Chapter 8

The team's transfer work has been completed, and the club's restructuring is now being handled by three general managers: Poirot, Kenyon, and Antonioni. With some free time, Zhuang Mingge is preparing to implement a plan that will benefit Fiorentina's future development—building a private training ground for the club.

Most Italian teams do not have their own training grounds; they mostly rent existing facilities. Imagine if a team does not have its own training ground and can only rent places for training every year. This would first consume a large amount of the club's funds and energy. Additionally, the environment of these rented training grounds is often very poor, and players often encounter various accidents when training in such conditions for a long time. Even if the team wants to spend money to renovate the training ground, it is impossible because the training ground is not Fiorentina's private property, and the club has no right to make any changes.

If Fiorentina had its own training ground, the situation would be completely different. If the club's facilities do not meet the requirements, the club could invest more to improve the training ground. At the same time, the club would save a large amount of money on rental fees. Even if the saved money were entirely invested in the daily maintenance of the new base, it would still be more cost-effective than renting old and dilapidated facilities.

Therefore, as soon as Zhuang Mingge became the club chairman, he sent Hercule Poirot to find a suitable piece of land for building a training ground in the suburbs of Florence. Poirot soon had a response: a piece of abandoned land that was previously an industrial area, which the Florence municipal government was selling at a low price. The government officials had already agreed to Poirot's proposal to transform the abandoned site into a training ground. The purchase of the land and initial construction would cost about $8 million, and Zhuang Mingge readily allocated this amount from the $20 million provided by his family.

Zhuang Mingge did not immediately transfer the entire $20 million to the club's account. Instead, he instructed Poirot to report and use the funds only when there was a shortage or urgent need within the club.

After all, for a time traveler, the biggest advantage is knowing the future direction of the world. If the $20 million were easily transferred to the club, it would miss many opportunities to make money...

So far, only $8 million has been spent on the construction of the training ground.

Accompanied by Antonio, who oversees the team's daily affairs, Zhuang Mingge drove to the abandoned industrial area in the suburbs of Florence. The land has already been purchased by the club and is being renovated by a specialized construction company according to the club's requirements, with the goal of completing the project within a year.

After getting out of the car, he looked around and saw a vast construction site. The workers of the construction company were demolishing the factories that originally stood in the industrial area, and some necessary construction machinery had already entered the site.

"According to the original plan, the new training ground will consist of two main areas. One area will include four first-team dedicated fields and four reserve fields, which will be a separate large area and the main part of the training ground. Next to these fields, we plan to build the Florence Experimental Center. The center, located in the middle of the training ground, will consist of three departments: the Health Center, responsible for adjusting the physical and mental state of the players; the Information Center, responsible for establishing a detailed and up-to-date database of player data; and the Computer Center, responsible for analyzing player data and making effective predictions based on the analysis." Antonio introduced the details to his boss based on the blueprints he had.

"The coaching office area is adjacent to the first-team fields and mainly includes rooms for coaches, such as the tactical meeting room and the data room. The head coach's office will not be far from the training field to ensure that the head coach can directly observe the players' training from that room. The area also includes a cafeteria and entertainment facilities, such as an indoor football field, a billiard room, and a video game room. Additionally, some functions of the Health Center, such as massage rooms, changing rooms, and showers, will be located in the office area. These facilities will be designed with the approval of the Health Center experts to ensure the players' health to the greatest extent."

Antonio clearly remembered how poor the training ground was when he played: the changing rooms were drafty, the training fields were like muddy fields, and the team doctors were few and not very professional. Some players did not receive timely massages and recovery, and the most typical example was himself. The most serious injury of his career occurred in the 1981-1982 season during a match, when the opposing goalkeeper Martina hit his head, causing internal bleeding and a skull fracture. His heart even stopped beating for half a minute!

Fortunately, Antonio survived and continued his glorious football career, but this serious injury led to a decline in his performance. In the 1982 World Cup semi-final between Italy and Poland, his injured leg hit the goalpost, directly causing him to miss the World Cup final and ending his international career at the age of 28.

Feeling the stark contrast between this new training ground and the one he remembered, Antonio sighed, "If Fiorentina had these facilities when I played, my career would not have been limited to just 15 years."

"Giorgio, don't be so sad," Zhuang Mingge noticed Antonio's low mood and quickly shifted the topic, "Think about it, the club is building a top-notch training ground. The players can effectively improve their skills under the best conditions, and it will also enhance their sense of belonging to the club. Fiorentina has always been a place that produces loyal players, so we cannot let those loyal to the club suffer. Giorgio, the other area is for the club's youth teams, right?"

Zhuang Mingge successfully diverted Antonio's attention: "That's right. According to the current standards for Fiorentina's youth teams, we are building two fields for each team. However, the most important under-20 youth team will have three fields, and the under-16 youth team and other junior teams will have standard facilities."

"Similarly, a separate building will be built next to the youth team fields, equipped with the same health facilities as the first team."

When designing the training ground, Zhuang Mingge insisted that a large number of trees separate the youth training fields from the first-team fields, with only a small path connecting them. This way, when the head coach promotes young players to train with the first team, the players will cherish the opportunity to train with the first-team members.

The construction of the training ground also includes dormitories for the youth team players and villas for some first-team players who cannot afford to buy houses in Florence. The accommodation is free, but other expenses will need to be covered by the players themselves.

Zhuang Mingge and Antonio looked at each other, and from each other's eyes, they could see the anticipation for the day when the training ground would be officially put into use.