Super Wingstorm

After a hard-fought victory over Feyenoord, everyone at Ajax breathed a sigh of relief.

The Dutch Cup semi-final lineup was set. Besides Ajax, Breda pulled off an upset by defeating Eindhoven away from home, Rotterdam Sparta beat Nijmegen on penalties, and the last team to advance to the semi-finals was Utrecht.

It was safe to say that Ajax held the upper hand in terms of skill against the other teams.

This filled everyone at the club with anticipation, hoping the team could keep up the momentum and win this season’s Dutch Cup.

After the match, head coach Ronald Koeman offered similar encouragement to the players in both the locker room and the press conference. However, he also pointed out that winning the cup would be very difficult and would require everyone on the team to work together and deliver performances like the one they had tonight.

After the match at the Amsterdam Arena, they returned to De Toekomst for a satisfying meal. Then, everyone began to go their separate ways, as they had a post-match recovery training session the next morning.

Coming into February, there were two weeks of National Team matches. For most of the rest of the month, Ajax had to play two games a week, which was a lot of pressure.

Before leaving, Yang Yang was called aside by Van Gaal, who had made a special trip to De Toekomst. They chatted for a while, mostly about his contract renewal. By the time he returned, his teammates had already left, with only his three usual companions, Ibrahimovic, Maxwell, and Vermaelen, waiting for him.

”What did that old geezer Van Gaal want to talk to you about? You were gone for so long,” Ibrahimovic asked while driving them home.

Yang Yang was well aware of the bad blood between Ibrahimovic and Van Gaal. He had no intention of trying to change the Swedish Striker’s opinion of Van Gaal; after all, some things were beyond his control.

”Nothing much. He was just rushing me to find an agent. The club wants to renew my contract.”

”So he’s getting anxious now, is he?” Ibrahimovic said with a laugh, clearly enjoying the drama.

Yang Yang didn’t say anything, but he had always been very clear in his heart that he wanted to stay at Ajax.

Given his current situation, he wasn’t worried about finding a new club if he transferred, but was there any place better suited for his development than Ajax?

Here, he could play in the UEFA Champions League almost every year and face the strongest teams in European Football. And while the level of the Eredivisie wasn’t as high as the Four Major Leagues, it wasn’t low either. More importantly, it was an ideal place for young players, especially attacking ones, to grow.

Ajax was a club that was incredibly forgiving of young players, allowing them to make mistakes. They were also very tolerant and trusting of attacking players. Combined with the club’s unique ability to develop players, Yang Yang felt it was the perfect place for him. No other team would be as good.

”You really should find a reliable agent so you don’t have to worry about these things all the time,” Maxwell advised.

Yang Yang nodded. That was what he was thinking as well.

These matters were somewhat distracting him.

”Hey, you want me to ask Raiola for you?” Ibrahimovic suddenly asked.

”Him?” Yang Yang was a little surprised.

”You look down on him?”

”No, of course not. I’m afraid he’ll be the one looking down on me,” Yang Yang said with a wry smile.

Raiola was a fairly well-known agent in European Football, with superstars like Nedved under his management. Back when Ibrahimovic wanted to sign with him, he had to be humble for a long time and was even supposedly yelled at to his face.

Of course, according to Raiola, this was because he wanted to knock the Swedish Striker down a peg, to make the Swede see his own situation clearly and prevent him from becoming too arrogant and domineering. But Raiola had always had very high standards.

”Mino’s a good guy. Don’t be fooled by how irresponsible he sounds in public. It’s all calculated, part of the job. When it comes to our affairs, he’s very dedicated and responsible. You can really count on him.” Maxwell also seemed to hold Raiola in high regard.

”A professional player’s career is short. Who knows what will happen in the future? So we have to look out for our own interests. Finding an agent who puts our interests first is never the wrong move. But those kinds of agents are also the ones clubs hate the most, or even despise,” Ibrahimovic said with a laugh.

Yang Yang actually agreed with that point of view.

Raiola was an independent agent. Based on what Ibrahimovic and Maxwell had said, his own daily observations, and the few times they’d met, Yang Yang had gotten the impression that he was quite good and very conscientious.

”Alright then, ask him. If he’s not interested, don’t force it,” Yang Yang said readily.

There was no point in forcing it; he preferred things to be mutual.

”My agent contract is expiring soon too. I’ll sign with the same one as Yang Yang then,” Vermaelen chimed in with a smile.

The more he got to know his roommate Yang Yang, the more he admired him and wanted to build a closer friendship.

Not to mention, just their chemistry on corner kicks was something not just anyone could match.

”Alright, I’ll call him when I get back,” Ibrahimovic said with a hearty laugh.

But soon, the Swedish Striker’s expression changed. ”But I’m telling you, Yang Yang, about that penalty tonight... don’t you go thanking Van der Vaart. That punk was probably just exhausted, his legs were jelly. He was afraid he’d miss, so he let you take it.”

”For real?” Maxwell asked from the side.

