Chapter 342: Chapter 341: Kua Kua can leave with confidence; Young Master Kai has already named another Ricardo.
"That’s true, but looking at it this way, Lisboa Athletic’s ambition seems to be limited. Reaching the semi-finals must be very challenging for them—it’s a historic breakthrough."
"That Viana doesn’t seem as phenomenal as Inter fans make him out to be; he didn’t contribute any notable stats this game."
"You can’t just look at post-game stats when evaluating a player’s performance. Viana actually did not do bad; he’s a qualifying midfielder for the top five leagues. But indeed, he’s still quite a distance from being a core player for a top club."
"I think Inter made a mistake there. Viana is definitely not worth twenty million euros."
"Yeah, compared to Viana, Quaresma is more worthy of a twenty million euro price tag."
"Quaresma is truly amazing! Who said he performed poorly? He even played better than our own Simon this game!"
"Indeed, Quaresma practically carried the team on his own. His dribbling distance, number of players taken on, success rate in take-ons, he’s top-notch in all these aspects. No doubt he’s a core player up front."
"This style of play, isn’t it exactly the type of winger we at Barça have been looking for? No wonder the club has been keeping an eye on Quaresma; he’s really worth buying."
"Overmars’s performance is lacking, Simon’s form is too inconsistent, Quaresma could possibly become the mainstay on the wing for the team if he comes."
"It’s just the price, it’s quite a bit more expensive than Simon. Was it eighteen million or how much exactly?"
"Hard to say, eighteen million euros is the market value, but Lisboa Athletic is not short on buyers. They probably won’t let go for less than twenty million euros."
"Damn it! It’s all Figo’s fault, that traitor. If not for him, we would have signed Quaresma last year. What was the price back then? Seven or eight million euros?"
"Ah, that hurts!"
"Money is not the issue, we at Barça have money. As long as the product is right, it’s worth the spend."
Perhaps it was the three away goals that made Barça relatively relaxed. In the face of all the media speculation, a Barcelona sports department official actually responded publicly to some of it: "Quaresma is definitely a good player, and Barça does not rule out making a bid for him this summer."
"Of course, Barça has many outstanding players, and this does not mean we are dissatisfied with our current squad. We just have higher goals, we need more strong players."
"Deng Kai? No, no, no, don’t mention that name. Our own Xavi is better than him. We have no reason to bring in a problem player."
"Where’s the problem? At least we absolutely will not allow team players to make careless remarks in the media! We don’t need a traffic star, nor will we give any special treatment to an actor’s boyfriend."
"Unless he gets rid of his bad habits, there’s no chance of him joining Barça."
Such news was everywhere.
So much so that during training, when Quaresma received a pass from Deng Kai, he took the initiative to find Deng Kai and explain, "Kai, don’t look at the stuff those newspapers are saying recently. It’s all made up to attract eyeballs."
It wasn’t that Quaresma’s status was lower than Deng Kai’s; they simply had a good personal relationship.
The recent resurgence in Quaresma’s performance was largely due to the strong support he received from Deng Kai on the field.
Deng Kai’s passing and off-the-ball movement were a world apart from the simple and boring Large Circle Tactics on the wings.
With such a midfielder, whether it’s breaking through, passing, or shooting, everything becomes much easier."
Deng Kai nodded with a smile, "No worries, relax Ricardo. Your performance deserves such treatment. Believe me, by the time summer comes, you’ll shine even brighter."
Quaresma was then somewhat embarrassed. He didn’t know how to respond.
Unless something unexpected happened, he would definitely be leaving this summer.
But talking about next season in front of his teammates was something he knew was inappropriate.
"Everyone will have this day; Lisbon Athletic is originally a team that cultivates young players. It’s good for everyone to be able to go to a top club," Deng Kai provided psychological guidance for Quaresma.
He of course hoped that Quaresma would successfully join a top club.
Only then would the power transition at Lisbon Athletic be completely finalized, and various privileges and star treatments could truly fall into Deng Kai’s hands.
Otherwise, you’re asking Quaresma, last season’s star, to play a supporting role next season for you—it wouldn’t be fair, and people would think that little Deng Kai is too domineering, bullying the veteran player.
Once you’re branded that way, it will be difficult to fit in when you move to other teams in the future.
Humans are social animals; when judging a stranger, they heavily rely on external evaluations of him—this is how reputation is formed.
Besides, Quaresma is not indispensable for Lisbon Athletic. In Trigella’s blueprint for next season’s transfers, there are several high-quality players.
Among them, under the guidance of Deng Kai, Trigella got involved in the scouting work of Lisbon Athletic, assigning someone to Brazil to learn about another player from Sao Paulo’s youth training, "another Ricardo."
The scouts reported back that "Ricardo is outstanding, but he has a serious history of injuries, and now it’s been less than a year since his major injury, it is suggested to observe for two more years to confirm stability before making a move."
Regarding this, Deng Kai’s opinion was not to wait and to buy directly in the summer.
Trigella said ok.
Perhaps the old Lisbon Athletic needed to be cautious about buying players, because there really wasn’t much money.
But an idiot would know that this year’s Lisbon Athletic has unearthed a group of treasures; casually selling a few in the summer, the revenue could compare to the total of the last two or three seasons.
Moreover, this year Lisbon Athletic even made it into the top four of the Europa League, and there’s even a chance to make it to the final.
With the results in the league and the Portugal Cup, the earnings from competitions for Lisbon Athletic this year might also be very substantial, equivalent to the total income of two or three seasons.
Under such circumstances, who would dare to object if Trigella wants to spend a bit more?
"Thank you, Kai! I will never forget everything you’ve done," Quaresma said sincerely.
"When you face Barcelona in the next round, you need to perform well and get the Camp Nou fans to worship you in advance!" Deng Kai and Quaresma began a reciprocal flattery mode.
...
April 9th, the twenty-eighth round of the Primeira Liga.
Lisbon Athletic won 2-1.
There were some subtle changes in this game, as Viana, who used to push forward actively, voluntarily held back.
He took on the role previously played by Deng Kai, giving Deng Kai the chance to push forward.
This led to Deng Kai completing two assists in this game.
Clearly, Viana was preparing to join Inter Milan.
He did not wish to get injured during the remaining time.
Deng Kai understood this.
Viana played quite well in the withdrawn position, not causing any impact on the team’s strength.
This, in turn, liberated Deng Kai.
