Chapter 1 Time

It was early August, and only three days after Zhang Jun and Ren Yudi met, Fiorentina announced that their current head coach, Malesani, had been dismissed, and the team was actively seeking a successor.

The reason for Malesani's dismissal was simple: his coaching record was terrible.

The announcement didn't mention the conflict between Zhang Jun and him.

The news was sudden, catching everyone off guard, including Malesani himself, who had been discussing Fiorentina's future with a host on a local radio show the day before.

Malesani was furious, denouncing Jalimian as a complete liar, accusing him of promising his full support two days earlier, only to kick him out for poor performance.

Jalimian ignored Malesani's accusations and continued with his work.

Zhang Jun hadn't expected Ren Yudi to act so decisively, cleanly, and efficiently, leaving Malesani with nowhere to vent his anger. It was normal for a club to fire a coach, and his record was indeed terrible; if he continued to make a fuss, he would be seen as a mad dog.

Just two days later, Fiorentina's eagerly sought successor emerged. On August 5th, the club officially announced the appointment of Antonio Sabato as the new head coach.

The recently acquired Fiorentina was the focus of media attention. This move surprised the media even more.

Who was this guy?

Everyone in Florence pointed at the unfamiliar name in the newspaper and asked loudly.

The club didn't provide any resume for the man, only stating that he was an excellent coach whose ability was recognized by the chairman, and Mr. Jalimian looked forward to Fiorentina entering a new era of glory under his leadership.

The media's answer stunned everyone.

Antonio Sabato, 37, had coached an amateur team in his hometown of Naples since he was 30, before coaching teams in Serie C and Serie B, none of which were well-known, and his coaching record wasn't remarkable either. In addition, he shared a name with a second-rate Italian movie star. Beyond that, there were no other details. Finally, all media outlets emphasized that this obscure coach had never coached a Serie A team.

The club's decision angered Fiorentina's supporters. Jalimian had promised to build a top-tier squad for Fiorentina, but now they felt fooled.

They protested against Jalimian as before. But this time, the club didn't offer any explanations.

※※※

While the protests grew louder, Fiorentina's new head coach was meeting with his real boss.

Sabato didn't act subservient just because the other person was the owner; instead, he behaved normally. This pleased Ren Yudi; he hadn't picked this unknown person to be a sycophant.

The outside world speculated that Sabato's inability to coach a Serie A team and his poor performance in Serie B were due to a lack of ability, but it was actually due to his personality. He often clashed with club owners over certain issues, leading to his dismissal, but he always maintained good relationships with the players.

This showed that he was a coach with character and knew how to win people over.

"You must be surprised that we contacted you out of the blue," Ren Yudi said.

"To be honest, I'm very surprised. I'm not famous, my coaching record is nothing to write home about, and other than sharing a name with a second-rate movie star, I don't know why you chose me. Is it because I was just fired and am looking for a job?" Sabato was surprised that Fiorentina's new owner was such a young Asian man, and… his Italian was so good.

"I don't care about your past achievements, but your ability. I want to build a brand-new Fiorentina, but I don't trust those naturally conservative traditional coaches. We investigated your background; you're a completely unconventional coach, bolder, more offensive-minded, and more aggressive. That's what I want Fiorentina to be like. Of course, there's another reason why I sought you out…" Ren Yudi paused for effect.

"What reason?" Sabato asked.

"Your personality suits my taste," Ren Yudi laughed. "You're not like those polite old men that I hate. You like to swear, or rather, you swear a lot. You say what you think, but you're not naive. The Fiorentina I want to build will be a difficult team to manage, and I need someone like you who knows how to win over his players to help me manage it. Jalimian is just a front to hide my presence. He doesn't know much about soccer. I've kept Lucchesi, the club's director, so you can communicate with him about daily affairs, but you report directly to me, understand?"

Sabato nodded. "Whatever, as long as I get paid."

Ren Yudi burst out laughing. "Don't worry about the salary; if the team performs well, there will be plenty of bonuses. I'm not like those stingy Serie B owners."

He continued, "Go back and reorganize the team; you need to gain their trust as soon as possible. The team has just undergone a big change, and they must be feeling uneasy. You need to appease them. Also, although you've been in the lower leagues, how much do you know about international soccer?"

"I know everything."

