Chapter 108: The End of the Holiday

Villarreal is a purely modest club, with little prospect of growing into a powerhouse like Chelsea or Manchester City. Although the club’s owner, billionaire Fernando Roig, has been at the helm since 1996, he has never resorted to lavish spending to achieve quick success; instead, the club has steadily built its foundation over time.

Before the 1980s, Villarreal languished in the lower leagues. After stepping onto the La Liga stage at the end of the last century, the club experienced only two relegations, secured a league runner-up finish once, placed in the top six nine times, and captured the UEFA Europa League title last season. More importantly, Villarreal’s established youth academy has become the true cornerstone of the club’s standing in La Liga.

In the 2011-12 season, the “Yellow Submarine,” despite qualifying for the Champions League, was suddenly relegated to the second division. However, unlike their first season back in La Liga, the team’s overall strength had significantly improved. Fortunately, they bounced back the following year. Since Marcelino, who had won best coach awards in both La Liga and Segunda División, took over midway through the second division season, the team not only achieved promotion but also consistently finished in the top six upon their return to La Liga. Villarreal has once again cemented its status as a strong club.

Objectively speaking, challenging the dominance of Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Atlético Madrid remains difficult. Yet, in terms of self-sustaining financial capability, Villarreal now ranks among the top in La Liga—for instance, this summer they earned over €30 million from the sale of Bailly. Still, facing the demands of competing on three fronts—the Champions League, Copa del Rey, and the league—the Yellow Submarine’s squad depth remains reliant on internal talent development.

“Internal digging? One word—poor!” Dai Zhiwei sighed helplessly as he lay in bed scrolling through transfer news about Villarreal this summer. Compared to other Champions League clubs making multi-million euro signings, Villarreal’s approach was more piecemeal, with pitifully low expenditure.

So far this summer, their largest signing was Roberto Soriano for €14.1 million from Sampdoria in Serie A, while they sold Bailly to Manchester United for €38 million. Total spending: €43.3 million; total income: €49.25 million. Villarreal has actually made nearly €6 million in profit on the transfer market!

“Fantastic, isn’t it?” Dai Zhiwei mocked.

For a team about to compete on three fronts, focusing on profit rather than strengthening the squad made Dai Zhiwei feel like he had stepped in dog poop.

“What’s wrong?” Chen Yuanyang, lying on the other side of the bed, asked groggily.

Well… in the end, these two ended up tangled together.

Honestly, with his youth, wealth, good looks, fame, and humor, Dai Zhiwei was hard for any woman not to be attracted to. And for a top-tier beauty who was also his yoga instructor and constant companion, he had little resistance.

Thus, on the night of their second stand-up paddleboarding lesson, Dai Zhiwei and Yang Yuanyang discussed questions about human origins.

Meanwhile, Dai Zhiwei maintained contact with Yang Chaoyue, playing the role of a man with two boats.

A scoundrel, undoubtedly!

“By the way, I heard you changed agents to Mendes, Cristiano Ronaldo’s agent?” Chen Yuanyang asked curiously.

“Yes,” Dai Zhiwei added, “but my original agent still handles my affairs in China.”

After nearly a month of negotiations, the Dai Zhiwei team was finally established, closely aligned with his initial vision, though the entire economic management was essentially a one-man show under Mendes. Jin Chang could only handle domestic matters.

Even so, Jin Chang was grateful to Dai Zhiwei because, compared to Mendes, he was as insignificant as dust.

On the very first day of the team’s establishment, Mendes gifted Dai Zhiwei Villarreal’s number 10 jersey.

Although the former Brazilian prodigy Pato joined Villarreal this summer under “historical inertia,” the player wearing the Yellow Submarine’s number 10 jersey for the new season could only be Dai Zhiwei!

In the following week, Mendes also signed a new contract with Villarreal, slightly increasing Dai Zhiwei’s annual salary and bonuses. Most notably, his salary rose from €2.6 million to the club’s top tier of €3.6 million. His release clause was raised to €110 million.

Though Mendes remained dissatisfied with the contract, Villarreal was a small club with limited financial capacity—explaining why stars gravitate towards bigger clubs.

Man dies for money, as the saying goes.

While negotiating with Villarreal, Mendes also secured Dai Zhiwei an endorsement deal with Spanish fashion brand ZARA. ZARA signed him on as their global brand ambassador with a three-year contract worth €2 million per year—not just as a Greater China regional representative like many domestic celebrities.

With this contract, Dai Zhiwei must wear ZARA or other brands under its parent company Inditex for all apparel except for 361° and Villarreal sportswear.

Additionally, Mendes was in talks with Spanish brand Goliath for another endorsement contract, expected to bring in at least a million euros annually once Dai Zhiwei returned to Villarreal.

Speaking of returning to Villarreal, Dai Zhiwei found the short holiday frustrating. Villarreal was among the earliest La Liga teams to regroup—due to reaching the Europa League final last season, their vacation was already a week shorter than other top Spanish clubs. Now, with Champions League qualifiers, their training start date was brought forward another week, making them the team with the shortest summer break in La Liga.

This summer, European football saw a flurry of big-money moves, but Dai Zhiwei’s primary concern was his own club, Villarreal.

Villarreal declared its transfer policy would remain financially prudent, with player sales influencing purchase quality.

“At the end of last season, we made our transfer principles clear. We recoup funds through player sales, offloading those who don’t fit the team; this summer is no different. Rakitic is one of our targets, but it’s unlikely now—we know his value. Pato is also a name of interest; we’ve contacted Corinthians but will monitor developments. I believe Pato is a smart player who can fit our system,” Marcelino said during a Villarreal press conference.

