What Valdaioned about the trao Shen stirred up in Argentina is actually not that big of a deal.

  The reason it caught the attention of the Argentine media, and then many other outlets followed suit, was due to the involvement of high-profile individuals.

  As previously mentioned, all the pyers that Gao Shen had his eye on were highly sought-after.

  Napoli had sent an email to Gao Shen before from Roman Dias, an Argentine agent, listing information on numerous pyers, many of whom Gao Shen was already familiar with. These included pyers like Ro Carlos from Boca Juniors, the famous braided pyer Pacio, and the rumored bian forward Falcao, who had allegedly ged his age and was now pying for River Pte.

  But what truly stood out from the list was a retively unknown name: Javier Pastore.

  This Argeeenager, who had just turned 18, ying for a sed-tier Argeeam called Talleres. He had only made five appearances in the past season, but he showed good potential and caught the attention of the Argentine Primera División team Hura, who were keen to sign him.

  Uedly, just as the deal was about to gh, Napoli swooped in and offered a higher price of 500,000 euros for Javier Pastore, which was 100,000 euros more than Hura's offer.

  For a team like Talleres, this was no small amount, so they naturally chose to sell him to Napoli.

  However, this left Hura feeling frustrated.

  From a procedural standpoint, Napoli's move erfectly legitimate no agreement had been signed yet, so there was no breach of tract. However, Napoli's sudden intervention was undeniably uling.

  To make matters worse, upon hearing that Napoli was ied, Pastore quickly opted to join them without hesitation. The transfer was pleted within two days, leaving Hura with almost no time to react.

  In the end, Hura publicly accused Gao Shen of "robbing" them in the Argentine media.

  Given Gao Shen's status as one of the most iial figures in the football world today, it's no surprise that this small i blew up into a major troversy.

  "I'm really helpless. Obviously, this has nothing to do with me, yet now it seems like I've itted a major crime," Gao Shen said with a helpless smile, expining the euation.

  "Javier Pastore? I've never heard of him," Valdano shook his head.

  He couldn't figure out how Gao Shen had uhed this pyer.

  "He's only just debuted, only 18 years old, and he'll need some time to develop, but I'm very optimistic about his future. He's 1.87 meters tall, his physique is det, and his style of py reminds me a bit of Kaka," Gao Shen said with a smile.

  "Kaka?" Valdano was taken aback.

  Not only Valdano but also Florentino, Butrague?o, and Zidane were surprised.

  After leading A to the Champions League title st season, Kaka had bee the world's top football superstar.

  Could Pastore really py like Kaka?

  "He's good at dribbling through the middle, very simir to Kaka, but in some ways, I think he's also a bit like Zidane. He just o be molded," Gao Shen expined with a smile.

  Upon hearing this, both Valdano and Zidane became intrigued.

  "When I get the ce, I must watch him py," Valdano said expetly, especially since he is alsentine.

  Zidahe same. I years, many pyers had been dubbed the " Zidane" in France, but so far, none had truly filled his shoes. Ribéry, for example, wasn't really in the same mold as Zidane.

  "Holy, you've built a lot of talent now, but you should also be cautious there are many who will try to poach your pyers," Valdano warned.

  Gao Shen nodded. Over the past period, he had stayed in close tact with his pyers.

  Napoli's situation was improving, and Gao Shen had big ambitions for the uping season. The pyers were aware of this and sehat moving to teams like Palermo, Parma, or even Roma wasn't necessarily a better move than staying in Napoli, giveeam's strength.

  Gao Shen had big pns, and the pyers wao follow him to achieve great things. Thus, none of them were sidering leaving.

  Of course, the club would have to shell out some money, and pyers would expect their saries to rise accly.

  This is why Gao Shen was relut to spend too mu new signings. Leaving some room in the budget for the club to increase saries would keep the club happy, and the pyers even happier. This approach could be just as effective as making big signings.

  Gao Shen was also dealing with issues reted to ercial sponsorships.

  Several panies had approached him.

  Florentino always believed that Gao Shen's ercial value had yet to be fully tapped, especially since Gao Shen had the entire massive ese market behind him. However, a's weak football culture only made Gao Shen's potential value even more promi.

  How tically pn his ercial career was a plex matter, and it was a key topic Gao Shen discussed with Florentino.

  After all, Florentino was an expert in this field.

  He had handled ercial sponsorships for many top stars, including Zidane, Ronaldo, and Beckham. His experiend advice were extremely valuable.

  Zidane also chimed in, his perspective as someone who had been on the receiving end of sponsorship deals.

