The news that Lucio did not come made Chu Zhongtian a little disappointed. When he heard that the club had this plan, he began to look forward to it. He hoped to fight alongside a championship-level team like Lucio, but unfortunately, people looked down on Hoffenheim. Perhaps after Hoffenheim participated in the Champions League and became famous in Europe, more first-class stars in their year of playing would be willing to join. Now Hoffenheim is more like picking up rags in the transfer market, and he can only choose others to choose the remaining targets.

Of course, Chu Zhongtian did not think that Metzeld was the one who was left.

Metzeld's ability is still there, but frequent injuries have greatly reduced his condition. If he recovers from injuries, I believe he can still play a big role.

Real Madrid has long wanted to get rid of Metzelder's burden. Because he joined for free, he would not ask for a high price to sell it now. For Real Madrid, Metzelder is like Woodgate, another central defender who joined the team many years ago. Woodgate became famous in Leeds and was considered a promising defender. After joining Real Madrid, he fell into the dilemma of frequent injuries. His years at Real Madrid were basically spent in hospital beds and gyms.

Metzelder seemed to be cursed by Woodgate. He transferred to Real Madrid in 2007. In two seasons, he only represented Real Madrid on all fronts twenty-eight times.

Looking at the number of appearances like this, it is normal for Real Madrid to buy him. After all, if it cannot be sold this summer, his contract will expire in June next year, and Real Madrid will not make a penny. If it is time to wait for the winter transfer period... the smart German club will not pay a transfer fee to a player who has ended his contract in five months - Metzeld himself tends to go back to Germany instead of going somewhere else.

Metzeld himself also has a strong desire to leave Real Madrid because he cannot play in Real Madrid, which has already made him lose his position as the German national team. If he wants to participate in the South African World Cup, he cannot continue to stay on Real Madrid on the bench.

Hoffenheim wants to buy people, Real Madrid wants to sell people, and Metzeld wants to leave himself. All three parties have the same goal, so things will be much easier.

The negotiations went smoothly. Twenty-nine days before Hoffenheim started training, the clubs of both sides reached an agreement, as well as Hoffenheim and Metzeld himself. Metzeld transferred to join Hoffenheim, and the two sides signed a four-year contract, with an annual salary of 3 million euros before tax from 2009 to 2012. Hoffenheim only needs to pay Real Madrid four million euros.

The 28-year-old Metzeld is in his year of fighting. As long as he is in good health, he can greatly improve the quality of Hoffenheim's defense line, especially air defense capabilities. Rangnick hopes that Hoffenheim's most expensive high-tech clinic can help Metzeld stay healthy for most of the time.

※※June 29th is the day when Hoffenheim starts the pre-season training camp. The players have basically returned to Hoffenheim one to two days in advance. On this day, they have to undergo a physical examination from the club doctor to check their physical condition after this holiday, so that the coaching staff can arrange training plans for their physical condition.

The results of the physical examination came out soon. Among all the 31 players who participated in the physical examination, Chu Zhongtian's physical condition was the best. The team doctors found that after a holiday, Chu Zhongtian's body had not increased at all, and everything remained in the mid-season state. Team doctor Peter Bex lamented that Chu Zhongtian's body could directly participate in the new season without any adjustments.

Another unexpected thing is that several players' bodies showed signs of getting fat after a holiday. Rangnick has ordered them to lose weight and they should not try to compete in any competition until their physical condition returns to normal levels.

On the same afternoon, the club held a franchise ceremony for the newly joined team Simunic, Van Nystruei and Metzeld. Five thousand fans came to the scene, welcomed the two veterans Simunic and Van Nystruei, as well as Metzeld.

Before this, Chu Zhongtian, as the captain, welcomed three new players on behalf of the team. Many players were excited about Fanny's joining, but Chu Zhongtian still maintained the captain's aura in front of Fanny Streui. He did not wait to find Fanny Streui to sign the autograph like other teammates... After that, the team held a new captain election. In addition to the captain being designated by Rangnick in the first season, the captain will be selected by players next. After the first captain of last season, Telberg, the first captain of the team last season, Chu Zhongtian was selected as the first captain of the team in the new season, Perl Nilsson's second captain,

The third captain is Simonic, who has joined the team. The third guard captain will also form the team committee for Hoffenheim's new season with goalkeeper Hildebran, defender Comper, and midfielder Sarihovic. The team committee is mainly responsible for communicating with the coach and the club's senior management to safeguard the interests of the players. For example, the rules for the bonuses for each season are discussed with the club and distributed. If the players have any problems themselves and are inconvenient to solve, they can also contact the team committee for the team committee to discuss and solve them. In addition, if a teammate has a birthday, the team committee will also raise money to buy cakes for the teammate and organize a simple celebration.

※※ Back at Hoffenheim's training base, everyone noticed that the house diagonally opposite the base gate is now not only the exterior wall, but also the chimney has been painted blue and white. That is Koniriya's home. After the team won the championship, she indeed painted the chimney of her house into the color of Hoffenheim's team.