Ren Yudi placed a checkbook on the table and said to Sabato, "That's good. After you've reorganized the team, give me a list with the names of the players you want to sell and buy, and I'll get them for you. But don't come up with unrealistic transfer plans. I may be rich, but I'm not a clueless idiot like Abramovich."

Sabato chuckled. "Don't worry, boss. I'm not an idiot either."

"Good, you're the person I personally chose, and I trust you. Don't disappoint me. It's already August, and we don't have much time. I don't care what methods you use, you'd better establish your authority as soon as possible. I'll have Jalimian cooperate with you. If you want to act, I'll give you the props; if you want to kill, I'll give you the knife." Ren Yudi's last sentence was filled with murderous intent.

※※※

Sabato accepted the order and left, anticipating that establishing his authority would be difficult. He was unknown and had no achievements; why would those Serie A players listen to him?

The new head coach's first training session attracted many reporters, who wanted to see how the obscure "little" coach would manage a group of "big" stars.

But when they arrived at the training ground, they didn't see anyone. Confused, the reporters inquired and learned that Sabato had changed the outdoor training to indoor training and had refused interviews.

This unknown nobody had given the media, who were prepared to watch a joke, a hard time right off the bat.

At that moment, the entire Fiorentina team was staring at each other in the meeting room. They had been notified while changing clothes in the locker room that the training had been moved indoors, and everyone was to attend a tactical lecture in the meeting room.

The confused group arrived at the meeting room and had been waiting for over twenty minutes, but the head coach hadn't shown up. Some people grew impatient and started to talk. The room was buzzing with noise.

"What's going on? He calls us here and then shows up late. Is that how a head coach is supposed to act?"

"Hey! The hick from the countryside is coaching a Serie A team for the first time. He's probably busy finding a tie! Be patient; he's also a rookie."

The two men's banter made everyone laugh. Zhang Jun didn't laugh; he thought it was disrespectful to the head coach—although he used to be the most disrespectful—but now he trusted Ren Yudi's choice. Ren Yudi had warned him in advance not to say anything, no matter what happened, and just observe.

"Hmph!" Miccoli didn't laugh either; he snorted coldly. Maresca followed up, saying, "I don't know what the chairman is thinking. There are many excellent coaches to choose from, but he had to pick this hick. Is it because of his reputation or his achievements?"

Everyone laughed again.

In fact, Sabato had arrived long ago, but he had been smoking at the door, listening to everything inside. "Hey, this room's soundproofing is terrible," he said to the goalkeeping coach, Buso. But Buso couldn't laugh at all. The players' words had all been heard by the new head coach; it seemed like the locker room wouldn't be peaceful.

Sabato threw the rest of his cigarette into the nearby trash can, then straightened his clothes—of course, he wasn't straightening them, but rather pulling his collar askew.

After doing all this, he signaled Buso to step back slightly, and then he stepped back as well.

The meeting room was as noisy as a bar.

Sabato smiled, then suddenly strode forward and kicked the closed door.

With a bang, the door was kicked open, and all the noise in the room disappeared without a trace.

Sabato then appeared at the door, his head held high, looking down at everyone with a badass attitude. Although he wasn't tall, only 1.8 meters, he exuded an aura that made him seem like the tallest person in the room. Buso didn't dare to enter; he was also completely stunned by Sabato's kick—the door was actually locked!

Sabato observed the players' expressions. Many of them still had their mouths open, and some of them were clearly enjoying the laughter, but were suddenly stunned by the unexpected turn of events. Their expressions were stiff and hilarious. Even Zhang Jun, who the chairman had mentioned, looked surprised. Good, it seemed like he didn't know the truth.

The room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

Sabato was very satisfied with the situation; this was the effect he wanted.

"Very good," he said with a sudden change of expression, smiling sincerely.

The players were stunned; the sudden shift in expression was like falling from the Alps to the Mediterranean Sea.

"Okay, Mr. Buso, don't worry about the lock; just get someone to replace it later," Sabato shouted to Buso as if they were on opposite sides of a soccer field, completely ignoring the players' surprised looks.

The players were shocked again, but some of them secretly despised the head coach, because his actions were those of an uneducated and unsophisticated hick.

Buso entered awkwardly after Sabato's call.

"Okay, now… everyone, sit properly!" Sabato suddenly roared, startling everyone with his booming voice. "Sit properly! Look at how undisciplined you are! Is this what professional players are like?"

