I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

Chapter 315: Chapter 14: Response

”What?”

”What does this have to do with UEFA?”

The matter is actually quite simple; it all started because of the Bwin advertisement issue.

But when the jersey finally landed in Chen Zhong’s hands, seeing that entirely black jersey with nothing but the Adidas logo in the center and no other excess advertisement, Chen Zhong wasn’t so resistant or bothered anymore.

Because this ”limited skin” gave off a vibe similar to the superhero uniforms popular in Europe.

In one word, it’s cool...

Soon after, Chen Zhong learned the reason behind it all.

Since Switzerland is not part of the European Union, their laws differ greatly from the EU. According to Swiss law, only a few official gambling companies can advertise in their country, and Bwin is not on that list, so their adverts can’t appear anywhere in Switzerland.

Including on Real Madrid’s jerseys.

This also means that, despite Real Madrid’s many efforts, they were only met with a statement: if you insist on wearing jerseys with the Bwin logo, you’ll be banned from playing in Switzerland.

Even though the jersey is very cool.

However, from whatever perspective, at least from the surface of various reports, Real Madrid has to appear ”angry” because there are many other reasons involved, such as protecting sponsor interests.

Whether or not they succeeded in protecting those interests is another story, but they must show their stance.

Chen Zhong, for the first time during an interview, was asked by the club to speak according to a prepared ”script.”

So, in a pre-match interview, as the captain of the team, Chen Zhong expressed his dissatisfaction with the issue and mentioned that they would put on a good show against Zurich Team away from home.

The Swiss Zurich Team, last season’s Swiss Super League champions, naturally had a sense of pride and expressed confidence in fighting with all their might at home during pre-match interviews.

Things were normal up to this point, but then Platini stepped up again.

Platini, the president of UEFA, expressed his admiration for Barcelona and their football tactics last season.

And this season, when Real Madrid brought in C. Ronaldo and Kaka, Platini revealed his attitude towards Real Madrid, expressing displeasure at their nearly 300 million euros spending this transfer window, saying this kind of monetary football would affect league stability and was unfair to league opponents.

He even stated during an interview: ”Real Madrid’s series of signings is simply abnormal!”

”I’ve seen reports suggesting they bought Cristiano Ronaldo because of financial backing, but in my view, I can hardly imagine a club willing to pay such a high transfer fee of 80 million pounds for one player.”

”Some clubs are indeed wealthy, and we certainly can’t stop them from spending big on players, but within Real Madrid’s signings, there might be some shady deals involved.”

As the president of UEFA, an official figure, Platini saying such things without basis is enough to prove his bias against Real Madrid.

And during Real Madrid’s ”salary gate” incident, Platini unusually kept quiet.

This might have been due to some waves his previous brainless remarks caused.

But now, he finally couldn’t help but step up again.

In an interview episode, he sat on a chair, speaking fluently in front of the camera, saying things like: ”Barcelona wouldn’t encounter such issues as Real Madrid; they wouldn’t allow bad advertisements to appear on their chests.”

”I think Real Madrid should learn from Barcelona.”

These astonishing remarks, and finally, he commented on the ”salary gate” incident.

”The global economic situation isn’t very good right now.”

”I can’t quite understand why Real Madrid would pay the world’s highest salary, 12 million euros, to a 17-year-old, oh, maybe 18-year-old, whatever, anyway, to a kid.”

”I’ve heard their coach thinks he’s only worth 1-2 million euros, which makes me suspect there might be some unknown secrets here.”

As Platini said this, his face was flushed, as if he’d taken some ”spirit potion,” and he suddenly stood up.

He looked at the surrounding crowd and said: ”Have you seen Chen play?”

”He is like a commander on the field, standing at the back, you go this way, you go that way, come back quickly, we need you here.”

”Sometimes watching him play, I even get the illusion that I’m watching a rugby match.”

”Because he’s always on the field, bumping around.”

The live audience burst into laughter, and Platini also sat back on his chair with a smile, clearly very satisfied with his speech this time.

This is also the cost of Chen Zhong getting a 12 million euros annual salary.

Now, even though C. Ronaldo and Kaka are Ballon d’Or winners, from all perspectives, wearing the number 10 jersey, being Real Madrid’s captain, and also being the highest-paid and a homegrown talent, Chen Zhong is the true icon of Real Madrid.

And Platini attacking Chen Zhong is equivalent to attacking Real Madrid.