Chương 140: Guardiola Personally Welcomes Lin, and Barcelona's Embarrassment!
After packing up his belongings and saying goodbye to De Bruyne, Lin returned to his host family's home.
The Williams family was already waiting for him at the door. Along with them was Guardiola, who had left the stadium early and driven over to help Lin move.
"Lin, thank you for your contributions to Werder Bremen this past season!"
Seeing Lin return, William stepped forward and gave him a warm hug.
As a die-hard Werder Bremen fan, William had witnessed the tremendous changes Lin brought to the team over the past season. He had also seen Lin grow from an unknown player to a star feared by the entire Bundesliga and remembered by countless fans.
"Thank you for taking care of me. I know I've caused you a lot of trouble during this time!"
Lin expressed his gratitude to the Williams family and handed them the gifts he had prepared for William, Anna, and their two children.
"Lin, can you not leave?"
Eleven-year-old Grany had become a huge fan of Lin. Knowing that Lin was leaving and he might never see him play in a Werder Bremen jersey again made the little guy very sad.
"Grany, don't ask your brother Lin such difficult questions!"
Grany's mother, Anna, quickly spoke up to stop her son's unreasonable request.
Whether to stay or leave was Lin's decision, and no one else had the right to interfere.
From the perspective of Werder Bremen fans, they naturally wanted Lin to stay. But from Lin's personal perspective, staying at Werder Bremen would not be good for his career.
"Alright then, can I at least get another signed jersey from you?"
Lin reached out and patted his head, "No problem!"
He then took out a jersey he had worn at the club, signed it with his name, and added a note of blessing:
"To Grany Otto, I hope you can soar on the green field like me—Lin!"
Receiving this gift, Grany finally smiled through his tears.
Lin's belongings were already packed. With the help of William and Guardiola, they were quickly loaded into the car.
Before leaving, at Guardiola's invitation, Lin and the Williams family shared a farewell dinner.
After the meal, Lin opened the car door and waved goodbye to the Williams family.
When they would meet again was uncertain.
"Where are we going now?" Lin asked after getting into the car.
"Munich, of course. We can't drive all the way back to Spain, can we?"
Guardiola shrugged. Driving from Germany to Spain was too far and would be exhausting.
Lin thought differently. The distance from Bremen to Catalonia was only about 1700 kilometers. In his home country, people drove much farther to go home for the New Year.
But he understood that in the West, the tradition of returning home was not as strong.
"Did you find a place in Munich?"
Guardiola had signed with Bayern in January. Unless the contract was terminated, he would be coaching Bayern next season. To coach at Bayern, he first needed to settle his personal and family matters.
Not counting Lin, Guardiola and Serra had three children.
In Europe, it was rare for men to work far from home while their families stayed behind. So, when Guardiola joined Bayern, his family would move with him.
Including Lin, there would be six people in the household, requiring a large house.
"Yes, I've found two places, one on Sophienstrasse and another in the suburbs. I'll show them to you, and you can give me some advice."
"By the way, will you be staying with us?"
Guardiola asked expectantly.
Since their training session during the winter break, Guardiola had been eager to practice more. However, the people he practiced with weren't as skilled as Lin, leaving him unsatisfied.
If Lin moved in with them, they could practice together every day.
"I don't know yet. I haven't signed with Bayern. Who knows where I'll be next season!"
Lin shrugged, trying to tease Guardiola.
"Is that so? But I heard from Pere that you already have an agreement with Bayern."
Guardiola wasn't fooled. With his insider knowledge, keeping track of Lin's transfer movements wasn't difficult.
"Mr. Guardiola, are you suggesting I tell your brother to stop leaking information?"
Lin pretended to be angry, expressing his dissatisfaction with Guardiola prying into his transfer matters.
"No need, no need. It's my fault, but Pere is innocent. Don't drag him into this."
Seeing Guardiola apologize, Lin didn't press further.
They both tacitly agreed not to discuss the matter any further.
"Who do you think will win the Champions League final?"
Driving could be boring, and soon, the chatty Guardiola brought up a new topic.
"Bayern has a higher chance of winning."
Lin knew the outcome. Unless his presence had caused a significant butterfly effect, Bayern should win.
"Yes, I think Bayern will win too. Honestly, Heynckes has done a great job. If Bayern wins, it'll be tough for me to take over next season."
Guardiola frowned.
Any championship team, especially one that wins the Champions League, has a certain pride. Bayern was on the rise, with good results and flexible tactics, naturally boosting the players' morale.
In such a situation, suddenly changing the coach and having someone new take over is a challenge for both sides.
Honestly, Guardiola felt some regret. If he had known Bayern would win this season, he might not have wanted to take over.
Facing a champion team, even with his reputation, he wouldn't dare to make significant changes lightly. But if he didn't implement changes and continued with Heynckes' plans, what was the point of Bayern hiring him?
However, if he made drastic changes and the team's performance dipped or declined, the fans and players would undoubtedly be unhappy.
It felt like dancing with shackles, living in the shadow of his predecessor, which was challenging.
He suddenly sympathized with Vilanova. He wondered if Vilanova had experienced the same pain living in his shadow after taking over Barcelona.
Lin could only shrug. You made your choice.
---
Germany's autobahns had no speed limits, and there weren't many cars on the road at night. So, Guardiola drove quickly, giving Lin a taste of speed and excitement.