The players were temporarily stunned by the hick's aura and hurriedly corrected their posture.

Seeing everyone sitting properly, like elementary school students, Sabato's face lit up with a smile. He smiled sincerely and said to everyone, "I was smoking outside just now and chatting with Coach Buso. I didn't expect the team atmosphere to be so good, everyone was talking and laughing, haha, not bad!"

Some people gasped inwardly at his words. It turned out that he was late because he was hiding outside and eavesdropping. That meant everything they had said earlier had been heard by him, including the word "hick"… Europeans valued personal privacy, and Sabato's behavior had gone from being a hick to being a despicable spy. Several people couldn't help but feel ashamed.

Sabato pretended not to notice and continued, "Although today is supposed to be a tactical lecture, I don't plan to talk about tactics. Because even if I did, you wouldn't listen, because I have no reputation and no achievements. Ah… you don't need to rush to admit it. Also, the team is still unstable, and the lineup hasn't been finalized yet. I need to observe for a while before deciding on the team's tactics…"

Everyone's minds went blank. The meaning was obvious: the club was going to conduct a purge, a major purge, otherwise how could they not have finalized the tactics when the new season was only a month away?

"Then today's training is over. Tomorrow, the fitness coach will lead you in physical training. Look at how fat you all are." Sabato stopped at the door, looked at the door he had kicked in, and then turned to say, "I don't mind you calling me 'hick,' really, I don't mind."

After saying that, he left the room full of shocked people and turned to leave.

※※※

A day later, Sabato met with Ren Yudi.

Ren Yudi had heard about what happened that day from Jalimian and couldn't stop laughing. So, when he met Sabato, he patted him on the shoulder and laughed.

"You did a great job! Now they all know what kind of person you are."

"What kind of person am I?" Sabato blinked.

"You're a hooligan, haha!" Ren Yudi said happily. This was the kind of head coach he wanted, someone with personality, passion, fearlessness, and the ability to be shameless.

Sabato handed the list in his arms to Ren Yudi, who took it and looked through it, then said to Sabato, "On the list of players to sell, your views are similar to mine. It is necessary to purge the team and let them know who Fiorentina belongs to. But I'll add one more person: Riganò."

"Riganò?" Sabato was surprised. "Although he's a bit old, he can still be a substitute…"

Ren Yudi waved his hand. "No, he's too old. If you want a substitute, I can buy you one." He picked up a pen and added Riganò's name to the list. Actually, there was another reason he didn't say: Riganò was enthusiastic, cheerful, and got along with everyone. Ren Yudi was afraid that one day Riganò would pose a threat to Zhang Jun's position. After all, both of them were popular with the fans.

"On the buying side… hmm, I took a look, why are you asking to bring in two Chinese players? I don't think it's necessary. Besides, don't you know about Italy's transfer restrictions? You can only buy one non-EU player a year…"

"It's like this, I want to build Zhang Jun into a core player, and he needs someone to help him. I think it's better to choose someone he's familiar with. The Dutch Three Musketeers during the Milan dynasty gave me inspiration. Why don't we create a Chinese Three Musketeers? Besides, these two are very strong in their respective positions, and their prices aren't high, so it's very likely that we can buy them… As for the restriction, it's already been amended. The non-EU quota restriction doesn't apply to loans, so we can buy one and loan one."

Ren Yudi looked at the two names on the list again. "You really put your heart into it, you even thought of the Chinese Three Musketeers. You watched the Chinese team's matches in the World Cup, right?" Ren Yudi said with a smile. He had also personally watched them from the VIP box.

Sabato nodded. "I watched them all. I like the Chinese team's style. Their coach is a capable person. Those two, plus Zhang Jun, can be the core of three lines. I'll design the tactics around Zhang Jun. As long as he's not injured and has no problem with his stamina, he'll be the main player."

Ren Yudi stroked his chin. "Well, that's what I want to see… So, the rest will be as you said… Also, you can now confirm the main defensive midfielder."

"Who is it?"

"Mascherano."

"Javier Mascherano? The one from Corinthians in Brazil? The defensive midfielder Maradona called a 'midfield monster'?" Sabato exclaimed.

"That's right," Ren Yudi nodded in agreement.

"My God! Putting him on the transfer market would be a bombshell! Many wealthy clubs want to get him, but he chose to come to Fiorentina!"

