Snap!
Châtaigner slammed the Bastia Daily down in front of Hajibegic. "Look at this—a hat trick against Ajaccio! Doesn't such a talented player deserve the team's full development?"
The front page prominently featured Julien's moment of scoring, with a huge headline, "Hat Trick in Corsican Derby—Bastia's Future!"
Hajibegic had seen this report.
The day after Bastia's youth team match against Ajaccio U19, the Bastia Daily covered the game.
For one of the few matches in recent years where Bastia could defeat an Ajaccio team, the local newspaper naturally had to write extensively about it.
However, Hajibegic wasn't particularly surprised—it was just a youth team match, after all.
Many players could dominate in youth teams but struggle greatly when they reached the first team.
The reason Châtaigner slammed this newspaper in front of him was because when Châtaigner told Hajibegic about putting Julien in the French Cup squad, the Bosnian had refused.
As a compromise, he had already agreed to let Julien train with the first team.
But playing in the French Cup was unlikely.
"What do you mean by development? Of course, it means playing in matches. For the league, I'll defer to you—you can arrange as you please. But for this French Cup that we've already decided to abandon, what's wrong with giving him a chance?"
Although Châtaigner was strong-willed, he was still reasonable. Mainly because Hajibegic's coaching record was good, so he couldn't drive him away over this issue.
And he was very confident in Julien. One match would definitely be enough for Hajibegic to see his talent.
The league? Hajibegic himself might want to use Julien.
Hajibegic fell into silence.
Actually, his reluctance to put Julien in the French Cup squad wasn't just due to his poor impression of Julien—more importantly, he still had some fantasy about the French Cup.
What if the semi-main lineup advanced?
This would add another line to his résumé.
After thinking it over, Hajibegic spoke, "Fine, I'll put him in the French Cup squad."
His thinking was simple: if the team had no hope of advancing, then he'd put Julien on.
It would just waste one squad spot.
But it could ease the disagreement with Châtaigner, and the Bosnian was willing to do it. Having experienced so many teams, he deeply understood how important it was to maintain good relations with the sporting director.
Châtaigner added another condition. "And he has to play."
"Mm." Hajibegic nodded perfunctorily. If they really advanced without using Julien, what could Châtaigner say then?
"Kid, heard you scored three against Ajaccio U19 in the youth team?"
"Well done!"
"Welcome back. Let's try to get promoted this season, and next season we'll score three against Ajaccio's first team!"
"Maybe we'll get promoted while Ajaccio gets relegated!"
"Hahaha!"
On Julien's first day back with the first team, his teammates were no longer as cold as before, instead gave him a decent reception.
Vincent took the initiative to greet Julien.
Although David still had no smile on his face, he at least didn't make any sarcastic remarks.
Julien's hat trick against Ajaccio U19, regardless of the match intensity, at least gave these Bastia veterans a sense of comfort.
They had basically been losing to Ajaccio in recent years.
Of course, regarding Julien, everyone's attitude had only improved slightly. After all, the fact that Julien still had to be supervised every night reminded them that he was a problem youth.
So, they became cautious about Julien's current transformation, worried it might just be a flash in the pan.
However, Châtaigner seemed full of confidence in his fellow countryman.
"You'll have a chance to play in the French Cup. Train well with the team these few days, and when the time comes, try to perform. It doesn't matter if we lose—you should boldly show your talent. Don't you like dribbling past players? Then dribble past them properly!"
During a training break, Châtaigner patted Julien's shoulder with deep affection.
Having played as a defender in his career, Châtaigner stood 1.92 meters tall, somewhat taller than the 1.83-meter Julien.
He continued. "Of course, you must be careful not to overdo it. The intensity of such matches is very high—watch out for injuries. Your previous adductor injury is a hidden danger."
'French Cup?' Hearing Châtaigner's words, Julien hadn't expected that he would have a chance to play in the French Cup right after returning to the first team.
As a Ligue 2 team, after Bastia reached the Round of 16, they would face a Ligue 1 team.
For the team and players' exposure, this was an improvement by more than one level.
Bastia's opponent was Valenciennes, a mid-table Ligue 1 team.
"Good!" Julien nodded firmly.
Châtaigner was very reassured about Julien. He had always believed that such talented players, as long as they focused on football and weren't injured, would naturally have a smooth path ahead.
Then, as if remembering something, Châtaigner said to Julien before leaving: "The team has hired a psychologist for you. They'll chat with you every week, trying to help you pass the psychological evaluation so you don't have to go to that damn supervision center anymore. Also, your case is simple—the team will help you handle it. Just focus on playing football."
Julien nodded again.
This was indeed necessary. Although he had been released on bail, he still had to accept supervision.
Regarding this matter, there wasn't much Julien could do except wait for the results.
Proper training was the right path!
Although he currently had no way to earn victory points, and the French Cup probably offered little hope, he could train hard and first raise some of his attributes to their limits.
When Julien settled down to train seriously, Vincent nudged David, who nodded slightly and said quietly to Vincent: "Only if he continues like this can it be considered real change."
Vincent silently watched Julien during training.
As a midfielder, he wasn't worried about Julien taking his position, especially since he was already a rotation player.
However, he felt somewhat conflicted about David's attitude.
David was the team's main right winger, and his position overlapped with Julien's. Once Julien developed, the first person impacted would be David.
But David actually hoped Julien could get back on track.
Vincent couldn't quite understand this.
Lyon.
Chelsea scout Elion came here before the French Cup, wanting to thoroughly evaluate some players from Lyon's youth academy.
Among them, the player he was most optimistic about was Lacazette.
In last year's U20 World Cup, he represented France all the way to the semifinals, though they were ultimately eliminated by Portugal.
But at that time, Elion had already taken notice of this forward.
At the World Youth Championship, Chelsea had another harvest—Elion's colleague had his eye on a Brazilian player named Oscar.
On August 21st last year, Oscar scored a hat trick in the U20 World Cup final, becoming the only player ever to score a hat trick in a World Youth Championship final, helping Brazil defeat Portugal 3-2 to win the championship.
Chelsea was already in contact with Oscar.
They hoped to bring Oscar to Chelsea after this year's Olympics.
Chelsea scoured the world for football talent, mainly because owner Abramovich believed youth development was the foundation for a team's perpetual vitality, spending enormous sums annually for this purpose.
When he arrived in Lyon, Elion's assistant brought him news that included a familiar name.
Julien De Rocca.
In a daze, it instantly reminded him of that omnipotent genius, and that regrettable young man.
Elion's last interaction with Julien was when Julien left Chelsea and had no team to play for, so he used his connections in France to help Julien get an opportunity at Nantes.
But ultimately, Julien disappointed him as always.
Disheartened, he stopped following Julien.
He never expected that when he heard about him again today, it would be news that Julien had scored a hat trick in a match!