Outside the window, the birds chirped happily, and the air carried the faint salty smell of the sea.
Li Ang was lying on a deck chair in the garden with a cup of tea by his side. The tea had already turned cold, and he was reading the newspaper with interest.
The 20042005 La Liga season had come to an end. Sporting de Gijón performed a miracle of a dark horse winning the title. Barcelona was second, and Real Madrid was only third. In the fierce competition for fourth place, Villarreal had the last laugh. The Yellow Submarine qualified for next season's UEFA Champions League. Real Betis and Sevilla had to play in the Europa League.
In the goalscoring charts, Diego Milito finally shared the league's golden boot with Villarreal's Uruguayan striker, Diego Forlan, with 25 league goals. Barcelona's Cameroonian striker, Eto 'o, was the silver boot with 24 goals.
The entire Gijón was still a sea of celebration this week.
The media was finally tired after a series of reports about Sporting de Gijón's championship. At this time, Barcelona's juicy news began to dominate the headlines.
Barça's management this season was like a powder keg. The conflict between Laporta and Roselle continued to intensify, and Rijkaard's hatred for Roselle had been suppressed until they finally lost the league title. This powder keg finally exploded: Laporta and Roselle's quarrel began to become public, and even the Barça media did not hesitate to expose their family's dirty linen. After being questioned about losing the title, Rijkaard opened fire at the vice-chairman, Roselle. "He has never trusted us. In the past two years, he has asked me to resign twice." The details of the internal strife did not need to be too detailed. In short, it was a power struggle within the club. The media had already reported it in detail. It was just that the crisis had erupted in recent days.
Under the pressure of Laporta and Rijkaard, Roselle only had one way to go, and that was to resign. As for whether Roselle would participate in the election for chairman after his resignation, and whether he could succeed in the election, that was a matter for another time. "The divorce is imminent," Catalonia said to the media. "Laporta and Rijkaard are now extremely united. They hope to use Cruyff as their backer to develop a new plan for the club. Of course, the new plan will not include Roselle's name."
Roselle used the media to criticize Laporta, while Laporta hoped that the latter would confront him face to face. "You should be more responsible." Rijkaard, on the other hand, accused Rijkaard of scheming. "Always smiling when we meet, but always thinking about changing coaches behind our backs." Obviously, Rijkaard had been completely included in Laporta's system. At the same time, the Black Swan also denied that Cruyff was "listening to politics from behind the curtain." "In Barça, it is the chairman who makes the decisions. Of course, we usually communicate with Johan, but we only talk about football. When it comes to making decisions, we are still the ones who make the decisions."
Fortunately for the Barça fans, after losing the championship, in the face of the war between the leaders of the "Brazilian gang" and the "Dutch gang," the three core members of the club showed a calm attitude. They called for an "early ceasefire" to prevent the team, which had just improved, from being destroyed. Decaux, Ronaldinho, and captain Puyol successively expressed their positions and called for restraint.
*****
Li Ang put down the newspaper in a good mood. Seeing that there were signs of internal strife in Barcelona, he wanted to see the world in chaos.
But then, he shook his head. The internal strife in Barcelona had nothing to do with him anymore. He was about to leave La Liga.
His agent, Miss Betty, represented Li Ang in the negotiations with Inter Milan. Li Ang had already won the Double. If he won the Copa del Rey, he would become the first Triple Crown in La Liga history. This gave Li Ang a lot of confidence in the negotiations with Inter Milan.
In the end, Moratti, who was thirsty for talent, personally spoke. Inter Milan expressed their sincerity and made concessions.
Inter Milan promised Li Ang that he would control the transfer of the team. The introduction and purchase of the players would be decided by the manager's will. This greatly reduced the power of Oriari and Blanco. Oriari looked at the big picture and reluctantly accepted. However, Blanco was very dissatisfied. He could only swallow his anger for the time being when Moratti made it clear that he was on Li Ang's side.
