Chapter 104: A New Journey! Roman Trigoria Base!
After landing at Rome Fiumicino Airport, Reise was already waiting at the departure gate.
Accompanying him were staff sent by the Roma Club and airport security.
At this moment, he is no longer the unknown kid who went to Glasgow on loan alone with a bag on his back last August. Many local media and fans in Rome are waiting for his appearance outside the cordon at the departure gate!
35 million pounds! Equivalent to 41 million euros! In the current economic downturn in Europe, this price may not be a big deal in the Premier League, but it is definitely a ceiling in Serie A!
With this transfer price, Chen Xiaoliang broke Son Heung-min's record of 30 million euros when he transferred from Leverkusen to Tottenham.
However, he still has a long way to go to reach the 65 million euros worth of Tottenham's Asian superstar.
Under security and escort, Chen Xiaoliang simply waved to the enthusiastic fans, especially the Chinese students from the Red Country, and quickly got into the car.
"Hey, you're finally here. You're enjoying your leisure time in Glasgow, but I'm busy as a madman here."
"Isn't this all settled?"
"The club will hold a press conference for you. As a player brought in at a high price, they originally wanted to hold a welcome ceremony for you at home, but something happened, so Mourinho decided not to do it."
"Something happened? What happened?"
"Listen, Chen, this is Rome, the capital of Italy and the third largest city in the European Union, and it's not like Glasgow.
Although the fans in Scotland are rude, they are usually gentlemanly and will not do anything to you when they see you on the street. But if you play well in the stadium, they will treat you as a hero.
It’s a little different here. The Italians… always have a natural sense of arrogance. It feels like they’re still living in the age of Caesar. So when you’re on the team, you have to think carefully about how to get along with the other players.”
"Why? Are you afraid that they will bully me? Old Davis is such a fierce man, but didn't he become my comrade in the end?"
Facing Chen Xiaoliang's question, Reese sighed: "Let me tell you this, Wu Lei came half a month earlier than you, and his current situation is not good.
Davis is indeed not a good person, but he has felt like a dependent in the Premier League, and many local players here have an inexplicable sense of superiority and even feel that their position in the team belongs to them.
Serie A is not like the Premier League. Not only the giants but even the mid- and lower-level teams have many foreign players and competition is commonplace. Most Serie A teams still rely on a large number of local players.
So, I suggest you be humble when you first arrive in the team, I believe Mourinho will help you."
Chen Xiaoliang nodded, but what he was thinking was: "Humble? I'm not here to be polite!"
Soon, he arrived at his new residence.
In order to facilitate training, Riise rented a villa for Chen Xiaoliang and Wu Lei near the Roma club's training ground, which, like the one in Glasgow, also came with a yard.
It is located in Trigoria, south of Rome, about 20 kilometers away from the home stadium, the Olympic Stadium. It is surrounded by farms, schools and horse farms. It is sparsely populated and relatively private.
The club's base is nearby.
What surprised Chen Xiaoliang was that David also appeared here!
"Reese said that the people here are not very friendly and that he needs someone to drive you and escort you. So he thought of me."
When old friends meet, of course the best thing is a big hug!
When Reese proposed to Dave to rent David, Dave agreed without hesitation. Anything that could create more connections with Chen Xiaoliang would mean more benefits for Rangers, so why not do it.
David's son happened to be studying at a university in Italy, and as he was widowed at an early age, coming here would provide him with some company.
David also drove Chen Xiaoliang's Hot Wheels GSL600 all the way from Glasgow ...
Everything was ready, and Chen Xiaoliang reported to the club early the next morning!
When the car drove into the training base and stopped in front of the office door, a familiar figure was already waiting there!
“It’s finally here!”
Although Mourinho has more white hair, he looks very happy and is completely different from the last time we met in a hotel in London!
The two walked side by side, guided by staff to visit the club's venues and facilities.
Along the way, they listened to the staff's introduction and chatted about their recent situation.
When it comes to Tottenham, Mourinho did not mince his emotions.
He was extremely happy that Tottenham didn’t win the League Cup after they sacked him!
"How much of your notebook did I show you?"
