The sed time Gao Shen saw De Laurentiis was at noon the day after meeting with Juventus.

  De Laurentiis had flown in from Italy with Marino, arriving in Madrid that m. He invited Gao Shen for lunch without dey, giving the impression that he couldn't wait any longer.

  Uheir first meeting in a, De Laurentiis seemed like a pletely different person this time.

  Though it was hard to fully hide his rebellious temperament, he was clearly trying to trol arain himself, speaking in a much geone.

  Moreover, uheir previous meeting, where De Laurentiis did most of the talking, Marino had more ces to speak this time.

  eical direarino, was quite capable. He had done a good job in Udinese in Serie A before.

  For many years, Udinese survived by buying low and selling high. This required a high level of operational ability from the teical director, and Marino had created a successful operating meism for Udinese.

  But it recisely this talent that De Laurentiis mao poach for Naples.

  bining this with what Sacchi had said befao Shen began to better uand De Laurentiis.

  Was this old man truly as domineering, strong, and outspoken as he appeared on the surface?

  Or was his life like a py, all relying on ag?

  ...

  trary to the unpleasant atmosphere of their st meeting, this meal was very harmonious.

  Marino was humorous, and his jokes helped lighten the mood throughout the meal. De Laurentiis also gave him plenty of room to speak and refrained from being overbearing, which made Gao Shen a bit suspicious. Was the De Laurentiis he saw in a the real one?

  Throughout the entire meal, De Laurentiis and Marino didn't mention anything about football. However, Gao Shen could feel that they were trying to probe and figure out his thoughts.

  But Gao Shen was no rookie. He knew how to deal with such probing, defleg it back each time.

  This made De Laurentiis and Marino sitting opposite him uain about his iions.

  Had Gao Shen already "made up his mind"?

  If that were the case, there would be no need for them to tialking.

  But Gao Shen maintained a vague and ambiguous attitude. He never gave a clear answer, ag like a scumbag, leaving Marino scratg his bald head from time to time.

  Finally, De Laurentiis couldn't hold it in anymore.

  "Okay, I'll just say it straight!" De Laurentiis' domineering side finally showed.

  Gao Shen nodded calmly as always, "If you have something to say, just say it directly."

  "I know, you met someone from Juventus yesterday."

  Gao Shen was a little surprised, "Where did you get the news?"

  Did Juventus leak it on purpose?

  "Don't overthink it. Even though Juventus has been relegated, its influen Italian football remains signifit. Some reporters photographed Bnd Secco flying to Madrid, so I guessed they were there to meet you," De Laurentiis said with a fident expression that seemed to say, "Don't try to hide it from me."

  Gao Shen was somewhat reassured and didn't bother to hide it. He nodded, aowledging it.

  This made it difficult for De Laurentiis to navigate the versation.

  He couldn't ask Gao Shen directly, "Hey, buddy, how did your talk with Juventus go?"

  That would be too foolish; how could he possibly get an answer like that?

  "I don't know what Juventus discussed with you specifically, but I still want to persuade you that Juventus is not a good pce to go," De Laurentiis said in a different way, his tone softer.

  You have to give it to the old guy; he really was a filmmaker. His expressions came naturally, aed out his role perfectly.

  "Why not?" Gao Shen asked calmly, showing ion.

  "After Juventus was relegated to Serie B, they suffered signifit pyer losses. Most of the strong pyers decided to leave the team. The Bianeri are no lohe Serie A giants they once were. Even if some big-name pyers stay, you've just jumped out of the pit of Real Madrid, and you want to fall bato the pit of Juventus immediately?" De Laurentiis questioned.

  Gao She a flicker of realization in his mind.

  To be ho, De Laurentiis did make some sense.

  For example, pyers like Buffon, Nedved, and Trezeguet said they would stay, which seemed like a good thing. But the question was, could Gao Shen trol them?

  With Juventus relegated to Serie B, the club would prioritize these veteran pyers. Between Gao Shen and the veterans, they wouldn't hesitate to abandon Gao Shen, regardless of what they promised before the season.

  As a fan, Gao Shen had also admired pyers like Nedved and Buffon, but when it came to personal is, everyone was the same. When it came to their own is, nobody was above self-preservation.

  This is actually a big challenge when coag giants.

  Though he thought so inwardly, Gao Shen remained calm on the surface. "You know, if I could manage Real Madrid's dressing room, I wouldn't be afraid of Juventus. pared to Real Madrid's superstars, Juventus' pyers are still easier to manage."

  "As for strength, that is not a problem for me. I could sell a rge number of pyers t in a signifit amount of money, which I could then i in tra in the pyers I need. It's a win-win!" he tinued fidently.

