"Mané's situation—after spending big money and with Mané's personal help, we now have 100% ownership. For De Bruyne, Lukaku and others, I can't intervene directly yet, but we can certainly have conversations," Pierre brought Julien good news over the phone.
Julien acknowledged this. Pierre continued, "So should we sign our contract extension with Bastia according to the terms Chataigner offered this time?"
Bastia's contract extension with Julien had been in preparation for a while, though it had been delayed for various reasons.
Currently, Julien was still on his previous contract: 20,000 euros monthly salary.
Although Julien had received substantial bonuses for championships and performance, his monthly salary clearly didn't match his current status.
However, due to Bastia's dire financial situation, they couldn't offer a very high contract price.
So Chataigner offered a 100,000 euro monthly salary contract, plus 20% of Julien's future transfer fee as a signing bonus for this renewal.
In this regard, Chataigner was being clever.
Julien's current market valuation was definitely no less than 30 million euros, and this was without recent price updates.
As his performances continued to improve and with his status as France's core player, top clubs would easily spend over 50 million euros for his transfer.
Even at 50 million euros, that would mean a 10 million euro signing bonus.
This way, Julien and Bastia would reach another consensus—working hard to increase his market value so other teams would offer higher transfer fees.
This was another win-win situation.
Julien said, "We can discuss the details more carefully. No rush for now."
"Alright."
The next day, Julien flew back to Bastia.
Mané, De Bruyne, Lukaku, and other international players had returned to the team a day before him.
Hadzibegić didn't give the team too many training tasks.
After this period of adjustment, Bastia's overall chemistry had improved considerably.
In their next league match, they would travel to the small French city of Annecy to face Evian away.
Actually, this team's full name was "Thonon Evian Grand Genève," but fans were more accustomed to calling them Evian—yes, like the mineral water.
The team had spent years in second or even third division, but in the 2010/11 season they were promoted from lower leagues to Ligue 2, then as newcomers surprisingly won the Ligue 2 championship and were promoted to Ligue 1, achieving an unprecedented breakthrough in club history.
This promotion rhythm was identical to Bastia's.
However, after reaching Ligue 1, Evian made no major investments, had average strength, and currently sat at the bottom of the table.
So, when announcing the starting lineup, Hadzibegić didn't include Julien and De Bruyne in the squad.
These were Bastia's two core players! They needed rotation.
After the match against Evian came Bastia's home game against Paris Saint-Germain—that was the real priority!
Only by facing a powerhouse like PSG could Bastia truly test their mettle this season.
"Julien, your muscle load seems a bit high. You need more rest. I don't recommend additional training these two days," said Ionia Fabbrettu "little after examining Julien's physical condition.
Julien nodded. Excessive muscle load could easily lead to injury.
This couldn't be taken lightly, especially with so many matches and Bastia unable to do without him.
After the match against Belarus, his victory points increased by 15, leaving him with 101 remaining.
He hadn't used them yet because he was once again hesitant—should he raise attribute limits or go for treasure boxes?
Several of his attributes were gradually approaching their limits, but considering the PSG match, he was tempted to gamble on treasure boxes to increase immediate combat effectiveness.
It was a difficult choice. He decided not to overthink it for now.
September 15th, Annecy, France.
Parc des Sports Stadium.
The stadium, which could hold over 10,000 people, was packed. They knew that every additional match their team played in Ligue 1 was profit.
Given Evian's current scale, they could hardly survive long in Ligue 1.
This match against Bastia saw Evian fans' emotions fluctuate throughout.
Both sides alternately took the lead.
When the final whistle blew, the score was 2-2.
Bastia had drawn their second consecutive match.
Hadzibegić was somewhat surprised by this result—he had thought they could secure the win.
The attack was fine, tactics worked, and they scored goals.
But the defense was absurd! They couldn't defend!
Cioni made another error this match, directly gifting the opponent a goal with a mistake. The other goal came from Evian's sustained pressure on his side, earning a corner kick and scoring with a header.
After the match, Hadzibegić said, "This was a difficult game. We did everything, but we conceded too easily. This isn't what we should do."
When reporters asked why Julien and De Bruyne didn't play, Hadzibegić replied, "They both have minor muscle issues. Not playing them was for protection."
When reporters pressed whether they could play in three days against PSG, Hadzibegić shook his head, "It's unclear at the moment. We'll see how they recover."
This response worried Bastia fans.
Both Julien and De Bruyne were injured?
"Then we can't play PSG at all. After their early season adjustments, they're looking quite strong now."
"Actually, everyone said PSG played poorly early in the season, but after five rounds, they remain unbeaten. Where exactly did they play poorly?"
"Probably just because they spent 100 million euros this summer transfer window, raising Parisians' expectations."
"Hope Julien and De Bruyne are fine and can make the match."
After returning to Bastia, Hadzibegić complained again to Chataigner about defensive problems, adding, "We might struggle in this home match."
Chataigner could only sigh, "It's okay. We're just promoted. Some dreams might just be our wishful thinking."
After Hadzibegić left, Chataigner looked out his office window toward the football pitch and shook his head slightly.
The greater the initial expectations, the more helpless the current reality felt.
An invincible attack, but a mediocre defense.
Thinking about the PSG match, Chataigner thought, "This is a battle between 10 million and 100 million."
The stronger and weaker sides might already be predetermined.
His gaze fell on Julien's figure on the football pitch—in his heart, this was Bastia's only chance.
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