"Don't get too excited, don't cry—speak slowly, no need to rush… Yes, I know you've worked very hard, and your performances are obvious to everyone… Mr. Trigueira is famous for discovering and developing young stars—Luis Figo, Simão Sabrosa, Ricardo Quaresma—they're all his proud products!"
"Alright, alright, then we'll start the contract signing on our side. By the way, you can also begin training in advance. Sporting Lisbon's goal this season is to win the Portuguese league title. We're entering competitive mode early—you don't want to join the team and fail the test, right?"
Soon, Kai settled everything with Andrea Barzagli.
From the sound of it, the guy on the other end of the phone had probably been crying for a while.
Andrea Barzagli—fans of Juventus and Italy would definitely recognize that name.
He originally played as a Ciro-style center forward, later as a midfielder, and only switched to center-back at the age of eighteen—which was just last year.
He was truly a player who clawed his way up from the bottom.
Last season, he led Rondinella in amateur competition and successfully helped the team get promoted to Italy's Serie D.
Because of that, €200,000 was an irresistible sky-high price for an amateur club. Their usual transfer deals were only a few thousand euros, rarely exceeding tens of thousands.
Looking at it that way, it made perfect sense why Rondinella rejected the loan offer from Serie B side Pistoiese.
On top of that, Pistoiese didn't even guarantee him playing time. If Barzagli had gone there, he might not have played more than five matches all season—basically wasting a year of development.
In fact, if Sporting Lisbon hadn't signed him this time…
Barzagli would have gone to Ascoli in Serie C, helped them earn promotion to Serie B, then joined Serie A side Chievo.
After that, he would move to Palermo, peak at Wolfsburg, and finally join Juventus—where he would experience a second peak in his career.
Together with Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci, he would form one of Italy's most reliable defensive trios at the national level.
Barzagli's most impressive trait?
His one-on-one defensive tackling.
Ridiculously strong.
Later in his career, his slow turning speed would become a fatal weakness—but right now, not even twenty years old, speed was no issue at all.
This was absolutely a top-tier choice for a center-back.
In terms of pure defensive talent, he was clearly ahead of José Fonte by more than just a small margin.
…
Barzagli was only the beginning.
Trigueira also secured a promising loan target from the Premier League.
This player was a high-quality young talent—either this year or next, he would break into the first team.
And make no mistake: the Premier League first team carries serious weight.
Players like this are usually considered treasures. Clubs rarely loan them out—what if they get injured or ruined during development?
Even when loans happen, they're usually arranged with partner clubs. It's not something that would casually fall into Sporting Lisbon's lap.
But this player was in a special situation.
He had already been promoted to the first team last year, but there weren't enough opportunities, so the club loaned him out for half a season to keep him sharp.
Originally, this year he was supposed to get more chances.
But then the club's transfer plans went sideways—the players who were supposed to leave stayed, and unexpected arrivals took their spots.
Suddenly, this young player had no path to playing time.
If he stayed, he might barely play at all.
Out of responsibility, the club explained everything to him and let him decide his future.
Initially, he wanted to fight for his place.
But then Sporting Lisbon—a giant in the Portuguese league—came calling with a loan offer.
And since the club had just completed a friendly deal with Sporting, they couldn't just brush them off. They left the decision to the player.
Mentally, the player was relieved.
This way, he didn't have to gamble everything on staying. If he failed to secure a starting position, his future would be uncertain.
Spending a year on loan? Not a bad option.
And honestly, gaining real match experience in the Portuguese league wasn't a downgrade—its level was still higher than the English Championship or Serie B.
At that time, leagues like the Portuguese league and Eredivisie were not inferior to Ligue 1 or even the Bundesliga.
So just like that…
Chelsea F.C.—which had just sold Deschamps to Sporting Lisbon—quietly announced that it would loan its talented young defender John Terry to Sporting Lisbon for one season!
If Barzagli would become a world-class center-back at his peak…
Then John Terry, in almost any "Top 10 center-backs" list, is a guaranteed name.
He might not always be called the absolute best in the world—but he was England's number one center-back, the most successful defender of the Premier League's golden era, and the iron-blooded soul of future Chelsea!
Even though it was just a one-year loan…
Even though Terry was only twenty…
He was already far more useful than Sporting Lisbon's current center-backs like Marcos, Facundo, and Fonte.
Fonte: I really need to leave!
The team remained busy, and Kai kept making calls.
He directly signed 22-year-old striker Didier Drogba from Ligue 2 side Le Mans for €400,000.
At first, Le Mans claimed that Ligue 1 club Guingamp was also interested, with an initial offer of €200,000.
Kai didn't bother negotiating—he flipped it around and said:
"€200,000 is too cheap. Why not sell him for €400,000?"
Le Mans had never seen negotiation tactics like that.
Drogba looked physically strong, with the potential of a center forward—but his goal-scoring record was honestly unimpressive.
He had been fairly average in Ligue 2, which made it hard to believe he'd suddenly explode in a stronger league.
But Kai knew something others didn't—
Some strikers' value isn't reflected in raw numbers.
A player who scores a dozen goals in a weak league… might still score a dozen in a top league.
Completely different from a player like Mário Jardel.
Jardel could score 30 or 40 goals in the Portuguese league…
But in top leagues, he struggled to even hit ten.
Of course, Kai didn't need to explain all that.
Right now, Drogba might not yet be capable of competing at the highest level.
But as a backup to Jardel? More than enough.
And if Kai remembered correctly, Drogba would suffer a series of injuries this season.
So once he arrived, he'd need a proper medical evaluation first—then be used carefully depending on his condition.
Not someone you could just throw onto the pitch whenever you felt like it.
Drogba came from a poor background, moving between France and Côte d'Ivoire while playing for various small clubs.
So when he heard that a Portuguese league team wanted him…
He didn't hesitate.
He packed his bags and left immediately.
Because he had a reason—a reason he had to fight for.
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