Standing in front of the south window of Schalke Zero 4's training center, you can overlook the Aoyou Schalke Stadium 300 meters away.

The spectacular stadium was a little stunned every time.

This feeling is exactly the same as when he came to Schalke Zero 4 from Basel, Switzerland three years ago, standing in this place and admiring this spectacular World Cup stadium from this perspective.

That year he was nineteen years old, a talented rookie who had just debuted for a year and had been paying attention to all European giant teams.

In those years, Schalke Zero 4 was also one of the most famous teams in the Bundesliga and has always maintained strong competitiveness. Rakitic chose this place as the starting point for his entry into the top European league, hoping to complete improvement and even transformation here. But now looking back, everything is against its wishes.

The three years he joined Schalke 04 were also three years of turbulence in the team. His performance was fluctuating, and Rakitic himself was greatly affected. First, he was unable to adapt to Ruten's 433 formation and tactical style. Later, after Ruten left the team and Magath took over, the team's performance improved significantly and he rejoined the Bundesliga championship.

But at this time, Rakitic found it difficult to adapt to Magat's training and game requirements, and it was difficult to gain Magat's trust. He seemed to prefer to use players like Knia and Moritz, which made Rakitic's situation in the team very embarrassing.

This summer, Rakitic was originally confident that he wanted to show better performance to prove himself, but he was not lucky.

After the league started, he followed the team to lose 1-2 away to Hamburg. After returning to Gelsenkirchen, he found that his home was looted by thieves and all the valuable items were taken away, which made him feel at a loss.

He called the police immediately, but the police said that it was impossible to accurately speculate the exact time of the theft and it was difficult to search.

The loss was not serious, but he was very panicked about it. He could no longer feel safe with his apartment, so he began to plan to move and look for a new home, which seriously affected his daily training and preparations.

But the club and the coach did not provide him any help at all. Head coach Magath just said a few words of comfort in an interview, and then ignored him and he had to do everything by himself.

This was indeed a very difficult time for him, who was only twenty-two years old.

Because it affected his condition at the beginning of the season, he began to be out of trust by Magath. The two even had a verbal conflict in the media and were reported by the media.

More importantly, this year is the last year of his contract with Schalke Zero Four.

After October, the issue of Rakitic's contract renewal has attracted widespread attention. Rakitic's intention is to renew the contract, but he hopes that the club and coaching staff promise to give him a chance to play. He firmly believes that he can meet the requirements of the coaching staff and complete the team's tasks. He does not feel worse than other teammates.

At the same time, his agent is also actively planning for him, connecting with many teams, such as Birmingham, Bolton, Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League, Naples in Serie A, Juventus, AC Milan, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla in La Liga.

This is a very common negotiation method. On the one hand, it can put some pressure on the club to ensure the interests of the players when renewing the contract. On the other hand, it can also gain a certain initiative to avoid players falling into a passive position after the club refuses to renew the contract.

In order to show his sincerity, Rakitic even publicly stated through an interview with his agent that although many teams, including Inter Milan, are eager to get Rakitic, the player's first choice is to stay at Schalke Zero Four.

However, Schalke Zero Four and head coach Magath still refused to accept Rakitic's request and were unwilling to guarantee his position as the main player of the team, which forced the two sides to hold a stalemate to negotiate a contract renewal.

In November, head coach Magath admitted in an open interview with the media, "I am not optimistic about Rakitic's contract renewal negotiations. In fact, we may decide to sell him during the winter break."

"Everything can happen in the professional league, and the deals this winter are also possible."

Magath's words undoubtedly pushed Rakitic to a very embarrassing situation, and he had to make a choice.

This is undoubtedly a difficult choice.

He was only twenty-two years old. In the past few years of Schalke 04, except for his first season, he failed to show satisfactory strength and progress in the rest of the seasons, which brought him unprecedented doubts.

He is no longer the Basel genius midfielder three years ago.

If he does not perform better in this transfer and reaches his new owner, his career will be invalidated.

It is precisely because of this that many strong teams are discouraged by him.

Originally, Atletico Madrid, which was originally full of loyalty, no longer contacted Juventus and AC Milan, had no substantial contact from beginning to end, and there were not many choices left to him.

Birmingham and Bolton in the Premier League, Sevilla in La Liga, and Naples in Serie A...

The agent said that recently another team was in contact with him, Chinatown in La Liga.

Gao Han's team, the newly promoted team last season, is currently ranked third in La Liga this season, and is likely to compete for the Champions League qualification.

The reason why Atletico Madrid no longer launched an offensive against Rakitic was that it fell in love with Schneiderlin of Chinatown, and Chinatown wanted to introduce him to fill Schneiderlin's vacancy.

