De Red, Juan Mata, and Arbeloa were all pyers Gao Shen desperately wanted for his team.

  De Red, Gao Shen was most familiar with versatile, strong both offensively and defensively, and undeniably talented. As for Juan Mata, Gao Shen was eyeing him as the team's future attag midfielder. Hamsik was already good, but Mata brought more teique and creativity to the table.

  In the 4-2-3-1 formation Gao Shen favored, the attag midfielder o have exceptional abilities. Hamsik, though talented, cked a bit in terms of finesse and vision pared to Mata.

  Both pyers had their strengths, and Gao Shen saw them as perfeplements.

  As for Arbeloa, Gao Shen had been longing for a solid right-back, but now it seemed that getting any of these three pyers was being unrealistic.

  Gao Shen had prepared for this. If these three pyers weren't obtainable, he had backups in mind.

  "José Callejon and Daniel Parejo both were sent back to the Real Madrid sed team st season," Gao Shen said to Butrague?o.

  Butrague?o paused for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

  It was true. Both Callejon and Parejo had been promoted to the first team, but they were still very young, especially Parejo. During Capello's te season, both were sent back to the sed team due to ck of opportunities.

  Parejo, at just 18 years old, was sidered too inexperienced, while Callejon faced fierpetition on the wings. With Reyes on loan from Arsenal, opportunities for Callejon became scarce.

  More importantly, Capello was not a coach who liked relying on young pyers, which was the plete opposite of Gao Shen's philosophy.

  "I'll o look into it," Butrague?o said, uo make a decision on the spot.

  Gao Shen nodded, but added, "Try to iate without a buyback cuse. And if there is o should be based on market value. Otherwise, I'm not ied."

  This was a strategic move.

  Real Madrid had a habit of iing buyback cuses when selling young academy talents. Parejo, a young genius personally reized by honorary president Di Stefano, and Callejon, who had shown potential in the first team, were no exceptions.

  If Real Madrid were willing to sell them to Napoli, they would likely insist on a buyback cuse. But if the price was set too low, Gao Shen wouldn't agree.

  At Napoli, Gao Shen had a vested i iransfers, including a share in any price differences. He wasn't ied in developing pyers for Real Madrid at no be to Napoli.

  Gao Shen's message was clear.

  He believed iwo pyers, but they didn't have a future at Real Madrid. If they came to Napoli and thrived under Gao Shen's guidance, Real Madrid could buy them back at a hefty price, based on market ditions.

  In effect, this would mean Napoli and Gao Shen were helping Real Madrid develop their young talents, but only if it made financial sense.

  For Real Madrid, this was a reasonable proposition. They had the money. As long as the pyers were developed well, Real Madrid wouldn't suffer a loss. In the end, they could decide whether to buy back the pyers or not.

  "Alright, I'll look into it," Butrague?o agreed.

  After finishing their meal, Gao Shen and Butrague?o left the restaurant separately to avoid attrag too much attention.

  Gao Shen knew he would be staying in Madrid for a few more days.

  Noeople knew he was ba town, Florentino, Valdano, and others had all called, inviting him to dinner.

  While Gao Shen could dee most invitations, he couldn't turn down those from Florentino and Valdano. He also po meet with Zidane, who was currently staying in Madrid.

  It was going to be a busy few days, catg up with everyone and handling several tasks at once.

  But as he left the restaurant and waited for Lucas t the car around, Gao Shen pulled out his phone and called Marino, who was ba Italy.

  "her Arbeloa nor Juan Mata is avaible. You o act immediately a me someone," Gao Shen said firmly.

  Marino reassured him over the phone.

  Before leaving Naples, Gao Shen had given Marino a list of potential traargets.

  Several pyers on that list were high-priority targets fao Shen this summer. For instance, Gao Shen had his eye on Andrea Dossena, a native Italia-back from Udinese, as a backup for the left side of the defense.

  Dossena was a solid pyer. If he wasn't, Benitez's Liverpool wouldn't have been ied in him. But Gao Shen knew Dossena wasn't necessarily going to threaten Vargas' starting position he was more of a rotation option to keep Vargas from being pt.

  Dossena had made 28 appearances for Udihe previous season, starting 17 games. He had been used in various roles, sometimes in midfield and sometimes as a full-back, showg his versatility. Gao Sheimated his price to be between 1.5 and 2 million euros.

  Udinese was well-known for being a selling club. As long as Napoli was willing to pay, a deal could be made.

  In addition to Dossena, Gao Shen was also ied in Belgian midfielder Radja Nainggon, who ying for Serie B side Piaza.

  The key thing about Nainggon was his retively low price around 500,000 euros. He would add depth to Napoli's midfield. Gao Shen was eager to buy him and develop him further.

  Nainggon had joined Piaza from Belgian club Beerschot in 2004. He made his Serie B debut in 2006, ing on as a substitute in the final round of the season against Arezzo at just 18 years old.

