In the afternoon, Li Shiguang brought Shakira to the Thorpe Arch training base, accompanied by Allen. However, instead of going to his office as usual, he went to the youth team's training area.

"Thomas!"

Hearing the shout, Tuchel, who was watching the young players train, turned around and saw that it was Li Shiguang. He quickly came up to him and said, "Boss, what brings you here today?"

Li Shiguang warmly put his arm around Tuher's shoulder and walked to the sidelines: "I happened to have some free time today, so I came to see how these kids they found this summer are doing?"

Tuchel nodded and pointed to a kid dribbling the ball on the field: "Not bad, especially that kid from South America, the one who plays attacking midfielder. He has great technique and talent. He reminds me a bit of Riquelme. The other one playing on the wing is also very good."

Following Tuher's finger, a child who looked about 15 or 16 years old came into Li Shiguang's view. The child's round, baby-faced face immediately reminded Li Shiguang of someone.

"South America? From Colombia?"

Tuchel nodded, quite surprised that Li Shiguang could remember a young player from the youth team.

In fact, Li Shiguang had already entrusted Ron with the task of searching the world for promising young players since last year. However, he still personally gave two names to Ron, instructing him to bring them back.

One is Argentine Di Maria, and the other is Colombian James Rodriguez.

The kid Tuchel just mentioned who resembled Riquelme was James Rodriguez, who was later known as J. Rodriguez by Chinese fans.

In a way, James Hammers was a genius who appeared out of nowhere.

In 2013, at just 22 years old, he was signed by Monaco of Ligue 1 for a high price of 45 million euros, and in his first season in Ligue 1, he won the assist title and was selected for the Ligue 1 Team of the Year.

But what truly brought James to the world's attention was the World Cup in Brazil a year later. Having already scored 3 goals in the group stage, James shone brightly when Colombia faced their formidable opponent Uruguay in the round of 16.

That stunning, high-flying goal that broke the deadlock was not only named the best goal of the 2014 Brazil World Cup, but also earned James the Puskás Award that year. Although they were later defeated by the host nation Brazil in the quarterfinals, it did not prevent James from winning the Golden Boot for scoring 6 goals in 5 games.

After the World Cup, James arrived at the Bernabéu with the Golden Boot and a transfer fee of 80 million euros.

That year, James thrived under Ancelotti and delivered excellent results.

However, with Ancelotti's departure and Zidane's rise to power, James's classic attacking midfield style, similar to Riquelme's, which focused solely on attack and lacked defensive capabilities, was disliked. Under Zidane, James received less and less playing time. After the formation of the three-man midfield, James completely lost his place at Real Madrid. Seeking a change, he went to Bayern Munich, but after a brilliant season, he was benched by Croatian coach Kovac for the same reason.

After leaving his former club, James Rodriguez joined his mentor Carlo Ancelotti in the Premier League. Unfortunately, their partnership was short-lived; Ancelotti returned to Real Madrid soon after, and James Rodriguez was dropped by Everton due to injuries and high wages. Since then, James Rodriguez has gradually faded from public view.

Li Shiguang patted Tuchel on the shoulder and then focused his gaze on Rodriguez, who was dribbling forward: "I know this kid. Ron showed me his videos before. His playing style is indeed a bit like Riquelme's. He doesn't like to defend much. But he's still young and has room for improvement. Thomas, you need to work on him and make sure he can adapt to our tactical system."

Tuchel nodded. Rodriguez's dislike of defense was indeed a weakness that would prevent him from surviving at Leeds United, since even forwards had to participate in defense in Lee Shi-guang's tactical system.

Since arriving at Leeds United, Tuchel, influenced by Lee Shih-shih, has also begun to emphasize the tactical concept of high pressing in training, and he has found that this tactic is quite effective against most of the relatively rough defenders in the Premier League.

When he played with the U19 team, he often forced the opposing defenders to make mistakes by pressing high up the pitch, which led to counter-attacks and goals.

Li Shiguang didn't care about all that; it would be best if he could develop the skills. Even if he couldn't, James's normal performance should attract the attention of those top clubs. Even if he didn't sell for the astronomical 80 million euros, 50 or 60 million euros would be acceptable...

However, his main purpose in coming to see Tuchel today was not just to see these young players from the youth academy.

"By the way, Thomas, the main reason I came here today is to talk to you about something. I think it's time for your plan from last time. This morning, Allen contacted the managers of Real Sociedad and Espanyol separately, and they are both willing to talk. I need your advice on which one to choose!"

"Really?"

"Of course! Why would I joke about something like this?"

Tuher looked at Li Shiguang with surprise, somewhat unable to believe that Li Shiguang had agreed to his plan so quickly.

In fact, at the end of last season, Tuchel suggested to Li Shiguang that as the young players in the youth academy got older, Tuchel felt that the intensity of the English Youth Premier League was a bit weak. Therefore, he wanted Li Shiguang to see if he could reach an agreement with some clubs in foreign leagues to loan out their promising players so that they could get more experience in adult leagues.

Li Shiguang had considered this issue at the time, but he was first dragged around by Chen Guanhai to travel, and then there was the need to expand the stadium and buy players. The sponsors and broadcast revenue sharing had not yet been received, so Li Shiguang had to temporarily put Tuchel's proposal aside.

Shakira's invitation this morning reminded him, so Li Shiguang quickly asked Allen to contact the two clubs to discuss cooperation.

The reason for choosing La Liga was Tuchel's previous advice. He believed that Leeds United was taking a completely different path from other Premier League clubs, and that the Spanish league, which emphasizes teamwork and individual fundamentals, was the best choice...