In Italy, the division of administrative regions is not based on provinces, but "areas". The Lombati region where Milan is located is the region with the most professional teams, second only to it is the Tuscany region, and the capital of this region is Florence. What makes Florence fans even more proud is that their city was born in the predecessor of modern football in 1500. The hometown of the European Renaissance is well known to the world, but people may not be familiar with it, and it is also the hometown of Italian classical football.

It seems that because of this, Florence's football is full of romantic classical atmosphere and is loved by many fans around the world. It is also because of this love that when in the summer of 2002, former Florence club owner Cecchi Gauri announced that he had given up his struggle and accepted this result, a club with more than 70 years of tradition officially went bankrupt and disappeared from Italian football. I don't know how many Purple Lily fans cried for her tragic fate.

Zhang Jun still remembers how shocked he was when he saw the news of Florence's bankruptcy on TV, and a legendary team disappeared like this.

Now three and a half years later, he stood outside the Frankie Stadium, looking up at the tall stadium, behind him was his agent, Sister Hua, and dozens of reporters who rushed over after hearing the news.

When I came here for New Year's Day a year ago, I never thought that he would come here again, and as a new player, it was ironic.

Zhang Jun was pulled back to reality by the sound of the shutter pressing behind him. He exhaled gently, then walked towards the long iron fence gate of the court. Chairman Mr. Delavalle and head coach Mr. Mondonico were waiting for him inside.

After entering this gate, he was a Florence man.

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Yang Pan searched all the channels he could receive on his TV, and did not see any reports about Zhang Jun attending a press conference in Florence. He threw away the remote control in his hand in annoyed manner and called Kaka.

As soon as the phone was picked up, he heard a sound of something falling to the ground from inside. He smiled: "Kaka, are you fighting with someone?"

"I'm fighting with those bastards on the TV station! I'd rather play boring soap operas than broadcast any news about Zhang Jun in Florence!" Kaka said angrily. "By the way, what's wrong with calling?"

"It's nothing. I just fucked with the TV. I want to ask if you have any accidents. Now it seems that there is no need to ask." Yang Pan looked at the photo of the three of them on the wall at the San Siro Stadium and smiled bitterly. The photo was taken in imitation of the three Dutch musketeers.

"Yang Pan, do you think Zhang Jun will come back after the loan period expires next season?"

"Don't be stupid, Kaka. With Zhang Jun's temper, after going through so many unhappy things in Milan, he was a fool when he came back. I asked him your question, but he didn't answer it at the time, but isn't the answer very obvious?"

"But what if he can't find his form in Fiorentina?" Kaka was a little worried. There are already many examples of promising talented players gradually degenerating while constantly wandering. He doesn't want Zhang Jun to become another such meteor.

"Then I can only sink. But I believe him. I have been with me for more than ten years, and he has never disappointed me in football. Do you believe it, Kaka?"

Kaka was stunned for a moment. In terms of tacit understanding, he did not have the friendship of more than ten years like Yang Pan. He could only get to know Zhang Jun from less than three years of high school.

As a shooter, he rarely disappoints those who expect him, otherwise the Dawn Football Team would not have been able to go from an unknown player to a national champion.

"Yes, I believe him." Kaka said as he looked at the group photo of the three of them.

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"I have only one purpose here, which is to help Fiorentina get promoted to Class A at the end of this season." Zhang Jun smiled in front of many reporters.

On January 2, 2006, Zhang Jun became a member of the Fiorentine team. Until the end of this season, he will fight in a purple shirt. As time goes by, many of the reporters in front of him will leave, and he will no longer be concerned. In the next six months, only football will be with him. This is what Zhang Jun hopes, and there are fewer miscellaneous off-court events.

Farewell to the noisy and impetuous Milan and coming to the quiet Florence, Zhang Jun can finally fight for himself, not to satisfy those reporters and commentators.