  Last season, he came off the bench again, pying six minutes in the final round against Trestina. While his pying time had been limited, Gao Shen saw his potential.

  Since Piaza had failed to secure promotion to Serie A, it wouldn't be difficult for Napoli to acquire Nainggon. Gao Shen couldn't help but imagine how formidable a midfield pairing of Nainggon and Vidal could be.

  A backup left-bad a midfield reinfort were good steps, but not enough.

  Gao Shen also instructed Marino to tact Belgian club Gent. He wao sign Belgian attacker Dries Mertens, who had been on loan at Apeldoorn ich sed divisioens' price was around 400,000 euros.

  Gao Shen's most vivid memory of Mertens came from the World Cup. The diminutive attacker, who could py as a forward, attag midfielder, or winger, had made a strong impression on him. And based oens' inal career trajectory, he would eventually join Napoli and reach the peak of his career there.

  Gao Shen just inteo fast-track that process.

  Speaking of Belgian pyers, there was another pyer Gao Shen had his eye on: Mousa Dembélé, who ying for AZ Alkmaar ihernds.

  Anyone familiar with the Premier League would reize Dembélé as one of Tottenham Hotspur's best midfielders. His dribbling ability was outstanding, and his physicality made him a dominant presence.

  Gao Shen had always wao sign Luka Modric because of his ball-carrying ability in the middle of the pitch. Pyers like Modrid Dembélé were invaluable in modern football. Napoli didn't have anyone who could fill that role yet.

  After failing to sign Modric, Dembélé became Gao Shen's arget.

  The problem was that, at the time, Dembélé was being used more as a forward or winger. And under Van Gaal's ma at AZ Alkmaar, he was highly valued.

  Strong-arming a transfer ossible, but it would be expensive. For now, Gao Shen had put that pn on hold.

  Sometimes, the transfer market worked like this you couldn't always get the pyers you wanted.

  Looking back at st season, Napoli's offense relied heavily on the wings, especially the left side. The right side, due to the ck of a strht-back, left Sanchez isoted. The ck of bance roblem.

  Italian teams traditionally favored tral py, believing that no matter how well you attack from the wings, the ball always o be brought bato the middle to score. That's why they often preferred a more tral-focused approach.

  Gao Shen was thinking that if he could find a midfielder who could carry the ball forward through the ter, it would greatly diversify Napoli's attag options. But finding such a pyer wasn't easy, and Dembélé was too expensive for the moment.

  Aside from these signings, Napoli had two promising pyers in their youth system: Lorenzo Insigne and a 15-year-old Marco Verratti.

  Yes, the same Verratti who would ter bee a key pyer for Paris Saint-Germain and Italy.

  Gao Shen had met Verratti after Napoli's match against Pescara. At the time, Verratti had introduced himself to Gao Shen, expressing his admiration for the coach. Gao Shen immediately reized his potential.

  Sihen, Gao Shen had made sure Napoli snapped him up.

  When fate offers you a pyer like Verratti, you don't let him slip through your fingers.

  Like Insigne, Gao Shen po have Verratti train with the first team, but her of them was quite ready fur first-team a yet.

  "Pierpaolo, whether it's Zabaleta, Sagna, ho, or Arbeloa, none of them are avaible. You o secure someone else on the list no matter the cost or the championship in the new season is going to fly.

  Gao Shen realized the seriousness of the situation, especially on the right side, where there was still no suitable didate. This was a critical problem.

  "Uood, I'll personally go and hahe iations. I'll make sure we nd the pyers we need," Marino reassured him again.

  "By the way, Roman Diaz sent me an email. He said you told him before to keep a close eye on the movements of South Ameri pyers. He's collected some information on a few prospects, and I forwarded it to your email."

  Gao Shen aowledged and reminded Marino to do everything possible to secure the targets. Then, he hung up.

  Just as Lucas pulled up with the car.

  On the way back to the hotel, Gao Shen frowned, deep in thought. Who else would be a suitable right-back or a midfielder capable ressing the ball through the middle?

  The former wasn't impossible to find, but top-tier options were limited. The tter was even more challenging.

  In the current football ndscape, pyers who could dribble effectively in the middle of the park were highly prized. Pyers like Kaka were invaluable.

  Even looking at Modrid Mousa Dembélé iure, it was clear how rare and valuable such pyers were.

  Uo e to any clusions, Gao Sheuro the hotel. After a quick shower, he was about to head to bed and browse the tactical library when he suddenly remembered the email from Marino about Roman Diaz.

  Roman Diaz was a scout Gao Shen had brought on during his trip to South America the previous year. He had asked him to keep a close eye on emerging South Ameri talent. Gao Shen had almost fotten about it, but evidently, Roman had not.

  Opening his ptop, Gao Shen logged into his email at. Sure enough, there was a forwarded message from Marino, taining pyer information a transfer updates.

  Gao Shen skimmed through the list casually until one name caught his eye.

  Wait a minute... How could I have fotten about him?