SWR: Chapter 635/636

Chapter 635: Gao Shen, I Miss You So Much

"Gao, I thought you'd forgotten about us. You didn't even bother visiting during the league break."

De Laurentiis was clearly overjoyed to hear from Gao Shen.

In truth, they rarely contacted each other directly. It was usually Marino making the calls.

But for this transfer, Gao Shen had to speak with De Laurentiis himself—after all, he was the king of Naples.

"De, you know why I'm calling." Gao Shen was standing at the conference room door, on the phone, while glancing back at the room. Mubarak and the others were waiting inside.

"Lichtsteiner?"

"Mm."

"Tsk, Gao, you know this is very difficult for me to handle..."

"Cut the act. We're both smart people, so let's not waste time." Gao Shen didn't let him continue rambling.

Come on, don't I know what kind of person you are?

Next, he would probably complain harder than a grieving widow, acting like his hand was being forced.

Honestly, these acting skills must've been picked up straight from Hollywood. The man could turn it on anytime.

"Alright, alright, let's get straight to it. Lichtsteiner is one of our key players. We can't do without him…"

"You still have Maggio!" Gao Shen interrupted.

De Laurentiis was momentarily speechless.

Other people might not understand Napoli, but Gao Shen knew them inside and out.

"Besides, Aurelio, think about it. Maggio is being suppressed by Lichtsteiner. If Lichtsteiner doesn't leave, Maggio will eventually go. Think about it."

De Laurentiis gave it some thought and said reluctantly, "But if Lichtsteiner goes, we'll only have Maggio at right-back. Plus, Liverpool are chasing Dossena on the left. I nearly flew to England with a knife to kill that bastard Benítez!"

Gao Shen imagined De Laurentiis charging into battle on horseback with a blade and couldn't help laughing.

"Alright, Aurelio, let's not go around in circles. I'll recommend someone to you, like we used to. How's that sound?"

"Twenty percent?"

"Right."

"Deal!" De Laurentiis agreed without hesitation.

Back when Gao Shen was still at Napoli, De Laurentiis had pained over giving up 20 percent of the profits.

But since Gao Shen's departure, Napoli had signed several other players with disappointing results. Not only did their value not rise, some had even depreciated.

That was when De Laurentiis truly understood what people meant when they said transfers were high-risk.

He never stopped missing Gao Shen after that.

When he received the call today, he was almost in tears.

Gao Shen, I really missed you!

At this point, he would gladly give 30 percent, let alone 20.

"We still have foreign player slots, right?" Gao Shen asked.

De Laurentiis was thrilled to hear Gao Shen say "we." It made him feel like Gao Shen was still part of Napoli. "Yeah, we do."

"There's a young left-back in Brazil, Alex Sandro, currently playing for Santos. He's officially owned by Deportivo Maldonado but on loan to Santos. His performances have been good. Have someone in South America look into him. You could get him for around 3 to 4 million euros."

"Wait, let me grab something to write this down."

On the other end, De Laurentiis scrambled. Marino was clearly nearby. The two of them fumbled for pen and paper and asked Gao Shen to repeat it.

"There's also Danilo at América Mineiro. He's a right-back. Try to bring him in too, but keep the transfer fee under one million euros."

"Got it!" De Laurentiis was fired up.

He didn't care how Gao Shen got this intel. What mattered was whether it made money.

Last summer, he made a fortune.

And because of that, he truly understood how extraordinary Gao Shen was.

A treble had completely transformed Napoli into one of Serie A's top sides.

"Oh, and there's a player named Darmian in AC Milan's youth academy. Keep an eye on him too. He's Italian, and he's worth around one million euros."

"Okay!" De Laurentiis agreed immediately.

Having received the goods, he wouldn't block Lichtsteiner's move anymore.

Gao Shen gave him face as well, with Manchester City signing the Swiss right-back for 30 million euros.

…

When Gao Shen returned to the conference room and told Gary Cook they could begin formal transfer procedures with Napoli and negotiate personal terms with Lichtsteiner, everyone inside was stunned.

Right before hanging up, Gao Shen had called Lichtsteiner directly. Upon hearing that Napoli had agreed, Lichtsteiner accepted without hesitation.

Everyone knew Gao Shen was ambitious, and Manchester City was wealthy. Of course, the club would offer a better deal.

What shocked the Manchester City staff most was how Gao Shen had resolved what they had been working on for nearly a month with just one phone call.

