Chapter 106: Wondering if La Liga Can Adapt to the Intensity of My King Tang Ball

AS newspaper front-page headline: Utrecht champion striker Haller joins Villarreal, transfer fee 15 million euros plus 3 million euros in add-ons.

Utrecht Evening News front-page headline: Sources indicate Villarreal is interested in Utrecht's assist king, Tom.

Tang Ye's next club has not yet been determined, but his teammate Haller's transfer has already been concluded.

Joining La Liga's Villarreal for a transfer fee as high as 15 million euros!

Although the Eredivisie is not one of the top five leagues, Utrecht winning the title as a dark horse will inevitably attract attention from the global football community.

Manchester United spent heavily to poach the most crucial figure, Ten Hag, so naturally, the remaining players will also draw attention from other clubs.

Haller's transfer is already confirmed to La Liga powerhouse Villarreal, and next is Amrabat; rumor has it this guy is going to play in France.

Of course, Chinese fans do not care about either Haller or Amrabat.

They only want to know if Tang Ye will leave Utrecht, and if he does, where will he go?

I heard Villarreal has ideas about Tang Ye.

Will he go to Spain together with Haller?

On July 10, Tang Ye, lying in bed, woke up from a sleep to find his system activating.

【2015-16 season settlement in progress; you have received the year-end bonus: Counterattack Points * 2000】

【Professional players over 35 enjoy an additional 20% subsidy; you have received a total of Counterattack Points * 2400】

The year-end bonus has been issued!

Tang Ye never expected there would be such a thing as a year-end bonus, but having one is certainly better than not.

Let's check the current account balance!

Account Balance: Counterattack Points * 3280

With a balance of nearly 3,500 Counterattack Points, Tang Ye can now be considered slightly wealthy!

Considering he will be playing in La Liga next season, Tang Ye immediately checks the template store for ball-control-related templates.

Unfortunately, just as he had seen before, templates related to ball control are generally quite expensive and far beyond what Tang Ye can afford.

However, there is still a way; Tang Ye remembered a super item he had obtained earlier.

【Hazard's Tata Sauce Burger: If you do not undergo any training within the next 48 hours, your ball sense will receive a slight increase】

Price: Counterattack Points * 25

A very expensive item, and it requires two full days without any training to activate.

Using this thing mid-season is very troublesome, and due to Ten Hag's pressure, it was difficult for Tang Ye to go 48 consecutive hours without training.

Now is the opportunity!

During the upcoming holiday, Tang Ye is going to eat burgers every day.

Every single day!

Time moves to July 15; by now, the European Championship has been over for nearly a week, and Portuguese fans are still immersed in the joy of victory.

At the same time, Xiao He, a staff member of China's CCTV, arrives in Amsterdam, the location of the Royal Dutch Football Association.

"25 million euros per year..."

Steve, a staff member of the Dutch Football Association, looks at the documents pushed over by Xiao He: "25 million euros per year is indeed acceptable for the Eredivisie FA, but the problem is you are only buying one year; if you purchase broadcasting rights for five consecutive years, we can sell them to you at a price of 25 million euros per year."

Paying 25 million euros for one year of Eredivisie broadcasting rights means CCTV's terms are quite favorable.

Since Tang Ye, the league's assist king, plays in the Eredivisie and there is currently no news of his transfer, CCTV naturally wants to acquire the Eredivisie broadcasting rights.

At 25 million euros per year, combined with the fan base Tang Ye brings himself, the possibility of CCTV losing money on this deal is slim.

As for why they are only buying one year, it is because CCTV also knows Tang Ye likely will not stay in the Eredivisie for too long.

The level of assists he has currently demonstrated already exceeds the standard of the Eredivisie!

"We only want one year; if 25 million euros is not suitable, we will find another appropriate price."

Xiao He said this just as his phone rang; a CCTV staff member had sent him a message.

China Football News front-page headline: Tang Ye joins Villarreal via Zujiejia Alliance; Chinese player enters top five leagues again!

"..."

Xiao He turns off his phone, looks up at Steve before him, and retrieves the documents from the table: "I am sorry, Mr., but I believe 25 million euros is already a quite suitable price; apologies."

Xiao He stands up from the chair, leaving Steve looking completely bewildered.

Soon, Steve also receives a message, this one from an FA official.

Romano: Here we go! Utrecht prodigy Tang joins Villarreal via Zujiejia Alliance, loan fee 3 million euros plus 80% of salary covered, contract does not include a mandatory buyout clause.

Well!

Their biggest bargaining chip has actually left!

"Mr., I think we can talk again; 25 million euros is actually acceptable."

Steve attempts to retain Xiao He.

For the Dutch Football Association, having one more broadcaster means one more sum of money.

They only need to provide one set of broadcasting rights; this is practically a zero-cost transaction.

