Chapter 58: I want to become stronger!

Dracula's offer made it impossible for the negotiations to continue because Sasanija doubted whether the other party was sincere, or was fully intending to use this offer to force Zenit to release the player - was there another team out there that had already made a move on Chen Yingxiong?

The first negotiation lasted only ten minutes before ending in a bad mood.

Dracula was very leisurely and calm. If he didn't succeed in the discussion, then he didn't succeed. He turned around and said goodbye.

After he left, Sasanija flew into a rage in the conference room and threw the offer submitted by Dracula on the conference table.

"Does he really think he's a vampire?!"

…

Dracula went back to report to Chen Yingxiong and said that the deal had not been concluded.

Chen Yingxiong was a little puzzled. His performance had been perfect recently, so he wanted to take the opportunity to ask for a raise. Why had he been rejected?

He asked why. Dracula showed him the offer.

He was stunned.

"40,000 Euros a week? And an extra 10,000 for winning? Holy shit... is this alright?"

"Zenit disagrees, at least," Dracula said with a shrug.

"Why?" Chen Yingxiong didn't know the overall salary situation of Zenit. Other people's weekly wages were private, and he had never asked. So he didn't quite understand why he was rejected. Although he felt that 40,000 weekly was indeed a bit high, who didn't want more money?

 "Because that is the highest salary in Zenit St. Petersburg."

 Dracula's words scared Chen Yingxiong.

 He finally understood why Zenit St. Petersburg refused...

"But it doesn't matter, we can still talk," Dracula said. "Zenit's overall salary level is not high. This season they have received sponsorship from Gazprom, and their financial situation has greatly improved. I think they should also bleed a little." 

Chen Yingxiong felt that the Dracula in front of him was completely different from Yesenin before, at least in terms of temperament. Yesenin was a bit dull, wearing glasses and looked a bit pedantic. What about Dracula? From the way he spoke to the way he did things, he looked like a cunning agent.

It seems that I made the right choice by choosing a vampire image...

This is a blatant attempt to suck the club's blood!

"However, this requires your cooperation," Dracula said to Chen Yingxiong.

"How to cooperate?"

"If you perform well on the pitch and continue your good form, I will have more capital to ask the club for a higher price."

"I thought you would just flash your aura in front of them and they would sign the contract obediently..."

"This isn't a fantasy novel!"

"Eh? It sort of is though..."

…

Dracula's request for Chen Yingxiong to perform well on the court was a legitimate one. Although Chen Yingxiong made a few jokes, he did not think there was anything wrong with this request. As long as he continued to score goals, his agent would have enough capital to ask the club for an exorbitant price. Do you accept this price? No? If you don't accept it, I will transfer!

But he soon discovered that things were not going as smoothly as he had imagined...

On October 14, in the 22nd round of the league, Zenit St. Petersburg would challenge Spartak Moscow away.

Prior to this, the ranking of the two teams was Zenit St. Petersburg fourth and Spartak Moscow third.

If they could beat Sparta away from home, they would be able to narrow the gap.

The top three teams in the league would qualify for next season's Champions League, although the third place would need to participate in the Champions League qualifiers, which was also good.

Chen Yingxiong started again in this game. Although his agent and the club had a temporary falling out, it did not affect Chen Yingxiong's position in the team.

But after 90 minutes, Chen Yingxiong, who had scored in every game before, hadn't accomplished anything.

He encountered the most stubborn resistance.

Spartak Moscow did not simply let the central defender double-team Chen Yingxiong, their defence was three-dimensional and all-round. Not only did they block the middle, but they also strictly prevented crosses from the wing. In short, they cut off the connection between Chen Yingxiong and his teammates. Only when he retreated, was he allowed to ferry the ball with his head, because he was no threat anyway if he was far away from the goal.

When Advocaat saw Chen Yingxiong doing nothing against the opponent's defence in the coaching booth, he knew that the Spartan coaching staff must have put a lot of effort into studying Chen Yingxiong.

In fact, Chen Yingxiong's shortcomings were obvious. It was no secret and you could find them with a little research. In the beginning, Advocaat was willing to give Chen Yingxiong a chance, just to rely on him to get through the days without Tekke. Who would have thought that he completed the task very well, and his excellence was beyond Advocaat's expectations?

Scoring in three consecutive games and scoring five goals...this was a very outstanding result.

But… while that hat trick made him the focus of discussion in Russia, it also exposed Chen Yingxiong's weaknesses. Facing an opponent who was tall and strong, good at heading, but slow to turn and inflexible, Chen Yingxiong still chose to fight with his head and body. What did this show? It showed that his other abilities were not good enough!

Such a forward was too easy to defend for those coaches who studied tactics all day long. Those experienced and capable central defenders of the top teams? Forget about it...

Seeing that Chen Yingxiong had been on the field for more than 70 minutes and was powerless against Sparta's defence, there was no other way except to act, so Advocaat had to replace him.

Chen Yingxiong, who was substituted, walked to the sidelines with his head down.

The commentator said. "Hero was substituted! This means that his dream of scoring in four consecutive league games has been shattered!"