Gary Cook and the others had flown to Italy twice, and still couldn't close the deal.

Who would have thought Gao Shen could wrap it up in ten minutes?

Even more incredible—the transfer fee was only 30 million euros.

Remember, Lichtsteiner was the main right-back of a Serie A treble-winning team and had helped Napoli reach the Champions League semifinals last season. His overall ability was excellent. Getting such a player at that price was a bargain.

But in today's transfer market, what is "reasonable" is often the exception.

Especially when Manchester City was buying. It was basically impossible not to pay a premium.

Of course, Gao Shen didn't mention that he pocketed 6 million euros out of the 30.

And judging by De Laurentiis' tone, once Alex Sandro was signed, he'd likely sell Dossena, bringing in another 20 million euros. Gao Shen would get a cut of that too.

Not to mention, he'd also get future shares from Danilo, Alex Sandro, and Darmian.

…

After settling the Lichtsteiner transfer, Gao Shen began discussing other matters with the management team.

Manchester City still had one major transfer target in the works, but progress was slow.

Mubarak and the others wanted Gao Shen to step in, but he felt the time wasn't right. It would be best to wait until after the World Cup, and to first establish contact with the player's agent.

After all, the player was currently focused on the World Cup. Disturbing him now might cause unnecessary distractions.

They then moved on to Manchester City's youth development system.

As technical director, youth training was under Gao Shen's jurisdiction.

Youth development had always been a challenging issue.

The stronger the club, the harder it became to properly nurture young talent.

Take Real Madrid for example.

In recent years, they'd adopted a model where they sold young players with a buyback clause. It was one approach.

Clubs like Juventus in Serie A preferred joint-ownership deals, which were functionally similar.

In the Premier League, Manchester United hadn't handled this area well. Otherwise, veterans like Giggs and Scholes wouldn't have blocked the path for youngsters like Pogba, who eventually left for Juventus.

Arsenal's youth program looked successful on the surface, but in reality, it relied too heavily on fast-tracking development and had little sustainable output.

Chelsea had invested massively in their academy in recent years.

According to media reports, they'd already spent over 60 million pounds.

Arnesen was in charge of scouting for youth players, but integrating them into the first team was another challenge entirely.

Everyone knew the first team was about results, not development.

Chelsea's approach was to set up satellite clubs and loan out as many players as possible.

But that came with problems.

Chelsea still paid the players' wages, but loan clubs didn't necessarily have any incentive to develop them properly. After all, they were only temporary.

In most cases, Chelsea initiated the loan deals.

This kind of arrangement often led to indifference.

And with so many loaned players, it was nearly impossible to monitor and customize their development in real-time.

How much would that cost?

So this issue was serious.

Another issue was whether the current or future first-team manager would even want to use these young players.

This was where tactical continuity came into play.

Even a club like Barcelona, with a consistent footballing philosophy, couldn't always promote youth players. Let alone clubs that frequently changed managers.

For Gao Shen and Manchester City, the best they could do was to ensure that future managerial hires shared a similar tactical approach.

Gao Shen's current mission was to shape a clear style for Manchester City and lay a foundation for future successors.

As for youth development, he could only try his best to nurture talent. Whether those players could eventually be used by the first team was out of his hands.

Even if a player left but later became valuable, Manchester City could simply buy him back.

For a wealthy club, as long as the problem could be solved with money, it wasn't really a problem.

Manchester City was rich. Naturally, they didn't have to worry.

So at this stage, Gao Shen's only responsibility was developing talent. Everything else could wait.

…

After the meeting at the Etihad, Gao Shen visited Carrington for a facility inspection.

There had been some issues last season, which had since been improved over the summer.

He also checked on the youth academy, which was part of his technical director duties.

Since he was still on vacation, he only stayed busy for one day before returning to his break.

Unexpectedly, the next day, he got a call from Ferguson.

They lived quite close to each other, and Ferguson invited Gao Shen to dinner, bringing with him an explosive piece of news.

(To be continued.)

Chapter 636: Who Is It?

Ferguson had always wondered why Gao Shen would give him wine every time they met.

At one point, he even suspected Gao Shen might be a wine merchant.

But then he thought it over and found it unlikely. How could selling alcohol be more profitable than being a head coach?

Besides, Gao Shen was so busy, how could he possibly have time to run a business?

He realized that every time Gao Shen gave him wine, there were never any strings attached. It never caused any trouble either. At most, some media would report a few baseless rumors, but they had no impact on him at all.