In terms of Li Ang's salary, Moratti, who was extremely eager to win the championship, was not stingy. In the end, the two sides reached an annual salary of four million euros after tax. This salary would make Li Ang enter the ranks of the top managers in Europe. According to the salaries of famous European managers disclosed in Total Market, the highest salary was now the Chelsea manager, Mourinho. The Portuguese's salary was 5.2 million euros. However, after leading Chelsea to the Premier League title, it was reported that Chelsea was considering a raise for the Portuguese. The salary would be as high as 7.5 million euros. In addition, Manchester United's godfather, Ferguson's salary was about five million euros. Arsenal's manager, Arsène Wenger's, salary was about 4.5 million euros. AC Milan's manager, Ancelotti's, salary was about four million euros.
Therefore, Moratti was sincere in offering Li Ang a salary of four million euros. Of course, in addition to salary, the income of famous managers such as Mourinho and Ferguson also included other endorsement income. For example, including bonuses and commercial income, Mourinho's income this year at Chelsea exceeded ten million euros. Li Ang was not as famous as Mourinho and Ferguson, so his other income was not much.
However, in terms of annual salary, Li Ang could be said to have entered the ranks of the top managers. Rijkaard's salary in Barcelona was only 3.5 million euros.
Of course, four million euros was only the annual salary. There were also bonuses and other income. If Li Ang led Inter Milan to achieve good results, such as winning the Serie A title or the UEFA Champions League title, Moratti's generous bonus would not be small.
In terms of the length of the contract, Li Ang and Inter Milan finally reached an agreement to sign a two-year contract. From this, it could be seen that although Moratti and Inter Milan were optimistic about Li Ang, they were still cautious. Inter Milan also left some leeway in the two-year contract. If Li Ang did not achieve good results, Inter Milan would not hesitate to fire Li Ang.
For Li Ang, a two-year contract was just what he wanted.
Of course, this was only the intention of the contract, because Li Ang had not terminated his contract with Sporting de Gijón for the time being. He could not sign a contract with Inter Milan yet. Everything had to wait until Sporting de Gijón finished the Copa del Rey final, the season was completely over, and Li Ang and Sporting de Gijón 'peacefully parted'. Only then could the signing of the contract be completed.
*****
Now, he only needed to win the Copa del Rey before he could retire from Sporting de Gijón.
Li Ang's eyes flashed with excitement and determination.
After winning the UEFA Europa League, the system notified him that he had completed the [Light of Europe] UEFA Europa League title mission. When it asked him if he wanted to receive the reward, the system also gave him a tempting solution. If he chose not to receive the reward temporarily, but to stack the mission rewards until he won the treble, the reward would be extraordinarily generous, and there would be an unexpected surprise. However, the system also reminded him that if he did not win the treble in the end, even the [Light of Europe] UEFA Europa League title reward would be halved.
Li Ang was a gambler in his bones. He was now in high spirits, especially after he decided to leave Sporting de Gijón. He also had an extreme desire to win the treble in his heart. He wanted to end his career in Sporting de Gijón in the most perfect way.
Therefore, without much hesitation, Li Ang chose to stack the rewards. He was looking forward to what kind of generous reward the system would give after he won the treble. As for the unexpected surprise, he was also very curious and looked forward to it.
After winning the league title, Li Ang and the club's owner, Manuel Arango, had another meeting. This time, both sides reached a consensus in a relatively peaceful mood.
After the Copa del Rey final, Li Ang and Sporting de Gijón parted ways amicably.
During this meeting, after both sides controlled their emotions, the atmosphere was unexpectedly good. Both sides did not mention the previous conflicts and unpleasantness. Old Arango thanked Li Ang for his contributions to Sporting de Gijón, and Li Ang also lamented that he was taken in by Old Arango when he was in dire straits. Both sides had the intention to laugh away their enmity.
*****
The news that Li Ang was about to leave Sporting de Gijón was still in the confidential stage. The first Sporting de Gijón player to leave had already appeared.
