In the president's office at Real Madrid's sports city, Calderon was browsing the websites of various English media outlets with great interest on his computer. This morning, after the Manchester Evening News broke the news that Li Shiguang had inexplicably sidelined Maicon, within a very short time, major English media outlets reprinted the report and, just like on the internet, launched a barrage of criticism against Li Shiguang.

After reading the media articles condemning Li Shiguang for a while, Calderon closed the webpage, leaned back in his executive chair with a satisfied smile, and comfortably hummed a little tune.

In his view, he had achieved his goal. In any case, Maicon had completely broken ties with Leeds United!

In fact, today's propaganda war against Li Shiguang was orchestrated by Calderon.

Shortly after Li Shiguang hung up on him that day, Calderon received a call from Antonio. During the call, Antonio told Calderon all the renewal terms that Li Shiguang had proposed to Maicon. So the two of them discussed it and came up with today's plan: to use public pressure to force Li Shiguang to release Maicon at a low price! That's why Antonio eagerly went to Charles.

But what Antonio didn't know was that Calderon had a backup plan.

"Bang bang bang".

Just then, there was a knock on the office door.

"Please come in!"

Calderon had just sat up straight when he saw Capello walk in with a newspaper in his hand and a serious expression on his face.

No wonder he looked a little unhappy. In the 13th round of La Liga that ended yesterday, Real Madrid actually played a back-and-forth game against Athletic Bilbao, who were ranked third from the bottom, at the Bernabéu. The first 80 minutes ended in a 1-1 draw!

It wasn't until the 82nd minute that Van Nistelrooy scored to seal the victory, even with Athletic Bilbao down to 10 men! After the match, Capello's tactics were once again criticized by the media, and he transferred this anger to Cicinho, because Real Madrid's conceded goal was caused by Cicinho's failure to track back after going up for an attack!

After entering the office, Capello first placed the newspaper on Calderón's desk, then adjusted his glasses, his tone somewhat cold: "Ramon, are you aware of this? Didn't you say Maicon was eager to come to Madrid?"

“Of course, Fabio, I wouldn’t lie to you. I’ve already reached an agreement with Antonio, and even the player himself.” Calderon glanced at the newspaper on the table—a supplement to Marca—with the front page featuring today’s news about Li Shiguang benching Maicon. He then smiled at Capello. “It’s just a little trick. You know Li is a tough nut to crack! And if it saves us some money, why not?”

Capello frowned, his stern expression making him look even more rigid: "But what if he doesn't release him? Are we really going to wait a year and a half to sign a player who hasn't played a competitive match in such a long time?"

Calderon seemed a little uncomfortable with Capello's coldness. He stood up, put his arm around Capello's shoulder, and walked towards the door: "Of course not. Under this kind of public pressure, Li Shiguang will most likely give in and let him go. And don't forget, even if he really doesn't intend to let him go, we have backup options. Lopetegui will fly to Brazil at the end of the month, and the young man we had our eye on before has been signed back, so you can use him for now, right? And didn't you think that right-back from Sevilla was alright before? I heard Laporta is quite interested in him, and I'm planning to get involved too, hahaha."

"Okay, don't worry about this. I'll handle it. It's getting late, do you need me to take you home?"

After seeing Capello off, Calderon hummed a tune as he closed his office door.

In his mind, he had already pictured Li Shiguang, unable to bear the pressure, calling him and begging him to buy Maicon...

····

However, things did not develop as Calderon had predicted.

While he was indulging in his fantasies, Li Shiguang and Lina had already met with Sevilla's president, Del Nido, in the club's conference room.

After having his assistant bring him tea, Delnido started the conversation.

“Mr. Li, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Mr. Allen already told me on the phone about the purpose of your visit to Seville today, but I still have to say this upfront: if you really want to buy Alves, the price won’t be cheap.”

Hearing Delnido's words, Li Shiguang smiled reservedly, thinking to himself that it didn't matter. Anyway, the money I spent here would be made to pay back that old bastard Calderon in the future.

He first looked at Denildo before slowly and deliberately speaking: "Rest assured, Mr. Denildo, since I've come in person, I'm certainly here with the utmost sincerity. I know that Mr. Morse offered you 8 million euros for Alves during the summer transfer window. How about this, I'll double his offer to 16 million euros! What do you think?"

Li Shiguang knew that Sevilla sold Alves to Barcelona for a staggering 40 million euros two years later, but that was two years later, and Alves was not worth that much now!

Denildo clearly didn't expect Li Shiguang to be so agreeable; in his mind, Li Shiguang's first offer should only be around 10 million euros.

However, he was a veteran in the football world, and even though he was a little excited, he only picked up the glass on the table, took a sip to calm himself down, and then said with a troubled expression, "Mr. Li, this offer is still a bit below our expected value for Alves..."

"20 million euros!"

"make a deal!"

Denil was interrupted by Li Shiguang's second offer before he could finish speaking.

It's worth noting that Serbia only spent 550,000 euros to bring Alves to Spain. Faced with Li Shiguang's offer of more than 36 times that amount, Denildo did not hesitate at all and immediately agreed!

After reaching an agreement with Denildo, Li Shiguang waited in the conference room for about an hour before meeting Alves and his agent, who had rushed over after being notified.

Subsequently, the 23-year-old Brazilian, tempted by a doubled salary, a guaranteed starting position, and immediate Champions League playing time, immediately accepted Li Shiguang's invitation and agreed to join Leeds United...