The day after Gao Shen arrived in Madrid, Butrague?ht him good news.

  Real Madrid had agreed to the transfers of Callejon and Parejo, with the fees set at 1.5 million euros each. However, they required a buyback cuse, just as Gao Shen had suggested: Real Madrid would have the option to buy back the pyers at market price, with priority given to them if they wished to do so.

  Upon hearing the news, Gao Shen immediately tacted Marino and instructed him to finalize the deal with Real Madrid.

  At the same time, Gao Shen personally reached out to Callejon and Parejo. Callejon would be an important addition to Napoli's attag options, especially on the wings.

  Currently, Napoli had wingers like Gervinho, Di Maria, and Sanchez. However, Brazilian winger Piá was not meeting Gao Shen's expectations, and it had already been decided that he would leave the club this summer. Several Serie B teams had shown i in him.

  That left Napoli with only three reliable wingers, plus Mertens, who had performed well ich sed division, but it wasn't enough. Gao Shen hoped that Callejon's arrival would provide mueeded depth and strength to Napoli's attag options.

  As for Parejo, who had been hailed by Di Stefano as one of Real Madrid's most talented young midfielders, Gao Shen saw him as a key solution to Napoli's ck of creativity and anization in the middle of the pitch.

  Gao Shen was determio develop Parejo into the pyer Napoli needed, filling the gaps in their midfield. If necessary, he was willing to experiment with positioning to ensure Parejo could thrive.

  There's a saying in professional football: the prehensiveness of a pyer's skillset determihe riess of tactical options.

  This principle was highly applicable to team-building. If you fill your squad with pyers of a simir type, you might specialize iyle of py, but it will signifitly limit your tactical flexibility.

  A prime example of this could be seen in Bara before the rise of Pep Guardio's team. Everyone knew Bara had deed from their peak, with Xavi and Ia aging.

  But why hadn't Bara been able to find suitable repts?

  Bara had long been itted to a possession-based style, fog on intricate passing and trol. Even pyers like Fabregas, who was raised in the Bara system, struggled to reie after returning from Arsenal.

  The only solution would have been for Bara to adjust their pying style, but that was easier said than done.

  sider Real Madrid as a trast.

  If Bara was like Apple's closed ecosystem, then Real Madrid was more like Android open and flexible. While Bara's system had poor patibility, Real Madrid's system could ie various styles and pyers, adapting to bee stronger.

  her approach is ily better or worse; they just represent different philosophies. Bara has been deeply itted to their ball-trol approach sihe days of McWilliam in the 1920s and 1930s. Eveheir style has faltered, they've remained self-aware.

  Gao Shen reized that he was not an idealist like Guardio or Van Gaal. He was more of a pragmatist with occasional idealistidencies. He knew he couldn't replicate Bara's style because that wasn't his nature.

  But he could build something special at Real Madrid or, in this case, Napoli.

  Gao Shen's approach was inclusive. Pyers like Vidal, Parejo, and Rakitic all had different strengths, but they could coexist in his system.

  When it came time to defend, they could be as solid as anyone. But when the moment to attack arrived, they could be mgressive than most.

  This was the essence of Gao Shen's philosophy.

  After hearing that Gao Shen had returo Madrid, many people wao meet him. Calderón and Mijatovi? even reached out, but Gao Shen politely deed, g he was too busy.

  He kly what Calderón and Mijatovi? wanted.

  Meanwhile, Martín, the former president of Real Madrid, stirred things up again by making headlines in the media.

  The most signifit story came from AS: Napoli had officially made offers for Callejon and Parejo, two pyers hand-picked by Gao Shen.

  Real Madrid had accepted the offers, which prompted Martín to accuse Gao Shen of "stealing" talent from the club.

  In an interview, Martín cimed that these two pyers were carefully nurtured by Real Madrid, but Gao Shen was trying to poach them for a minimal fee. This, he argued, was something no former Real Madrid president could tolerate.

  Martín's iion was to criticize Gao Shen, but he iently sparked a feud with Real Madrid's current leadership.

  Current president Calderón could not let this stand. He swiftly fired back, acg Martín of not uanding the situation. Calderón crified that there had been no uhe-table dealings.

  Mijatovi? also chimed in, defending the club's decision. He expihat her Callejon nor Parejo were part of Real Madrid's pns for the uping season. Selling them to Napoli would give the pyers valuable pying time, and Real Madrid could always exercise the buyback cuse if they performed well.

  In short, Real Madrid was essentially outs the development of these pyers to Napoli, allowing them to get game time and improve, with the option t them back if needed. What's wrong with that?

