Chapter 311 - 304: Ajax’s Sincerity

When Yang Yang and Raiola arrived at the Amsterdam Arena, reporters who had already gotten wind of the meeting were waiting outside.

That’s just how professional leagues are.

The team had just won the championship yesterday. They had celebrated, they had partied hard, but now it was time to focus on the most important matters.

And for Ajax, whether or not they could keep Yang Yang was the biggest priority this summer.

Nothing was more important than Yang Yang’s contract renewal.

Raiola drove the car directly into the private parking lot, leaving all the reporters blocked outside.

Although they managed to snap photos of Yang Yang and his agent at the Amsterdam Arena, it would be difficult for them to get any specific details about the negotiations or whether an agreement could be reached.

It was foreseeable that over the next period, Yang Yang’s contract renewal and potential transfer would become a hot topic hyped up by major media outlets in the Netherlands and even across World Football.

The office receptionist had already been notified and greeted Yang Yang from a distance, ushering the two of them into the conference room.

Attending the meeting this time, besides Ajax’s director in charge of the technical department and transfer negotiations, Ali Van Eeden, were club chairman Michael van Praag and the director specifically in charge of finances.

To Yang Yang’s surprise, the first team’s head coach, Ronald Koeman, was also there.

"Good morning, boss!" Yang Yang extended his hand toward Ronald Koeman from a distance.

He then shook hands with the chairman and directors one by one, exchanging a few pleasantries.

After a female assistant brought in hot drinks and left, closing the door behind her, both sides got down to business.

For this meeting, Director Ali Van Eeden took the lead for Ajax. He began by thanking Yang Yang for his contributions to the team over the past two seasons, stating that he was already the team’s most important core player. He said everyone at the club sincerely hoped Yang Yang would stay with the team to continue his growth and development.

"A major reason we restructured last season was to improve our financial situation. This season, our finances have seen significant improvement, which allows us to allocate more substantial funds toward strengthening and improving the team."

As he spoke, Ali Van Eeden handed Yang Yang a copy of the club’s transfer and recruitment plan for the summer.

"Our board has basically reached a consensus. Next season’s UEFA Champions League will be our team’s main battleground. To achieve better results and advance from the group stage again, we will do everything in our power this summer to retain all the current first-team starters."

Yang Yang was somewhat surprised to hear Ali Van Eeden’s words.

’Keep all the starters on the team?’

’In other words, Ajax won’t be selling any of its star players this summer?’

He had to admit, it was indeed quite a good proposal. Yang Yang knew very well that his teammates were very talented, young, and had made huge progress.

But Yang Yang remained cautious and turned to look at Ronald Koeman.

He was more inclined to trust the head coach than the directors.

Ronald Koeman nodded at Yang Yang, tacitly confirming Ali Van Eeden’s statement. It also seemed that he himself was a participant in this plan; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to attend today’s meeting.

It was also very likely that Ajax had expanded his authority as head coach to convince him to stay on.

Yang Yang opened the transfer plan Ali Van Eeden had handed him. It emphasized that Ajax was desperate to strengthen its midfield, preferably with a player who was well-balanced in both attack and defense.

The current midfield consisted of Galasek and De Jong as a double pivot, with Sneijder playing as the attacking midfielder. The problem with this setup was that while the defense was solid, the attack lacked punch.

Sneijder’s playmaking ability was quite good, and his skill at making late runs into the attack was excellent. Under these circumstances, carrying the midfield by himself was indeed too exhausting, and often he was simply stretched too thin.

Pinaar played well on the left wing; his ball control, organization, and passing were all very good. If he were moved to central midfield to partner with Sneijder, supported by a defensive midfielder, the team’s creativity would be sufficient, but the defense would be a bit weak.

To put it bluntly, Ajax was a Dutch team committed to attacking football. Although Ronald Koeman was known for coaching defense, the Ajax Team always had coaches who specialized in attack, like Luther Carroll.

Yang Yang had previously heard rumors that Ajax was interested in Tymoshchuk from Shakhtar Donetsk and de Zeeuw from the Eerste Divisie team Go Ahead Eagles. However, the former would cost a huge sum, possibly even more than 15 million euros.

This was clearly beyond Ajax’s transfer budget.

The Eredivisie giants did want to sign new players, but they couldn’t avoid the meticulous budgeting of a smaller club. They mostly wanted to achieve big things with little money, which wasn’t entirely impossible.

Take Maicon, for example. He didn’t cost much initially, but it turned out that after being brought in and with a little coaching, Maicon was now a key player on Ajax’s right flank, performing quite impressively.