This made Rakitic feel somewhat sad.

But reality is so cruel. He will not be ruthless to him just because he is young.

…………

…………

"What's going on? You've been feeling depressed lately."

A familiar voice suddenly rang behind him.

Rakitic looked back and saw that he was teammate Raul, former Real Madrid captain.

A good person.

At least Rakitic felt that.

"You know." Rakitic smiled bitterly and replied.

With this smile, the expression on his face was not obvious at all, and he looked very mature.

It is a kind of maturity that is forced to come out, revealing tenderness and weakness.

"It's hard to say about transfers, and it's very difficult to make a choice, but sometimes we don't have to choose at all."

Raul walked to Rakitic and looked at Aoyu Schalke Stadium from afar, but a trace of remembrance appeared in his eyes, as if what he saw was the Bernabeu Stadium in his heart.

"I never thought I would leave Real Madrid one day, but when I really had to leave, I found that leaving was a good thing. It was a good thing for me, the club, the coaching staff, and everyone. After leaving, you will find that many things that I thought I could not give up can be given up."

Rakitic listened to Raul's comfort very seriously, the latter of whom was one of the few teammates in the team who still had confidence in him.

In fact, the two of them seem to be very co-starring, whether they are training or playing.

"I said this to me before I made the decision, a neighbor of mine said, "He said, there is a proverb in his motherland, "Tree moves to die, people move to live, so I decided to leave Real Madrid later."

After Raul finished speaking, he laughed, looking very relieved and relaxed.

He has said more than once that after coming to Schalke Zero 4, he can play and play more easily and enjoy the fun of football.

"Oh, by the way, my neighbor is called Gao Han."

"It's him!" Rakitic's eyes lit up.

This name is well-known throughout European football. All professional players are proud of Gao Han playing football, but only the top stars can play football for him, so his team can often achieve the best results.

"What kind of person is he?" Rakitic asked curiously.

Raul rarely mentioned Gao Han, but he didn't expect that the two of them were still neighbors. Rakitic was extremely curious.

"What kind of person?" Raul laughed, thought for a while, and shook his head, "It's hard to say, ordinary people, I heard that according to their Chinese aesthetics, I heard that they are quite handsome, but I think he is not as handsome as me at all."

Rakitic couldn't help but smile when he heard this, but he didn't expect that Raul had such a side.

"He's a very enthusiastic person about football, a trustworthy person, I think."

"Where is Chinatown?"

"Chinatown?" Raul frowned and thought for a while. "As far as I know, he is the crystallization of Gao Han's efforts. He has been working hard for ten years. He has been working hard for Gao Han. Now he has finally managed to make it through the past two years. He has played well in La Liga this season. He is best at youth training and is very good at training players."

After pausing, Raul smiled slightly, "You know, Carlos Cantalero is this in carving players!" Raul gave a thumbs up and expressed his appreciation.

Cantalero is indeed a famous figure in European football. He is Gao Han's right-hand man and has done a great job in many teams. Later, he served as the technical director of Chinatown, which was exactly two years after Chinatown's performance improved by leaps and bounds.

"This team has only been established for ten years and has a weak foundation, but its strength is undoubtedly good. It is at least not accidental that I can reach the third place in La Liga this season, because as far as I know, they have gathered a group of outstanding young players, and they are also very good at digging and cultivating players, so they have developed very quickly in the past two years."

"I can't tell what will happen in the future, but I think it should be a force that cannot be underestimated in La Liga and even European football."

Raul looked at Rakitic's thoughtful expression and understood the Croatians' embarrassment.

He only heard from his friend yesterday that Chinatown was interested in Rakitic, but he was not interested in participating in it. Today, it was mainly Rakitic who asked, so he gave an answer, and everything was based on his original intention and there was no falsehood.

"I personally understand that your characteristics are more suitable for La Liga, where you can better exert your strength. In addition to Chinatown, teams such as Sevilla, Valencia and Villarr are also very good choices. I suggest you think carefully. The next choice is crucial to you." Raul said earnestly.

Rakitic nodded heavily, and he could feel Raul's kindness.

"Can I take the liberty to ask you a question?" Rakitic asked suddenly.

"Of course, ask." Raul replied readily.

"If...I mean if, assuming, if you were me, which team would you choose?"

Raul was stunned for a moment, then laughed, "It's hard to answer this assumption."

"It's okay, I'm just asking casually, you talk casually."

Raul thought for a moment and nodded, "Chinatown."

"Why?"

"Gao Han and I are neighbors. I know him, so he won't cheat me." Raul laughed.

Rakitic's expression on replying to this was... full of black lines.
Chapter completed!