"Deng Kai and Ronaldo are too young, while Schmeichel is too old. João Pinto and Kwame Ayew only know how to draw the bow and shoot. Count the true giants? Watch the Premier League!"
"Shit! You're a Premier League fan. It's only the third-best league in Europe, so why the hell are you acting so arrogant? Didn't Manchester United rely on our guidance to win the Champions League? According to your logic, the world's heroes all come from Portugal, you dumbass!"
The fans argued nonstop.
A pleasant summer gradually slipped away in an atmosphere where no one talked about Fonte.
It was time for every team's pre-season training.
…
Alcochete Academy.
"Brother Kai!"
"Hello, Brother Kai!"
"Brother Kai is here!"
"Thank you, Brother Kai!"
As Kai walked past the U19 training ground, Wu Xudong and the others kept greeting him.
Kai responded enthusiastically to everyone.
One of the new faces even came over specifically to thank Kai.
It was Chen Tao.
A product of the Sichuan Quanxing Youth Academy, he had wanted to come to Europe last year, but the club ignored him.
After a year-long lawsuit, with the support of the foundation established by Kai, Chen Tao finally managed to terminate his contract successfully and joined Sporting Lisbon's U19 team.
The current Sporting Lisbon U19 squad had an extremely high Chinese presence.
Wu Xudong, Yu Shihao, Hao Junmin, Chen Tao, and Shao Jiayi.
Because of their outstanding performances last season, most of them had become absolute starters for the team.
Of course, Kai's old teammate Miguel Veloso was also in the squad.
Triguera had personally spoken to Veloso. Once the season began, there was a good chance Veloso would be called up to train with the first team.
As for whether he would get playing time, that depended on the condition of several classic cars.
If Matthäus, Deschamps, and Bento were all in good form, then Veloso would probably only earn training experience points.
But even so, Veloso was so excited he couldn't sleep for several days. He shared the news with his father, and the father and son hugged each other and cried.
Once upon a time, Veloso had been kicked out of Benfica's youth academy for the humiliating reason of being overweight.
And now, he even had a chance to enter the first team.
Brother Kai is amazing!
Long live Triguera!
What?
Maxa?
Haha, Veloso had personally seen Maxa acting obediently beside Kai. Outsiders might not know, but how could he not?
However, this U19 team also had more talents skipping levels, just like Kai and Cristiano Ronaldo had done before.
This time, it was João Moutinho who jumped ahead.
The short kid who was more than half a year younger than Kai during the Diamond Generation Invitational Tournament would later become one of the core midfielders of the Portuguese national team.
There was also the young Brazilian center-back who had come together with Pepe in the buy-one-get-two-free deal.
His name was too damn long to remember, and since he was black, everyone simply called him Friday.
That was Sporting Lisbon's U19 team this year. Not only would they compete in the youth league, but they would also participate in the UEFA Youth League.
This was their chance to prove themselves, and also a chance to prove the existence of the "Chinese core" to European football!
After making the rounds, Kai and Ronaldo arrived at the first-team training ground.
Most of the young players were already there.
Pepe, Barzagli, Drogba, Zlatan, and Terry.
Among them, Pepe immediately ran over, as if he had finally found his own group.
People don't really feel the power of collective identity when they're alone.
But once the crowd gets bigger, it becomes obvious.
Naturally, everyone gathers around people they know. It makes them feel safer and more relaxed.
Kai brought Ronaldo and Pepe over to Barzagli and asked in Italian, "How are things? Are you getting used to life here? It was my mother's birthday when you arrived, so I couldn't leave. I had to ask the club staff to pick you up instead. Did everything go smoothly?"
Barzagli frowned. Should he say it or not? That voice sounded familiar.
"Who are you?" Barzagli asked carefully.
"I was the one who called you!" Kai revealed his identity.
"Oh! This... I... wow... holy shit!" Barzagli became incredibly excited.
He had never expected this.
Who the hell would've thought?
"Seriously, absolutely nobody would've guessed it. You're incredible!" Barzagli praised Kai nonstop.
Pepe secretly looked down on this humble guy from the Apennine Peninsula.
What a bootlicker!
You can't just flatter Kai because he shares the same name as the top talent on this team, right?
Ronaldo: Uh... well... he really isn't my friend, Kai, please listen to my explanation.
"Welcome aboard! In my eyes, you're already a starting player!" Kai was also very excited. After all, Barzagli was a player he had personally recruited. This kind of participation was something a puppet without transfer authority could never understand.
Achoo!
Maxa suddenly felt like someone was insulting him again.
"Thank you for the encouragement." Barzagli shook Kai's hand solemnly before adding, "Absolutely no one would've imagined that Mr. Triguera's assistant was actually just a ball boy!"
Kai's smile froze halfway.
Was that... an insult?
Pepe stood there confused. Why... why didn't that count as an insult?
Pfft!
Ronaldo burst into laughter and clapped wildly.
Brilliant!
Fucking brilliant!
"Did I say something wrong?" Barzagli quickly tried to explain. "Don't misunderstand me. I mean that you don't look very old, yet you're already capable of handling so many important club matters."
"It reminds me of a famous legendary figure and his great biography!"
Kai's smile relaxed again.
If the whole team was filled with people like Ronaldo and Pepe, who clearly weren't the sharpest tools in the shed, he would really get a headache.
Especially in defense, where players often needed genuine intelligence.
That was also why many center-backs became more impressive the older they got.
"Who? Marlon Brando in The Godfather? Or Zhuge Liang from Romance of the Three Kingdoms? Or the wise Socrates? Or humanity's beacon, Prometheus?" Honestly, Kai usually wasn't obsessed with other people's praise.
But listening to it once in a while still felt pretty damn good.
After all, nobody could truly understand how perfect his transfer operation this summer had been!
Barzagli smiled. "It's a story from the East. Everyone knows it. I've loved reading it since I was a kid."
Kai nodded, already somewhat certain.
The Tathagata Buddha from Journey to the West, casually manipulating the powerful forces of Europe in the palm of his hand, turning clouds and rain with a flick of his fingers!
"Detective Conan!" Barzagli looked extremely excited. "You're exactly like Conan, hiding under Kogoro Mouri's spotlight. But in reality, everything is part of your plan. You're the true mastermind!"
"A lot of people compare Kogoro Mouri and Conan to see who's stronger or smarter. In my opinion, there's no need to compare them at all. Wise people appreciate them. Fools compare them!"
Kai nearly lost his mind.
"Maxa, come here and memorize this substitute's name. He'll stay a substitute for life!"
After finishing the social interaction with Barzagli, Kai led the now slightly larger group toward Drogba.
Drogba also recognized Kai's voice.
He was shocked that his transfer had actually involved another player on the team.
Was this Kai the biological son of Coach Triguera and Maxa?
What Drogba didn't know was that he had guessed half of it correctly, just with the wrong relationship.
Kai and Triguera were teacher and friend, while Kai was basically Maxa's father and grandfather combined!
After that, Kai led the group over to Terry. He exchanged a few words with him and mentioned that Portugal's climate was much more comfortable than England's, and that he should enjoy it.
Terry nodded politely. He still hadn't figured out Kai's actual position within the team.
He looked like some kind of staff member.
But... Chief Assistant Coach Maxa seemed to pay close attention to him.
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