  Martín's attempt to take a shot at Gao Shen backfired, as he ended up provoking both Calderón and Mijatovi?.

  But Martín, being Martín the former president of Real Madrid couldn't let it go.

  Soon, the media was embroiled in a full-blown war of words, with Calderón and Mijatovi? on one side and Martín oher.

  Meanwhile, Gao Shen, the inal target of criticism, became a bystander, watg the drama unfold with a sense of detached amusement.

  It was almost embarrassing how quickly the attention had shifted away from him.

  But such is the nature of electoral politi football clubs.

  While all of this was unfolding in public, Florentino, the former president of Real Madrid, remained calm and posed.

  Florentino khat Gao Shen was busy, so he made arras for a small gathering. He invited Zidane, Valdano, Butrague?o, and a few others. Instead of multiple meetings, everything was bined into one dinner.

  This arra suited Gao Shen perfectly.

  At the dihe group discussed the biggest news in Spaihe past few days: the war of words between Calderón and Martín.

  The whole situatio everyo the table shaking their heads.

  "Real Madrid might have won La Liga st season, and the club's finances might look solid on paper, but the loss of goodwill has been enormous. It's heartbreaking," Florentino said, sighing deeply.

  "We spent six years building up this golden brand, and now they're squandering it."

  Everyone present fell silent.

  Whether it was Martín or Calderón, the damage to Real Madrid's image was undeniable.

  "The most important thing Real Madrid has is its brand. As long as that brand remains strong, we're still the world's top club. We survive dips in performan the pitch, but once oodwill is gone, we're irouble."

  Gao Shen couldn't help but think of Zidane's Real Madrid team that won three secutive Champions League titles. The squad depth, the bench strength everything was in pce.

  Many people credited Zidaactical brilliance, but the reality was that Real Madrid's squad during those years was unparalleled in its depth.

  Of course, during those same years, Real Madrid struggled in La Liga, highlighting another issue entirely.

  Maintaining such a strong squad came at a massive financial cost.

  Any misstep in managing the club's finances, and everything could colpse.

  "Over the past year, Calderón, Mijatovi?, and the people uhem have been enrig themselves in various ways. Many have turo transfers, but the real problem is how they've hahe brand lising," Butrague?o said, shaking his head.

  "They don't have any cept of brand ma. They're giving away Real Madrid's brand to anyone who'll pay. That's where the real damage is."

  The value of Real Madrid's brand was immense, but many fans didn't grasp the full extent of it.

  From what Gao Shen had learned, during the Gacticos era, just three pyers Beckham, Zidane, and Ronaldo geed over 30 million euros annually in ercial sponsorships.

  In other words, those three pyers alone brought in almost 100 million euros for Real Madrid.

  More importantly, sponsors actively sought out pyers of that caliber, often willing to pay handsomely. Real Madrid would often bundle sponsorships if a pany wanted Beckham, they had to take a lower-profile pyer like Raul o as well.

  In the sports industry, just like in other industries, the top stars take the lion's share of the market.

  This phenomenon was especially true in the football world of the past few years. While fans might debate the merits of Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi, the reality was that both pyers ahe attention of global brands. Other pyers simply couldn't pete with their ercial appeal.

  As for Calderón and Mijatovi?, their mishandling of Real Madrid's brand lising was far more damaging than any questioransfer deals.

  Transfers were risky, often messy, and required secrecy to execute. The profits weren't always worth the trouble.

  But brand sponsorships? Those were lucrative, straightforward, and paid directly ohe tracts were signed.

  However, the reckless, unpnned authorization of Real Madrid's brand was doing irreversible harm to the club's long-term value.

  Florentino's frustrations were clear, but he quickly shifted the versation, realizing the atmosphere had bee a bit too tense.

  The group moved on to discussing other matters, particurly Gao Shen's impressive achievements with Napoli.

  Even Florentino and Valdano, who had been highly optimistic about Gao Shen from the start, were shocked at just how well he had done in Naples.

  Napoli's run to the Coppa Italia semi-finals and their triumphant win of the Serie B championship as a newly promoted side were incredible aplishments. Gao Shen's achievements had not only exceeded expectations but had also raised eyebrows across Europe.

  What impressed them even more was Gao Shen's bold procmation that Napoli would challenge for the Serie A title in the uping season. This dariion had shaken fans worldwide.

  When had professional football ever seen someone so audacious?

  "I heard you've had some disputes in Argentina tely?" Valdano asked with a teasing smile.