By the time they arrived in Munich, it was already past three in the morning.
Both were exhausted. After arriving at their hotel, they immediately fell asleep, waking up around ten the next morning.
They called the front desk, and the hotel kindly sent breakfast to their room, along with a few newspapers.
Lin didn't need to read the content. Just by looking at the headlines and cover photos, he knew they were reporting on last night's game.
Opening one, he confirmed his guess.
"Witness History: The Bundesliga's Supernova Breaks a 40-Year-Old Record!"
"The Birth of a Legend? Barcelona's Rising Star Breaks Eight Bundesliga Records in One Season!"
"42 Goals in a Single Season, Third in History!"
Seeing the newspapers praise him to the skies made Lin feel a bit embarrassed.
While Lin felt embarrassed, Guardiola was enjoying reading the articles. He nodded in agreement with some viewpoints, looking like he had found kindred spirits.
Although the praise wasn't for him, he seemed happier than if it were about himself.
The newspapers Lin received were just a small portion.
After this game, the media gave extensive coverage.
The Bundesliga media focused on Lin breaking the league's record. Gerd Müller's record was incredibly difficult to break, which is why it had stood for forty years.
The Bundesliga had two fewer teams than other top leagues, meaning four fewer games each season. Scoring 40+ goals in 34 games was harder than in other leagues.
They found it incredible that Lin set this new record.
The media not only wrote numerous articles but also interviewed Gerd Müller.
Müller was gracious and not upset that Lin broke his record. On the contrary, he praised Lin highly in the interview:
"Lin is an outstanding player. His new record is of great value, even higher than my record back then!"
Müller smiled. He wasn't being modest but truthful.
He set his record at Bayern Munich, while Lin set his at a smaller club, Werder Bremen.
The difference in team quality was significant. Bayern provided high-level support, while Lin didn't have such strong teammates at Bremen. His teammates' support wasn't as strong as Müller's had been.
So, many of Lin's goals were due to his excellent individual skills.
At the end of the interview, Müller suggested again:
"I still believe Lin should come to Bayern Munich. Here, he can achieve more honors and greater success, just like I did!"
Müller had tried to bring Lin to Allianz Arena more than once. This time, he was even more enthusiastic.
Unlike the Bundesliga media, the Spanish media focused on Lin's future.
News from Barcelona indicated Lin's contract was about to expire, and there was no progress on renewal talks.
This led many to believe Lin wouldn't renew with Barcelona and that the club was about to lose this superstar.
This was a significant loss for Barcelona but not necessarily bad news for other La Liga teams.
If Lin returned to Barcelona, how could other La Liga teams compete?
One Messi was hard enough; adding Lin would make it impossible. They might as well surrender without a fight!
From this perspective, they didn't want Lin to return to Barcelona.
However, if Lin joined their teams, they would welcome him with open arms.
---
In the office of Barcelona's president, a newspaper was slammed onto the table.
The headline and the photo of Lin's back in a green number 10 jersey were an eyesore to Rosell.
"Barcelona's Rising Star Yet to Renew Contract, May Join Real Madrid!"
He couldn't believe
the player he once wanted to get rid of had grown to this point.
Even more embarrassing, Lin was unhappy with the club because of his actions and didn't want to renew his contract.
If Barcelona let him leave, it would be a significant loss, and Rosell would face criticism and even attacks from fans.
"Damn Enrique!"
Rosell cursed the former coach. In his view, it was all Enrique's fault. If Enrique hadn't messed things up, he wouldn't be in this passive position.
Rosell wasn't the only one in a bad mood. Sporting director Zubizarreta was also having a tough time.
Messi's father and agent, Jorge Messi, came to him to ask about Lin.
"Mr. Zubizarreta, I want to know if Leo's main position at Barcelona will be guaranteed next season!"
Lin played in the same position as Messi and had similar playing styles. His return would threaten Messi's status.
This was unacceptable to Jorge Messi.
He needed assurance from the club that Messi's core position wouldn't be threatened.
"Mr. Jorge, have you heard some rumors? Why are you asking this?"
Zubizarreta was surprised by the question, not understanding why there was such a concern.
"Messi is our core player, our star. We will never change his main position. Please rest assured!"
Lin's contract issues were already a headache for Zubizarreta, and now Messi's situation was adding to his troubles.
"Really? Then why don't I feel the club's sincerity?"
Jorge was talking about money.
Zubizarreta felt a headache coming. Jorge was greedy, always using Messi's contributions to demand higher salaries, insisting Messi's wages couldn't be lower than Ronaldo's at Real Madrid. Anything less would be disrespectful and undeserving of his status.
While the argument made sense, Ronaldo only had partial image rights at Real Madrid, while Messi had 100% at Barcelona.
That was a huge difference!
Ronaldo's high salary was partly due to giving up some image rights.
If Messi also gave up 40% of his image rights, Barcelona would gladly match or exceed Ronaldo's salary.
Messi's current salary wasn't low, at 11 million euros annually, reaching 16 million with bonuses.
That was the net amount. Including taxes, Barcelona spent 36.4 million euros annually on Messi.
With such high costs, Jorge's demand for a raise was something Barcelona couldn't afford.
"Sorry, Mr. Jorge. We've reached our limit with raises. But I know some ways to help Messi increase his income…"
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