"Well, so this matter still needs to be kept secret. I'm telling you so that you can prepare when formulating tactics. As for why he wants to come here, we have to thank Mr. Batistuta. He lobbied that guy for a whole year… It's hard to imagine that idiot Della Valle would also make such a brilliant decision. Otherwise, we would still be scratching our heads about the defensive midfielder. Okay, that's it. I'll try my best to satisfy you. You give me the list, and I'll buy the players. If you think of anything, just call me."

Sabato left satisfied. At first, he thought that most of his requests would be rejected. He didn't expect the boss to agree to all of them. Being able to meet a boss who always satisfies your requests in the transfer market was a blessing in disguise for a coach.

Well then, he would work hard to not let the boss's money go to waste.

Thinking about the players he had suggested buying, he chuckled. This Fiorentina would definitely be lively.

※※※

Two days later, Fiorentina began its purge. The first to leave was Gugu, who didn't have many appearances last season. Next, Fiorentina needed to negotiate with several clubs to determine who owned the rights to several players in the squad.

These players included Miccoli, Maresca, Jørgensen, Zhang Jun, Dainelli, Obodo, and Chiellini.

Lucchesi was responsible for negotiating with those clubs this time. He had received instructions from Jalimian, and he knew who should go and who should stay.

In fact, this kind of negotiation was very simple. If neither side wanted the player, then they would each offer a price and make it public. The higher bidder would get the player. This method also applied to situations where both sides wanted the player. If one side didn't want the player, but the other side did, then the club and the player would sit down together to negotiate.

On the list that Sabato gave to Ren Yudi, only four of the above seven players could stay: forward Zhang Jun, midfielder Jørgensen, and defenders Dainelli and Chiellini. The others were all on the purge list.

Lucchesi first negotiated with Juventus. Obviously, with Vieira, Mutu, and Ibrahimović, Juventus didn't need Maresca and Miccoli. The two sides had to offer their prices. Juventus offered 1.5 million and 2 million euros for the two players, respectively, while the price Lucchesi offered shocked everyone: 100 euros. Both of them were priced at 100 euros.

Someone suspected that they had missed four zeros, but Lucchesi made it clear to them: "It's 100 euros, we don't want them."

Juventus didn't expect Fiorentina to be so ruthless. Players who had played for them last season were only worth 100 euros in their eyes. They could only admit their misfortune and take in these unwanted wretches.

But in the case of Chiellini, who was also a Juventus player, both Juventus and Fiorentina wanted him. In the end, they reached an agreement that Chiellini would play for Fiorentina for another season and then return to Turin.

Perugia insisted on taking back Obodo, and Fiorentina didn't want him anyway, so they did them a favor.

Jørgensen's situation was more dramatic. Udinese was afraid that the wealthy Fiorentina would compete with them for Di Natale, so they preemptively proposed to Fiorentina: as long as Fiorentina didn't compete with them for Di Natale, they would transfer Jørgensen to Fiorentina for the super-low price of 500 euros.

This time it was Lucchesi's turn to be shocked. He also suspected that he had missed four zeros.

In the end, Fiorentina practically got a key midfielder for free.

After dealing with Jørgensen, it was Brescia's Dainelli. Although Fiorentina's performance wasn't good, the media's statistics from last season showed that this young defender had the highest defensive efficiency among all Serie A defenders. Given time, he would also grow into an excellent defender. Sabato valued him and wanted the club to keep him no matter what.

Brescia knew that their small club couldn't keep Dainelli, especially with Fiorentina being such a wealthy club. So, they pretended to hesitate and then agreed to a deal for 2.2 million euros.

The ownership of Zhang Jun was a headache. This time, Jalimian personally took action to persuade Milan to give up Zhang Jun.

However, it was said that one of the conditions of AC Milan's new head coach, Van Basten, accepting the job was that he wanted Zhang Jun back. Although this had not been admitted by either party, Basten had indeed praised Zhang Jun more than once in public after coming to Italy, believing that he could become a great forward. AC Milan also insisted on taking back Zhang Jun, which couldn't be simply explained by the fact that Zhang Jun's hat trick had cost AC Milan the championship.

Ren Yudi also absolutely wouldn't allow Zhang Jun to leave Fiorentina. He gave Jalimian a firm order that no matter what means were used or how much money was spent, Zhang Jun had to stay at Fiorentina.

With neither side willing to give in, the matter was deadlocked.