※※※

Zhang Jun woke up from the morning sun. He sat on the bed and stretched his waist, then jumped out of the bed, walked to the window, lifted the curtains and looked out, but did not see the reporters waiting at his doorstep all night. These were not encountered in Milan, especially in the past two months. "Class B also has the benefits of Class B." He smiled with satisfaction.

Just as he finished breakfast, he sat at the dining table to prepare for meals, his phone rang. Zhang Jun frowned. Who would have called me so early? He took the phone and saw that the screen was showing a familiar number that he could not be more familiar with.

He smiled and pressed the answer button.

"Hey, Yang Pan? What's the matter when I call so early?"

"I'll wake you up! Don't leave a bad impression on everyone because you're late. Listen to your voice, you haven't woken up yet, right?"

"Bad! My breakfast is ready..." Zhang Jun remembered that he was not here these days, and he didn't know how Yang Pan's meal problem was solved. "It's very delicious, do you want to eat together?" He deliberately greed for Yang Pan.

"Forget it, I guess you've finished lunch, I'll just eat instant noodles."

"Always eat soaking to make you feel bad. Breakfast is the source of strength for a day. You should eat well, eat well, the nutritional ratio should be coordinated, and the dietary combination should be reasonable..."

"Damn! Don't greed for me! Since you have already gotten up, I won't disturb you for breakfast."

"Do you really only eat instant noodles? Are there eggs? Are there bread? Are there milk..." Zhang Jun laughed.

"Damn! Eat quickly! Eat you to death!" Yang Pan hung up the phone and went to see if his instant noodles were cooked.

Zhang Jun smiled and shook his head, put his phone aside, and ate his breakfast. Now it seems that the problem caused by distance is not big. At least this morning this conversation made him feel that Yang Pan is still by his side.

He remembered that he was going to the training ground to meet new teammates today, and he was still a little nervous. At the press conference yesterday, he only saw the club's chairman and team head coach, but no one of the players saw.

Zhang Jun had specially visited Li Yan before coming to this team and learned about it.

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On the evening of August 1, 2002, a few hours after Italian Football Association Chairman Cartiero announced that Fiorentina was not registered for the second division, officials from the Florence municipal government said on the TV show that they had formed a new team. Because the name "Fiorentina" can no longer be used, they named "Fiorentina Viola", which means "Fiorentina Bauhinia". The newly formed team did not have a player or a coach, but just an empty shell, waiting for businessmen to inject funds to make the team run.

Then, the current honorary chairman of the club and the largest shareholder, the famous Italian "shoe king" Diego de la Valle officially acquired the Florence Bauhinia, recruiting head coaches, assistant coaches, physical coaches, team doctors, physical therapists... including cleaners. They then collected players from the amateur league to the second league, forming a team participating in the Italian second league. The team used Frankie Stadium, home court in Florence, and also used the traditional purple jersey and lily logo.

In May 2003, De La Valé became the team's sponsor and invested 2.5 million euros to buy the right to reuse the Florence name at the bankruptcy auction, as well as all the trophys that the Florence club had won before. Today, Florence is the 77-year-old Florence team, and they can finally remove the "Bauhinia" behind the name.

Then it took only one year to upgrade the team from M2 to C1, and then the Italian Football Association upgraded the team directly from League One to League Two on the grounds that "Fiorentine clubs have made special contributions to Italian football." The "Serie A Seven Sisters" led by AC Milan, Juventus, Roma and Lazio also provided a lot of help to the freshman team - they loaned some players in their team who could not play in the game to Florence.

Due to the partiality and care of Florence and some teams in the Italian Football Association and Serie A, many teams in the B-level teams have caused dissatisfaction with many teams in the Class B. Their reason is very simple: If we are promoted from C to Class B, we will have to go through at least a year of struggle. Why can the Florence Bauhinia easily obtain this qualification just because of the reputation of the original club?

