I Am Scouted by Real Madrid
Chapter 619 - 64: Sponsorship, the New C. Ronaldo (Part 2)
Jese is currently playing in Real Madrid’s youth A team and is the most promising young player at that age level.
At that time, Real Madrid’s first team assistant coach Kalanca recommended Jese to Mourinho.
One of the comments was: "After watching this young player, all the senior team players praise him as a true genius!"
Since Real Madrid’s youth training has successively provided players like Chen Zhong, Negredo, and Casillas in recent years, the club’s emphasis on youth training has obviously increased.
Someone once tried to compare Jese with Chen Zhong, but was quickly rebutted.
After all, that’s Chen Zhong!
After a brief discussion, they unanimously agreed that Jese is the Cristiano Ronaldo in Real Madrid’s youth academy.
This is how both his teammates and coaches assess him.
In various youth teams of Real Madrid, Jese’s playing style most resembles the Portuguese.
At the same time, many people believe that in the future, Jese will replace Cristiano Ronaldo and become a good assistant next to Chen Zhong.
Jese himself has no objections to this.
In the Sports City, there may be players who think about replacing Chen Zhong, suppressing Chen Zhong, such as Morata when he first joined Real Madrid’s youth training, or that French genius midfielder Pogba.
But in the end, in a collective environment, at least in words, they change their "original intention".
Today is obviously a special day for Jese, because at 17, he will be promoted to the first team by Mourinho for training, and the person coming to pick him up is the captain, leader, and symbol of Real Madrid.
Chen Zhong!
The story of Chen Zhong is well-known in Sports City. A few years ago, it was the then captain and symbol of Real Madrid, Raul, who brought the 16-year-old Chen Zhong to the first team for training.
While waiting for Chen Zhong, Jese’s face was completely red, his eyes full of anticipation, convinced that this would not be his last time participating in the senior team’s training.
Moreover, Jese felt lucky because Real Madrid’s youth team was going to Galicia to play against the Montaneros Team, which meant his teammates in the youth team had no chance to participate in this training match.
"Look, Chen, that’s Jese."
"His recent performances have been remarkable!"
"You know the head coach of the youth team, Toril, don’t you? You had brief contact with him before. Since having Jese, he has almost set new records for himself, and with Jese’s help, this season the youth team had 13 wins and 1 loss in the first 14 rounds and is at the top of the table."
"By the way!"
"Jese scored 9 goals by himself, and some beautiful golden goals were posted on YouTube, with many sharing and likes."
The person introducing Jese to Chen Zhong was Real Madrid’s assistant coach Kalanca, and next to Kalanca was Francisco.
Kalanca witnessed Jese’s outstanding performance in the European Youth Championship as an assistant to Melendez, the coach of Spain’s U17 National Team, this spring.
If there were a ranking of people who appreciate Jese the most, Kalanca would undoubtedly be among the top.
In fact, Francisco had already privately mentioned to Chen Zhong that the reason Jese had the opportunity to be promoted to the senior team at the age of 17 was mainly due to Kalanca’s strong recommendation.
According to the information Mourinho received, Jese is an outstanding young player, though many aspects still need polishing, but given time, he will definitely become a great player.
Kalanca even, after a moment of hesitation, suggested that Jese is the Chen Zhong of the forward line.
Of course, this statement is obviously somewhat exaggerated, after all, that’s Chen Zhong.
But without a doubt, it also impressed Mourinho.
"You, hello, Chen..." Jese blushed like a monkey’s bottom as he looked at Chen Zhong, who could understand, as he is not like Raul, he has waves of kids and players from the Sports City coming to see him.
"Hello, Jese."
"Don’t be too nervous."
"In fact, I’m only two or three years older than you."
Jese looked up at Chen Zhong and shook his head, saying, "No, I’m not nervous."
After a pause, he added, "But you have already become... what you are now in the first team."
After a brief chat, they went together to the training ground of the senior team. Jese initially gave an impression of being shy and nervous, even making small mistakes in some aspects.
However, he quickly adapted.
And left a deep impression on people.
Coincidentally, Mourinho arrived at the training ground when Jese was performing at his best.
Active positioning, flexible.
That’s the first impression Jese gave Mourinho, and while Jese was performing, he could hear someone whispering in his ear: "He is truly a genius!" "Without a doubt, he’s a genius player." "He will definitely be able to help us."
Jese gave the coaches and players in the first team a direct impression.
That is, he is a genius!
A genius player!
Mourinho seemed a bit annoyed by the murmurs and turned, first seeing the innocent Francisco with a notably larger belly.
Mourinho shifted his gaze, fixing it on Kalanca instead, who didn’t avoid it and continued enthusiastically praising Jese.
"You’re right," Mourinho looked at Kalanca and said with a smile. "But who should we take down? Cristiano? Kaka? Diego?"
Among the three wingers, two are Ballon d’Or winners, and the other performed well in the last national derby.
They are obviously not comparable to Jese at this moment.
Kalanca opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing. Jese became famous in his youth, having long been a signed player for Nike.
On the national team front, he is a member of Spain’s U17 and U19 teams.
Three years ago, after being discovered by Alfonso, a scout from Real Madrid based in the Canary Islands, 14-year-old Jese went to Real Madrid’s youth academy.
In the blink of an eye, he has already played for Real Madrid for four seasons.
In the first three seasons, he won the league championship with his age group’s team.
However...
He is not Chen Zhong.
Even Chen Zhong initially got some playing chances at the center-back position due to a coincidence, when Metzelder was injured, Pepe was unstable, and Cannavaro was aging, and slowly transitioned to the midfield position in the end.
And was even loaned out for half a season.
Kalanca had to admit, compared to other teams, star-studded Real Madrid is not a very good choice for young players.
But like winning the lottery, because of Chen Zhong’s existence, quite a number of aspiring young players still come here, believing they can become the next Chen Zhong.
But look...
Granero, Callejon, Parejo, Morata...
They have not yet received stable playing time, sometimes even having to go back to Castilla to play matches.
And although Negredo has gotten some playing time, is what he’s experiencing now really what he wants?
As training ended, Jese kept sneaking glances at Chen Zhong, this match for Jese was like a beautiful dream.
Will I be selected for the squad against Valencia?
And then, like Chen Zhong, in the first match, a certain player gets injured?
He takes the responsibility in a crisis?
Jese had many thoughts, but a harsh voice clearly told him he’s not Chen Zhong.
He was not included in the Valencia squad.
He left with regret.
Chen Zhong watched Jese’s back, full of mixed feelings.
A genius...
Is just the threshold to meet me...
To fight alongside me, being a genius is not enough.
At night, after returning to the dormitory, Chen Zhong received a call from an old friend as usual.