Chapter 246: Chapter 245: You Guys Can Consider Lisbon Athletic
"Actually, your situation is quite similar to Deschamps’," Deng Kai said. "Of course, I’m not talking about this edition of the European Championship, haha. Deschamps helped the French team to the championship... What I mean is, Deschamps also wanted to transition into coaching."
"I just had a chat with Maxa, and he seems a bit interested in Sporting Lisbon. In my opinion, you might be a good fit for our team as well."
Matthaus could barely hold back a laugh. "Sporting Lisbon? The Primeira Liga? Are you sure?"
What he implied was that the Primeira Liga’s level was too low.
"That must be much higher than the MLS," Deng Kai said with a laugh, stabbing the knife in deeper. "Whether it’s Trigella or Maxa, they are both excellent head coaches with incredibly unbelievable records."
"And didn’t Bayern and Germany say you weren’t up to it? Even if you join a big team now, they will still say you’re not up to it, especially since no big team wants you right now."
"If you join a smaller team and lead a bunch of rookies to achieve something, then you would be the team’s greatest contributor."
Matthaus still wasn’t taking it seriously. "What if it doesn’t work out?"
Deng Kai spread his hands. "Then it just means the rookies aren’t good enough. And maybe the head coach will be fired by then, and you’ll naturally rise to the position, won’t you?"
Matthaus eyes lit up, and then he quickly covered it up.
"Stop acting, don’t tell me you didn’t initially go to the United States wanting to coach New York MetroStars?" Deng Kai pierced through Matthaus’ little scheme, "With your renown, as long as you truly have the talent for coaching and have worked at a team for a while, it’s absolutely possible for you to become the head coach at the right time."
"This platform of Sporting Lisbon is not small for any rookie coach, right?"
Matthaus felt enlightened as if with an epiphany.
Joining Sporting Lisbon was like killing several birds with one stone.
One escape route after another.
Firstly, prove yourself, and incidentally learn the art of being a head coach.
If the team does well, you’ve proven yourself. The head coach will most likely go to a big club, and won’t this position naturally fall on the notable contributor Matthaus?
If the team doesn’t do well and the head coach is sacked, wouldn’t the star player Matthaus, who’s familiar with the team and coaching staff, have a chance to become the new head coach?
When you were a star, Sporting Lisbon’s platform may have been lacking.
But for a new coach, a spot as the Primeira Liga’s top club’s head coach is at least a starting point, right?
It’s exhilarating!
Matthaus glanced at Maxa not far away and sighed, "Kid, did Maxa teach you all this?"
Deng Kai was taken aback.
You’re almost spot-on there.
The thing with Maxa and Deschamps, that’s really what I taught him.
"No wonder Sporting Lisbon dares to knock everything down and rebuild so cleanly this summer. It seems like Trigella is bold, but actually, it’s probably Maxa beside him who’s the real decision-maker, right?" Matthaus said with a smile, "Young, promising, brave, capable, willing to play second fiddle, respectful to elders, caring for the young, it seems like he will be the one competing with me for the world’s number one head coach in the future!"
"All right, let me get to know my lifetime rival in advance! Maxa!"
Clap, clap, clap!
Deng Kai could only applaud.
Worthy of the name starting with the letter ’M,’ fools of the world make one heap, and Maxa and you, Matthaus, together you count for one heap and a half!
The world still owes you guys two buckets of stupid!
"This transfer will not only become the biggest transfer news in Portugal, but it will also create a huge buzz across the entire European football scene," Deng Kai boasted, "Both German fans and Bayern fans probably couldn’t imagine you making such a spectacular comeback. At the very least in Germany, your transfer will be the most talked-about transfer!"
Matthaus asked, "Isn’t that an exaggeration? Figo’s act of betrayal will be hard to top in the short term, and it was even more impactful than when Luis Enrique moved directly from Real Madrid to Barca. After all, Enrique is no match for Figo!"
Deng Kai said, "But you are a match. Both in terms of your status in football and the dramatic nature of your move to Sporting CP. Don’t forget, besides Manchester United, I was the one who commanded from the sidelines and made Bayern taste defeat in the Champions League final two years ago!"
"Your betrayal will definitely hit Bayern fans as hard as Figo’s hit Barca fans!"
Hiss hiss hiss!
If Deng Kai hadn’t mentioned it, Matthaus might not have thought of that.
This really does seem quite delightful.
So what if there are a lot of people in Bayern’s team who dislike me, and the fans too; if they’re unhappy, then I, Matthaus, am thrilled.
But it seems like there’s something not quite right.
Watching Deng Kai leave, Matthaus suddenly cursed, "Fuck! If it wasn’t for your crappy managing, I might have already had the Champions League trophy by now!"
What trophy hasn’t Matthaus won in his life?
Hey, not the Champions League trophy.
That blockhead Deng Kai.
...
The summer transfer window opened, and there was frequent movement among European players.
After losing Figo, Barca wanted to do something on the transfer market to salvage the situation.
So, they had previously signed Overmars from Arsenal for forty million.
But that wasn’t enough.
They added another fifteen million euros and brought Emmanuel Petit, who had just lifted the Delaney Cup with the French team, back to Camp Nou.
Of course, the transaction was not a success.
Petit sought a transfer to Chelsea in the Premier League just half a season later and stated that Barca was the worst stop of his career, as there was too much off-the-pitch, with cliques of locals, Dutchmen, and others, there was no teamwork to speak of.
In addition, Real Madrid taking away Figo dealt a heavy blow to Barca’s pride.
But the story didn’t end there.
Real Madrid was also discussing the ownership of another Lopez apart from the little bug Lopez—Gerard Lopez—with Valencia.
This was a player from Barca’s youth academy, who had played a key role for Valencia in the previous season, reaching the Champions League final, and would eventually become the coach of Barca B.
If this Catalonian DNA were to be bought by Real Madrid, Barca would truly be left without any dignity. If the present and the past were given to Real Madrid, could Barca have a future?
For this reason, Barca joined the bidding war for Gerard Lopez and finally took Gerard Lopez away with an obviously overpriced fee of twenty-one million and six hundred thousand euros.
It was a lose-lose deal.
Barca, which got Gerard, wasn’t suited to his style of play, and Gerard never managed to break through at Barca. His only role at Barca ended up being his frequent injuries, which paved the way for Iniesta to rise to prominence, a prime example of inadvertently contributing to someone else’s success.