※※※

Fiorentina didn't put all its energy into determining the ownership of existing players. They were racing against time to snatch players. Why "snatch players"? Because the current Fiorentina had the momentum of Chelsea back in the day. As long as they took a fancy to a player, no matter how high the price was, they would hand over a check without saying a word, and then offer them very good personal treatment. They didn't believe they couldn't buy them.

In this way, Lupatelli was sold to Parma in exchange for Frey. Bojinov was sold to Sampdoria, and winger Gasbarroni was bought in. Montolivo, a newly emerging young attacking midfielder, was bought from Atalanta, and Toni was bought from Palermo for 10 million.

Ren Yudi wasn't like Della Valle, who was sentimental everywhere but only bought half of the ownership rights. He always made a one-time deal. He didn't want a group of players in the team who were "physically in Cao Ying, but mentally in Han," like last season. (Cao Ying and Han refer to two warring states. This idiom refers to someone who is outwardly compliant but inwardly disloyal).

Fiorentina's actions made Li Yan, who was unaware of the truth, exclaim in amazement every day when news broke after the sun rose. "Oh my god! Fiorentina is throwing money around again! They don't haggle at all, as if they don't value money! Why don't they throw money at me?!"

With ins and outs, many people left. Zhang Jun had no feelings for those people, but one person's departure surprised him, angered him, and made him feel helpless.

On August 14th, Napoli, which was struggling in Serie B, announced that they had signed Fiorentina's number 9 striker, Riganò, for 2 million euros.

Zhang Jun only found out about this when Li Yan told him. He was shocked when he first heard the news, and after ending the call with Li Yan, he called Ren Yudi angrily.

"Yudi, was it your decision to sell the Bull?" he asked directly, because he had heard Li Yan say that the head coach didn't actually want Riganò to leave.

"That's right," Ren Yudi answered bluntly.

"Why? He can still be a substitute. He's loyal to Fiorentina. He played a huge role in the team's promotion to Serie A. Treating a meritorious official like this will only make others feel disheartened, and the fans won't agree."

"Hehe, Zhang Jun, when did you start saying things like that?" Ren Yudi said with a smile, not minding Zhang Jun's accusations. "However, I've taken all aspects of the club into consideration. You don't need to worry about this kind of thing…" At the end, perhaps fearing that Zhang Jun would have bad thoughts, Ren Yudi added, "Also, don't worry, Zhang Jun. As long as I'm in Fiorentina, no one can infringe on your interests. I can offend anyone, but I can't offend you, Zhang Jun. You know that, right? So just focus on playing soccer. No matter what happens, I'll be there to block it for you."

Zhang Jun didn't speak; he didn't even hear the words Ren Yudi added. The soft words that Ren Yudi said earlier made it impossible for him to refute. Ren Yudi was right, he was a player, not the chairman. He couldn't decide who to buy or sell. Players just had to play the soccer at their feet well.

He could only helplessly accept the outcome of the Bull leaving.

Riganò's departure didn't cause much of a stir among Fiorentina fans and the media. Some media even praised Jalimian for doing a great job, both cleaning up the team and making a small profit. The fans thought that Riganò was old and his departure was only a matter of time. They had never regarded Riganò as a figure like Batistuta. They could call him the new God of War during the promotion, but no one mentioned it now. The reason why they abandoned Riganò was because they had found a new idol—Zhang Jun. Zhang Jun could help the team avoid relegation with a hat trick, but could Riganò do that?

Zhang Jun would never have imagined that his excellent performance had contributed to Riganò's departure.

He would only feel sad when he thought about the happy days he had with the Bull.

"Gabriel is my idol, and I hope that one day a statue of me can be erected outside the Stadio Artemio Franchi, and then I can retire here."

When Riganò said this to Zhang Jun, it was destined to be an unrealizable dream. Now, the dream had finally come to an end.

Professional soccer is very cruel, Zhang Jun.

※※※

Zhang Jun's ownership was finally settled. With neither side willing to give in, they could only resolve it through comparing prices. AC Milan offered 11 million euros, which was only half of Zhang Jun's value. In the current economic climate, this price was quite sincere.

But Fiorentina's offer was 24 million euros! This was more than twice that of AC Milan! In other words, Zhang Jun's total value was 48 million euros!

An astronomical price! Who in the soccer world was worth more than 48 million euros now?

