Weird Defender Joo Ji-Tae

190 – The Transfer Market of Chaos

190

The 36/37 season, which had been a rollercoaster ride for Barcelona, had come to an end.

It started with high hopes, only to plummet into despair, but eventually, it ended with a thrilling double.

The double was all the more valuable because it had almost slipped out of their grasp.

The fans of Barcelona, who had experienced the dramatic double, were filled with hope, thinking, “Next season’s Barcelona will be even stronger!”

“The team’s power seems to be stabilizing, and next season will show an even better synergy.”

“It’s hard to sign big players, but now we have the luxury of filling in the gaps.”

“What are you guys worried about? Didn’t you see it? We have Joo Ji-tae! No matter what situation arises, Joo Ji-tae will solve it.”

Considering Barcelona’s recent performances, it seemed that maintaining their current position would be difficult, let alone winning the championship.

The team has no money, but they’ve sold off all their main players, so what championship are they expecting to win?

But there’s only one player.

Joo Ji-tae’s existence has shattered the one-sided common sense, making Barcelona fans happy and indulgent.

The problem is that dreams don’t last forever.

『The contract period is only two years left for Joo Ji-tae, but what about the re-signing news?』

『Barcelona fans are getting anxious with the uncertain negotiation news!』

『Barcelona declares an all-out war to keep Joo Ji-tae!』

『Transfer market expert: “It’s difficult to match Joo Ji-tae’s salary, who has become the best player in the modern era” Expecting a tough negotiation!』

The captain and ace of Barcelona, Joo Ji-tae, who has always brought victories, is only two years away from the end of his contract, and yet there’s no news of re-signing, forcing Barcelona fans to wake up from their dreams.

In fact, it’s not a strange thing.

In the football world where a 5-year contract is the default, it’s common for players to enter into re-signing negotiations with two years left on their contract. Sometimes, it even happens with only one year left, or just before the contract expires.

But ‘common’ only applies to ordinary players who make up the majority of the player pool.

Is Joo Ji-tae an ordinary player?

He’s a center-back who has opened up a new horizon, a two-time Ballon d’Or winner, and widely recognized as the best football player of his generation.

And he’s got a firm grip on the Asian market, which is crucial to Europe and North America. In fact, Joo Ji-tae is an Asian player, but he’s a world star, with an enormous influence that goes beyond Asia.

That means his influence doesn’t stop at Asia.

His absolute dominance in the Asian market is a given, but he also wields enormous influence in the global market. He’s a superstar, and his popularity and influence are comparable to those of Lionel Messi. Honestly, he’s already surpassed Messi in terms of stardom.

What about the limitations of being a center-back?

Can’t he just do everything by himself – defense, build-up, dribbling, and scoring? What kind of position limitations are we talking about? If we just look at the flashiness of his play, he’s far superior to Messi.

Messi’s play isn’t flashy. It’s extremely concise and efficient. It’s only because of his concise and efficient play that it looks amazing.

On the other hand, Joo Ji-tae’s play isn’t concise or efficient.

It’s so flashy that it’s like he’s playing futsal, not football. The risk of failure is high, but he still manages to succeed, which is what drives fans crazy.

Why do people go crazy over Ronaldo?

There were players who were better than him, and goal-scorers who were more prolific, but people went wild over Ronaldo because of his unique, unpredictable, and flashy play.

Joo Ji-tae is the same.

As a center-back, he’s been showing off plays that are unimaginable in modern football, and it’s hard to find any football fan who wouldn’t be impressed. …Of course, there are some exceptions, like Real Madrid or Italian fans.

And then there’s his leadership, which he’s been showing off this season.

He’s got the best skills of his generation, a promising age, stardom, and leadership qualities – what more could a team want?

It’s no wonder that some teams wouldn’t just sit back and do nothing.

The first to make a move was PSG.