The player de Zeeuw performed well, having an outstanding season in the Eerste Divisie. He had currently attracted the attention of several domestic Dutch clubs. At twenty-two years old, he also fit Ajax’s profile perfectly.

This local Dutch midfielder was definitely the type who was both a great value and a known quantity.

Besides de Zeeuw, the plan listed another candidate: a 22-year-old Ivorian midfielder from the Ukrainian team Donetsk Metallurgical Team, named Yaya Toure.

According to Ajax’s scouting report, this player came to Europe from the Ivory Coast in 2001. He first played for Beveren in the Belgian second division. In 2003, thanks to his brother Kolo Toure, he had a trial at Arsenal but failed to secure a spot.

In the summer of 2004, he transferred from Beveren to the Ukrainian Donetsk Metallurgical Team for a fee of 1.8 million euros. This was a major leap in his career because the Donetsk Metallurgical Team played in the UEFA Cup, but they were eliminated in the first round, losing 3-0 in both legs to Lazio.

But in those two matches, Yaya Toure left a good impression. In subsequent league games, he continued to display outstanding ability, capable of playing in multiple positions such as attacking midfielder, central midfielder, holding midfielder, and even center-back. He was a very versatile player.

Due to the Donetsk Metallurgical Team’s poor performance this season, Yaya Toure was also considering leaving the club.

This player was spotted by an Ajax scout while they were scouting Tymoshchuk of Shakhtar Donetsk. However, the Donetsk Metallurgical Team’s asking price was not low, and Ajax didn’t know enough about the player. The only thing they could be sure of was that his physique and height were outstanding.

De Zeeuw was only 1.74 meters tall, but Yaya Toure stood at a towering 1.87 meters and possessed the physical attributes of an African player, something Ajax currently severely lacked.

But judging from the recruitment plan, Ajax’s first choice was still de Zeeuw.

The reason was simple: this player was more familiar with the Eredivisie, his transfer fee was relatively lower, and everyone at Ajax was very optimistic about him, believing he could play an important role on the team.

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After reading the entire transfer plan, Yang Yang understood the management’s intentions.

They wanted to bring in a capable midfielder to further strengthen the team’s midfield control, boost their attacking firepower up front, and continue to build the team’s offensive combinations around Yang Yang as the core.

Their spending in the transfer market wouldn’t be too high, aiming to keep it between three and five million euros. However, several players on the team would have their contracts renewed, including Pinaar, Sneijder, and Yang Yang.

Among them, the priority for renewal was Yang Yang.

While Yang Yang was looking over the transfer plan, Ali Van Eeden showed the club’s sincerity regarding the contract renewal: the team was willing to double Yang Yang’s current salary.

A weekly, after-tax salary of 20 thousand euros. This had already reached the standard set by Van der Vaart and Ibrahimovic back in their day.

After this new round of renewals, only Sneijder would be in the same salary bracket as Yang Yang. All other players would inevitably earn slightly less, which meant Yang Yang would become Ajax’s undisputed number one star.

In addition, appearance bonuses, goal bonuses, assist bonuses, and team performance bonuses would all be significantly increased from their current levels. All told, Yang Yang’s income would be a great deal higher than it was now.

Besides Ali Van Eeden, the club chairman, Michael van Praag, also made a promise on behalf of the club. He stated that if Yang Yang was willing to stay, the team would do its utmost to develop him, pouring all its resources into guaranteeing his position and tactical role in the team to ensure he could continue his outstanding performance from this season into the next.

It had to be said that after hearing the terms Ajax offered, Yang Yang genuinely felt their sincerity.

But he didn’t think the club was getting a bad deal. The reason was simple: as long as Yang Yang performed well in the new season, the club would receive a much higher income when they eventually sold him. It wouldn’t be a matter of hundreds of thousands, or even several million euros.

According to current external valuations, Yang Yang was worth 25 million euros at the very least. And everyone knew it was absolutely impossible to persuade Ajax to sell at that price.

Yang Yang was aware of all this, but he didn’t point it out. He left the entire process in Raiola’s hands.

After talking for over an hour, the two sides had a full exchange of views. Neither Yang Yang nor Raiola gave a clear answer, and the first round of negotiations soon concluded.

After seeing Yang Yang and Raiola off, Ali Van Eeden shook his head and sighed.

"This Italian Vampire is not easy to deal with."

If it were just Yang Yang alone, it wouldn’t be too difficult for the club to persuade him by appealing to his emotions and reasoning. But with Raiola in the picture, the situation was far more complicated.

Moreover, it was clear that Yang Yang trusted Raiola a great deal.

But regardless, they still had to continue dealing with Raiola.

Renewing Yang Yang’s contract was Ajax’s top priority this summer.