  For instance, he had signed some sponsorship tracts that ended up being exhausting, and he didn't believe they were worth it.

  He advised against signing deals iain fields, even if they offered a lot of money, as they could harm one's brand image. For instance, accepting deals from gaming panies could backfire. Oher hand, doing public welfare sponsorships, even for free, could enhane's public image.

  In summary, brand ma was a plex topic.

  Before Zidane joined Real Madrid, he had almost no experien this area. But during his five years at the club, he had bee one of the hottest football brands globally.

  "I'll give you José ángel Sánchez's er. If you need anything, tact him; he help you," Florentino said cheerfully.

  It was clear from his tohat even though Florentino no longer held an official position at Real Madrid, his influeill reached every er of the club.

  After dinner, Gao Shen chatted with Zidane, Valdano, and others about football for quite some time.

  They mainly discussed Gao Shen's ideas and strategies for Napoli, as well as his pns for f the team. He showed a strong desire to win the Serie A title, which surprised everyohey realized that Gao Shen had made signifit progress since leaving Real Madrid he was no lohe inexperienced coach who had once saved Real Madrid.

  Now, he was a truly famous young manager in Europe.

  And he was only 26 years old.

  Florentino even joked that if Gao Sheo return to Real Madrid, the club would have to pay a hefty transfer fee.

  Gao Shen jokingly responded, "Will I be allowed to pick the pyers I want?"

  Florentino was momentarily speechless.

  Zidane and Valdano ughed, and the versation moved on.

  By the time Gao Sheuro his hotel, it was already midnight.

  Even in Spain, a try known for its te nights, it was quite te.

  But he still checked the text messages and emails Marino had sent him, updating him on the day's developments.

  Good news!

  Earlier, after learning that both Arbeloa and ho were out of reach, Marino had flown to Lille, Frao iate with Lille's ma. In the shortest time possible, he successfully signed Swiss right-back Stephan Lichtsteiner from Lille for the high price of 3 million euros.

  Gao Shen had been following Lichtsteiner si summer, but back then, Lille was third in Ligue 1, and Napoli was still a Serie B team. After some evaluation, they had cluded that Lichtsteiner wouldn't sider joining Napoli.

  However, this past season, Lille had fallen to 14th p Ligue 1, and their performance had plummeted.

  Lichtsteiner wasn't even a starter for Lille he was a substitute.

  Even this season, he was merely a rotation pyer, as Lille already had a more established pyer in Matthieu Chalmé and a promising academy graduate in Mathieu Debuchy.

  Yes, the same Debuchy who would ter join Newcastle and Arsenal.

  With supetition, Lichtsteiner had yet to establish himself as a regur starter, and his performances were average at best. Yet, his price wasn't looli had to pay 3 million euros to secure him.

  This marked the highest transfer fee Gao Shen had spent siaking charge of Napoli.

  But Gao Shen thought it was worth it.

  After scouting many pyers, Gao Shen's need for a right-back had bee increasingly urgent.

  From Zabaleta, Sagna, and Srna to Belletti, Arbeloa, and ho, Gao Shen knew how scarce quality right-backs were. So, signing Lichtsteiner for 3 million euros felt like a good deal.

  As Marino put it, if he had more time, he could have iated with Lille t the price down to 2 million euros.

  But Gao Shen was in a hurry. He feared that once wot out, another club might swoop in and sign Lichtsteiner, leaving Napoli with no choice but to pay a higher price or pursue someone like Mai.

  Rather than risk that, it was better to secure Lichtsteiner for 3 million euros straight away.

  In Marino's email, Gao Shen also noticed that Arsenal had ramped up their efforts to poach Gervinho, even going so far as to tact his agent.

  This gave Gao Shen an ominous feeling.

  Gervinho was already quite dissatisfied with the football enviro in Italy, where he had been subjected to racist remarks on several occasions. If Arsenal truly decided to pursue him aggressively, it would be difficult for Napoli to hold onto him.

  If Gervinho left, Napoli's front line might have to be restructured once again.

  With pyers like Di Maria, Sánchez, Mertens, and Callejón, Napoli's attag bination should be able to hahe uping season with two petitions. But should there be any injuries, things could get tricky.

  Plus, the adaptation of the two new recruits had to be sidered.

  Feeling uneasy, Gao Shen thought the safest option would be to retain Gervinho.

  He immediately replied to Marino's email, instrug him to try his best to keep Gervinho at the club. Gao Shen po personally call Gervinho the day to persuade him to stay.

  However, to Gao Shen's surprise, the m, before he even had the ake the call, Gervinho's phone call came first.