Sometimes, Gao Shen really thought it was too easy for European football clubs to make money.

  Take Real Madrid st season, for example.

  When Gao She and Capello took over, Capello reused many of the same pyers that Gao Shen had developed. However, he had his ow of criteria for seleg pyers.

  That wasn't necessarily a bad thing at worst, it limited the development of the young pyers Gao Shen had promoted.

  But then, this summer, Capello was repced by Schuster, who introduced a pletely new system and even sidered a full squad overhaul.

  How much wastage of resources was that?

  Some might argue that Calderon and Mijatovi? were trying to make money from the transfers.

  Sure, that's part of it. But this kind of behavior was rampant across European football.

  Eaew manager came in with his owe, bringing different pyers and pns.

  The most famous example, Gao Shen recalled, was when Bara sidered hiring Mourinho before ultimately choosing Guardio. What a joke that was.

  There was also the infamous "t" where Mourinho supposedly gave Bara a CD of his pns, and they ended up hiring Guardio to implement them. Gao Shen believed the CD existed, but the idea that Bara listeo Mourinho and had Guardio follow his pn ure spiracy theory—totally unrealistic.

  Having worked in a rge pany in his previous life, Gao Shen simply couldn't uand the logic behind how club managers operated.

  Did they have too much money or too much talent to care about?

  And then there were the pyers themselves.

  When Gao Shen was at Real Madrid, he remembered hearing about an i involving Anelka.

  Years ago, Real Madrid had paid a huge sum to sign Anelka from Arsenal, and with that money, Wenger bought Thierry Henry and built Arsenal's state-of-the-art trainier. That move raised by tless people, but what did Real Madrid do?

  Most people khat Anelka didn't st long at the club. But why?

  Those in the know would say that Anelka was etritroverted, and hard to get along with there was a lot of talk about his difficult personality.

  But the real question was, shouldn't Real Madrid have figured that out before buying him?

  Wasn't that the bare minimum?

  Then something very iing happened.

  On Anelka's first day at Real Madrid's old training plex, no one greeted him.

  From the moment he sighe tract to the time he arrived, no o the club helped him get settled. There was no locker prepared for him in the dressing room, and he didn't know what to do. He ended up wandering around, moving his things aimlessly.

  Imagine how a sensitive, introverted, and etric young man would feel in a pletely unfamiliar enviro on his first day.

  Gao Shen didn't think this was the sole reason for Anelka's failure at Real Madrid, but wasn't it worth refleg on?

  And a few years ago, Chelsea signed Didier Drogba for a hefty fee. What did they do?

  They left him in a hotel with no further support no help with aodation, no guidahe same thing happeo other pyers who joi that time.

  Drogba, with his limited English at the time, had to go out on his own and find a pce to live.

  Everyone knows football stars are wealthy, but they don't always have much education or know the local market. Real estate agents aren't stupid—they see wealthy fners and hike up prices.

  How a pyer perform well och when they haven't eveled in off the pitch?

  Clubs buy and sell pyers carelessly, chasing after the test hot talents. Many pyers suddenly rise to fame after a single petition, and their market value skyrockets. But ohey're bought, clubs often hem, assuming they'll just perform at a high level without any further support, as if they were superhuman.

  This wasn't a problem with just one or two clubs it was widespread across the entire industry.

  Gao Shen, having worked in the corporate world in his previous life, khat in any pany, key employees—those with high saries and critical skills, like pyers were extremely important.

  From the very start, there were various levels of sele, evaluation, interviews, aiations. When onb, panies would assist with everything, from housing to finding schools for employees' children. They would even assigors to guide new hires through the early stages.

  All of this served one purpose: to help the employee ie smoothly and tribute quickly to the team.

  But European clubs? They rarely did any of this. They felt that ohey had spent the money and signed a pyer, the pyer should perform. If the pyer didn't, well, that was the pyer's problem.

  Even Florentino Pérez's Real Madrid, praised for its modern ma, couldn't get this part right.

  When Gao Shen arrived in Naples, he quickly realized this issue. After many discussions and observations, he ontervino to take on the role of team captain.

  Montervino acted like a pany's HR department, helping new pyers ie into the dressing room and assisting with off-field matters, such as housing and other personal s.

  These day-to-day details ofte unnoticed, but the pyers in the Naples dressing room certainly appreciated it and beed from it.