Fiorentina used this almost ostentatious way of showing off their wealth to express their determination to keep Zhang Jun.

At the same time, Master Ren also told the world that Fiorentina had money, a lot of money, and as long as you have the talent, we don't care how much money we spend.

Zhang Jun thought Ren Yudi was wasting money and didn't need to spend so much money at all.

But Ren Yudi told him with a smile: "You don't have to worry about my money, just focus on playing soccer. You're worth this price, because you're the best forward."

After owning all of Zhang Jun's ownership rights at a high price, Fiorentina continued to make shocking acquisitions in the transfer market. Almost all the popular players were linked to Fiorentina.

At that time, there was even a joke:

A conversation between two players.

"Now people are talking about which players Fiorentina will buy. Ballack, Terry, Ronaldinho… all these names are related to them. What? You haven't been linked to them yet? Oh my God! Don't play soccer anymore, change careers! Why? Because you must not be a qualified player."

※※※

During this time, Zhang Jun rarely saw Hua Jie, she was very busy. Now the outside world was saying that Fiorentina had taken a fancy to several Chinese players. Even Yang Pan was linked to Fiorentina, which was really ridiculous. More realistic rumors were that Chelsea's Kroul, Anderlecht's Xiang Tao and Wang Yu, as well as Liu Peng and Li Suisheng, who played domestically, were being considered.

Since the World Cup, Kroul's relationship with the fans at Chelsea had completely broken down. The fans booed him every day, and even used his recently deceased father to mock Kroul. He couldn't get a starting spot at Chelsea due to the World Cup syndrome. Mourinho was optimistic about him, but his performance was disappointing, and sometimes he couldn't even make the substitute list. The media now saw it this way: Kroul was a typical example of someone who became famous quickly and then fell quickly. His fancy moves were more than enough, which meant he was destined to follow the same path as Denílson.

It shouldn't be a big problem for Fiorentina to buy him. Because Abramovich always wanted to prove to the English fans that he was British, and Chelsea was an English team. Then it was understandable that Kroul, who had "betrayed" his country, was being kicked out of the team. But what outsiders couldn't understand was why Fiorentina wanted to buy Kroul, someone who was clearly unsuitable for Serie A.

Xiang Tao and Wang Yu were also considered very likely, because their performances had proven that they had considerable strength, and they didn't cost a lot of money. The most convenient thing was that no other teams had taken a fancy to them yet.

Liu Peng and Li Suisheng could be regarded as the Chinese media's own wishful thinking. It was more likely that they would go to Fenerbahçe and Celtic.

In general, the biggest problem for these rumored Chinese players wasn't money, but their non-EU status.

Zhang Jun didn't know who would come. In his own opinion, Kroul was the most likely to come. But no matter who came, he would be happy, because he would have an acquaintance, and he would have someone to joke around with in the future.

The locker room would definitely be lively in the future, heh heh, Zhang Jun thought.

※※※

Since Ren Yudi appeared, happy events had continued to happen around Zhang Jun. Ren Yudi was working hard to strengthen Fiorentina's strength, and he also welcomed the most important person in his life.

Sophie finally obtained her visa and came to Florence, Italy. Li Yan also took the initiative to apply for a permanent position in Florence. His reason was simple: because there would likely be many Chinese players here.

Zhang Jun was very excited when he picked up Sophie at the Milan airport with Yang Pan, Kaka, and Li Yongle. Although they had just met a month ago, this time was different. This time, he would be with Sophie for a long time, truly living together as a couple.

Countless nights, he would have countless opportunities… oh yeah!

Sophie pinched Zhang Jun when she hugged him affectionately, making him grimace in pain but not dare to cry out.

After playing in Milan for a day, a few old friends gathered together. The next day, he and Sophie rushed back to Florence. He had only asked Sabato for a day and a half off. Ren Yudi had told him that no one had special privileges in the new team, not even him. He could only enjoy one special treatment, and that was—not being for sale.

He still had to rely on his own efforts to fight for opportunities, otherwise Sabato's job wouldn't be easy. But unlike last season, this time he and everyone else were standing on the same starting line, competing fairly.

Sitting on the sofa in his Florence home, Zhang Jun put his arm around Sophie, feeling like the happiest person in the world.

His career had undergone a major shift, and his girlfriend, whom he had been separated from for many years, was by his side. What else could he ask for?

