Chapter 7

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Qin Xiong's terrible mood suddenly brightened, as if he saw a bright future ahead. Most importantly, he now had a direction, a practical goal to strive for, no longer aimlessly trapped in a cage, only able to think.

When Freddy returned to the apartment, he found Qin Xiong standing at his doorstep, his face beaming with uncontainable excitement, saying, "I want to borrow your computer for a bit."

Freddy stifled a laugh, opened the door, and gestured for Qin Xiong to enter. Qin Xiong immediately went to Freddy's study, turned on the computer, connected to the internet, and began searching for all information about Ajax.

He was now frantically trying to understand everything about the club, preparing himself for the challenge: the trial!

Freddy leaned against the door, watching Qin Xiong browse the web with intense focus, and couldn't help but smile.

In fact, Freddy had been involved from the beginning in helping Qin Xiong secure the opportunity to trial at Ajax. It wasn't that he was deliberately keeping it a secret from Qin Xiong; it was just that until everything was finalized, it wasn't appropriate to mention it. If it didn't work out, it would only make Qin Xiong unnecessarily happy and then disappointed.

As a Chinese player with no professional league experience, Qin Xiong's path to Europe was exceptionally difficult.

This difficulty stems from the restrictions on foreign players in European football.

One is the foreign player quota.

The foreign player quota is broad, including both EU passport holders and non-EU players.

European football follows EU law, which grants citizens of EU member states the right to free employment. Therefore, any player with an EU passport can play for teams in EU member states without restriction.

Qin Xiong does not have an EU passport, and China does not recognize dual citizenship, so he will never have an EU passport, now or in the future.

The other category is non-EU players.

For European football, non-EU players are considered true outsiders, and their quotas are strictly limited.

For example, in England, the introduction of non-EU players requires a hearing and a work permit. Given Qin Xiong's current situation, he would not be able to obtain a work permit to enter the English football league.

In Italy, each club has only one non-EU player quota per season. Such a valuable quota would not be "wasted" on an unknown player like Qin Xiong by 99% of the clubs.

In Spain and Germany, clubs have non-EU player quotas, with Spain allowing four. For most clubs, this quota is sometimes even more stringent than in Italy, as it is the upper limit for non-EU players, unlike in Italy where obtaining a transfer permit makes the conditions relatively more relaxed.

Essentially, it is impossible for Qin Xiong to directly enter the top four European leagues.

His status as a non-EU player would make even clubs that have seen him play hesitate.

When Freddy planned this, he also considered these factors.

In Chinese, it's better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix.

Like Liu Yi, who started in the German second division, although it caused a stir domestically, it had no impact on the global football scene.

In designing Qin Xiong's future, Freddy hoped he would join a club with greater influence.

The Dutch league, while not as well-known or influential as the top European leagues, has Ajax, a club that ranks in the upper-middle tier of European football. Most importantly, Ajax has a strong competitive edge domestically, meaning it can provide a European stage for Qin Xiong. Of course, this is all predicated on Qin Xiong gaining Ajax's recognition and establishing himself there.

Moreover, Ajax has a solid foundation in Europe, making it an ideal stepping stone for Qin Xiong's professional development.

Qin Xiong was engrossed in browsing all the information about Ajax on the computer.

He, of course, knew about the famous club Ajax. In his development, his coaches often used Ajax's top-level match videos for analysis.

As he delved deeper, he became deeply captivated by Ajax.

One could say that Ajax is the backbone of Dutch football. A list of Ajax's youth academy graduates would almost encompass the entire development of Dutch football, including greats like Cruyff, Van Basten, and Bergkamp, who are idols for many fans worldwide.

Compared to many other famous youth academies, which may have periods of highs and lows, Ajax has consistently maintained a high standard, even to this day!

What fascinated Qin Xiong was that Ajax was the birthplace of the revolutionary total football. It was in this system that great players like Cruyff and Neeskens learned to play with elegance and confidence!

This deeply appealed to Qin Xiong. Although others often praised his speed, strength, and skill, he was well aware that his greatest strength was creativity!

The expression of creativity is more dependent on a team's tactical system!

Especially in attack!

Perhaps no other country is as dedicated to offensive football as the Netherlands, and Ajax is the flag-bearer of this nation!

It's hard to imagine that in just a few hours, Qin Xiong became obsessed with Ajax!

He has always been a determined person, and once he sets his mind to something, he will persist until the end!

He will not rest until he achieves his goal!

He wants to land in the Netherlands, join Ajax, and achieve success there!

As time passed, Freddy repeatedly reminded Qin Xiong that it was late and he should go back to rest, but Qin Xiong kept staring at the computer, saying, "Just a little longer, just a little longer."

Freddy was helpless. When he returned from his shower, he saw Qin Xiong watching last season's Ajax match videos, but with a frown.

The reason was simple: he couldn't find the full match recordings and could only get a superficial understanding from highlights.

For Qin Xiong, who plays in midfield, these highlights had no analytical value. Without a comprehensive, macro view, it was impossible to make accurate judgments and analyses.

Highlights are mostly for eye-catching effects, featuring spectacular goals and threatening shots, which are edited clips. Even a single full sequence of team play is missing. For a casual fan, these highlights might be fine, but for someone trying to understand a team, they offer little value.

Qin Xiong, who usually maintained a good sleep schedule, ensuring at least eight hours of sleep daily, sometimes more, only slept for four hours that night. However, the next day, he did not slack off in training. No one could tell he was sleep-deprived because his motivation was stronger than ever, and his mental excitement seemed to help him forget his fatigue, giving him boundless energy.

Freddy had to ask the coach to reduce Qin Xiong's training load and warned him: "You need to prepare for the trial, and ample energy is the most basic requirement!"

After the initial excitement, Qin Xiong calmed down and began to conserve his strength, all in preparation for the trial in the Netherlands.

Three days later, before dawn, Qin Xiong packed his luggage in his room. He only needed to take a large shoulder bag.

Documents, two sets of clothes, a pair of football boots, a sketchbook, and that was it.

It wasn't that he didn't want to take more. He liked the juicer in the room and was fond of the football-shaped alarm clock, but they didn't belong to him.

Freddy also packed lightly, carrying only a medium-sized suitcase. Apart from the security guard, no one was disturbed when they left.

At dawn, Qin Xiong and Freddy took a bus to the airport in the provincial capital.

To Qin Xiong's surprise, Tang Tian had booked them first-class tickets.

On the plane, Qin Xiong sat by the window. As the plane took off and soared above the clouds, he gazed out at the sea of clouds. Although there wasn't much to see, he still took out his sketchbook and quickly drew with a pencil.

Freddy read a book beside him, occasionally glancing at Qin Xiong, noticing the smile on his lips and the youthful charm from the side.

When Qin Xiong finished his drawing, Freddy immediately reached out to admire it.

As expected, the top half of the drawing was normal.

A vast sea of clouds, a brilliant sunrise.

But the unusual part caught Freddy's eye.

A figure of an ancient Chinese general stood proudly on the clouds, holding a sword in front of him, with the rising sun behind him.

The direction the imposing general was looking was west!

Freddy turned his head, his eyes filled with meaning, and looked at Qin Xiong, who was smiling with his chin in his hand.

General Qin, pointing his sword westward?

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