Leveraging 25 million euros with zero cost is a deal the Dutch Football Association is very willing to make.

"Hmm, sorry, we might not be able to accept the price of 25 million euros anymore either."

"20 million euros! And we can sign for just one year!"

Steve's iMessage keeps popping up; Tang Ye's departure has made the Dutch Football Association officials start to panic.

They want to sell the broadcasting rights to China to make money!

"Sorry, a price of 20 million euros is also not very suitable."

"15 million euros! 15 million euros will do! Hmm, never mind, let's be friends; 15 million euros is fine too."

Xiao He apologized a few more times, then left directly.

15 million euros, over 100 million RMB; spending so much to buy a player from outside the top five leagues, without Tang Tang Qiuwang's traffic as a safety net, would mean CCTV Sports definitely loses money!

This is an impossible deal to complete!

……

Soon, news from Romano and the "China Football News" was pinned to the top by Check Dongqiu Di, garnering over 30,000 comments in just 24 hours.

【Holy crap, awesome, he's really playing in a top-five league, and f*cking La Liga at that?】

【Wait, can my brother Meng's possession style really handle La Liga?】

【Brother above, I have a feeling you're about to get roasted; don't you know how many fans Tang Tang Qiuwang has domestically?】

【Why is it a loan? Can't Villarreal even come up with 12 million?】

【Read the news carefully; 12 million euros was the price in April. Villarreal is using Utrecht's April offer for Tang Ye to buy him in June.】

【Unbelievable; at 17, Laozi is still in my second year of high school, while Tang Tang Qiuwang is already playing in a top-five league; is this the gap between a mortal and a Ball King?】

【Woke up to find Guangdong scoring points; I thought Wu Lei would be the first to reach a top-five league.】

【Haters, speak up!!!!】

【Wonder if La Liga can adapt to the intensity of my Tang Tang Qiuwang.】

The news of Tang Ye's loan move to Villarreal was still somewhat too explosive for domestic fans.

Not just on Check Dongqiu Di; the news headline "Chinese player lands in a top-five league again" shot straight to third place on Weibo's trending list that day, marking Tang Ye's complete breakthrough into the mainstream domestically.

……

With the transfer matter finally settled, Tang Ye was very satisfied with the result.

Moreover, just like the Netherlands, Spain is a Schengen Area country in the EU, so Tang Ye could go directly to Spain with his Dutch visa without needing to handle any other complicated procedures.

The only downside was that the transfer completion time was a bit late; Villarreal was already urging Tang Ye to report back to the team.

The new La Liga season starts at the end of August, and before that, Villarreal still has Champions League qualifiers to play.

Time was tight, so Tang Ye seized the opportunity to rush home for a visit. "You didn't go to Manchester United..."

Tang Tang Zhengxiong murmured.

It was clear he truly hoped Tang Ye would go play in the Premier League.

After all, Tang Tang Zhengxiong himself watched the Premier League.

Just imagine the feeling: Tang Tang Zhengxiong standing in the home stands at Anfield, pointing at a midfielder from the visiting team Manchester United and shouting loudly, "That's my son!"

However, Tang Ye simply did not go to Manchester United.

Recalling Tang Tang Zhengxiong's previous instructions, Tang Ye explained: "Manchester United seems to be targeting Pogba; if Pogba goes there, I reckon I'd be stuck on the bench until it wears through, so it's better not to go at all."

"That's true; Pogba, hiss, Manchester United really has money, but the coaching staff's eye for talent is indeed poor; they shouldn't have let him go when he was playing for the U21s before; now buying him back will probably cost 80 or 90 million."

Of course, Tang Tang Zhengxiong was happy that Manchester United was losing money, but the moment he thought about Manchester United having one more Pogba next season, he felt distressed again.

Tang Tang Zhengxiong pushed the door open, gesturing for Tang Ye to take off his backpack first.

Holding the backpack in hand, the two slowly walked upstairs: "It's a pity you didn't go to the Premier League, but La Liga is also very formidable; Villarreal... I remember the Yellow Submarine has Champions League qualification, right?"

!

"They still have to play qualifiers."

"Playing qualifiers in August; only if they advance can they play in the Champions League, otherwise it's the Europa League."

Tang Ye explained briefly.

"Then you're at a bit of a loss."

Tang Tang Zhengxiong turned his head: "You guys are the Eredivisie champions; Utrecht must have already secured a Champions League spot, right? Eh, wait."

Tang Tang Zhengxiong suddenly realized.

This seemed to be the first time in Utrecht's history participating in the Champions League, and with Utrecht's level, even if they went, they'd likely be eliminated in the group stage round-robin, eventually dropping into the Europa League only to get crushed immediately.

In that case, it was indeed better to go to Villarreal.

