Julien did not travel with the team to Metz.
He was recovering from his injury at Clairefontaine.
After communicating with Bastia's team doctor, the French national team's medical staff took advantage of the break during the French Cup to have Julien undergo comprehensive treatment at Clairefontaine's medical center.
The diagnosis results were optimistic.
Deschamps breathed a sigh of relief upon learning the results, and Montel clearly emphasized that based on Julien's current recovery progress, he would be completely healed within two weeks at most.
That would be around October 4th.
Moreover, after missing the French Cup match, for Bastia's September 31st game against Nice, following Julien's own request and Montel's assessment, as long as proper precautions were taken, he could definitely play.
Before Julien was about to return to Bastia, Deschamps made a special trip to see him one more time.
The two had a brief chat.
Deschamps smiled and said, "Your team is missing one championship this season."
Julien shrugged and spread his hands. "We're not missing a championship—it was never ours to begin with. Bastia isn't Paris or Marseille. 'Championship' has never been a common word here; 'survival' is."
Deschamps' impression of Julien improved even more after hearing his words.
Then he mentioned the national team's matches next month. "I'll announce the new French squad on the 1st, and I plan to call up your teammate, Kanté."
Julien nodded. He had a sense of propriety about such matters and wouldn't say too much, he just simply replied, "He's a hardworking and talented player."
Actually, the reason Kanté entered the French national team so late wasn't due to lack of ability.
Rather, his style of play was destined to be far more effective at big clubs than at small ones.
At small clubs, it was players like Julien with his flashy style who stood out more.
To put it simply, whoever was the most spectacular looked the strongest.
Kanté was the type who didn't show off but was incredibly important to the team. This often led to him being overlooked by scouts who lacked sufficient expertise.
The stronger the team, the more Kanté's value became apparent.
Deschamps didn't continue with this topic and began saying goodbye to Julien. He had only come to see him before he left anyway.
"The national team is waiting for you next month. As long as we can defeat Spain, our World Cup journey will be half successful."
"Alright!"
Deschamps didn't continue with this topic and began saying goodbye to Julien. He had only come to see him before his departure anyway.
"The national team is waiting for you next month. As long as we can defeat Spain, our World Cup journey will be half successful."
"Absolutely!"
Julien was passionate about the World Cup. To become the GOAT of football, one could never avoid this ultimate test.
You can't simply say "the Champions League is my World Cup" and expect that to do in GOAT debate.
That Portuguese superstar, despite his incredible Champions League achievements and his status as one of the competition's greatest, still faced questions about his place in football's pantheon—largely due to his World Cup record not quite matching his club success.
Even Barcelona's short genius didn't claim the title of football's greatest before finally conquering the World Cup stage.
The World Cup has always been football's most prestigious theater.
Whether it was Pelé or Maradona, both legends cemented their status as kings on the World Cup stage.
And in the FIFA World Cup Trophy era—since 1974—no national team had ever successfully defended their title.
With France's current golden generation flourishing in front of his eyes, Julien genuinely believed he could lead Les Bleus to become the first team to defend the FIFA World Cup Trophy. Given his career trajectory and the talent in his hand as per history, even an unprecedented three-peat seemed possible.
However, with the French national team, to truly unite the squad and harness their collective strength, you still needed to embrace the philosophy of brotherhood football.
Deschamps said goodbye to Julien and was going to leave.
As he reached the door, he suddenly remembered something and turned to tell Julien, "Oh, Julien, about Zinédine's appointment with you this summer that didn't happen because of your injury—he asked me to tell you he's waiting for you in Madrid."
Deschamps added, "Europa League."
"Mm."
Julien nodded. Indeed, because of his leg injury this summer, plus his early contract renewal with Bastia, he hadn't gone to Real Madrid's training facility.
In this Europa League campaign, their third group stage match next month would take them to Atlético Madrid's home ground to face last season's Europa League champions, Atlético.
After saying those last words, Deschamps left.
That day, Julien packed his belongings and sent a message to his family to let them know about his departure.
His family had obviously been in contact with him throughout his recent injury and absence from the team.
It was already approaching October, and in just over two months, when Christmas came around, Pierre, his father thought Julien would be making crucial decisions about his professional future and potential club transfers.
Currently, in his discussions with his father, there were several options being just considered for future reference, but he obviously declined to even those now.
But Julien understood that his father wanted to ensure all possibilities were thoroughly explored before any major professional promises were made in future.
Julien returned to the team the afternoon after Bastia was eliminated from the French Cup. By this time, everyone on the team had also returned to Bastia from Metz.
Julien greeted his teammates.
De Bruyne was clearly still not recovered from yesterday's defeat, and this left him feeling somewhat frustrated as the dream of five trophies was ultimately shattered.
Seeing his condition, Julien said, "Winning that most important championship would already leave your name in Bastia's football history."