Because Hoffenheim won the championship, more people came to Hoffenheim to travel this summer. Many people came to this small town and would come specifically to see Koniriya's home. This blue and white house has become a local tourist spot.

Many tourists will definitely take photos outside the house of Konelia when they come to Hoffenheim. When major media reports on this small place in Hoffenheim, Konelia's home will also be featured in the media as a landmark building. Konelia's house has become the most famous building in Hoffenheim.

This summer, the place where Hoffenheim trains are still in the tourist resort of Leogan on the German-Austrian border. Last season they held a pre-season training camp in Leogan, Austria, and the team performed unexpectedly in the new season of the Bundesliga. Hoffenheim team regarded this place as a blessed land, so the pre-season training camp of this season was arranged in Leogan. This is their sixth time here for training camp, and Rangnick really prefers this tourist resort.

Another Bundesliga team also used Leogan as their pre-season training place, which is Stuttgart, who has some new and old hatreds with Hoffenheim.

Because they are in Baden-Württein, the two teams have direct competition. The Stuttgart people have always believed that Hoffenheim can rise entirely by Stuttgart. Their team, from the head coach to the players, all come from Stuttgart. Stuttgart fans also gave Hoffenheim a nickname called "Stuttgart Third Team", which is not a friendly and intimate name. Last season's Baden-Württein derby, Hoffenheim relied on Chu Zhongtian to create a penalty kick in the last moment and scored a penalty in Stuttgart. They defeated them 4:3 in Stuttgart territory, and both sides took over. Stuttgart player Mario Gomez, who performed a hat-trick after the game, publicly challenged Hoffenheim's players in the media, which added a scent of gunpowder.

Although Hoffenheim won the championship later, I would like to thank Stuttgart for blocking Wolfsburg at home. But that was definitely not what the Stuttgarts were willing to do, they just needed to win.

The boss of Baden State has always been Stuttgart. Now Hoffenheim has risen strongly, threatening his dominance here. This is actually a direct conflict between the old king and the new forces. Both sides regard the other side as their most direct competitors, whether it is young players' resources, fans, or honors.

This is an old grudge, while the new grudge is Demba Ba's transfer. No matter what, Demba Ba also scored 22 goals for Hoffenheim last season. Hoffenheim fans all think that Stuttgart's small move behind the scenes made Demba Ba and the club conceal the price, resulting in the unsuccessful renewal. In the end, Demba Ba could only transfer to Stuttgart. Stuttgart fans think that Hoffenheim used Stuttgart as a gun, which was very despicable.

Because of these reasons, most of the fans in Stuttgart were unhappy about Hoffenheim. Therefore, for this training camp, Hoffenheim hired two tall and strong bodyguards for the safety of the team. Their main purpose was to prevent Stuttgart fans from approaching Hoffenheim's players.

This move also angered Stuttgart fans.

Not long after the team arrived in Leogan, Stuttgart fans drove to the hotel where Hoffenheim players stayed in the early morning, honking the horn, turning on the loudspeaker, and playing Stuttgart's team songs. Unfortunately, the bodyguards hired by Hoffenheim did not play a role at this time. Their get off work time was eleven o'clock in the evening. According to the German rules, they didn't have to worry about the sky falling...※※※At the beginning of the training camp, the team began to suffer injuries. Zukulini, who joined the team, was injured during training, and Weiss was also on the magnitude of the nuclear power.

It was found that the simultaneous capsule of the left knee was found to be watered and needed conservative treatment. Fortunately, the team also has Vosa and Gustavo. Garner Vosa can play as a central defender or a midfielder, but there are few opportunities to play last season, not because of his poor strength, but because he has been recuperating most of the time. Gustavo has lost confidence in him due to a series of poor performances in the final stage of last season. He is still looking for a suitable midfielder, obviously he wants to give up Gustavo, either he stays on the team to play as a substitute, or finds another place.

Gustavo also seemed to have noticed something from a series of transfer rumors about the team, and it is said that his agent is also helping him find a new home.

Weiss can play as a back midfielder, Zuculini is known as "Mascherano Jr.", and naturally he is also a back midfielder. Vosa can also play as a guest midfielder. In addition to Chu Zhongtian and Gustavo, Hoffenheim currently has five back midfielders, but Rangnick is still looking for it, which shows that he is not very satisfied with the current people except Chu Zhongtian. In Rangnick's arrangement, his team will play 442, and Weiss can occupy a place in four midfielders, but not in the back position, but in his best right forward last season. This player with both offense and defense has performed well in both offense and defense. He has eight assists in a season and ranks fourth in the team, second only to Chu Zhongtian, Sarihovic, and Eduardo.

Weiss is called "German Gattuso" in Germany. Rangnick's use of him is somewhat similar to Gattuso in AC Milan, but his offense is stronger than Gattuso. However, in the defense, he, the right-side forward, has to actively return to defense, and sometimes even needs to make up for the middle to assist in the defense.

