Beckham signed with Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent.
It was nothing short of a bombshell in France.
According to reports from L'Équipe and other media outlets, Beckham would receive approximately 800,000 euros per month in salary.
Additionally, PSG provided Beckham with a luxury mansion in Paris. The Qatari owners even publicly stated they were willing to meet all of Beckham's demands, just to attract him to France's wealthiest club.
This salary, combined with Beckham's massive popularity, sparked controversy within France. Some left-wing politicians seized the opportunity to call for legislation setting salary caps.
"The Socialist Party is proposing a law to limit high salaries and prevent these incredible contracts."
Eva Joly, the Green Party presidential candidate, also condemned Beckham, saying his transfer to Paris was merely to "sell T-shirts," and that his high salary was shocking and intolerable given the current economic crisis.
Amid this turmoil, PSG held a press conference for Beckham before the new season began.
At the conference, Beckham stated that if the club could provide substantial funding to charities helping Parisian children, he would be willing to play for the team without compensation.
Of course, no one actually believed that.
Julien also saw reports about the press conference. All he could say was that the "heartthrob" remained the top-tier player most skilled at marketing himself.
At 37, Beckham would become the oldest player in Ligue 1.
However, he remained confident about his physical condition and said. "Although I'm 37, I feel my body is in good shape. I don't think my speed has slowed much. Recently, I've been training with Arsenal, and I think in two or three weeks, I'll be ready."
Beckham signed only a five-month short-term contract with PSG. His explanation was that the contract focused only on this season. As for whether he would renew after the contract ended, or whether he would finish his career in Paris—everything remained unknown.
Money was no longer his "primary pursuit." He simply hoped to express himself on the football pitch. Everything depended on "feeling."
As for what that "feeling" was, Julien's Bastia teammates shared similar thoughts.
Qatari oil made the best "feeling."
However, Julien had to admit that PSG had completely maximized their exposure with this move.
Returning to the top five European leagues from America, Beckham brought tremendous traffic to Ligue 1.
Many fans, upon learning of PSG's lavish spending, looked at the Ligue 1 standings and were stunned.
'Bastia?'
So, PSG had spent several hundred million euros and hadn't even secured first place in Ligue 1?!
When they looked at the Ligue 1 scoring and assist charts, with Bastia players occupying the top two spots in both categories...
And when they saw Julien's name leading the scoring chart by a massive margin...
They were utterly bewildered.
This young player was that dominant?
After all, the Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimović had long made his name. Everyone expected him to dominate in Ligue 1, but apparently that wasn't quite the case.
For a moment, Beckham joining Paris inadvertently made Bastia famous.
As fans learned more, Bastia's recent history unfolded before them.
Three consecutive promotions.
Last season, they won a treble in Ligue 2.
This season, they entered European competition, defeated Atlético Madrid twice, topped their Europa League group, and led PSG, Marseille, and other traditional French powerhouses in the Ligue 1 standings.
This absolutely stunned everyone!
Digging deeper, it wasn't hard to discover that all this began after Julien joined the first team.
Julien's open letter was still generating buzz, and this Beckham incident instantly spread his fame to England.
Particularly within Manchester United circles.
Some Manchester United fans reposted Julien's open letter along with video highlights from his season.
This stunned Manchester United fans all over again.
After all, while Julien was now famous, many people still didn't really know about him.
"Isn't this that young French player from the European Championship? I remember him vividly!"
"Oh my God! Buy him! A player like this should be playing for Manchester United!"
"Good Lord, what am I seeing? I haven't paid much attention to De Rocca since the Euros, but I had no idea he's been tearing up Ligue 1. I hope Sir Alex moves quickly. From Julien, I see even higher talent than Cristiano at such age, it's simply unimaginable."
"If we can't sign this player for Manchester United, I hope he transfers to another league. Please don't come to the Premier League, or I'm worried our defense won't be able to stop this kid."
Of course, alongside the amazement came disdain.
"Given Ligue 1's intensity, and the Europa League being some second-rate competition where a bunch of teams that can't even play Champions League football, what competitiveness could there be? His performance is purely due to weak defending. Just put some real intensity on him and see if he can still break through."
"Exactly. I don't know why everyone's making such a fuss. Christiano was flashy early on with all those tricks, but didn't he get schooled when he came to the Premier League?
What good is dribbling? Physicality is king. With De Rocca's skinny body, forget the Premier League, any random Championship defender could send him flying meters away. He's just a kid who hasn't even grown hair yet."
As things escalated, it wasn't just fans—even Ferguson himself was cornered by reporters asking about Beckham and Julien.
English media—those who know, know.
Regarding Beckham ultimately joining PSG, the 'Boss' said: "I'm somewhat surprised. I knew he wouldn't return to the Premier League because he always said that after his Manchester United career ended, he wouldn't play for another Premier League club. He kept his promise, but I didn't expect him to ultimately join Paris Saint-Germain."
The reporter then mentioned that many in France said Beckham's competitive career should have ended in 2006 when he tearfully left the World Cup in Germany. His high-profile move to PSG was merely PSG using Beckham's fame to help the French Football Federation cover up the "Qatar Gate" scandal:
This was another major French story. The latest issue of France Football magazine revealed that former French President Sarkozy, UEFA President Platini, Spanish Football Federation President Villar, and other political figures and institutional officials were involved in a Qatar World Cup bribery scandal.