Once he figured that out, he slowly lowered his guard.

Especially now, with the league suspended and no pressure from matches, Gao Shen brought some fine wine and invited him to dine at a high-end restaurant in Alderley Edge. Ferguson thoroughly enjoyed the wine and food, finding the experience truly special.

Those who live in Alderley Edge are mostly British political and business elites. Anyone who can dine at this high-end restaurant is a big name in their field, including a few football stars.

So when Gao Shen and Ferguson sat down for a meal, while it was unusual and caught people's attention, no one came over to disturb them.

At most, they would just nod from a distance in greeting.

To be honest, at their level, it would be a bit over-the-top to act excited just because they saw a celebrity.

The two chatted intermittently while eating.

Gao Shen was really skilled at this kind of casual conversation.

Gradually, Ferguson, seemingly unintentionally, steered the conversation toward the transfer market.

"Did you know Chelsea signed Eto'o?" Ferguson picked up his wine glass, swirled the red wine, and suddenly asked.

Gao Shen, who was just about to cut his steak with knife and fork, froze momentarily, silently cursing: Manchester City's intel in this area is still lacking. They hadn't paid enough attention before, and now they lacked the strength.

At the core, it was because the foundation was still weak.

Manchester United had been a top team for many years, maintaining close exchanges of information with the major media, newspapers, and reporters, which made their intelligence network incredibly robust.

But Manchester City couldn't match that.

In the past, Manchester City had no real ambition, so it didn't matter. But now, it was something that had to be taken seriously.

After all, the transfer market was also a battlefield.

Just look at how United lost out on Ronaldinho, Robben, Kaka, and Benzema. That was a real blow to the Red Devils.

"Really? I'd heard rumors, but didn't know it was actually done," Gao Shen replied quickly with a smile to cover up, even though he was planning to go back and scold the entire administrative intelligence department behind closed doors.

Who was Ferguson?

He'd already noticed Gao Shen's surprise but didn't call him out on it.

"It's basically done. The transfer fee is 25 million euros, but they still have to finalize Eto'o's contract. As you know, he always has high wage demands," Ferguson said with a faint smile.

The media had reported that Eto'o had a big family to support and was involved in charity work, which were all good things.

But it was also true that the Cameroon striker had high salary expectations.

Gao Shen wasn't surprised by this. These things had to be mutually agreed upon. If Chelsea was willing to sign him, it meant they thought he was worth it.

On the other hand, after bringing in David Villa, selling Eto'o clearly didn't match Guardiola's public stance or character. The best explanation was that Barcelona had already locked in Aguero from Atletico Madrid.

As a result, the entire European football landscape was in disarray.

Everything Gao Shen remembered had been completely thrown into chaos.

Aguero was extremely talented. Once paired with Messi, plus Sanchez, Villa, and Pedro, Barcelona's front line would be terrifying.

Their attacking lineup might be short in height, but Barcelona didn't play high balls anyway. They always kept the ball on the ground.

You could imagine just how strong Barcelona would be.

Guardiola had clearly been deeply influenced by Gao Shen. If he didn't repeat the mistakes from his previous life, his accomplishments could be even more impressive.

"You figured it out too, didn't you?" Ferguson asked as he saw Gao Shen frowning and deep in thought.

Gao Shen was momentarily stunned. Then he looked up at Ferguson, as if to say: Can you really read my mind?

"The new Premier League season will be more intense than ever."

With that, Ferguson began analyzing the Premier League situation.

Chelsea had cleared out a lot of surplus players, but their first-team squad had become leaner. With Ramires and Eto'o added, Chelsea had improved significantly. Ancelotti's team had a real chance of reclaiming the title this season.

Liverpool had also made big moves, bringing in players like Meireles and Dossena. Those signings alone cost more than 30 million euros. On top of that, Joe Cole had joined from Chelsea on a free, significantly boosting the Reds' overall strength.

And then there was Tottenham Hotspur. The North London club had been very active this year too.

First, they signed central defender Gallas from Arsenal on a free, then they brought in Van der Vaart from Real Madrid for 8 million euros. Redknapp had basically completed the restructuring of their midfield and defense.

Tottenham had a real shot at finishing top four this season.

When Gao Shen heard this, he suddenly looked at Ferguson with curiosity. "Sir, why are you telling me all this?"

As he spoke, Gao Shen looked at Ferguson with a smile, as if to say: Let's not play games anymore, just be direct!

Ferguson chuckled. He knew he couldn't fool Gao Shen.