"I read every page! Almost every word is engraved in my mind!"
Mourinho smiled with great satisfaction.
Mourinho and Chen Xiaoliang attended the press conference in the afternoon.
After the media asked Mourinho tricky questions such as why he spent so much money to buy a non-EU Asian player, the reporters turned their attention to Chen Xiaoliang.
After hearing a long list of things like coming from a football-backward country to one of the top five leagues, there was no pressure.
As the second Asian player to come to Serie A, I wonder if I can gain a foothold.
Do you think you are worth 41 million euros?
Whether you can win the competition within the team.
After being asked some harsh and difficult questions such as whether he could keep up with the pace of Serie A, Chen Xiaoliang only replied with one sentence, then looked at Mourinho and stood up to leave.
This sentence and Chen Xiaoliang's eyes when he answered were wildly reported by the Italian media that day:
"VENI VIDI VICI"
I came, I saw, I conquered!
This sentence comes from Caesar, the Roman emperor!
The title of "the second madman" was also given to Chen Xiaoliang!
Back home, Reese looked at Chen Xiaoliang helplessly.
"You are having a good time talking, kid. You can handle tomorrow's training on your own."
"When you meet people like them, you will be afraid of their power but not their virtue. It is useless to be polite. If you don't make them obedient, they will always be on your head.
But dear Mr. Reese, you are here so late at night just to tell me this?"
Reese smiled crookedly: "Helena accompanied Erica to Tokyo and will not be back until August. Do you need me to find you... that thing? I know you have been staying in Glasgow for a month. This aspect of Rome is very developed, hehe..."
"Looking for what?"
"Find someone... I'm worried that you'll get sick from looking at the planes in the sky every day!"
Chen Xiaoliang ignored Reese and asked seriously, "Seriously, who on the team is bullying our brother Lei?"
"I asked him about it, and he said it was not bullying. At most, they were just aggressive in training and looked down on him. Especially since Italy won the European Championship, these guys were extremely arrogant."
Chen Xiaoliang nodded and said nothing more.
Back in the bedroom, he called out the system.
From May 30th to July 12th when I left for Rome, I trained for 5 hours every day for a full 44 days, accumulating 220 training points, which together with the previous points totaled 225 points.
He intentionally tried to gain weight and successfully increased his weight to 71 kg.
You like the body, right? Then come on.
100 training points, balance increased from 10 to 15.
With another 100 training points, the burst will increase from 10 to 15.
For the last 20 points, raise the strength from 14 to 15.
A series of golden lights flashed across his body, and Chen Xiaoliang felt refreshed and strong all over!
The next day, the team officially assembled!
Except for Cristante and other European Cup champions who were allowed to take two more weeks of vacation, all other players returned to the team.
Wu Lei and others have been training with the team for more than a week.
These Serie A players would not go to watch the Scottish Premier League games, and Cheryl's reputation in Italy is far less famous than in England, so for almost everyone, it was the first time to see Chen Xiaoliang.
Chen Xiaoliang did not say hello like a newcomer, and the old men in the team did not say anything to him.
Only Wu Lei stood firmly by his side.
Mourinho briefly introduced Chen Xiaoliang. After all, on the football field, words are redundant and the best self-introduction is based on strength.
Then he talked about many requirements and guidelines for this season, as well as the upcoming intensive training match schedule.
In order to fully understand all the players, Mourinho arranged nine friendly matches in the month before the first game on August 20, with the aim of observing all the players.
He repeatedly emphasized that opportunities will be given to everyone equally, and whoever can perform well in training and play in the training games will be able to get a starting position!
The first few days of training were all physical training to help all the players regain their physical condition as soon as possible after the holiday. Mourinho did not make any tactical arrangements.
But Chen Xiaoliang obviously realized the horror of the training of this character coach.
It was like they were trying to establish their authority. The intensity of the training was so high every day that everyone was so tired that they couldn't even walk after the training.
The intensity only eased slightly when the team's training match began.
Although Mourinho repeatedly stressed that there is no distinction between main players and substitutes at this stage, Chen Xiaoliang was still assigned to the red vest team, which had more main players last season.