Unlike Utrecht, if Villarreal secured Champions League qualification, their strength gave them a chance to reach the knockout stages.

Even if they didn't make the Champions League, Tang Ye could still play in the Europa League with Villarreal; either way, it was better than staying at Utrecht.

Tang Tang Zhengxiong casually placed Tang Ye's backpack on the table in the second-floor living room, his brain spinning continuously.

Tang Ye had now won the Eredivisie title; he was no longer the slacker in Tang Tang Zhengxiong's impression.

Since his son wanted to aim higher, then as a father, he definitely needed to consider more things for Tang Ye.

Who knows, maybe Tang Ye would really make it big in La Liga in the future!

Turning around, he squinted at his son: "I mean, if you end up playing in the Champions League or Europa League, will you be able to get on the field?"

"Uh, well..."

Tang Tang Zhengxiong's question completely stumped Tang Ye.

Would he be able to play?

To be honest, he wasn't clear on that himself!

"Let's not talk about European competitions; do you have confidence in starting in the league? Even though you didn't go to Manchester United, you're at least playing in La Liga."

Tang Tang Zhengxiong rubbed his hands together.

If Tang Ye could start for a strong team of Villarreal's caliber in La Liga, how much face would that give him when bragging about it?

Tang Tang Zhengxiong was now thinking that once Tang Ye became famous, he would open a social media account himself.

Isn't live streaming very popular domestically right now? Tang Tang Zhengxiong planned to become a football commentator once Tang Ye blew up.

He could secretly smear the stars he didn't like; that way, he wouldn't be idle all day long.

Tang Tang Zhengxiong was about to have his own job!

A proper job, a job where he earns money through labor!

"A starting spot in La Liga, well..."

Tang Ye scratched his hair and sat down on the sofa: "That's hard to say, hard to say; I'll do my best."

In a completely unfamiliar environment, Tang Ye hadn't even met his teammates or coach yet; talking about a starting spot was still a bit too rushed.

《Utrecht》rtv: Rumor has it that Utrecht originally planned to sell Tang to La Liga's Villarreal for 12 million euros in April, but after the season ended, Utrecht raised Tang's transfer fee to 24 million euros. Faced with this nearly doubled price, Villarreal had no choice but to change the original transfer into a loan.

Romano: Utrecht's 24-million-euro valuation for Tang is negotiable; they are willing to accept an offer of 20 million euros.

Check Dongqiu Di: After winning the Eredivisie title, Tang Ye signed a new contract with Utrecht; under the new deal, Tang will receive a Zhou Xin of 18,000 euros, and during the loan period, Villarreal will cover 80% of Tang's salary.

What the hell?

It was only after reading the news that Tang Ye learned his loan had been influenced by Ten Hag.

Before leaving Utrecht, Ten Hag manipulated the transfer window one last time!

Utrecht's upper management had always placed unwavering trust in Ten Hag, this meritorious head coach; no wonder the transfer that had already been agreed upon suddenly turned into a loan.

However, this didn't have much impact on Tang Ye; anyway, he would still be able to play football in La Liga in the end.

Running off to Spain, far away from that damn Mr. Sitting Like!

And conveniently far away from that damn minor protection law!

After staying at home for two days, Tang Ye's girlfriend (female friend), whom he had known for not long in the Netherlands, flew to Guangdong to find him, and the two visited some scenic spots within China.

Life during the off-season was just this pleasant!

But for some reason, even though he was getting plenty of sleep every day, Tang Ye just lacked energy; it was far less comfortable than before in Utrecht when Ten Hag forced him out of bed.

At 8 p. m., while Tang Ye was eating at a restaurant outside the Jiuzhaigou scenic area, he received a phone call from Escrivá, the head coach of Villarreal.

After hanging up the phone, Tang Ye's expression suddenly became listless.

"What's wrong?"

Valérie, sitting opposite him, was amused by Tang Ye's expression and asked.

"My coach told me to go learn Spanish..."

Tang Ye clasped both hands behind his head.

Damn it, he had only just remembered there was also the issue of language.

Tang Ye had only learned Dutch not long ago, yet next season he would be going to Spain to play football.

He still had to learn Spanish!

"That's not a problem!"

Valérie blinked her eyes, signaling Tang Ye to lean his head over: "Tom, did you know I'm of mixed Spanish and Dutch heritage?"

"For real?"

"Yes, I grew up in Madrid."

With a smile on her face, Valérie said: "I can teach you Spanish, the most standard Spanish, starting tonight, oh, or every night, as long as you're willing."

Tang Ye's eyes lit up.

Hiss—

Seems quite reliable?

PS: Volume One has ended; there's more to come. Today's update is still 20k+ words.

Begging for monthly tickets, brothers!

(End of Chapter)