On June 9, 2005, the day before the Copa del Rey final, the British newspaper, The Guardian, suddenly broke the news that Chelsea would buy Sporting de Gijón's right back, Branislav Ivanovic, for £15 million. The deal would take effect after Ivanovic represented Sporting de Gijón in the Copa del Rey final.
Ivanovic's outstanding performance at Sporting de Gijón attracted the attention of Chelsea's manager, José Mourinho, and Ivanovic was also tempted by Chelsea's call.
In the face of the offer from the upstart Premier League team, Old Arango was very tempted. Li Ang had been blocking the transfer before. Li Ang was indebted to Ivanovic for recognizing his worth. With Li Ang blocking the transfer, Ivanovic could not be too determined to leave. However, after he finally made up his mind to leave Sporting de Gijón, Li Ang had no reason to stop Ivanovic from defecting to Chelsea. He was also happy to do Ivanovic a favor at little cost and let Ivanovic leave. However, he was also a little emotional. He did not expect Ivanovic to eventually go to Chelsea. After playing for a season at Sporting de Gijón, the right back at Stamford Bridge returned to his position ahead of time.
However, Li Ang also sighed when he thought of the players leaving the team he built before he left Sporting de Gijón. This La Liga champion team was likely to be unrecognizable and fall apart in the future.
Originally, to avoid affecting the morale of the team, Li Ang meant for Chelsea to announce the news after Sporting de Gijón finished playing the Copa del Rey. He did not expect the resourceful British reporter to break the news of Ivanovic's transfer in advance.
This also made Li Ang very unhappy that Chelsea and José Mourinho were unable to keep it a secret.
Although he knew that many of Sporting de Gijón's players might be divided up by the powerhouses after he left, Li Ang still subconsciously avoided it. He hoped that such a thing would happen after he left. Out of sight, out of mind. After all, he was reluctant to let the dynasty he built collapse like this.
Therefore, Li Ang was not happy that the news from Chelsea was leaked.
*****
The Copa del Rey in the 20042005 season was played at the Mestalla Stadium in Valencia.
When The Guardian broke the news that Ivanovic was going to transfer to Chelsea, the Sporting de Gijón team had already arrived in Valencia.
On the way to the Mestalla Stadium to adapt to the venue, Li Ang was stopped by reporters who asked him about the news of Ivanovic's transfer.
In this regard, Li Ang firmly denied it and accused the English media of spreading rumors. Anyway, Chelsea was still maintaining silence, so he naturally denied it.
Li Ang's denial also relieved the Sporting de Gijón fans. Ivanovic had performed well this season and was very popular with the fans. Most importantly, the media had been rumored that the powerhouses coveted Sporting de Gijón's players. The Sporting de Gijón fans were not only worried about Ivanovic's transfer, but they were also worried that it would be a signal for a large number of players to leave Chelsea. This was something the fans could not accept and did not want to see.
Li Ang tried his best to avoid the impact of Ivanovic's transfer on the team, but it could not be avoided.
During the break in training, some players secretly asked Ivanovic about this matter.
"Branislav, are you really going to Chelsea?" Grosso asked, his tone full of envy.
This also reflected the current situation of Sporting de Gijón. Although Li Ang led the team to win the UEFA Europa League and the Copa del Rey, the players still lacked loyalty to Sporting de Gijón. These players were very envious of the powerhouses. After all, Sporting de Gijón was only a small club. If a powerhouse extended an olive branch, other than the players trained by Sporting de Gijón's own youth, it would be difficult for the other players not to be tempted.
A small club was destined to be a springboard for the players to go to the powerhouses. This was the consensus of almost all the players.
"Yes." Ivanovic glanced at the coaches on the sidelines and then nodded. He was not a good liar and did not want to deceive his teammates.
Grosso showed an envious expression. He did not ask how much Ivanovic's annual salary was after he went to Chelsea. However, Chelsea, as the current nouveau riche in European football, spent a lot of money and was very generous to the players. Ivanovic's salary was not low.
At the same time, when he thought of his agent telling him that several big teams had sent him invitations, Grosso was also tempted.
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