  De Laurentiis and Marino exged gnces, never expeg that Gao Shen would make such a statement.

  Could it be that he had really talked with Juventus?

  De Laurentiis shook his head and said, "If you think so, you're wrong. Juventus will not i heavily iransfer market. her the club nor the Fiat sortium behind it will i heavily."

  "Why not?" Gao Shen remained very calm.

  Because now, he no longer wao coach Juventus.

  "The Fiat sortium is not what it used to be. Currently, the sortium is in a deep crisis, so when dealing with the 'Calciopoli' sdal, John Elkann and Ferrari president Montezemolo did not prioritize Juventus but rather the Fiat Group."

  "For them, it doesn't matter what happens to Juventus now. The most important thing is to recover the Fiat Group's performance as quickly as possible a rid of its current operational difficulties. You know, it was Montezemolo who pushed Juventus to abandon the appeal and accept relegation to Serie B."

  Gao Shen nodded, "You're right, but there is one way of w with extra transfer fees, and another way of w with fewer transfer fees."

  The implication was: I uand everything you're saying, but don't worry, I ha!

  De Laurentiis frowned; he really did not expect Gao Shen to be unmoved by this.

  He was good at reading people, and at a gnce, he khat Gao Shen wasn't panig at all.

  This wasn't reasonable.

  Even if he hadn't reached a sensus with Juventus, he must have some i in them; otherwise, there was no reason not to react.

  Unless he truly had a strong self-fidend believed he could overe all the problems.

  But it didn't matter; he still had his st card.

  "Have you heard of Giampiero Boi?" De Laurentiis asked.

  Gao Shen was taken aback for a moment, furrowed his brow, and after thinking for a while, he finally remembered, "Honorary chairman of Juventus?"

  "Yes, then do you know the retionship between Alessio Secd Boi?"

  Gao Shen was stunned. Were these two reted?

  Looking at their ages, was Seco the illegitimate son of Boi?

  But Gao Shen quickly dismissed this wild thought, shook his head, and said he didn't know.

  "Alessio Secco's father was an atant and Boi's fidant for many years. Seself has no real capability. He entered Juventus through Boi back then, and all he did was handle some trivial roles with no real power, essentially just keeping a job."

  "But in this current turmoil at Juventus, Boi's honorary chairmanship is still respected, and Alessio Secco has gone from a press officer to a sp director. As we all know, he doesn't uand football at all."

  This time, Gao Shen truly came to a realization.

  "Think about it, Juventus' new Big Three: Alessio Secco holds the most real power and the most lucrative position as sp director, but he is also the least capable; Jean-Cude Bnc is John Elkann's man, representing the Fiat Group; he was inally supposed to be chairman, but the shareholders chose Geely, the owner of a supermarket ."

  De Laurentiis spoke with a bit of swagger, and after speaking, he gestured in front of Gao Shen a few times and said, "We don't have any substantial evidence, but you imagine, what is the retionship betweehree people?"

  At that moment, Gao Shen finally uood why Secceted him so much.

  This robably not just Sceco's iion but also the iion of certain i groups behind him.

  To put it bluntly, as De Laurentiis said, the position of sp director es with a lot of power and money. Holding this position makes it an incredible source of ine.

  No wonder Secco would directly spoil the iation.

  In the end, he still waoo much.

  "Thank you, Mr. De Laurentiis, I uand," Gao Shen smiled and nodded in gratitude.

  De Laurentiis and Marino exged another look and ughed.

  "So, you're not going to Juventus?" Marino asked with .

  Gao Shen shook his head, "I never said I was going to Juventus."

  The smiles of De Laurentiis and Marino suddenly froze.

  Damn, if you're not going, why did I waste all this time talking so much?

  "Didn't you meet with Bnd Secco yesterday?" De Laurentiis asked.

  "Yes, but they have reservations about my request and said they o think about it," Gao Shen said half-truthfully.

  The two on the opposite side exged gnces again. It seemed like the discussions with Juventus were still ongoing, and there might still be a ce for Juventus.

  "And now?" De Laurentiis asked anxiously.

  "What you said really made me hesitant, so I will talk to them again. Some terms must be able to be implemented into the tract," Gao Shen replied lightly, looking very did.

  De Laurentiis and Marino were clearly getting nervous.

  pared to Juventus, Napoli had no adva all.

  If Gao Sheo go bad talk to Juventus again, Napoli would have no ce.

  "In that case, no matter what ditions they promise you, I promise you the same. You state your demands, and we guarao let you participate in transfer and traegotiations and build the team acc to your wishes."

  De Laurentiis obviously didn't want to waste time.

  "e to Naples!"