In goal, Villarreal’s starter last season, young French goalkeeper Alphonse Areola, on loan from Paris Saint-Germain, returned to his parent club. To fill the void, Villarreal loaned in Andrés Fernández from Porto, who was a regular starter last season at Granada. Former Atlético Madrid keeper Asenjo, if healthy, remains a strong candidate for the starting spot. Argentine third-choice keeper Barbosa is unlikely to see much game time.

In defense, the Yellow Submarine suffered a blow this summer. After selling Bailly, they brought in no new defenders.

Selling the young Ivorian center-back Bailly for €38 million, after buying him from Espanyol for €5.7 million a year earlier, netted over €30 million in profit. However, Villarreal’s central defense became somewhat thin.

Thankfully, with AC Milan’s ownership uncertainty unresolved, and Musacchio unable to move due to insufficient transfer fee offers, Villarreal’s central defense pairing for the new season would likely be Ruiz and veteran Italian Bonera. Villarreal also sent loan-returned players Pantic (loaned to Alavés) and Iñiguez (loaned to Rayo Vallecano) back out on loan, meaning Musacchio’s decision to stay prevents a glaring gap in the backline.

Adrián Marín, who last season competed with Costa for the starting left-back spot, was loaned to newly promoted Leganés this summer, leaving Costa to temporarily hold the position.

At right-back, homegrown player Mario Gaspar remains a mainstay, with 32-year-old Serbian veteran Luka Bina poised for opportunities amid the club’s multi-front campaign.

Midfield saw the most personnel changes this summer.

Veteran captain Bruno Soriano and Trigueros, both products of Villarreal’s youth academy, formed the best defensive midfield partnership last season.

However, this summer Villarreal splurged €14 million and €8 million to acquire “Beast Midfielder” Alfred N’Diaye and Italian Roberto Soriano, respectively.

While their arrival puts pressure on the established defensive midfielders and Dos Santos, the club’s participation in the Champions League necessitates depth and strength in these positions. Additionally, the B team’s “reserve” player Fernandez, standing 1.9 meters tall, can also play this role.

As for players no longer in the new season plans, Pina and Márquez transferred to Belgium’s Club Brugge and Spain’s Real Valladolid in the Segunda División, respectively.

The departure of key players Dennis Suárez (returning to Barcelona) and substitute Samu García (joining Russia’s Rubin Kazan) last season dealt a blow to Villarreal’s wing attack.

To compensate, Villarreal signed Argentine youngster Cristian Espinoza for €7.2 million and re-signed former Real Madrid player Denis Cheryshev for €7 million—though Espinoza will begin with the B team this season.

Among the retained players, Castillejo began to break through last season. Considering Cheryshev won’t be fully fit until September, Castillejo is expected to fight for a starting wing spot.

Other winger departures include Alfonso Pedraza, promoted from the B team but loaned to Lugo, while Javier Espinoza and Moi Gómez, returning from loan, left on free transfers to Levante and Sporting Gijón, respectively.

Up front, Villarreal’s most opulent area for the new season.

Although rumors circulated about a Chinese Super League club interested in Congolese striker Bakambu, the closing of the CSL’s summer transfer window turned those into mere whispers.

The trio of Dai Zhiwei, Bakambu, and veteran Soldado complemented each other well last season. Though Adrián López and León Batiste left in the summer, the arrival of former Brazilian prodigy Pato, eager to prove himself again in Europe, bolstered the frontline’s strength.

Before joining Villarreal, Pato hoped to wear number 10, but upon refusal, he accepted number 11 without complaint.

Pato expressed great enthusiasm about joining Villarreal: “Villarreal is one of the best clubs in La Liga and a team I want to represent. For me, this is an opportunity to begin a beautiful adventure.”

From thousands of miles away, Dai Zhiwei immediately contacted Pato through the team’s assistant coach, expressing warmth and welcome to his new striking partner. Pato responded humbly, showing no airs of a former star.

Regarding another new signing, the 19-year-old Qatari prodigy Afif—the first Qatari to play in La Liga—Villarreal planned to loan him to Sporting Gijón to test his adaptation to European football.

This summer, Villarreal’s total spending was €43.3 million, total income €51.25 million, yielding a profit of €7.95 million.

After completing Pato’s transfer, Villarreal announced the closure of their summer transfer window, and the new season’s call to arms sounded once again!

Having settled some family matters and shared two intimate days with Chen Yuanyang, Dai Zhiwei briefly met Yang Chaoyue in Shanghai before flying to Spain to embark on the new season’s journey.

The path to kingship officially begins!

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Villarreal 2016-17 Squad List (28 players):

Goalkeepers: 1 - Asenjo, 13 - Fernández, 25 - Barbosa

Defenders: 2 - Mario Gaspar, 3 - José Ángel, 5 - Musacchio, 6 - Ruiz, 11 - Costa, 12 - A. González, 15 - Jokić, 22 - Lukavina, 23 - Bonera, 30 - Pino

Midfielders: 4 - Alfred N’Diaye, 7 - Denis Cheryshev, 8 - Dos Santos, 14 - Trigueros, 16 - Rodrigo, 20 - Roberto Soriano, 21 - Bruno Soriano (Captain), 26 - Pablo, 27 - Cantarrapiedra, 19 - Castillejo

Forwards: 9 - Soldado, 10 - Dai Zhiwei, 11 - Pato, 17 - Bakambu, 24 - Rafael