France Football published a nearly 20-page detailed investigation report titled "Qatar Gate," pointing out that during the 2022 World Cup bidding process, FIFA, UEFA, and the French Football Federation tacitly permitted Qatari bribery and vote-buying.
UEFA President Platini was suspected of being one of the orchestrators. Media had photographed him dining with former French President Sarkozy and the Qatari Prime Minister who was also the current owner of Paris Saint-Germain, Al-Thani.
The reporter concluded, "This is also why PSG met all of David's demands."
Ferguson, already at retirement age, certainly wouldn't respond directly. He simply said, "Football today is simply chaotic. Many things are unclear whether they're true or false. I don't care. I only care about Manchester United."
Hearing this, the reporter immediately followed up: "With David going to Ligue 1, many Manchester United fans have noticed another Ligue 1 player, 18-year-old Julien De Rocca. Have you paid attention to him?"
Ferguson nodded. "I noticed him during the European Championship."
The reporter pressed on: "Is there any possibility he could play for Manchester United?"
Ferguson was evasive. "Julien? Why not?"
In fact, after the interview ended, when Ferguson heard Julien's name, he felt somewhat regretful.
Because Ferguson had already made a decision. Before Christmas this year, he had told his wife Cathy. "I'm going to retire."
Cathy was shocked at the time because Manchester United was practically his entire life.
Cathy asked him: "Why do this?"
He didn't give an answer. But ultimately, Cathy agreed with his decision.
Yes, after managing Manchester United for 27 years, Ferguson decided to leave this summer.
It was precisely because of this that he felt regretful: he wouldn't be able to coach the world's best players anymore.
Much less coach Julien.
The chain reaction triggered by Beckham's transfer continued to build in England and France.
However...
On the Mediterranean island far from mainland France, Corsica: a tranquil peace prevailed.
All that turmoil seemed unable to cross the Mediterranean and reach here.
Bastia fans were already anticipating the new season's matches.
Though they weren't looking forward to the first match.
On January 6th, Bastia would play their French Cup Round of 32 match.
Their opponent was their local rivals, CA Bastia.
In Bastia's internal meeting, Geronimi made it very clear to Chataigner and Hadzibegic.
"This season, I've given everything. I've bet it all. I didn't have to do this, but you know what I want: championships! Yes, I want championships. I want to bring brand new history to Bastia."
Geronimi's gaze swept over both men. "You both know this might be our best chance to win the Ligue 1 championship. Julien will definitely transfer in the summer. After he leaves, we absolutely cannot maintain these results."
Both Chataigner and Hadzibegic understood this clearly.
Although Bastia had signed quite a few players, their performances varied, some good, some bad but none could match Julien.
Julien was Bastia's absolute core!
"We need to abandon the French Cup and focus fully on Ligue 1 and the Europa League!"
So, under this directive...
In the match against CA Bastia, Bastia fielded, well, if not a complete reserve team, at least Van Dijk and Martinez played to get some match fitness.
But everyone else was a "super" substitute.
Players who normally got no playing time all took the field. Hadzibegic even called up players from the reserve team.
Ultimately...
At CA Bastia's home ground, which could only hold 3,000 people, Bastia lost 0-1.
They were completely eliminated from this season's French Cup.
Regarding this match, the Bastia Daily wrote clearly: "This was a wise decision by Bastia. Their squad isn't suitable for competing on three fronts."
However, in mainland French media reports, it became: "French Cup defending champions Bastia suffer huge upset, losing to local rivals CA Bastia, who only play in the fifth tier!"
Of course, real fans saw through this sensational reporting immediately.
They didn't care at all.
Bastia continued at their training base, preparing for the next Ligue 1 match.
Currently, they led PSG by four points after PSG lost their final match before Christmas.
It was a moderate advantage.
The players were confident.
"How are you doing? Adapting here? It should be warmer than Netherlands, right?"
During a training break, Julien found Van Dijk for a chat.
For this future Ballon d'Or-level defender, in Julien's eyes, Van Dijk was worthy of the Ballon d'Or—he wanted to establish a good relationship early.
In fact, Van Dijk's transfer to Bastia nearly had complications, he almost failed the medical due to kidney issues.
Julien only learned about this past incident after Van Dijk mentioned it.
Last season on April Fools' Day, Groningen was defeated 3-1 by rivals Heerenveen and began facing relegation danger.
Van Dijk himself was sent to the operating room that day for acute appendicitis.
The illness was related to Van Dijk's extremely irregular schedule and diet after coming to Groningen.
It was his first time playing away from home, and the 20-something didn't know how to take care of himself. His schedule became chaotic, he didn't know how to cook, and he survived on junk food.
The result was concurrent appendicitis and peritonitis, which even infected his kidneys.
Fortunately, after careful examination, there were no problems.
Fabreattu also warned Van Dijk: "Here, you must be disciplined."
Fabreattu then nodded toward Julien. "After all, we have a discipline fanatic here. If you're not disciplined, you won't keep up with us."
After several days of interaction, Van Dijk responded naturally to Julien's chat, nodding. "Very good. It's much better than I imagined, especially the fans—they're extremely passionate."
This wasn't Van Dijk's first-time witnessing Bastia fans' passion, but each time he saw it, he found it incredible.
Especially when he saw the huge mural of Julien on the Terra-Vecchia center building...
He was utterly stunned!
It made him secretly envy Julien. He too wanted to become the kind of player who could drive fans wild.
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