Chapter 538: Chapter 537: The World’s Best Attacking Midfielders from Milan, Kicking off the Battle for Ronaldo
With Lisbon Athletics restocking their supermarket,
the big clubs began to get anxious.
Deng Kai, C. Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, and Kaka, the players with the most impressive stats, had already seen one of them bought.
If they didn’t make a move soon, it would be over.
AC Milan was the first to contact Deng Kai, hoping he would join them.
It wasn’t the first time they had reached out to Deng Kai.
But Deng Kai turned down AC Milan’s offer and recommended Kaka to them instead.
After carefully observing Kaka, AC Milan also decided to make a bid.
Their offer was twelve million euros.
The ideal selling price was fifteen million euros.
Despite Kaka’s outstanding stats, the mainstream view was that he was relatively mediocre, lacking the agility and talent of a Brazilian player.
At the World Cup that year, Ronaldinho had soared while Kaka barely even played, which corroborated this view.
At the same time, Lazio also made a bid for Kaka, and their price was close to that of AC Milan.
However, Lisbon Athletics’ counteroffer directly scared Lazio away.
Twenty-five million euros!
Do they think we’re fools?
Mendieta had set a precedent.
Did Kaka think he could fool us too?
This kind of player, lacking skill, would be exposed sooner or later!
The same words, in Deng Kai’s exchange with AC Milan’s sporting director, turned into "True gold always shines."
In the end, AC Milan took a huge risk and brought Kaka to San Siro Stadium for the astronomical fee of twenty-four million euros!
In response, half of AC Milan’s fans supported the move, while the other half opposed it.
The opposing half had many reasons, which need not be elaborated upon.
While the supporting half had only one reason... Kaka was so handsome!
Transfermarkt seriously criticized the transaction.
They believed that AC Milan now had too many midfielders, especially attacking midfielders.
Rui Costa, Pirlo, Seedorf, Rivaldo, Kaka... even Lisbon Athletics’ three-forward midfield formation couldn’t fit these five attackers.
Were they trying to make front midfielders flow out of Milan?
But a team couldn’t consist of only midfielders!
Similarly, as one of these players, Pirlo felt despair.
He began to contact his teammate Gattuso frequently, arranging for them to train together in the summer, with unwavering diligence.
As a result, Gattuso and Pirlo developed a profound friendship.
But Gattuso would never know that Pirlo actually wanted to learn Gattuso’s defensive skills to move back his position and compete for Gattuso’s starting spot in the team!
In order to avoid competing with the superstar and handsome midfielders for a position.
Deng Kai called this "off-peak footballing"!
Gattuso: What the hell... Man!
Wait, Deng Kai?
That’s right!
After Kaka joined, Deng Kai contacted Pirlo as a teammate of a teammate, sort of making them half teammates, and they had a friendly conversation.
But Pirlo always found Deng Kai’s attitude strangely agreeable.
So agreeable that it was like talking to... a sporting director!
...
At the end of July, a huge change occurred in Porto.
Porto’s meritorious striker, four-time consecutive winner of the Portuguese Golden Boot, former European Golden Shoe and Bronze Shoe recipient, and Brazilian powerhouse Jia De’er transferred to English Premier League side Sunderland for sixteen million euros!
For a striker from a lesser league, this price was almost the ceiling.
The irreconcilable conflict between Jia De’er and Mourinho had reached its peak.
Porto suffered a heavy blow.
Because no one could deny that Jia De’er was indeed the strongest scorer in the Portuguese league over the past five years!
With the reigning UEFA Cup champions, the next season would obviously be quiet.
Just like with Lisbon Athletic, the Champions League winners of the league.
Also, another team wanted to poach Deco.
And Deco was truly tempted.
But in the end, Mourinho somehow managed to keep Deco.
Unfortunately, Lisbon Athletic couldn’t keep that many people.
"African Striker Bids Farewell to Lisbon! Ligue 1 team Marseille pays 16 million euros to let Drogba dominate the French league!"
"Ajax invites Swedish talent for 16 million euros to relive the glorious years of Ajax! Forming the European Youth Storm 2.0 at Ajax!"
"Serie A’s flying donkey Chievo buys the cornerstone of Italy’s defence for the next ten years! 19 million euros takes away Champions League’s best lineup center-back Barzagli! From 200,000, to 19 million, Barzagli’s value over two years is worth its weight in gold!"
"Barzagli pours his heart out: Without Maxa, I’d still be worth 200,000!"
"Drogba pays tribute to Saint Maxa: If possible, I hope Mr. Maxa can coach Ivory Coast in the future, so we can definitely make it to the World Cup!"
Maxa gave a faint smile: You must regret joining the Ivory Coast national team and wish to disband it, then join the French team, right?
Soon, Porto’s conditions for keeping Deco surfaced.
Porto made an offer to rival, Lisbon Athletic, in the league—12 million euros to take away Pepe!
The price was very fair.
After all, Pepe was mainly seen as an important substitute, not quite the absolute starter, especially in terms of his role in a certain position.
Of course, Lisbon Athletic wouldn’t sell.
But when the price reached 20 million euros, who could resist?
How much was Portugal’s strongest new star Quaresma last year?
million euros.
How much was Pepe when he joined?
100,000 euros in a buy one get two deal, Pepe being one of the ’two’!
"An irrational transaction! Mourinho spends 20 million euros to forcefully take Pepe away just to find a teammate with a similar experience for Deco?"
"Pepe has great potential, but he is far from being worth that price at the moment!"
"Hopefully, Mourinho is sensible in chasing stars, does winning a Europa League make him think he can swing around a checkbook? He is very likely to be dismissed by Porto next season!"
In response, Mourinho openly exclaimed, "Pepe is an extremely important part of my plan, Deco, Pepe, Maniche, Baia... I even believe we can replicate the legendary path of Lisbon Athletic!"
"Of course, even if it falls short, we are very likely to win the Champions League within two years!"
Reporters from the major media outlets almost died laughing.
Just with your Liga Portugal, you think you can win the Champions League?
Deng Kai: Cough cough.
...
After some minor transfers.
The European transfer market faced a major battle.
The person who triggered this big fight was...
Cristiano Ronaldo!
The catalyst was an offer from Bayern.
During the past period, Bayern had shown their terrifying influence in the Bundesliga.
The rising stars, at this time, were basically priced around 20 million euros.
Top superstars ranged from 30 million to 40 million euros.
Less than last year, by a considerable amount.
But... when Bayern took away Ballack and Ze Roberto from Bayer Leverkusen for just 6 million and 9 million euros respectively, the European football world was left picking up their jaws from the floor.
How did they manage that!
With their super performances, the package price of 51 million would be a bargain!
million... did Bayern hit the wrong number?
Was the fax machine operator at Leverkusen asleep on the job?
Outrageous!
Just outrageous!
Afterward, Bayern showed their high respect for Cristiano Ronaldo, the superb striker.
million euros, the bid for Ronaldo!
Their generosity even scared themselves.
[PS: Ten more updates tonight! Requests for monthly tickets, asking for rewards!!!]
