Chapter 535: Choice
As the summer transfer window deadline approached, Huang Hu faced a situation that was both awkward and fortunate: he couldn't obtain a work permit for the Premier League, so the club had to choose to loan him out.
Players without work permits cannot participate in official matches, including league games, cup competitions, and European tournaments; they can only train with the team and participate in some friendly matches.
If he could compete for a starting position at Chelsea, this situation would be very disadvantageous. However, the reality was that he was relegated to the youth team with no playing opportunities, so a loan move seemed more appropriate.
Huang Hu had not expected such benefits from not transferring. Under the operation of his agent, Balmond, Chelsea reached a loan agreement with Bundesliga side Werder Bremen for a period of one year. Considering the player's development, both Chelsea and Werder Bremen would share half of the Chinese young talent's salary.
Werder Bremen was naturally very happy about this arrangement, as they were getting a player who could contribute immediately at almost no cost. Although they had declined in recent years, they had won the league title four times in history and had participated in the Champions League several times. Last season, they barely avoided relegation, finishing in 13th place.
In a situation where the club's finances were tight and they had to continue selling players in the summer transfer window, they could only afford to loan ready-made players from other teams. It just so happened that Huang Hu's situation matched their needs perfectly.
So, the Chinese young talent happily packed his bags and prepared to head to Werder Bremen again. His departure made his teammate De Bruyne quite envious. "You're really lucky. When you go to the Bundesliga, make sure to perform well and don't sit on the bench," said De Bruyne.
Huang Hu nodded and patted De Bruyne on the shoulder, saying, "Kevin, you also need to continue working hard. You must strive for what you deserve. If you still don't get playing time, consider going on loan like me, otherwise, you'll waste away."
De Bruyne understood this principle very well. He planned to give himself three months, and if he couldn't get an opportunity by then, he would have to "rescue" himself.
Despite his usually easygoing demeanor, Huang Hu took his future career planning very seriously. Choosing the Bundesliga and Werder Bremen was the result of careful consideration among his few options.
Firstly, he considered the position in the team. Currently, the club's main striker was 32-year-old Peruvian Claudio Pizarro. Another main striker was 28-year-old Swede Markus Rosenberg. The main backup forwards were 22-year-old Austrian Marco Arnautovic, 20-year-old German Felix Kroos, 21-year-old Turk Muhammet Ak?nc?, and 18-year-old German talent Levent Aycicek.
Although the club had seven forwards in total, only Pizarro could secure a starting position. The other attacking positions were up for competition.
Huang Hu's goal was not too high; he just wanted to ensure a relatively stable amount of playing time as a substitute. There were still many areas where he needed to improve and strengthen.
The second consideration was the head coach, Thomas Schaaf. Since taking over the reins of the team in 1999, the German had been in charge for 12 years. He had led the team to win league and cup titles, earning high prestige. Schaaf greatly admired attacking football and had once said in an interview, "It's easier to organize defense with all eleven players focused on it than to attack, but in that case, football would be no fun at all."
Therefore, under his leadership, attacking players would have many opportunities to grow, which Huang Hu was looking forward to.
Finally, he considered the friendliness of the Bundesliga towards Chinese players. From the early 2000s, with Yang Chen playing for Eintracht Frankfurt and Shao Jiayi playing for TSV 1860 Munich, there had been a constant influx of Chinese players to Germany.
Until Dong Fangzuo became the core of Bayern Munich, this trend reached its peak, benefiting many other clubs as well. Although Huang Hu was just a small fish, his popularity in China, thanks to Wang Feng's support, meant that many Genk fans were still following the club and knew about him. So, he had accumulated some fans and received some media coverage back home.
He was much luckier than his peers who were trained in the same year but could only go to leagues in Switzerland, Estonia, or Lithuania. These players were hardly noticed, and their salaries were not high. Some couldn't bear the loneliness and chose to return to China for development. Although there were many opportunities for money there, their football skills declined, and they could no longer establish themselves in Europe.
In the Werder Bremen team manager's office, representatives from Chelsea, agent Balmond, and Werder Bremen manager Allofs were verifying the final details of the contract.
According to the translated summary, Huang Hu knew that he would not only receive a basic salary, approximately 410,000 euros after tax for a year, but also bonuses for goals, wins, and more.
This treatment was better than when he was at Genk, so he was quite satisfied. After all, it translated to an annual income close to four million. If he wasn't playing football, he wondered where he would end up earning such an amount. Even earning one hundred thousand a year would be a blessing.
He didn't have much autonomy in choosing his jersey number; he could only choose from what was available. Fortunately, the number 30 was vacant, which was Wang Feng's number when he made his debut. So, he chose it without hesitation.
He took a simple photo holding the jersey. The club would later update Huang Hu's information on their official website and Twitter. Although few people paid attention to this news, Huang Hu felt very satisfied.
After everything was settled, the Chinese youngster was brought to head coach Schaaf. He nodded slightly and said, "Your spirit is good, but there are two things you need to do quickly."
"Learn German, and enhance your physical fitness. You look too thin. Schmidt, take a look at Huang's report later and develop a special meal plan."
The team's fitness coach and nutritionist, Schmidt, nodded. Although Werder Bremen was not a powerhouse, they had a lot of experience in developing players.
There were player dormitories in the club's training base, each housing two players. Huang Hu was assigned to share a room with substitute central defender, Frenchman Sylvester.
He had been a key player for Manchester United but made a fatal mistake while representing France in the 2004 European Championship. This not only caused him to lose the trust of the national team coach but also led to a decline in his performance at the club, eventually making him a substitute at Werder Bremen after unsuccessful stints at Arsenal and other clubs.
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