『PSG prepares a massive amount of money to sign the world’s best player』

『PSG Chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi: “If we can sign Joo Ji-tae, the transfer fee won’t be a problem”』

Recently, PSG has been quiet in the transfer market, but it’s not like they’re not willing to spend big. They spent 130 million euros in the last transfer market, and 100 million euros the season before.

For most teams, that’s a dream come true, but for PSG, it’s a small amount. And it’s not like they spent it all in one year – it’s over two years.

At the time, PSG thought they’d spent enough and had a complete team, so there was no need to spend more money… But that’s a misconception.

There’s always a way to spend money.

This time, the target is PSG, and the amount is so big that they have to gather their strength.

『Barcelona declares that they won’t sell Joo Ji-tae at any price! NFS!』

『Team mate Max Moreno: “Joo Ji-tae is a great captain and the team’s spirit! He won’t go anywhere!”』

『Barcelona publicly announces that they won’t sell Joo Ji-tae even for a massive amount of money, but what’s the real story? The future of Barcelona’s re-signing negotiations

Barcelona, of course, absolutely refused to sell, and this was something anyone could have predicted.

If you have a brain, you wouldn’t sell Juzita.

He’s a player who will do everything for you if you just keep him, so why would you sell him? It’s not like he’s got a hole in his head.

…Of course, Barcelona was also a club that didn’t care about money. Just look at what they did to living legend Lionel Messi, citing financial difficulties.

Fortunately, this time the board was sane and firmly rejected the numerous requests from other clubs, allowing the fans to breathe a sigh of relief.

『(Official) PSG shocks with a massive offer! PSG pays the buyout clause for Juzita!』

『The era of 400 million euro transfer fees begins!! PSG officially announces payment of Juzita’s buyout clause!!』

PSG had gone crazy.

After the precedent set by Neymar, Barcelona realized that even a massive buyout clause wasn’t safe, so they set a 400 million euro buyout clause, thinking “even this amount won’t be enough.”

What’s even more shocking is that it wasn’t just one club.

Right after the shocking news from PSG, another astonishing piece of news broke out.

『(Exclusive) Real Madrid pays Juzita’s buyout clause!』

『Real Madrid chairman Manuel Gonzalez: “The best player belongs to the best club!” Declaring the revival of Galacticos!!』

『Shock! Manchester City prepares 400 million euros to sign Juzita!』

The two clubs, Real Madrid and Manchester City, followed suit, as if they couldn’t fall behind, after the PSG shock.

It’s all about money, and Real Madrid and Manchester City, who wouldn’t back down, joined the race for Juzita, declaring they would pay the buyout clause, sending the football world into shock.

A staggering 400 million euros.

Even a 40 million euro fee would be a burden for many top European clubs, but this is ten times that amount.

The football world was turned upside down by the transfer fee of approximately 600 billion won.

『Is the transfer market going crazy? Football officials: “A player’s worth 600 billion? Unbelievable!”』

『Extreme polarization in football? The rich get richer, the poor get poorer?』

『Dortmund’s Hans-Joachim Watzke: “To maintain a healthy transfer market ecosystem, we need to curb excessive inflation”』

『The crazy race! PSG, Real Madrid, Manchester City’s shocking bidding war!』

『Was the quiet transfer market of the past two years just a preparation for this?』

This marked the beginning of the Juzita transfer saga.

However, it wasn’t just the football world that was in chaos.

The hearts of Barcelona fans were also on fire.

“We can’t let Juzita go!”

“Let’s protect our team’s captain!”

“What is the board doing? They’re not renewing his contract!!”

“Let’s show our power! Let’s collect money! With the power of the Socio, we’ll keep Juzita!!”

At first, Barcelona fans even started a fundraising campaign to keep Juzita, but—

“Damn… just hearing the rumors is enough to make me want to follow the money…”.

“Even if it’s Juzita, that’s… no, if it’s Juzita, then… but if that happens, it’ll lead to a chain reaction of salary increases…”.

The ordinary citizens could only cry at the astronomical ‘money game’.

All that was left was hoping that Juzita would prioritize loyalty over money.

Of course, Juzita didn’t have that kind of intention.