Jiang Yuan picked up the phone and spoke in not-so-fluent English: "Mr. Jose, I think we can communicate in Portuguese, because my Portuguese is better than English."

"Portuguese? Of course!"

Mourinho has a good talent for languages ​​and immediately switched from English to Portuguese: "Jiang, from your phone call earlier, it seems that Arsenal has contacted you?"

Jiang Yuan was still a little unresponsive. He didn't expect to receive a call from Mourinho.

"Mr. Jose, Arsenal did contact me, but we didn't reach an agreement"

When it comes to transfers, Jiang Yuan would not lie. It would definitely be beneficial for Jiang Yuan to show that he is in high demand.

Mourinho exhaled and asked: "Why didn't you reach an agreement? Of course, if you want to say it, just pretend I didn't ask."

It seems to be due to his personality. Mourinho is not as polite as other Portuguese people when speaking, giving Jiang Yuan a straightforward and even rebellious feeling.

"It's no secret. My team and Arsenal didn't reach an agreement on my transfer fee."

While answering Mourinho's questions, Jiang Yuan switched interfaces to search for information about the Portuguese.

Mourinho is currently the head coach of Chelsea. In this season's Premier League, Chelsea is in first place, leaving the two Manchester City clubs and Arsenal far behind.

"The transfer fee was not agreed upon? What about the penalty? I remember your penalty was not high."

Jiang Yuan looked through the current Chelsea player list and answered Mourinho's question: "Arsenal is not willing to pay my penalty fee"

Arsenal was unwilling to pay their penalty fee, which was supposed to be a shameful thing, but Mourinho on the other end of the phone just laughed.

"Haha, I knew they couldn't come up with much money!"

"..."

Jiang Yuan touched his head, not knowing what to say.

As one of the top six clubs in the Premier League, Arsenal's financial strength is unquestionable. However, compared with the other giants, the money in Arsenal's pocket is still a bit limited...

There was silence on the other end of the phone, and then Mourinho got straight to the point.

"If I were to push for a move between you and Chelsea, would you agree?"

Although he had already guessed the purpose of the call, Jiang Yuan was still a little surprised to hear Mourinho say this in person.

I didn’t expect that in addition to Arsenal, there was a second Premier League giant team that had taken a fancy to me!
Although he was surprised, Jiang Yuan remained relatively calm.

Taking advantage of the time he had just spent communicating with Mourinho, Jiang Yuan looked through Chelsea's player list for this season, with the aim of seeing which players he would compete with for the position of left winger.

Everything was within Jiang Yuan's tolerance range until he saw that name.

10Eden Hazard
The left-wing magic Eden Hazard!
Chelsea's Hazard has not yet entered the Burger King era, and can be said to be an absolute main force for a top club. If Jiang Yuan joins Chelsea, he will inevitably compete with Hazard for the position on the left.

Jiang Yuan can now play as the main left side in Porto, but he is still clear about his own strengths and weaknesses.

It's absolutely impossible to compete with Hazard for the starting position!

So Jiang Yuan asked, "Jose, Chelsea's left wing is Eden now. As far as I know, you don't need a left winger, right?"

Mourinho smiled and said: "Eden is a good player, but I think you should also come to Chelsea. To tell you the truth, with Hazard in me, I really won't give you too many starting opportunities. But as far as I know, you have no weak foot, right?"

Mourinho asked the point. Jiang Yuan's two-footedness is what attracted the Portuguese the most. Only those who have played football can understand how important the ability of the reverse foot is!

"Of course, but that has nothing to do with my move to Chelsea, does it?"

Jiang Yuan responded. Two months ago, his left foot was like a "secret weapon", but now this Porto two-legged monster is well-known in the Portuguese Super League, so it is not surprising that Mourinho knows about it.

However, after receiving Jiang Yuan's personal admission, Mourinho suddenly became excited:
"Jiang, I watched the video of your game. When Martinez and Abubakar were on the field, you played as the right winger. Was this your own idea or Hu Lun's?"

Jiang Yuan seemed to realize something. He pushed Felix, who was eavesdropping, away with one hand and grabbed the phone with the other hand: "This is what Mr. Hu Lun meant..."

"You play well as a right winger... so come to Chelsea and play on the right. Believe me, you have the ability to compete for the right position."

Jiang Yuan did not lie. Chelsea's current starting right winger is William. Although this Brazilian striker is not as terrifying as Hazard, he is also a top striker worth nearly 3000 million euros.

Thinking of this, Jiang Yuan's heart began to waver, but reason prevailed in the end.

"Jose, I'm not used to playing on the right side, and the effect is not as good as on the left side. I have to tell you this fact."

Hearing this, Mourinho's tone became serious: "This is not a problem, you have your advantages"

"my advantage?"

Jiang Yuan was puzzled.

"Jiang, you are only 17 years old now, and your technical characteristics are not yet fully formed. You can play as a left winger, but not as a right winger? If you say no, I will hang up now!"

"Hiss - Mr. Jose, wait a minute. I want to know if you have communicated with my club about my transfer fee."

Jiang Yuan pointed out the key point of the matter. Now he subjectively wants to go to Chelsea, but he also wants to stay in Porto and start. So he chose to consider the problem here first. Mourinho must first resolve the transfer negotiations with Porto.

Otherwise, with the contract in place, Jiang Yuan wouldn't be able to do anything he wanted to do.

“Jiang, we won’t pay your transfer fee…”

"This……"

Jiang Yuan showed a bitter smile. Felix, who was eavesdropping, put his hand on Jiang Yuan's shoulder and whispered to comfort his roommate.

Jiang Yuan sighed. In the end, he and Chelsea had nothing to do...

"Jiang, we will pay your penalty"

"!!!"

When Jiang Yuan heard Mourinho's voice on the other end of the phone, he almost dropped the phone.

"Mr. Jose, to be honest with you..."

"My dream since childhood has been to play for Chelsea!"

……

(End of this chapter)