  This is why, after Napoli won the Serie B title st season, Gao Shen insisted that Montervino take the stage and lift the trophy.

  No one oeam objected.

  Och, Montervino's ability might not have warrahe captain's armband, but off the pitch, he was the true leader.

  If he didn't deserve the honor, who did?

  In addition, Gao Shen took great care to help new signings ie into the team.

  For example, he introduced a mentor system simir to what corporations use, where experienced pyers would guide new arrivals. This system had its potential pitfalls, though.

  For instance, Gao Shen couldn't pair Lichtsteiner with Garics, as that would create direpetitioween them.

  Everyone knew Lichtsteiner was there to take Garics' position. How could Garics be expected to mentor him in good faith?

  Instead, Gao Shen assigned Rakitientor Lichtsteiner.

  Why? Although Rakitic was of Croatian dest, he had lived in Switzernd from a young age and pyed for Basel, while Lichtsteiner came from Zurich's Grasshopper Club. They shared on ground and would likely unicate well. Och, their roles were also plementary.

  Other pyers, like Callejón and Parejo, were assigo Sánchez, sihey all spoke Spanish. Sánchez was one of Gao Shen's most trusted pyers, a leader in the squad, and someone who would follow Gao Shen's orders without hesitation.

  Thiago Motta aired with David Luiz, both Brazilians. Thiago Motta cked fidence, while David Luiz was known for his carefree, upbeat personality. Gao Shen hoped Luiz could help Motta regain his self-assurance.

  Ohe mentor list was finalized, Gao Shen didn't stop there.

  He kept in regur tact with the pyers, calling them frequently, ensuring that they were mentally prepared for the uping season's training camp. His goal was to make sure every Napoli pyer was fully focused and ready to perform.

  ---

  By July, the European summer transfer market was in full swing.

  La Liga and the Premier League tio dominate, with their financial clout on full dispy. The Premier League's purchasing power was unrivaled, and Real Madrid and Bara were once again the big pyers iransfer market.

  Real Madrid brought in stars like Robben, Sneijder, Pepe, and Drenthe, all for hefty sums. Bara, meanwhile, signed Henry, Gabriel Milito, Abidal, and Yaya Touré, also spending rge amounts.

  But the real surprise was Atlétiadrid. After selling Fernando Torres, they reied the money in big names like Diego Forlán, Sim?o, Raúl García, Reyes, and Luis García.

  Aguirre's team was clearly preparing for a strong push in the new season.

  In trast, Serie A was more low-key, with Juventus leading the way in terms of iment.

  After failing to win the Serie B title st season, Juventus underwent a major overhaul. Deschamps was repced by Ranieri as head coach, and the club brought in pyers like Iaquinta, Thiago, Almirón, Andrade, and Salihamid?i?, while also reg pyers like Noo and Molinaro.

  Juventus had spent over 55 million euros iransfer market, signaling their io rebuild.

  Oeresting tidbit was the story of young striker Paolucci, who had pyed on loan at Ascoli st season. After fag Napoli in the Coppa Italia, Paolucci shared detailed information about their tactics with Juventus, hoping to stay with the Bianeri. However, despite his efforts, Juventus sold him to Udinese, leaving Paoluc tears during a post-transfer interview.

  Once Juventus was doh him, they discarded him ruthlessly.

  It was yet another example of how being too eager to please doesn't alay off.

  Meanwhile, A made headlines by signing Pato from Internaal for 22 million euros, marking their biggest signing of the summer. Roma sold Cristian Chivu to Inter Min for 16 million euros, making him Serie A's most experansfer.

  Napoli, by parison, spehan 10 million euros on new signings. However, by selling Gervinho for 15 million, the club had actually profited by 5 million iransfer market, a rare feat in Serie A.

  They had brought i pyers with a modest iment of under 10 million euros , which ranked Napoli 15th in Serie A in terms of transfer spending parable tation-threateeams like ia and Siena. Among the three newly-promoted teams, Napoli's spending was far below that of Juventus, who had splurged at the top end of the table, and even Genoa, who spent 25 million euros.

  This led many to believe that Napoli's true aim for the uping season was simply to avation.

  Otherwise, how could one expin their frugality iransfer market?

  After all, have you ever seen a team that made money iransfer market, strengtheheir squad, and still mao achieve a high ranking?