Since Chen Zhong made his mark in the football world, going to China to unearth good talent seems to have beco a trend, with so even comparing China to another Brazil, another South Arica, another Africa.
They hope to discover another Chen Zhong.
For Barcelona, having a player like Chen Zhong would be an opportunity to erase past humiliations.
In 2004, following in the footsteps of Real Madrid’s first visit to China in 2003, Barcelona also embarked on their first Chinese tour.
However, Barcelona’s players not only failed to experience the glory their rivals did in China, but they also etched for themselves one of the darkest mories.
In the vast Shanghai Stadium, fewer than 10,000 spectators occupied the seats here and there, marking the lowest attendance in the club’s history for Barca.
Not only did the Madrid dia seize this opportunity to mock Barcelona, but the club’s failure to penetrate the Chinese market also beca Laporta’s biggest weakness during his re-election campaign for Barcelona club president.
Upon returning to Spain, Laporta was determined to regain face, and the best way to beat the competition was to capture a larger market share in China than his rivals.
However, the Barcelona president once again went astray.
In 2005, Spanish dia continually reported that the Beijing Olympics would purchase Barcelona’s front-jersey advertisent at a high price, but ultimately, it was revealed that the president of Barcelona had been deceived.
On May 4, 2005, after confirming that Air France, Lufthansa, and KLM had no available flights, Laporta made the urgent decision to detour through London to fly to Beijing. Accompanying him were the club’s vice president Ingra, Soriano, and two others. The ssage Laporta left behind was that he was going to Beijing to sign a 5-year front-jersey advertisent contract worth 100 million Euros for Barca.
That day, all websites in the Catalonia region bore striking headlines such as "Laporta’s Sacred Journey to China" and "Chinese Set New Record Price for Jersey Advertisent." However, as Spanish dia comprehensively followed up, Chinese dia remained silent, and people were confused about which company or organization was negotiating with Laporta, as the Beijing Olympic Committee stated they had never been in contact with Barcelona or expressed an intention to advertise on the club’s jerseys.
In the end, Laporta returned to Barcelona empty-handed and in silence. The Barcelona club has since kept this matter under wraps, and to this day, no one knows who Laporta negotiated with or why no agreent was reached.
In 2007, Barcelona returned to the route of comrcial matches, charging only 1.3 million Euros for appearances, abstaining from any comrcial activities, and including a previously unprecedented charity auction in their "China tour." Laporta was determined to cultivate popularity at any cost, yet the enthusiasm and participation of fans remained lacking.
This series of painful experiences, coupled with so "troubles" caused by Chen Zhong for Barcelona, gave the club an unprecedented obsession with China.
Just then, news reached the Barcelona club that they had discovered a genius in China!
Just as Chen Zhong set the record for the youngest player in Spain, this genius also set a record in China, and most importantly, he is even younger than Chen Zhong!
His na is WULEI.
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