This match was different from the three matches he had played before. It was broadcast live nationwide. Therefore, if Chen Yingxiong had score a goal, he would have become famous all over the country. Unfortunately, he didn't score but was instead suppressed.

Before this, many media and spectators were very interested in this game, wanting to see what the young man who performed a hat trick in the previous game was capable of.

Unexpectedly, Chen Yingxiong's performance disappointed them.

They just saw a reckless guy who was good at nothing except being tall, strong and good at heading.

"His performance was disappointing... It was as if his previous magical aura disappeared overnight. Facing the Spartan defenders, he seemed helpless!"

The commentators on national television criticized Chen Yingxiong's performance mercilessly.

 …

Chen Yingxiong was sitting on the bench. Igor Denisov, who was also sitting on the bench, touched him and said, "Hey, Yingxiong, don't take it personally. This is normal. If you score in every game, how will others survive?"

Chen Yingxiong knew his friend was comforting him, so he forced a smile and said to Denisov, "Thank you, commander."

After saying that, he turned his head and stared blankly at the game going on on the court.

Seeing his friend like this, Denisov was helpless. He didn't know what to say, so he could only sigh. The team was still behind, his friend was not performing well, and he continued to sit on the bench... Today was really unlucky! Chen Yingxiong experienced the cruelty of professional football for the first time - even if he had performed well before, scoring five goals in three games, scoring in every game, and completing a hat trick, once he did not perform well in this game, he would be replaced without hesitation...

What about the previous honuor?

He could totally imagine what the TV commentators were saying and what the media would write after the game...

If you don't perform well in one game, you will be scolded...

This is professional football.

I have been so successful that I seem to have imagined the world to be too simple...

He thought about how excited his father was when he called to tell him the good news after he completed the hat trick... Now he was very glad his parents couldn't watch the Russian league in China, otherwise, they, who were full of hope, would be very disappointed.

 …

 In the end, Zenit St. Petersburg lost 0-1 to Spartak Moscow away.

Their winning streak ended, and Chen Yingxiong's scoring streak was also over.

Advocaat looked at Chen Yingxiong. The big guy walked into the player tunnel after the game and disappeared from everyone's sight.

The TV cameras wanted to take a close-up of Chen Yingxiong to see what the striker, who had performed a hat trick in the previous round of the league, looked like now. But Chen Yingxiong didn't give them such a chance.

Advocaat didn't know whether this incident would hit Chen Yingxiong emotionally.

However, he felt that it might not be a bad thing for Chen Yingxiong to encounter a setback occasionally. His previous development was too smooth, so smooth that even the head coach felt that it was a little unreal. He'd even felt a little worried that he was a character in a sports novel looking at the protagonist. Today's incident made him feel relieved, at least now he knew that he was a real person.

 …

Chen Yingxiong knew exactly where his problem was - in the final analysis, he had too few weapons available. It was just like playing World of Warcraft. In the beginning, you only had a white beginner weapon, and after much difficulty, you managed to get a green one-handed sword. You could still show off your prowess against low-level monsters. But as your level increased, the level of the monsters you encountered also increased, so that green weapon with low DPS, low attack, and pitiful additional attributes didn't seem that good anymore...

He needed more diverse offensive means, he needed more goal-scoring weapons!

When he returned to St. Petersburg from Moscow, the agent Dracula was no longer in the dormitory. The person sitting on the sofa reading the newspaper was Yesenin, the middle-aged man with round glasses and a wretched bald head.

"Is the Vampire Count going to disappear for a while? Is it because my performance was so bad that I don't have the capital to ask for a sky-high price from the club?" Chen Yingxiong said unhappily as he sat on the sofa opposite.

"Not really." Yesenin put down the newspaper and pushed up his glasses. "We just broke up the negotiations with the club a few days ago. If we take the initiative to negotiate again right away, we will have to lower the price ourselves. So we have to wait for the club to come back to negotiate with us, and then they will have to accept our conditions."

Yesenin's words made sense, and Chen Yingxiong had nothing to say. He just sat there blankly on the sofa for a while, then stood up and walked out.

Yesenin looked at his back. He didn't bother asking, "Where are you going," nor did he follow him out.

Because he knew exactly what Hero would do.

 …

Chen Yingxiong blasted the football into the net as a way of venting his anger.

His shooting action was still a bit stiff, which was not a big deal in training, but was fatal in the game. In the match against Sparta, after finding that his header was blocked by the opponent, he tried to shoot with his feet, but the opponent pressed a little and his shot lost its accuracy.

For this, he even heard laughter coming from the stands of the Luzhniki Stadium, as the home team fans laughed at his poor shooting skills.

He now realized that his way of gaining skills in real time might not last long, because there were only him and Yesenin, and they couldn't practice skills such as passing and cutting, which required tactical awareness.

This was why he had not made any significant progress in shooting even after practicing for so long...

Yesenin appeared next to the goal at some point. He walked into the goal, fished out the football, and then held it to his side.

"I want to get stronger, faster!" Chen Yingxiong shouted at him.

Yesenin smiled, as if he already had an answer.