Smelling Sophie's hair, feeling Sophie's warmth, and touching Sophie's delicate skin, Zhang Jun's hands and mind became restless. Sophie slapped his hand away and laughed, "Zhang Jun is getting more and more like a hooligan!"

Zhang Jun felt wronged. "Professional players have plenty of energy. How can this be called being a hooligan? This shows that I'm a normal man…"

Sophie covered her mouth and giggled. "Ah, Zhang Jun is also a man, how come I didn't know?"

Zhang Jun immediately began to show Sophie his muscles, but Sophie kept laughing. She had been waiting for this scene for a long time. When she was in China, in an unfamiliar city, after getting off work every day, only a cold room was waiting for her. No matter how tired or bitter she was, no one would say anything. She could only talk to Zhang Jun's photos, but the photos were dead and wouldn't show any expression. When she was depressed, angry, wronged, or wanted to cry, the Zhang Jun in the photos always had a smiling face, which sometimes only made her more depressed.

Now it was different. Whether Zhang Jun was happy, angry, in pain, funny, or acting like a hooligan… she saw a living Zhang Jun, not the Zhang Jun in photos and in the media.

Zhang Jun needed her, and she needed Zhang Jun just as much. Neither of them was much stronger than the other. What allowed them to get to where they were today was simply that they supported each other, trusted each other, and encouraged each other along the way.

Zhang Jun was still striking poses. If it was An Ke, that pervert, he would have pounced on her long ago to prove that he was a normal man.

Sophie suddenly reached out and grabbed Zhang Jun, pressing her whole body against him, her face gently touching Zhang Jun's face. She wasn't shy at all at this moment.

"I miss you so much, Zhang Jun…"

Zhang Jun was stunned at first, then he reached out and hugged Sophie, sitting on the sofa and whispering softly, "I miss you too, Sophie…"

The sunset in Florence was like an oil painting. Under the golden sunset, the pigeons on Piazza del Duomo were also very peaceful, allowing tourists to wander among them.

Giotto's Campanile stood tall on one side of the square, its spire reflecting light in the sunlight, but not dazzlingly. Everything was warm and cozy. Around the square were artists sitting and drawing portraits, and behind the crowd, a replica of the statue of David stood quietly, silently watching the people coming and going. Everything was so peaceful.

This was Florence, a flower-like beautiful city. Sophie, you will like it here.

※※※

Two days later, Fiorentina officially announced that Chinese attacking midfielder Kroul Li, who played for Chelsea, had joined Fiorentina in a transfer, with a transfer fee of 7 million euros and a four-year contract.

At the same time, it was also announced that Chinese defender Xiang Tao, who currently played for Anderlecht in the Belgian First Division, had joined Fiorentina on loan for one season.

Due to the Italian Football Association's newly revised policy on the quota restrictions for cross-border transfers of non-EU players, which had no effect on loans, Fiorentina was able to simultaneously introduce two Chinese players. The arrival of Kroul and Xiang Tao gave Fiorentina a deep Chinese imprint and suddenly made it the focus of attention for all Chinese people.

Since it was heard that the list of players to buy was provided by Sabato, many Italian media outlets openly ridiculed Sabato as an amateur. Because in their opinion, Kroul Li was clearly past his prime, and there were plenty of defenders of Xiang Tao's caliber in Italy, so there was no need to waste a team's non-EU quota.

Sabato also fought back, retorting that those boring soccer commentators who sat in their offices all day long with simple player data and daydreamed actually didn't understand anything.

Judging from Sabato's performance, it was hard to believe that he was a head coach without Serie A coaching experience. This could only be attributed to his personality.

The media didn't gain any advantage in this debate. They had bought the players, and Sabato was going to use them, so no one could stop him. They could only maliciously curse Fiorentina to have a 90 percent chance of being relegated under this rookie coach.

A day later, Fiorentina finally dropped their long-awaited bombshell in this summer's transfer market.

"We are honored to announce that Argentine international, defensive midfielder Javier Mascherano, has officially joined Fiorentina, signing a four-year contract, with a transfer fee of 31 million euros. He will wear the team's number 6 jersey. The chairman and the head coach believe that Javier is a rare genius, and his arrival will help the team achieve good results."

As Lucchesi said these words, Mascherano sat next to him with a smile, and Batistuta, an important figure in this transfer, sat next to him.

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