Chapter 4: Whatever Cottbus Offers, Old Ma Will Double It!

Since arriving in Germany two years ago, Lin Hao had developed the habit of waking up at six every morning for exercise.

Even after a long-haul flight back from home, still struggling with jet lag, Lin Hao would reliably find himself in the gym of his apartment building at six sharp.

After more than an hour of intense training, drenched in sweat, Lin Hao would finally emerge.

No sooner had he finished his morning workout than Gaisen, ever punctual, would place breakfast before him.

Two years had passed.

Their daily routine had hardly changed.

Though officially his agent, Lin Hao often felt that old Gaisen was more like a mother figure—except for doing his laundry, Gaisen seemed to take care of everything else.

“Lin! After breakfast...”

Seated at the table, watching Lin Hao devour the breakfast he had prepared, Gaisen began outlining the day’s schedule.

Since the first team of Schalke 04 had given no indication of calling him up, Lin Hao was still playing in the U20 squad competing in the German third division.

Of course, Schalke 04 was no fool. Lin Hao was the top scorer in the third division, and at only eighteen, the club had already labeled him as a non-transferable asset.

According to Schalke 04’s plan, Lin Hao would spend at most one more year in the U20 before definitively moving up to the first team next season.

In principle, this wasn’t unreasonable. Given Lin Hao’s current overall abilities, it was difficult for him to break into the star-studded Schalke 04 first team.

Another year of seasoning was indeed the best choice.

But while Schalke 04 thought this way, Lin Hao himself had other ideas.

He was well aware of his current stats—having memorized nearly every attribute point of countless football stars in his past life—and he knew that even with his present abilities alone, he could hold his own in a lower-table Bundesliga team.

Considering the paltry match points in the third division, Lin Hao naturally hoped to move up to the Bundesliga or at least the second division as soon as possible.

Just last night, after a long discussion with old Gaisen, Lin Hao had decided to transfer directly to Cottbus.

However, just as Gaisen was about to suggest taking Lin Hao to meet the Cottbus officials he had already arranged to see after breakfast, an unexpected call came through.

“Hmm? Milno?”

As a somewhat competent agent, Gaisen immediately recognized the name of Milno, the assistant coach of Schalke 04’s first team.

Seeing the caller ID, a wave of excitement swept through Gaisen.

With less than nine days until the new season opener, for the first team’s assistant coach to call this early could only mean one thing.

With a raised brow, Gaisen pressed the speakerphone button towards Lin Hao.

Sure enough!

The moment the call connected, Milno got straight to the point.

“Mr. Gaisen, have Lin report to the first team at 10 a.m. today! I’ve already informed the U20 squad; Lin is no longer needed there.”

With that, Milno was about to hang up.

From his perspective, having a young U20 player promoted so quickly was cause for celebration.

But to Milno’s surprise, there was no joyful response from the other end.

Instead, a prolonged silence lingered.

Finally, the unfamiliar agent on the line threw out a statement: “But Mr. Milno, we already have an appointment with Cottbus today. They are very eager to sign Lin, and they are willing to pay a three million euro buyout clause!” (Three million seemed reasonable.)

“Ah?”

Milno was stunned.

He hadn’t expected that after discussing this promising young star with old Ma all night, Lin Hao would actually be planning to leave.

This... this simply wouldn’t do.

Having worked with old Ma for so long, Milno knew that since the agent was being so straightforward, there was still room for negotiation.

Without wasting time, Milno said to Gaisen, “Mr. Gaisen, you can fully negotiate with us first before meeting with the people from Cottbus!”

With that, after confirming the time, Gaisen ended the call.

Listening to Gaisen’s shameless plan to drive up the price, Lin Hao silently gave him a thumbs-up.

Lin Hao was quite taken by the 650,000 euro annual salary offered by Cottbus, which was far more generous than the 200,000 euros he earned in Schalke’s U20.

But he never expected that, with the Bundesliga season about to start, Schalke 04 would suddenly want to promote him to the first team.

Was this because his performance at the AFC U-19 Championship had finally won over the notoriously picky Magath?

Of course, with no prospects of winning any titles at present, Lin Hao’s only concerns were playing time and, of course... money.

As for team loyalty or gratitude, those thoughts never crossed his mind.

“Lin, when you get there, just report to the first team. It’s just reporting; your new contract hasn’t been signed yet. I’ll negotiate with them!”

“Yeah! That’s exactly what I was thinking, Mr. Gaisen. I’m concerned about playing time and salary...”

“Lin! Don’t worry! Don’t you know me yet? I’ll make sure to get you a contract better than Cottbus’s. The more you earn, the more I earn! There’s still time before the transfer deadline. I’ll keep talking to Cottbus; if that falls through, there’s also Aachen and others. Just rest assured!”

“Tsk tsk tsk!”

With that, Gaisen broke into a mischievous grin.

Sigh.

Seeing Gaisen’s face full of greed, Lin Hao could only sigh helplessly.

But, thankfully, since he was burdened with the ‘no championship’ debuff, earning money was naturally Lin Hao’s sole pursuit.

...

“What? That kid’s going to Cottbus?”

Lin Hao was already on his way to Schalke 04’s first team when Milno, having just hung up, sought out Magath.

Originally, Magath was preparing training group assignments for the day and planning to assess Lin Hao, but upon hearing that Lin Hao intended to transfer, he instantly grew anxious.

There was no way around it. Had this been yesterday morning, Magath would have barely cared if Lin Hao wanted to leave—after all, a U20 player, even if he had won the third division’s golden boot, was hardly indispensable.

Any one of the substitutes could easily win a golden boot in leagues of that level.

But now things were different.

After thoroughly studying Lin Hao’s versatile skills—seemingly tailor-made for his team—Magath genuinely looked forward to seeing how Lin Hao would gel with Raul or Huntelaar in the first team.

A player with height to serve as a pivot, technical skills to drop deep and receive the ball, capable of delivering assists, and ambidextrous shooting...

Missing out on such a player might cause eternal regret.

“Tell that guy’s agent that no matter how much Cottbus offers, I’ll double it!”

Ahem!

Magath spoke with authority.

Though Schalke 04 wasn’t wealthy—especially compared to Bayern—it was still leagues ahead of the poor, provincial Cottbus.

...

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