Chen Yingxiong indeed provided the media with a great gimmick, a huge gimmick.

If he could really win the UEFA Golden Globe this year, then he could replicate Stanley Matthews's legend.

Becoming the second player to win the European Golden Globe at the age of forty-one.

And everyone knew in their hearts that in today's football world, if Chen Yingxiong could achieve this, it would be even more remarkable than Stanley Matthews!

You have to know that in Matthews's era, players didn't play many games in a season. Besides the domestic league, there were domestic cup games, and not many European games. Unlike today's players, who have to play sixty games a season.

So Stanley Matthews being able to play until he was fifty was largely related to the less intense and frequent games at the time.

But now...

With such a background comparison, you can see how arrogant Chen Yingxiong was to say such a thing.

Even if he was in good shape in January, could he defeat someone else's entire season in half a season?

You have to know that even if Chen Yingxiong is great, today's football world is not Chen Yingxiong's alone.

In La Liga and Serie A, there are superstars. Especially Klayton Quik, the star of Barcelona in La Liga, who was once called "Messi II" after his debut, with a similar figure to Messi and a very similar playing style. In the years when Liverpool failed to win the Champions League, he led Barcelona to win a Champions League title. In La Liga, his Barcelona has now completed two consecutive league titles. If they can win the championship this season, they will have completed three consecutive league titles, which can be regarded as creating a dynasty.

And he is still quite young, only twenty-four years old this year. After Chen Yingxiong retires, everyone believes that Klayton Quik and Giovanni Leon Amoruso will dominate European football, and even world football. Who can become the world's number one is the most concerned topic at that time.

But now, Amoruso has not yet landed in Europe, and the most popular person in European football is Klayton Quik.

He has also performed very well this season. Currently, Barcelona leads arch-rival Real Madrid by as many as eight points in the league.

If this trend continues, Barcelona is likely to win the league title for three consecutive seasons and recreate a dynasty.

With such a performance, how could UEFA not give the Golden Globe to Quik?

So, if Chen Yingxiong wants to win the UEFA Golden Globe at the age of forty-one, he has to face Quik's challenge.

And it's a very severe challenge.

To be honest, not many people are optimistic about Chen Yingxiong winning this competition.

Although Chen Yingxiong's state can be said to be very good at present. But Quik is just as good, and he has half a season more of excellent performance than him, which can add points.

When the two perform similarly, why should Chen Yingxiong compete with Quik?

Even if he can help Liverpool win the league title, so what?

Quik can also lead Barcelona to win the La Liga title. Everyone is a champion of the top league, and the status of the Premier League and La Liga is similar. Why should it be given to Chen Yingxiong and not to Quik?

The most important thing is that Chen Yingxiong was banned for nine months, which made him miss all the games in the first half of the season, which is a fatal injury.

But Chen Yingxiong himself doesn't think so.

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"The blank period of half a season is exactly my advantage," Chen Yingxiong said to his agent, Dekura. "Think about it, things that people can only do in a whole season, I did it in only half a season, and I did it better than him. Who else should get the Golden Globe if not me?"

Dekura didn't come to discuss this recent, well-known matter with him. He came to talk to Chen Yingxiong about commercial development.

It's unbelievable that a forty-year-old Chen Yingxiong still has considerable commercial value, but that's the reality.

Before the ban, Chen Yingxiong had always been the champion on the world football's annual income list, and had been so for more than ten consecutive years. Nike's endorsement fee for him every year was equivalent to the total endorsement fee of most players in a year.

But the nine-month ban caused his income to decline. Some sponsors canceled Chen Yingxiong's contract as soon as possible because they believed that Chen Yingxiong's kicking of Manchester City fans would implicate their brand image. Of course, although their approach was later ridiculed as a foolish move, the impact on Chen Yingxiong had already been caused—this incident caused Chen Yingxiong's endorsement fee to drop sharply by 20% last year, and this is just the impact of last year. The real impact will be this year. Because last year's endorsement fees have actually been given out, the impact of those previously canceled contracts will gradually appear this year.

This year, it is estimated that Chen Yingxiong's income will be reduced by as much as 40%.

Of course, Chen Yingxiong is no longer playing football to make money, otherwise his salary at Liverpool would not be so low.

This is actually a matter of face.