This kid was sharp.

"I want to ask you, who's this exciting star you're talking about?"

Gao Shen was stunned for a moment, then gave a wry smile. So that's what this was all about.

You couldn't really blame Ferguson for being nervous.

There's a saying: "I'm not afraid of thieves stealing, I'm afraid of thieves thinking about it."

Manchester City kept talking about signing a superstar, but there had been no major moves yet. That naturally aroused suspicion.

The media had been full of rumors.

Some said Gao Shen wanted Fabregas from Arsenal. There were even reports that Manchester City CEO Gary Cook had met with Arsenal officials in London.

But that was later debunked. It turned out Gary Cook was actually headed to Ukraine and had just made a stop in London.

Later, there were reports that Gao Shen was targeting Gerrard from Liverpool.

Everyone knew how influential this world-class midfielder was in the UK. Chelsea had almost signed him back in the day.

But the Liverpool Echo immediately published a rebuttal, saying it wasn't Gerrard but Torres.

Because Manchester City currently had only one consistent scorer, Suarez. Giroud played a specific tactical role but lacked finishing ability. Sturridge was still a bit young and inconsistent, and he clearly fit better in a two-striker system.

Then, some news came out that Gao Shen wanted Drogba. After all, Gao had praised Drogba heavily when he was at Napoli. It made sense he'd try to sign him now.

Don't believe it?

Just look at Giroud. Isn't he basically a simplified version of Drogba?

If you can afford the premium model, who wants the basic one?

But recently, a small report claimed Gao Shen was actually targeting Rooney from Manchester United.

What made it worse was that Rooney was currently in contract negotiations with United. His agent had hinted that big, wealthy clubs were indeed interested, and Rooney wasn't ruling out a transfer.

A wealthy club… Might as well just say Manchester City by name, right? What's the point of pretending?

The news spread like wildfire. Fans were watching closely, the media were hyping it, and Ferguson was getting anxious.

The reason was simple: Manchester United genuinely didn't have money.

"Honestly, Sir, you really need to step up your transfer activity. Otherwise, you might not even make the top four this season," Gao Shen said with a relaxed smile.

Ferguson listened, let out a soft sigh, picked up his wine glass, drank it in one go, then sighed again, savoring the flavor for a few seconds. "I've done my best. No matter what, I can't repeat Arsenal's mistake."

Gao Shen found it hilarious. If Wenger heard that, he'd probably be so angry he'd spit blood.

Damn, what do you mean by repeating our mistake?

I just slipped up for a moment and didn't pay attention, and you lot at Manchester United swooped in.

But Arsenal's situation really was tough. If they weren't careful, they could fall apart completely.

Why?

Because Arsenal's debt ratio was just too high.

They couldn't play in the Champions League this season, which meant they had to consider selling players.

For example, Gallas, Merida, Senderos, and Silvestre all left on free transfers. Eduardo da Silva, who had suffered a broken leg, had moved to Shakhtar Donetsk.

It was reported that after Mourinho took over at Real Madrid, he specifically asked for Adebayor.

Barcelona wanted Fabregas, and Real Madrid wanted Adebayor. Both were Arsenal stars who could fetch a high price.

It was clear Arsenal's situation was very difficult.

Even if many media outlets and fans were reluctant to admit it, the fact was that Manchester City was one of the few, or perhaps the only, Premier League and European giants with the financial power to make big signings.

Barcelona bought Villa and Aguero?

That was just them mortgaging their future and going into debt to buy players.

So Ferguson's worries weren't unfounded.

Gao Shen suddenly found the whole thing amusing. He hadn't expected Ferguson to invite him to dinner just because of this.

It was funny when you thought about it. Manchester United, once so rich and powerful, was now afraid of being poached?

"Sir, if—just saying if—we really want to sign Rooney, and Rooney's interested in joining us at Manchester City, what could you do?" Gao Shen asked with a hint of arrogance.

Ferguson was stunned at first, then his expression turned gloomy. He looked at Gao Shen intensely, trying to find some clue to determine whether he was joking or serious.

But Gao Shen didn't give anything away.

Ferguson felt powerless. If Gao Shen really went through with it, then he and Manchester United would have no way out.

"Alright, alright, no more talk like that. Let's keep eating and drinking," Gao Shen said casually.

Ferguson was fuming inside, cursing silently. Eat and drink, my ass!

That "if" of yours—was it real?

Can you give me a straight answer?

(To be continued.)