Everyone at Ajax knew the Swedish Striker had a grudge against two people: Van Gaal, for forcing him to play defense, and Van der Vaart, who competed with him for the captain’s armband.

”Duh, I was right there watching. He usually only plays for seventy-five minutes, and we were already over a hundred minutes in. You think he still had the legs for it?” Ibrahimovic retorted indignantly.

”Besides, it was already two to one. Scoring it would’ve just been icing on the cake. But if he’d missed, how embarrassing would that be for their star player, right? Rather than take that risk, it was better to just do Yang Yang a favor and give him the penalty. See? How great is that? Everyone’s definitely going to praise him again.”

By the end, Ibrahimovic’s tone was dripping with sour grapes.

Yang Yang just laughed, not taking it to heart, just like he never paid any mind to how the Swedish Striker cursed out Van Gaal.

Ibrahimovic couldn’t stand the sight of Van der Vaart, so it was understandable that he’d think that way, but Yang Yang wouldn’t.

However, Maxwell and Vermaelen seemed very interested.

Amidst all the chirping and chattering, they soon arrived back at Oude Kerk.

...

...

The next morning, as usual, Yang Yang had spent the night locked in a tough battle with the Eredivisie-level defender in the Super Training. He woke up early, full of energy, and went out to jog around town while juggling a ball.

On his way back, he picked up five breakfasts, bought the three major Dutch newspapers from the corner newsstand, and then headed home.

The reason for the five breakfasts was that besides Ibrahimovic and Maxwell—the two who had already called dibs on a free meal last night—their agent, Mino Raiola, had rushed to Amsterdam overnight after getting a call from Ibrahimovic.

When Yang Yang returned from his morning exercise, they were all already waiting in the living room.

Breakfast that day was especially lively.

This was mainly because the chatterbox Ibrahimovic was there. One moment he was complaining that the Dutch Telegraaf’s commentary didn’t credit him for his first goal, the next he was raging about the People’s Daily criticizing him for a bad touch...

The Swedish Striker’s way of complaining about the heavens, the earth, and the very air itself actually ended up whetting the appetites of Yang Yang and the others. The breakfast was particularly delicious, filled with constant laughter.

After breakfast, Vermaelen and Maxwell started cleaning up. Ibrahimovic also made an excuse about reading the newspaper and moved away, leaving just Yang Yang and Raiola in the living room to talk business.

Before Yang Yang had gotten back, Vermaelen had also already come to an agreement with Raiola.

”In your current situation, my advice is that staying at Ajax is the most suitable option,” Raiola said frankly.

He didn’t seem as aggressive as Ibrahimovic had described.

’Could it be he really treats people differently based on their character?’

”That’s what I was thinking too. I feel it’s too early to talk about leaving. I still have many shortcomings, and at the same time, I hope to improve myself further.”

”Exactly.” Raiola nodded. ”Ajax is a very suitable platform for leveling up. If you can’t guarantee you’ll get playing time, then going to one of the Four Major Leagues is completely meaningless.”

Yang Yang nodded deeply, agreeing completely with this view.

”Even though you’ve decided to stay at Ajax, I want to remind you that there’s no room for sentiment at the negotiating table. Both you and Ajax are fighting—or even arguing—for your own interests.”

After a pause, Raiola continued, ”And don’t you ever think that fighting for that little bit of extra salary is meaningless. That’s wrong. To a certain extent, your salary represents how much the club values you, how high your status is at the club. I’m sure Ajax would never pay Van der Vaart less than Ibrahimovic, right?”

As soon as Raiola finished speaking, Ibrahimovic, who was engrossed in a newspaper at the dining table not far away, poked his head out. ”Hey, hey, hey, you fatso, say what you want, but don’t compare me to Van der Vaart, okay? Don’t you know how to respect people?”

”My apologies. I got carried away and wasn’t paying attention,” Raiola said, his fat belly jiggling as he laughed.

Yang Yang and Vermaelen, in the distance, also burst into roaring laughter.

But upon further reflection, it was true. Didn’t the salary Ajax offered perfectly represent Yang Yang’s status in their eyes?

”My way of doing things is very simple. I prioritize my client’s interests. Since you’ve decided to stay at Ajax, I will definitely negotiate with them on that premise. But when it comes to personal terms and salary, I will fight for the absolute best. It’s not just your interest, it’s mine too.”

Yang Yang thought for a moment, then nodded. ”Okay, I trust you. So what should I do now?”

”It’s simple. You don’t have to do anything,” Raiola said with a smile.

”Do nothing?”

”That’s right. Don’t think about anything, don’t do anything, and don’t worry about a thing. From today on, you only have one job: play well on the pitch. As well as you possibly can. If you can help Ajax win the Champions League, I guarantee I’ll get you a contract so lucrative you can’t even imagine it, and make you the star player that Ajax builds its future around.”

Yang Yang couldn’t help but smile. ’Win the Champions League? How is that even possible?’

But he had to admit, Raiola’s style really suited his taste.