Chapter Nineteenth The First Contract

  There is still one more watch at night.

  ————

  Two weeks, fourteen days, is a long time or a short time. Before he knew it, Chu Jiang had been in Apiano, Italy for almost two weeks.

  In this period of time, Chu Jiang grasped every minute and every second, doing his best to show his best level, trying to improve his understanding of football. His outstanding performance conquered everyone in the Apiano youth training camp. However, whether Chu Jiang could stay or not did not depend on anyone here. Chu Jiang didn't know that on Durini Street, at Inter Milan's headquarters, Branca had already closed the door for him to join the blue and black team.

  But in the West there is a proverb that says: when God closes one door, he also opens a window. Chu Jiang's current situation is just like this.

  Today, when Chu Jiang finished his training for the day, he was surprised to find that Korsos, who had not been seen for several days, was standing outside the field again, smiling and waving at him. Beside Korsos was the middle-aged man who almost appeared every day.

  In a small café outside the Appiano training ground, Chou, Korsa and Pagano sat at a table by the window. With Inter's first team returning, more and more fans came to the training ground every day. Although not every day there were open training sessions, the closed gates could hardly stop the fans' crazy enthusiasm.

  Today is no exception.

  Through the spotless glass window, Chu Jiang clearly saw a large crowd of fans gathered outside the gates of Appiano. Now that the first team's training has ended, they must be waiting for their idols to come out, greet them and ask for autographs.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, a sleek sports car had just emerged from the gate, and fans familiar with the player's ride were already shouting loudly: "Wesley! Wesley!" The shouts immediately ignited the passion of the fans, and a large crowd of fans rushed forward to greet the luxurious sports car, rejoicing as if welcoming a king.

  Perhaps it was the enthusiasm of the people that moved him, and the sports car stopped. When the window was rolled down, the one who appeared in the driver's seat was Wesley Sneijder, the core of Inter Milan and one of the best attacking midfielders in the world. It was his incredible performance in this year's European Champions League that allowed Inter Milan to reach the top of Europe. And on the World Cup stage, it was also his outstanding performance that allowed the Orange Army to advance to the final. In the eyes of many football experts, Sneijder is the player who performed the best this year and is the hottest candidate for the European Golden Ball award.

  Looking at Sneider, who was surrounded by the crowd like a king, Chu Jiang couldn't help but feel a hint of envy. Compared to Sneider, Chu Jiang was like an insignificant pawn, with his future completely out of his control.

  It seems that Kors noticed the desolation in Chu Jiang's eyes, and comforted with a smile, "Wesley was swept out of Bernau back then, he never thought he would achieve what he has today. All his success today is due to his tireless efforts and hard work. Chu, as long as you work hard, I believe that one day you will be like Wesley!"

  Chu Jiang nodded slightly, her heart filled with gratitude towards this elder who had brought her to Europe.

  In the previous conversation, Chu Jiang had already understood everything that had happened in the past few days. Recently, Corso has not appeared on the training ground because he has been helping Chu Jiang contact various departments of Inter Milan responsible for transfers, hoping to keep Chu Jiang at Inter Milan through his own efforts. After Branca clearly refused to sign Chu Jiang, Corso still did not give up his efforts to keep Chu Jiang in Italy and finally contacted Paganini, who also favored Chu Jiang.

  Paganò, chief scout of Chievo football club, has a certain reputation in Italian football.

  As a co-operative club of Inter Milan, Chievo has close ties with the Nerazzurri. In Chievo's youth team, midfielder Vojtus and defender Solini are both youngsters from Inter Milan; while in Inter Milan's youth team, there is also a promising young player named Tallo from Chievo. Moreover, when Inter Milan signed Brazilian goalkeeper Cesar and full-back Maxwell, Chievo played an important role in the transfer process.

  As the chief scout of the co-operation club, Paganò was a frequent visitor to Appiano. After unexpectedly discovering Zhu Jiang, Paganò made Zhu Jiang an object of focus for inspection and almost every day came to Appiano to observe this young goalkeeper with great talent at close range.

  Although Paganò had a high opinion of Chong Jiang, he did not dare to contact him because he was unclear about Inter Milan's attitude towards Chong Jiang. Such a rash move would have risked damaging the good relationship between Chievo and Inter Milan. When he learned that Chong Jiang was not in Branca's plans, Paganò was delighted and quickly met with Corsi to find Chong Jiang.

  "Chu, take care of yourself, not only Mr. Corsi, but also our Chievo club. You are also clear about the current situation, Inter Milan cannot offer you a contract, but we Chievo can promise to sign with you. You know that in Italy, every non-EU player quota is very precious. And we are willing to spend this precious quota on you, which shows our sincerity! I hope you can consider it seriously." said Pagano sincerely.

  For the first time, Chu Jiang received an invitation from a Serie A team and felt a little nervous. He couldn't help but glance at Corsi. At this moment that would decide his future fate, Chu Jiang trusted Corsi more, who had discovered him. Seeing Chu Jiang's gaze, Corsi nodded slightly. At this moment, Corsi believed that joining Chievo was the best choice for Chu Jiang.

  "Thank you for your trust, Mr. Paganini. It's an honor for me to join Chievo," said Chu Jiang.

  "Haha!" Paganol was delighted, "Now that you've agreed to join us, let's discuss some details of the contract. Although you don't have an agent at present, with Mr. Colso looking out for you, you don't need to worry about being treated unfairly in terms of compensation!"

  "Given that you are currently only 17 years old and have no professional football experience, the first contract we will offer is a youth player's hope star contract. At the same time, to show our confidence in you, we will also sign a reserve contract for the adult team. This reserve contract will take effect when you turn 18 years old, of course, if your performance is outstanding enough, this contract may also be activated ahead of schedule!"

  "The youth contract has no time limit and the annual salary is 4,000 euros. This is already a top salary for our club's youth team, Mr. Corsi knows that."

  Koulibaly nodded. Even in Inter Milan's youth team, the annual salary at this level is not low. To know that as a goalkeeper hopeful, Baldi's annual salary is only 3,400 euros, which is not even higher than Chujang's salary at Chievo. The most important thing for young players is training opportunities, and the salary of the first contract is not so important.

  "The preliminary contract is for four years, with an annual salary of 6,500 euros. If you can represent the first team in 20 games, your annual salary will be greatly increased to 30,000 euros. This is just your first professional contract, and if you are good enough, the treatment of subsequent contracts will naturally rise. If it's really like Mr. Kols said, that your future achievements can rival Sneijder's, then an annual salary of six million is not impossible, haha!"

  "This is the contract, if there are no objections, just sign your name here!"

  Pagano finished speaking and placed a large stack of files in front of Chu Jiang. At the same time, there was also an identical copy in front of Colso.

  Now it's Chu Jiang's turn to decide!