'Generous' Barcelona

While the media was hyping Lin alongside Messi, and German journalists were searching for him around the world, Lin had quietly boarded a plane and flown back to Spain.

He had originally told Guardiola that there was no need to send someone to pick him up, but when he arrived at the Barcelona airport, he was surprised to find someone there.

"Uncle Pere, why are you here?" The person picking him up was Guardiola's brother, Pere Guardiola, who, like his brother, used to be a professional player but retired early due to lack of talent and later became an agent.

In Lin's impression, Pere was a very busy person, shuttling back and forth between Europe and Latin America to scout young players who had not been signed by other agents.

"I watched your game against Bayern and noticed that you injured your ankle. I thought you might have trouble getting around, so I greeted Pep and came to pick you up!"

Pere was very enthusiastic as he took Lin's luggage and led him to his car.

"Pep and Serra's wedding is being held in a castle by the sea. Should I take you there directly, or would you like me to drop you off at home first?"

Starting the car, Pere asked Lin, who was sitting in the passenger seat.

"What time is the wedding tomorrow?"

"9:30 in the morning. Do you have something to do?"

"Well, I want to go to the Barcelona club to discuss my salary. Since you, Uncle Pere, are familiar with this business, could you accompany me?"

Pere was more than happy to agree. He still didn't have any big-name stars under him, and Lin was making a name for himself in the Bundesliga. It would be a huge step forward for his career if he could sign him!

"Of course, I have dealt with Barcelona many times, and I am very familiar with the club's situation. Let's go straight there!"

So the two of them left the airport and headed directly to the location of the Barcelona club.

...

In the office of the Barcelona youth team coach, Enrique sighed.

The renewal negotiations with Lin were not going well, and his performance in the Bundesliga was getting better day by day. This made him quite uneasy.

He had consulted President Rossell about this matter several times, but Rossell's attitude was very indifferent.

This made Enrique feel uneasy. He felt that he might be seen as a discardable player.

Especially with the news within the club that after Villanova, Martino would take over as Barcelona's coach, which further confirmed his worries!

"Hmph, it's your own lack of integrity that led to this. No wonder I flipped the table!"

Enrique had made up his mind. If Rossell really treated him as a discardable player, he would make sure to expose all of Rossell's scandals when he left Barcelona.

"You do unto me, l do unto you! 

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Just then, there was a hurried knocking on the office door.

"Come in!"

Feeling annoyed, Enrique impatiently called out.

The office door was pushed open, and Barcelona's sports director, Zubizarreta, came in, accompanied by a bald middle-aged man.

Enrique took a look at the man and was surprised. He looked very much like Barcelona's former coach, Guardiola.

"Who is this?"

Enrique asked, puzzled. Zubizarreta explained, "He is Guardiola's coach's brother!"

Enrique was a bit puzzled. Why would Guardiola's brother come to the youth team? Even if he wanted to return to Barcelona to coach, he should have gone to the president's office. What was he doing here?

"Cough, the matter I am here to handle today has nothing to do with Pep. I have been entrusted by my nephew, that is, Lin, to come to the club to claim his bonus and salary. This is the contract, I hope the club will not renege on it."

Claiming the salary was actually none of Enrique's business, but Zubizarreta insisted on bringing Pere to him. Pere didn't care, as long as he could get the money, his task would be considered complete.

He believed that the club would definitely resolve this matter. They couldn't keep passing the buck like this.

Otherwise, if he were to make this matter public, it would definitely have a serious negative impact on Barcelona's reputation.

Lin's loan contract had been agreed to against the odds by Enrique. The salary in this contract was not high, but the bonuses were substantial.

Enrique had thought that Lin would struggle to play in the fiercely competitive Bundesliga and find it difficult to score.

But to his surprise, he was finding his footing in the Bundesliga, scoring frequently, which made Barcelona feel like they had made a loss.

So, Zubizarreta grew resentful towards Enrique, and that's how he landed the blame on Enrique.

If Enrique hadn't insisted and agreed to give Lin a contract with ten times the bonus, this situation wouldn't have happened now.

Enrique was a bit angry. Zubizarreta had also agreed to this contract initially, but now he wanted to shift all the blame onto him. Indeed, the rumors were correct; he had failed in the competition with Martino. Otherwise, they wouldn't treat him this way. 

Thinking about this, Enrique decided to just let it go. After all, it was Barcelona's money, so he might as well give it to them without using his own wallet.

"Well, of course, I won't avoid the issue. Let's calculate the salary and bonus now. Mr. Zubizarreta is here, so we can ask him for the money after the calculations!"

Upon hearing this from Enrique, Zubizarreta couldn't help but feel annoyed:

How could a youth team coach dare to boss around the sports director?

Do you think you're the head coach of Barcelona?

"Alright, let's start calculating then!"

Pere didn't care what these two were thinking. Following the contract terms, he calculated Lin's appearance fees, goal bonuses, and assist bonuses in the Bundesliga.

The final calculation was 327,000 euros. This amount surprised both Enrique and Zubizarreta.

327,000 euros may not seem like much. After all, many players in Barcelona earn more than this salary.

However, Lin was under a youth team contract with an annual salary of only a few tens of thousands of euros. After just a month of playing, he received a bonus that was more than ten times his annual salary. Was this reasonable?

"Um, Pere, are you sure you calculated it correctly? Lin's bonus seems too high. It's higher than half of Barcelona's players!"

He had received over 300,000 euros in just a month into the Bundesliga season. If he continued this way, wouldn't he be earning two to three million euros a year after the Bundesliga season was over?

Earning two to three million euros a year wasn't overly extravagant considering Barcelona's average salary of 6.3 million euros. However, Lin didn't receive a salary; he received bonuses. In terms of bonuses alone, there were fewer than five players in Barcelona who earned more than him!

"That's right, it's all clearly written in black and white. If you don't believe me, take a look for yourself!"

Pere handed over the detailed calculations and results without any hesitation.

Enrique and Zubizarreta exchanged a serious glance and began to read carefully.

As they read, they realized that something was off.

"Well, Pere, as a former professional player, you should know that warm-up matches are not counted as official games, right?"

Enrique saw that Pere had calculated five warm-up matches and two cup matches, and a few black lines appeared on his forehead.

Pere nodded, indicating he knew, but then asked back, "I know about that. But you didn't specify in the contract that warm-up matches don't count, right?"

Uh...

Enrique and Zubizarreta were speechless. Did they really need to specify something that was widely understood?

"You only mentioned games representing Werder Bremen, not excluding warm-up matches, right?

Since it wasn't specified, when Lin played in the warm-up matches for Werder Bremen, it naturally counted for bonuses!"

Pere had a righteous look, feeling confident that even if it came to court, he was in the right, so he wasn't worried at all.

"Let's just follow the contract!"

Enrique nonchalantly nodded. After all, he wasn't the one paying the money; he could just let it go!

Zubizarreta glared at Enrique, feeling a bit reluctant to pay up but did so, then asked, "Pere, regarding Lin's contract renewal, what do you think?"

Having paid this sum, which wasn't a big deal for a renowned club like Barcelona, Zubizarreta wanted to use this money to show Lin the club's sincerity and possibly make progress in the contract renewal.

"Renewal? Lin's contract is not yet due; let's not rush into this issue. When the contract expires, we can discuss it then!"

Pere felt a stir in his heart but didn't ask further. He decisively took the money and left, thanking Barcelona for its generosity before leaving.

Offering such a high bonus to a player who was not yet 17, Barcelona was indeed generous.

However, these words seemed like mockery to Enrique and Zubizarreta!