Because of this, Fiorentina is very excluded in the League Two. Many teams are very enthusiastic when playing against them. They often have injuries in the game. When they have the chance, they will "beat the dogs in the water" without any mercy. This is also one of the reasons why Fiorentina has been in the League Two seasons in the League Two and still cannot be promoted to the League One. Of course, if its own strength is not enough, it is also a very important reason for not being able to contribute to the Italian Football Association.

The team's players include players from the second-tier teams such as Ancona, Regina, Bologna, Catania, and amateur teams such as Arianese, Gubio, and Montevac, hoping to enter the professional football world with Fiorentina. Although their levels are uneven, they all have a common characteristic: they don't care about salary - in fact, Fiorentina was unable to pay wages at that time - fighting with passion and enthusiasm. Although they just wore purple jerseys, they felt honored to have the opportunity to wear the jersey of this team that once had a long history.

The current captain of the team, Angelo DiLivio, is a person who makes Zhang Jun respect very much. When the team is demoted from Class A to Class B, it is necessary to prove that the team is capable of passing the Class B registration qualification check. It is Dilivio who took the team's salary receipt to Milan to prove that the team's economic situation is not that bad, but the final result is that the team is not qualified to participate in the Class B League. When they were demoted to Class B League due to bankruptcy, everyone was exposed, and he was the only one who stayed. This former Italian international would rather get a Class C salary in the new team than go to other Class A team. He is respected by everyone on the team and is the real spiritual leader of the team.

Zhang Jun respects him because of his loyalty, which reminds him of the god of war Batistuta who had announced his retirement at the beginning of last year. The team was also relegated, and many stars and former teammates left, but Bati stayed and relied on his own strength to lead Fiorentina back to the A-level year later.

This situation is somewhat similar to his current situation. As the most famous player in the team, he has also been highly expected by people, hoping that he can lead the team to successfully upgrade like Barty, just like he said at the news conference yesterday.

Before Zhang Jun came, the team's new war god was their No. 9 center Christian Rigano. He has excellent physical fitness and header scoring ability. He wears the No. 9 jersey and does have the shadow of his predecessor Barty in some aspects. The team's current number one scorer was discovered by De La Valé in the first-class team Laranto. He has been involved in many amateur and semi-professional teams. In Fiorentina, he has now scored 48 goals for the team and is the team's number one scorer. When he first arrived in Fiorentina, he was already twenty-eight years old, and now he is more than thirty years old, a real late-achieving shooter.

Zhang Jun had never heard of his forward partner before. Later, when asked Li Yan, he realized that there was such a number of people. Since he would become a partner to cooperate with him in the future, Zhang Jun felt that it was necessary to have a good relationship with Rigano. After all, they were partners, not competitors.

For other teammates, he knew the names, but he could not match the names with his face, let alone understand them. He could only wait for the training this morning and let someone introduce them to him one by one.

※※※

Seeing that Zhang Jun was a little nervous, Mondonico patted Zhang Jun on the back: "Don't worry, they are both easy to get along with. This is Florence, which is very different from the wealthy AC Milan. Go in and say hello to your teammates." He pointed to the locker room door in front of them.

Zhang Jun nodded, then reached out and gently pushed open the door. More than 20 teammates in the locker room appeared in front of him, and when he heard the door ringing, he turned his head to look at him. He almost didn't know any of them, even the oldest captain Dilivio, Zhang Jun could not call him a name. He remembered his first time entering the Milan locker room, so he bowed to everyone in the door as he said: "Big... Hello everyone! I am your new teammate, my name is Zhang Jun, Chinese. I was loaned to Fiorentina from AC Milan. I also like this team very much, and hope to get along well with everyone and work together to get Florence to level one!"

He memorized this passage countless times last night, and today he could finally say it smoothly. The result was not as he wished, but it was also expected that the reaction was not enthusiastic. Most people looked at him and turned around and went there. Only a few people came up to say hello to him, including the captain Dilivio, and among those who ignored him was his future partner Christian Rigano.

