"Antonio, are you willing to come to Napoli?"

Walter Mazzarri's question coming through the phone at this moment sounded like heavenly music to Antonio Cassano's ears!

This was a summons and invitation from his mentor. For someone struggling in depression and darkness, it was undoubtedly a holy light descending from the sky, enveloping him.

He felt as if he had been reborn.

He answered the phone almost without hesitation, "Of course I am!"

And just like that, Napoli secured Cassano.

Later, many veteran journalists and biographers tried to show the public their understanding of this transfer. In their writings, Cassano fought a difficult battle with Sampdoria, or experienced a very intense psychological struggle. Within Napoli, the debate over whether to bring in Cassano continued for a long time. After all, all of Italy knew about Cassano's temper, and Italy was also clear about his fluctuating form. If bringing in the young Alexis Sánchez was a risk for Napoli, then bringing in Cassano, in the eyes of these people, was simply a crazy gamble.

But in reality, the real truth behind the story was not that complicated. It was just one phone call, one sentence from Mazzarri, that brought his former beloved general, now a down-on-his-luck Cassano, to his side.

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Three days later, all of Italy's sports media reported a very shocking piece of news.

"...According to the消息 we just received, 'Bad Boy' Antonio Cassano has confirmed his transfer to Napoli! Neither Napoli nor Sampdoria have disclosed the transfer fee or contract details, but it is said that this transfer deal is worth five million euros!"

"Cassano had a brief rebirth at Sampdoria, but quickly fell into darkness again. His career seems to have completely lost sight of a bright future. At this time, he chose to leave Sampdoria, who had once given him a chance, and instead followed in the footsteps of his mentor..."

"I think even at just five million euros, Napoli has overpaid. Because it is clear that Cassano will never return to his peak... Now he is held back by his personality, his form is erratic, will going to Napoli make things better? I doubt it. Mazzarri once successfully trained Cassano, but let's not forget that Capello was once called 'father' by Cassano, but what happened after he went to Real Madrid? The two became enemies!"

"For Napoli, this is definitely a gamble! We all know what Cassano's temper is like. There is already a player with a strong personality, Chen Yingxiong, in Napoli's locker room. If you add Cassano... I estimate that Napoli's locker room will never have a moment of peace again. Napoli still wants to compete for the Champions League this season? I don't think they will. It would be good if they can avoid relegation in the end."

"...I don't believe at all that Chen Yingxiong, who couldn't get along with Lavezzi, will get along with Cassano... These two are almost mortal enemies!"

"Mazzarri is crazy! His previous moves in the transfer market made people think that he wanted to build the team around Chen Yingxiong as the core. But now he has bought Cassano. So who is the core? At Sampdoria, Cassano was the core!"

……

Cassano hadn't even reported to the Napoli training camp, and everyone was already focusing on the explosive words "locker room conflict" regarding this transfer.

It was as if these two were destined to have irreconcilable conflicts that would eventually lead to the collapse of the team...

Some busybodies even began to speculate with great interest that Chen Yingxiong had a very good relationship with club president Aurelio De Laurentiis, that they were very close in private, and that they had never tried to hide their relationship. Some media even sarcastically said that De Laurentiis invited Chen Yingxiong to his luxurious manor more often than he invited head coach Mazzarri. His pampering of Chen Yingxiong was almost like treating him as his own son. For him, he could ruthlessly drive away Lavezzi and Marino.

And Mazzarri? He has a very good relationship with Cassano, which is also an open secret. It can even be said that in the current Napoli team, the only one who can truly be regarded as Mazzarri's direct descendant is Cassano, who is about to join the team. The relationship between Cassano and Mazzarri is truly like that of a son and a loving father...

In this way, De Laurentiis is Chen Yingxiong's "godfather", and Mazzarri is Cassano's "godfather". If these two have a conflict in the locker room, how should it be handled? Can Mazzarri put Chen Yingxiong on the bench for Cassano's sake? Then what will De Laurentiis do? Will he sell Cassano and then kick Mazzarri out of the team?

If that's the case... then Napoli will be in for a lively season!

Those who feared that the world would not be in chaos, and who just wanted to watch a good show, even excitedly announced: "Napoli has officially entered the 'battle of the godfathers' era this season!"

※※※

"Hey, have you heard? Cassano is coming today!" Before starting a new day of training, everyone was changing clothes and chatting in the locker room. Today's topic was, of course, the new signing, Cassano, who was about to arrive.

Every season, Napoli buys new players to supplement the team's strength. This should have been a normal thing. But rarely does a player become the subject of much discussion before even joining the team.

Cassano is definitely not a superstar. The reason why he has such popularity is entirely due to his "well-known" temper and personality.

Regarding Cassano's bad deeds, every Italian who cares about football can probably tell you a lot about them.

The stories that everyone tells may not be the same, but one thing is the same. That is, this kid is definitely a headache.

"I really can't understand why Mazzarri wants to buy him..."

"What's so incomprehensible about that? Cassano is his direct descendant..."

"Okay, the harmonious locker room relationship that we finally managed to establish is about to come to an end..."

No one seemed to welcome Cassano's arrival. This was also very normal. In today's Italian football world, Cassano's reputation precedes him, and everyone keeps their distance from him.

It is extremely difficult to deal with this person. Maybe you had a very good relationship with him before, and you could call him a brother, but you can't prevent Cassano from stabbing you in the back and treating you as an enemy.

