Chapter 248: Chapter 247 Kai Shao’s Phone Call
Guardiola felt a huge crisis looming.
It was precisely because of this crisis that the players wanted to rebel, leading Guardiola to unite the Barcelona native group even more tightly, hence the conflicts with the Dutch faction became increasingly severe.
...
"Matthaus, Deschamps, Joao Pinto, Paolo Bento, Sporting Lisbon’s veteran team is relatively intact, but in the youth storm they want to stir up, the youth content seems insufficient!"
"Sporting Lisbon still has several key positions vacant, and they need to bring in at least three to five more players!"
"Sporting Lisbon bares its fangs, Benfica and Porto refuse to trade with them any further!"
"Other Portuguese teams open their lion’s mouths wide to Sporting Lisbon, asking for exorbitant prices for players!"
"Portugal’s outstanding young players have been scarce in recent years, and most are within the big three clubs, leaving Sporting Lisbon with no options to recruit!"
"Sporting Lisbon’s scouting system isn’t global, and it’s difficult to find quality young foreign players!"
As Sporting Lisbon’s lineup neared completion, the rest of the Portuguese league panicked.
Good or bad, this team was just too old, with Matthaus at thirty-nine!
Deschamps, Pinto, and Bento, either in their late thirties or about to turn thirty and not too high in standards, all needed reliable substitutes.
Deng Kai, Ronaldo fifteen years old.
Quaresma, Viana, Feng Te eighteen years old.
Among these youngsters, Quaresma, who had already played a full season in the Portuguese league, was the strongest, but even his excellent data from the last season came with some struggles.
They also needed more time to adapt to the Portuguese league; they might not produce results within two years.
Under this pressure, Trigella looked at the phone numbers and player names in front of him, feeling a bit nervous.
Maxa by his side was sweating profusely.
"It’s just a matter of five or six million, which might not even amount to a fraction of my and Ronaldo’s future transfer fees. What’s there to be afraid of? Let’s do it!" Deng Kai encouraged Trigella.
Trigella eventually nodded, choosing to trust Deng Kai.
All the documents in his hands were found under Deng Kai’s guidance, or provided by Deng Kai.
They were all young players whose names were hardly known.
The youth storm is not just about being young.
They damn well need to be young geniuses.
At the very least, they should be like Feng Te... Forget it, even Feng Te is still a bit too mediocre... You need to be better than Feng Te to potentially stir up a youth storm!
Feng Te: "Hello, is this Benfica? I want to defect; I don’t feel respected at Sporting Lisbon!"
Veloso: "Feng Te, I advise you to think it over carefully. When it comes to disrespecting players, Benfica has always been quite capable."
Cough cough!
Trigella cleared his throat and began dialing the phone: "Hello, this is..."
Trigella handed the phone to Deng Kai.
Portuguese and Italian are of the same origin but are not exactly the same, so to avoid any mistakes or omissions in communication, Trigella decided it was best to let the professional handle it.
Deng Kai had mastered French, Italian, German, and several other languages before he was admitted to the University of Lisbon.
"Hello, is this the Londinera Football Club... Okay, this is Sporting Lisbon, I’m the assistant to Mr. Trigella, the head coach. We would like to discuss a transfer for your player, Andrea Barzagli."
Deng Kai signaled Maxa to stop applauding, to not make noise, "What? Italy’s Serie B Pistoia has already loaned the player?"
"I’m sorry, but has the procedure been completed? Or is it just that a preliminary agreement has been reached?"
"It’s been agreed on? So the process hasn’t been initiated yet? How about 100,000 euros for the transfer fee, what do you think about that?"
"You have a reputation? It’s inconvenient to break the agreement, I understand... 150,000 euros."
"Of course, I know it’s tough for you, so let’s settle for 200,000 euros, that’s the limit our boss can authorize. We have several other potential players in mind, and if we can’t get Barzagli, we need to hurry and make an offer on the other side, you understand what I mean... Alright, pleasure doing business. We’ll send someone over to liaise with you immediately."
Maxa watched on the side, terrified.
Wasn’t the cap agreed at 100,000 euros?
How did it become 200,000 euros?
"This... won’t this exceed the budget? A Serie D player for 200,000 euros, the fans will curse us for corruption!" Maxa was almost in tears.
He hadn’t been able to save this much money in the past two years.
If the club traced this responsibility back to him, his BMW 3 Series would be out of the question!
"This kind of small change, save normally, or give double, how big can the difference be?" Deng Kai smiled, "When it comes to real top players’ transactions, in deals worth tens of millions, if you were to just give a discount, that would be more than what you’re trying to save here."
"I can tell from your spending mindset that you live a difficult life. Home detergent, toilet paper, laundry detergent—all bought on discount, right?"
Maxa nodded.
Deng Kai: "How much can you save a year? A hundred or two hundred?"
Maxa: "Thirty-nine euros."
Deng Kai: "A discount on your clothes is a few tens of euros, right? Home appliances often have discounts of over a hundred euros. When it comes to buying cars, the difference between buying early or late, with or without a discount, is several thousand euros... Human energy is limited, squander the small money, it’s easier on the mind. Save the big money for later, understand?"
Maxa suddenly understood.
It really was as Deng Kai had said.
No wonder he felt dizzy and nauseous every time he counted and recounted his savings over the year, never saving much and feeling sick whenever he purchased something.
Brilliant!
Londinera quickly approved the transaction for Barzagli.
Joke, 200,000 euros, a Serie D player, that’s an astronomical fee.
Apart from Lu Yang and Morich, Serie D had never seen such an expensive player!
"Hello, Barzagli? I’m the assistant to Mr. Trigella, the head coach of Sporting Lisbon, Mr. Trigella is next to me, but his Italian isn’t very good, so he asked me to contact you..."
"Yes, the club has seen the potential in you... No, no, no, not the youth team, the first team. Primeira Liga, first team, you’ll have plenty of playing time, but whether you’ll be a starter or a key substitute will depend on your performance on the pitch."
"In fact, it was Mr. Zidane who mentioned you to our team leadership. He said there is a promising central defender in Serie D, though I’m not sure where he saw you play. But we take Mr. Zidane’s recommendation very seriously, so we researched you and unanimously believe you have the ability to compete in the Primeira Liga!"
"Do you know Matthaus and Deschamps? They just joined our team. If you agree, you will stand behind Matthaus in the new season, becoming his most reliable backup."
"You should know that Matthaus has played as a central defender too, so he could certainly give you some valuable advice."