Perhaps thinking that Zhang Jun would feel embarrassed, Dilivio grabbed Zhang Jun's hand and comforted: "Don't worry, you just haven't gotten familiar with them yet. When you get familiar with them, you will see their interesting side."

Zhang Jun smiled and did not take his teammates' attitude in his heart: "Thank you, captain. It's okay, you don't have to worry about me. I think that way too. After a long time, I will naturally understand."

"That's good, and don't call me captain here, just call me Angelo. I'll introduce your teammates to you." He pulled Zhang Jun to a tall and strong man and said to Zhang Jun: "Christian Rigano, our No. 9 center, the number one shooter. You can call him Christian or "manniu", but don't call him "new God of War". He hates others calling him like this."

Zhang Jun could imagine that Rigano would be a strength center, but he was still shocked when he saw his figure. Judging from his naked upper body, he was almost full of muscles, about 1.91 meters tall and weighed about 86 kilograms. No wonder he was called "Manniu".

"Hello, I'm Zhang Jun, please take care of me in the future." He reached out his hand to shake hands with Rigano.

But unexpectedly, Rigano was not grateful. He wrapped his hands on his chest and did not mean to shake hands with Zhang Jun. He looked at Zhang Jun with disdain: "I heard that you came to us because you couldn't make it in Milan, right?"

This should be considered a provocation, right? Zhang Jun thought that for a moment, he wanted to push back with a tough tone, which was also his previous style. But for a moment, he suppressed the vitality in his heart and just shook his head and smiled bitterly: "I heard that what comes is always unreliable. As for whether I came because I couldn't make it, I knew it when I got on the court, Mr. Christian?" He stretched out his hand and did not retract it, and placed it stubbornly in front of Rigano.

The locker room suddenly calmed down and the atmosphere became a little awkward. Dilivio on the side had to use the captain's authority: "Christian, is this how you greet your new teammates?" He did not call Rigano "Manniu", but directly called him by his name, obviously dissatisfied with Rigano's attitude.

Even if Rigano scored more goals on the court, he would not dare to have any objection to Dilivio. Although he was reluctant, he still stretched out his hand and shook Zhang Jun: "Hello, I am Christian Rigano. You can call me 'Christian' or 'Manniu'."

"Hello, man Niu." Zhang Jun felt that Rigano's hand was obviously exerting force. He was not wary of it, but he was pinched and hurt. In front of so many people, he could not scream in shame, so he had to frown and grit his teeth and replied.

"Don't take it seriously, Zhang Manniu has a straight temper, the same style as his football. He has no malice." Dilivio smiled and pulled Zhang Jun to meet the next teammate. Zhang Jun turned his head back and looked at Rigano again. He wrapped his arms on his chest and looked at him with the initial look.

This interesting person! Zhang Jun gently shook the hand that was hurt by him, and shook his head with a smile.

"This is Sebastian Cejas, our main goalkeeper, who moved from Argentina's Newell Old Boys last season."

"Hello, Seyas."

"Hello, call me Sebastian, Chinese boy."

"Eyke Bismark, Ghanaian, defender."

"Hello, Ek."

"Hello, Zhang."

"Luis Helguera, midfielder. He is the younger brother of Ivan Elguera who plays in Real Madrid." Dilivio added.

"Really? I'm a Real Madrid fan!" Zhang Jun asked the Spaniard in front of him excitedly who looked very much like Ivan Elgra.

Elgra scratched his head embarrassedly: "I'm far from Ivan. Hello, call me Louis."

"Hello, Louis. I'm very happy to know you." Zhang Jun really didn't expect to know someone who is related to the main player of Real Madrid here.

"Manuele Guzzo, defender."

"Hello, Manuel!"

"Hello."

“Alessandro Lucarelli.”

"Christian Maggio."

"Roberto Ripa."

"Marco Andreotti."

"Matthieu Bochu."

"Christian Manfredini, who came on loan from Lazio."

"Riccardo Maspero, the team's core organization."
To be continued...