The rest, whether it is Zukulini or Vosa who just joined, is not Chu Zhongtian's good partner. Zukulini is still too young, and Rangnick plans to train him for a few years before talking about it. However, Vosa is not at the level and is a good substitute for the bench, but he is unable to be competent for the starter. Originally, Rangnick had high expectations for Gustavo, but Gustavo's football quotient is too poor and he cannot meet Rangnick's requirements, even if the standard requirements are lowered.

In this way, Chu Zhongtian's partner will continue to look for it.

※※On July 4, Baker, who won the European Youth Championship for the German Youth Team, returned to the team, and the team's lineup was neat.

On July 5, the team played the first warm-up match. Their opponent was an amateur team Altentis, which attracted two thousand spectators to watch the game. Even German Football Association Chairman Twinchig came to the scene. Because his opponent was too weak, the game showed a one-sided posture. Goalkeeper Hildebran, who played the right-back in the first half, scored the first goal in Hoffenheim's training camp in the new season. Chu Zhongtian scored twice, Eduardo and Wellington scored a hat trick, Van Nystruei and Perl Nilsson, who had just won a professional contract, and Vukoccevic, who had just won a professional contract, scored one goal each. In the second half, Obasi replaced the field and scored five goals alone, young player Tracino scored a hat trick, Sarihovic scored twice, Vosa scored a goal, and in the stoppage time, the opponent also gave an own gift.

The game ended with a big score of 24:0 in Hoffenheim.

※※※The pre-season training and warm-up matches are in full swing here, and on the other hand, Hoffenheim's battle in the transfer market is not over yet.

After winning Metzeld, Van Nystruei, Simonic and Zukulini, Rangnick hopes to strengthen his ability in the left-back position. Pogattz's performance in the first half of the season was pretty good, but there was no suitable candidate except him. Ibertzberger was the one who was included in the cleaning list by Rangnick. If nothing unexpected happens, he should not be able to participate in the new season of the Bundesliga. Rangnick hopes that the club will buy another left-back with good strength, and he already has several goals.

First of all, Russian international Jirkov (yuriy_zhirkov) who performed well in Moscow CSKA. This Russian international is already a hot left player in European football. He can play both the left winger, the left forward, and the left back. He is an all-around left. He has the title of "Royce of Eastern Europe". Of course, it would be great if he could join. However, Hoffenheim faces many competitors, especially Chelsea.

In terms of financial resources, Chelsea is not weaker than Hoffenheim, and in terms of connections, Chelsea is much stronger than Hoffenheim. Chelsea's boss is Russian Abramovich, who has always hoped that a Russian player would join Chelsea. After failing to pursue Al Shavin, who pursued Zenit, he set his sights on Jerkov. Russian head coach Hiddink, who played short-term work for Chelsea, played a decisive role in this transfer deal. He recommended Jerkov to Abramovich and persuaded Jerkov to join Chelsea.

Hoffenheim does not have this kind of connection, so in the end he could only watch Jirkov join Chelsea for 18 million euros.

During the entire transfer, Hoffenheim seemed to be watching the show and could not get involved at all.

However, Rangnick has a habit. No matter what transfer, he is used to preparing a second plan. Once the goal of the first plan cannot be reached, he will accelerate the second plan immediately and often succeed. This is how Metzeld came about.

Rangnick's second plan is Aleksandar_kolarov, who plays for Lazio. This person is known as "Lazio's Robert Carlos", and is a left-back with a strong assist ability. He has an excellent free kick, which is quite similar to Mikhailovic who played for Lazio back then.

In 2007, Lazio got him for only 800,000 euros. Last season, he gradually settled in the team's main position and performed well in many important games. Among them, when Lazio defeated Roma 4-2, he ran a long distance of 85 meters and scored a goal, which became a good story. Fast speed, strong assist ability, good at free kicks, and a powerful long shot are his characteristics. In the left back, the current Austrian captain Pogattz in Hoffenheim is currently focusing on defense, and if Kolarov comes, he can make greater contributions to the offense, so that the team's left off will not rely solely on Sarihovic or Eduardo. At the same time, Rangnick also hopes that through his arrival, the team's left-wing competition will enter a healthy competition.

For Kolarov, Hoffenheim's attraction is reflected in two points. The first point is that they can participate in the new season of the Champions League, while Lazio can only participate in the UEFA Cup - that is, the previous UEFA Cup. It is obvious that the temptation of the Champions League is greater than the temptation of the Champions League.

The second point is that in terms of personal treatment, Hoffenheim, who is rich and powerful, has more advantages than Lazio.

Another reason is that although there are many teams interested in Kolarov, most of them are still in a wait-and-see state and do not want to take action. Hoffenheim faces much smaller competition. As long as Hoffenheim can get a price that Lazio feels acceptable, Kolarov should be able to win.

And money is exactly what Hoffenheim lacks the most.

For Hoffenheim, all problems in this world that can be solved by money are not called problems.
Chapter completed!