A long silence followed.

Coming to his senses, Moratti finally spoke, his tone softening: "Mr. Li, you are the most direct Easterner I have ever met. After agreeing to give you my private number, I imagined our negotiations many times, but I never expected you to say that I am not suitable for the football industry."

“But since you’ve been so frank, let me tell you my honest thoughts about your offer to buy Adriano. First, your price is a bit low. According to our assessment, Adriano’s current market value should be around 40 million euros, and your offer is quite far from that.”

"Secondly, from a personal perspective, I really don't want to let Adriano go. The kid is very sincere to the club, and he's had a tough few years. Even though his form has declined, I still have hope for him and have already started looking for ways to save him!"

How to save him?

Send him to Brazil?

Li Shiguang felt a little disdainful. This was the worst move he had ever made!

Adriano was initially only drinking heavily in Italy, and with the help of his teammates and Mancini's tough approach, he was relatively restrained.

But Li Shiguang remembered reading a report before, in which Adriano himself admitted in an interview that after returning to Brazil, a group of bad friends dragged him to bars every day to party all night, which was one of the main reasons for his rapid decline!

No! We must stop Moratti's terrifying ideas!

"Mr. Moratti," Li Shiguang quickly asked after a moment's thought, "I'd like to ask, what is your so-called method for saving him?"

Strictly speaking, this kind of thing is actually a club secret, and whether or not to talk about it depends entirely on Moratti's mood. But seeing how determined Li Shiguang was to buy Adriano, Moratti decided after thinking it over to use this news to dispel his hopes.

"I plan to loan him back to Brazil to recuperate. Perhaps returning to his hometown will make him feel better and help him recover."

No sooner had Moratti finished speaking than Li Shiguang retorted, "Mr. Moratti, you must be crazy!"

? ? ?

Moratti was stunned by Li Shiguang's words, and a fire ignited in his heart and rose to the top of his head.

Kid! I've been putting up with you for ages!

I've only been on the phone with you for less than five minutes, but you've already insulted me twice, both openly and subtly. Do you really think I'm not angry?

But just as he was about to start cursing, Li Shiguang spoke up again: "Mr. Moratti, sending Adriano back to Brazil will only harm him! As far as I know, the reason he can still play is because of Inter Milan's tolerance and help! But if you send him back to Brazil, and he runs into those bad South American friends who take him to bars every night, I bet he'll be completely ruined in less than six months!"

Hiss~~~~~~

Moratti's impending outburst of anger turned into a chill, which he then inhaled back into his mouth.

Li Shiguang is right! How come I didn't think of that before? In São Paulo, it's always been easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality.

Adriano is now considered a wealthy and successful man, and there's a high chance he'll be dragged to bars by his fellow countrymen and cause trouble when he goes back.

No! This idea definitely needs to be reconsidered.

Li Shiguang also heard Moratti gasp. He knew the old man opposite him had taken his words to heart, so he quickly pressed on, saying, "Mr. Moratti, let me do the math with you. Adriano's contract expires next year, right? If you send him back to Brazil and ruin his career, you won't be able to sell him later, and he won't be able to play if you keep him. Inter Milan will just lose money and have to accept their bad luck! But if you sell him to Leeds United, although the money might not be as much as you're thinking, at least you've avoided future risks, right?"

"Mr. Li, what you say makes sense, but..."

When Li Shiguang launched this final attack, he always hated it when his opponent answered, so he immediately interrupted Moratti and continued, "I know you have feelings for Adriano and hope he can recover, otherwise you wouldn't have thought of sending him back to Brazil to recuperate. But don't you think that this is the place where he can truly recover? Look at Deisler before, the German genius who was almost finished, didn't he return to his peak after coming to Leeds United?"

Moratti knew about Deisler's situation; it was truly astonishing.

However, it seems that this person only had some highlights during his time at Leeds United. Didn't he retire not long after he went to Liverpool?

So he quickly added, "But he retired right after he went to Liverpool!"

“That’s Benitez’s problem!” Li Shiguang retorted righteously. “He was doing just fine at Leeds United, so why did he retire as soon as he went to Liverpool? I think Benitez should really reflect on that!”

"Alright, Mr. Moratti, don't get distracted. This isn't the topic for discussion right now. Let's get back to the point! I'll increase the bid by 3 million euros, 36 million euros, let me take Adriano away, OK?"

What do you mean by "not a topic that needs to be discussed right now"?

What do you mean by telling me not to get distracted?

Didn't you bring up Deisler on your own initiative?

Are you here to lecture me, kid?

Moratti, who was just thinking about the Deisler situation, was a little dizzy from Li Shiguang's leaps in thought. However, Moratti clearly heard the real offer of 36 million euros. This price was actually very close to his psychological price of 40 million euros if he had to sell Adriano.

Moratti first shook his head, shaking the image of Deisler out of his mind, before reverting to his calm oil tycoon persona, and replied, "36 million euros? I think that's still a bit low, after all, we still need to find a replacement for Adriano after we sell him!"

Alternatives?

Moratti's words gave Li Shiguang a sudden idea. If they could really acquire Adriano, Leeds United would have too many strikers. They might as well take this opportunity to streamline the squad.

So he quickly asked, "Mr. Moratti, regarding alternatives to Adriano, I think Leeds United might be able to offer you a few options..."