The goalkeeper is Patricio, who was just purchased from Wolves and contributed to Portugal's European Cup victory.
Behind him are three central defenders, Smalling, Ibanez and vice-captain Gianluca Mancini.
On both sides are two wingbacks, Niles on the left and Karsdorp on the right.
The team's main left-back Spinazzola suffered a serious ankle injury in the European Cup and was at risk of being out for the season, so Mourinho urgently loaned Niles from Arsenal and also bought Binia.
In front of him were captain Pellegrini and Mkhitaryan, who played as central midfielders.
At the forefront are Zaniolo and El Shaarawy, who once played for Donghai Shenhua.
This arrangement allowed all the players on the team to see that this was clearly the main team.
This made the two defensive midfielders assigned to the Yellow Vests team, Diawara and Frenchman Veretout, very unhappy.
It was these two people who frequently forced their bodies against Wu Lei in the previous confrontation training.
In addition to the two of them, the other team members present were also curious about Chen Xiaoliang's abilities.
In other words, they really want to know why this 17-year-old kid is worth 41 million euros and can also bring a fellow countryman from the Red Country into the team.
Wu Lei was on the bench on the sidelines and neither side allowed him to play for the time being.
The competition started in this inexplicable atmosphere.
The substitute team kicks off.
After a few simple passes in the backcourt, the ball was directly passed to the Polish teenager Zalewski who was promoted from the Roma youth team.
He, who was highly expected by the club, shook off the right-back Karsdorp who was defending him and rushed towards the middle!
Mkhitaryan fills in! Zalewski passes the ball to Veretout!
The Frenchman dribbled the ball straight towards Chen Xiaoliang!
Judging from the momentum, he is not here with good intentions!
Chen Xiaoliang stepped forward, Weletu stepped on the ball and stopped, and kept making feints with his right foot, as if he was going to pass or break through!
How could Chen Xiaoliang fall for this? He had seen this kind of trick many times from Celtic's Callum!
He took a step forward, and Veretout quickly retracted his right foot to control the ball.
Chen Xiaoliang took advantage of the moment when his left foot was raised as a supporting foot and fell to the ground to tackle!
The ball was knocked away by the tip of his toes! His body hit Veretout's legs and knocked him down!
Although this action is not big, it is definitely quick and neat!
Mkhitaryan receives the ball and attacks forward!
After standing up, Chen Xiaoliang didn't even look at Wellertu and ran forward.
Weletu was furious. In the first attack of the first team training after the team gathered, he was tackled by this kid. He approached Chen Xiaoliang from behind, pretended to run, and then bumped into him heavily!
"Hey! What are you doing?!" Joao, the assistant coach who followed Mourinho to Rome, stopped the game.
Weletu fell to the ground as if he had hit a wall, but Chen Xiaoliang swayed a few times but finally stood firm and did not fall.
The other team members came up to pull the two apart and calm the situation. Captain Pellegrini looked Chen Xiaoliang , and became even more curious.
"Jose, this kid has made great progress. Maybe you made the right bet."
"The first time I saw him at Tottenham, I thought of someone."
"Oh? Who is it?"
"G8."
Wu Lei, who was sitting next to them, also heard the conversation and couldn't help but wonder: Why is the head coach still scolding people? Saying that Chen Xiaoliang is like a... eight?
"Gerald?"
Mourinho was obviously very proud that Joao didn't guess his puzzle, and shook his head and said: "Gattuso! It was because of him that I decided to send him to Rangers! Gerrard happened to be there too, it was destined by heaven!"
Joao nodded.
Gattuso, the absolute main force of Italy and Milan, is known as the butcher when he plays football.
After joining Perugia's first team at the age of 19, he was not recognized and was sold to Glasgow Rangers by the club.
There, like Chen Xiaoliang today, he spent a year making Rangers fans regard him as a Scotsman in Italian skin!
Even he himself said that he might be a Scotsman who was born in Italy by chance! A pure Glaswegian!
"He is only 17 years old and his future will be far greater than Gattuso!" Mourinho said excitedly.