Look at the story between Totti and him, and then look at the story between Capello and him...

This may explain why, after Mazzarri left, Cassano suddenly felt lonely at Sampdoria. In fact, he is lonely almost everywhere, because of his eccentric personality.

Some people say that Chen Yingxiong is a simpleton, but compared with Cassano in his early years, Chen Yingxiong is simply like a good citizen, a normal person...

At least Chen Yingxiong wouldn't scold the coach as "you son of a bitch, you're faker than the money in 'Monopoly'!" "You useless guy from Udinese, Rome is my territory, not yours. In my home, you can't use the method of training those idiots in Udinese!" "He doesn't even understand fart, Delneri is a fake person."...

Nor would he often be late for training, or simply not come at all.

In terms of women, Chen Yingxiong is far behind Cassano. So far, he has had four girlfriends, but according to his own disclosure, he has also had stories with six or seven hundred women outside of these...

He seems to be able to have conflicts with everyone, no matter how good you were to him, he can turn his back on you overnight. Any normal person would want to stay away from him. It's no wonder such a person is lonely.

But it is such a person who is about to transfer to Napoli... Is Mazzarri complaining that Napoli's locker room has been quiet for too long?

Marek Hamšík has been in Italy for five years, and he is obviously very familiar with the legend of Cassano.

He was changing clothes next to Chen Yingxiong and was also frowning: "This is going to be bad..."

Chen Yingxiong had of course heard of Cassano's famous name, but seeing Cassano's popularity so bad with his own eyes still surprised him a bit...

The teammates who were originally full of expectations and yearning for the new season were frowning and worrying about the team's new season because of Cassano's arrival.

Chen Yingxiong has always had surprisingly good relationships with people. Even if there are people who don't like him, they are in the minority. Whether at Zenit St. Petersburg or Napoli, he can always quickly integrate into the locker room with his cheerful and enthusiastic personality.

So in his opinion, guys who don't have good relationships with people are pitiful!

"Let me tell you, Yingxiong. You have to stay away from this person, you must stay away..." Captain Paolo Cannavaro also warned Chen Yingxiong with a worried look on his face. "No matter what he says or does, you pretend you didn't hear it, didn't see it..."

The views of the media before made this captain very nervous. Just in case, he had to explain to Chen Yingxiong in advance. He now felt that with Chen Yingxiong's temper of daring to oppose Lavezzi, who was so popular with the fans, if Cassano really provoked him, wouldn't these two have to fight to the death?

What would the team's locker room be like then?

He, as the captain, couldn't imagine it...

"It's not that scary, is it?" Chen Yingxiong frowned, he felt that everyone's performance was a bit exaggerated...

"He's a super, super, super troublesome person! Anyone who gets involved with him is doomed! Whether he likes you or hates you, you will become a troublesome person! Anyway, you better not deal with this person, Yingxiong!"

"Yes, Paolo is right." The team's defensive midfielder, Blasi, also stood up to explain to Chen Yingxiong. "You may not know him well enough, Yingxiong. This person is moody. Maybe you don't even know what you said, and you may have offended him. He dares to scold the coach, let alone his teammates?"

Chen Yingxiong laughed: "Dare to scold me? He can come and try, haha!"

He was not afraid of Cassano at all. If the problem couldn't be solved, he could use his fists. He was never afraid of fighting. Since learning a few tricks from Cabral, he has become even more confident.

"Some people said before that he had learned to behave himself at Sampdoria. I don't think it's possible at all!"

"If he can learn to behave, I'll take off my clothes and run around Napoli!"

"Hahahaha!"

These teammates' evaluations and opinions of Cassano were the same as those in the media. No one believed that Cassano could return to his peak, and they didn't even believe that he could live like a normal person...

※※※

Listening to the laughter coming from the locker room, Cassano's face was clouded with anger. He lowered his head and clenched his fists. It was obvious that he was very angry.

Head coach Mazzarri, who was standing next to him, looked embarrassed. On the way here, he had described to his disciple how united and harmonious the Napoli locker room was, and how every teammate here would welcome Cassano, who was transferring from Sampdoria, with a smile, making him feel the warmth of a big family... He would definitely be successful here, because there were the best teammates here!

Now... uh, he really regretted that he shouldn't have made a surprise visit. He should have told Paolo Cannavaro directly that he would bring Cassano to the locker room at this time. That way, those damned bastards might have gossiped less.

But now the two of them can't just stand outside like this, can they?

They always have to go in. He also has to introduce Cassano to his new teammates... Although after this incident, Mazzarri was not optimistic about Cassano's situation in the team...

He pushed the door open.

※※※

When everyone turned their heads and found head coach Mazzarri and Cassano appearing at the door, a deathly silence suddenly appeared in the originally noisy locker room.

"Say hello to everyone, Antonio." Mazzarri gently touched Cassano next to him.

Cassano, who had been lowering his head, reluctantly raised his head and said, "Hello everyone, I am the Cassanate (note) that you all hate so much."

Mazzarri really wanted to cover his head with his hands. This damn locker room relationship...

※※※

Note: The word "Cassanate" originated during Cassano's time at Roma. Regarding his bizarre behavior, Capello described it as "Cassanate", meaning that he was a difficult person to manage. Later, it was used as a substitute for his name, but it was usually not a good word...

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ps, there will continue to be updates tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, two days in a row, four updates a day~

The first update is still at eight in the morning~

Stay tuned!