The most important championships for current Bastia were two—Ligue 1 and the Europa League.
Both were very difficult.
De Bruyne didn't say much but turned to care about Julien's physical condition. "How are things?"
Julien smiled and said. "Recovery is about seventy to eighty percent. There are no problems for the match at the end of the month."
"Don't force yourself to play. After resting for more than a week, we're not afraid of Nice."
De Bruyne kept reminding Julien because he knew clearly that Julien was the same type of person as himself: someone who would do anything for victory.
De Bruyne had thought many times that if he were injured someday but the team needed him, perhaps he would play even with a painkilling injection.
But he didn't want Julien to do the same.
"I just want to bring Bastia a Champions League qualification. The team has never had Champions League experience, and I want to complete this goal for the team before I leave."
As Julien spoke, De Bruyne looked at him.
Julien met De Bruyne's eyes and nodded at him.
De Bruyne asked the same question: "Back to Chelsea?"
Julien gave the same answer: "There's no place for me there."
De Bruyne didn't continue asking, just half-jokingly laughed, "I hope we'll have the chance to play together again in the future."
"We will."
Then, Julien saw Chataigner arrive at the training ground. He quickly said goodbye to De Bruyne and walked toward Chataigner.
Today, Chataigner was there to complete an important decision with Julien.
Contract renewal.
"How's your body?" Chataigner had a smile on his face.
Seeing his expression, Julien knew there were no problems with this signing.
"Not bad, won't delay the matches."
"For the upcoming matches, you must be careful. Your health is more important than anything. If you can't get to some balls, don't go for them. If you can't break through somewhere, don't force it," Chataigner chattered on.
They came to the office.
Geronimi was there too, along with the lawyer.
During his recovery at Clairefontaine, Julien, Pierre, and Chataigner had already thoroughly communicated about the contract renewal.
Both parties were very eager to renew.
The process went smoothly.
Chataigner took the negotiated details back to Bastia for face-to-face discussions with Geronimi.
Geronimi shook Julien's hand, and after some warm greetings, said, "To Bastia, you will be like a totem. Every match you play for Bastia creates Bastia's history. I'm very happy for having you here."
All documents were prepared.
The lawyer continuously checked the contract for possible loopholes, and Julien also took time to review the agreement once more.
There were no problems.
Julien would renew with Bastia for five years, with both parties agreeing to terminate the original contract and officially begin the new contract from October 1st.
Pre-tax annual salary: three million euros.
This was already top-level salary in Ligue 1.
Of course, this was top salary in Ligue 1 excluding Paris Saint-Germain.
PSG's current salary level was roughly equivalent to all other Ligue 1 teams combined.
Ibrahimović alone had a pre-tax annual salary of around fifteen million euros.
Thiago Silva also had a salary of about seven to eight million euros.
Lavezzi, who transferred from Napoli, also had an annual salary of six to seven million euros.
It could only be said that PSG really paid when poaching players.
Even head coach Ancelotti's annual salary exceeded six million euros.
Traditional Ligue 1 powerhouses like Marseille and Lyon had top salaries of only around three to four million euros.
Julien's contract this time was for three million euros.
However, there were other income sources—
First was the signing bonus: 10% of the total contract salary, or 1.5 million euros, as a signing fee. Due to Bastia's current financial issues, payment would be delayed until after this season ended.
If Julien transferred, he would receive 20% of the transfer fee. If Julien fully completed the five-year contract, he would receive a loyalty bonus equal to 100% of the five-year total salary (15 million euros) at the contract's end.
The loyalty bonus percentage was very high. Regular players typically got around 30%, and top players no more than 50%. But Julien's 100% showed that both parties clearly understood Julien wouldn't stay for five years.
Otherwise, with the current contract terms, even a 100% loyalty bonus would be a massive profit for Bastia.
There were also goal bonuses, Europa League advancement bonuses, league ranking bonuses, Champions League qualification bonuses, individual honors like league and European golden boot awards, and so on.
Additionally, Julien received 100% image rights, with the club able to use them for non-commercial purposes for free.
There were other supplementary benefits, such as the team covering all of Julien's daily expenses during his time with the team.
Finally, there was a release clause agreement.
Base release clause: 80 million euros, but only for teams outside France.
If the buyer was a Ligue 1 team, the release clause increased by 20% (to 96 million).
Additionally, if the buyer had Champions League qualification, installment payments were allowed.
This contract showed Bastia's complete sincerity.
They could even be said to be gambling.
This was the largest contract in Bastia's history—whether in total contract amount, bonuses, or other related benefits, it was the best contract ever.
If something went wrong with Julien, this could become a poisonous contract that might drag down Bastia.
But Geronimi signed his name without hesitation.
Julien also continued signing according to the lawyer's instructions.
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