Everyone can distinguish who is the world's number one master from the level of income.

Chen Yingxiong had always monopolized this position before, and his own performance and honor were indeed very suitable for this identity.

Now that his income has fallen, naturally some people will think that he is no longer the world's number one star, and with the nine-month ban, more people will think so.

The future belongs to Quik. This kid's current annual income happens to be ranked second. If Chen Yingxiong really loses 40% of his income this year, Quik will be able to sit on the throne of the highest income in world football.

This matter is too symbolic.

Through this seemingly unrelated thing to football, everyone can see the end of an era, and the process of an old legend being replaced by a new legend.

But after Chen Yingxiong returned in January, the number of companies looking for Chen Yingxiong to sign new contracts suddenly increased.

They hope to obtain Chen Yingxiong's endorsement, and for this, they are willing to pay high endorsement fees.

So those who were still cheering for Quik before were dumbfounded—it seems that Chen Yingxiong will not easily hand over his glory of the highest annual income.

The symbolic meaning suddenly became a collective fantasy of Quik's fans.

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Chen Yingxiong naturally knows the thoughts of Quik's supporters, because these people had blatantly stated their thoughts before.

When he was banned for nine months, it was not just Liverpool's opponents in the Premier League who were happy, but also Barcelona's supporters. Because of Chen Yingxiong's existence, Barcelona had been in decline for many years. Now that Chen Yingxiong was banned, they seemed to see the hope of Barcelona's resurgence in Europe.

So they were especially proud and rampant during that time, completely ignoring Chen Yingxiong, and blatantly promoting the decline of Chen Yingxiong and Liverpool, claiming that this meant that Barcelona could rise again. For this reason, they constantly looked for evidence for their arguments. Those sponsors who abandoned Chen Yingxiong were naturally the most powerful evidence they found. Seeing the sponsors abandon Chen Yingxiong, fearing to avoid him, they felt very happy—Chen Yingxiong, ah Chen Yingxiong, you would never have thought that you bastard would have such a day?!

Chen Yingxiong dismissed these losers' complacency and didn't take the other party's rise theory seriously.

They thought that if he earned less money, it would be a sign of Quik's comeback, which is really naive.

Because of the huge age gap between the two sides, perhaps after he retires, the position of the boss of European football will indeed be handed over to Quik. But at least before he retires, whether it's Quik or anyone else, don't even think about plotting against his Chen Yingxiong!

No one can defeat him unless he quits himself.

The competition for the European Golden Globe is also for this purpose. He certainly knows that the situation is very unfavorable to him, but it is precisely because this matter is full of difficulty that he is willing to try. Chen Yingxiong doesn't do things that are not difficult.

If he can defeat Quik and win the UEFA Golden Globe that everyone thinks is a sure thing for the other party, it will undoubtedly be the best gift for his retirement. Even if he leaves, he must leave a tall figure that is enough for everyone to look up to, so that future generations will feel admiration, and will never be able to climb up.

He also knows Quik very well, after all, the two sides have been opponents for so many years.

This kid is indeed very talented. There are not many people who can be called "Messi II", unlike Maradona II, which was so rampant at the beginning. And among those who can be called "Messi II", there are even fewer who can finally play well and look like Messi, and he is the only one.

But in the final analysis, the second is the second. He has even suppressed Messi I, the kid's template, to death, so why be afraid of a counterfeit?

So what if he's younger than him? Chen Yingxiong never thinks that he is old and inferior to those lively young people. In his opinion, the only way for those young people in football to succeed is to honestly wait for him to retire!

Half a season is enough for him to sweep Europe.

This time, he will not only help Liverpool win their fifteenth Premier League title in history, and their thirty-third top league title, but he will also help Liverpool win their fifteenth Champions League title in club history.

He believes that as long as he does it, he will definitely be able to win the UEFA Golden Globe. Among those experts and authorities, his performance and age combined have an overwhelming advantage. What can Quik, who hasn't even grown his hair yet, compete with him for?

Those authorities should know whose difficulty is greater, whose achievements are higher, and who deserves to win the award.

He wants to make all those who are waiting to see him in his twilight years, and then let the back waves die on the beach, lick back all the phlegm they spit out!

The matter of heroes in their twilight years cannot happen to him.