"Boss, our opponents are coming."
Simone's soft reminder interrupted Li Shiguang's thoughts. He turned his head and saw Laporta and Rijkaard walking towards where he and Simone were sitting.
Among the many white-haired bigwigs present, Laporta and Rijkaard, who are only 45 years old and still have a full head of black hair, are probably the youngest people besides Li Shiguang.
Upon approaching the two, Laporta extended his right hand to Li Shiguang, saying, "Good evening, Mr. Li."
"Good evening, Mr. Laporta."
Good evening, Frank.
Seeing the Barcelona duo's polite manners, Li Shiguang and Simeone quickly stood up from their seats and shook hands with them.
Then, Li Shiguang pointed to the words "Barcelona VS Leeds United" on the screen, his eyes filled with helplessness: "Mr. Laporta, is there something you need from me?"
Laporta naturally noticed Li Shiguang's gesture, and after glancing at the big screen, a wry smile appeared on his face: "It's nothing serious, Mr. Li. Last time you came to Barcelona, your schedule was too rushed, and Frank kept blaming me for not informing him to come to the club to meet you. So he just wanted me to introduce him to you, but we saw you were busy, so we didn't bother you. But who knew that after the draw, we would become opponents, hahaha."
“Yeah, who would have thought?” Li Shiguang responded helplessly to Laporta’s self-deprecating remark.
Beside them, Rijkaard, having finished his reminiscing with Simeone, turned to Li Shiguang and joked, "Li, I'm not entirely satisfied with you. You actually secretly took a player I've been eyeing for a while to England!"
You noticed? Rivaldo? Surely not!
Upon hearing this, Li Shiguang looked at Rijkaard somewhat blankly, unable to recall any Leeds United player that Rijkaard wanted.
Seeing that Li Shiguang seemed genuinely unaware, Laporta, standing beside him, smiled and revealed the answer: "It seems Denildo didn't tell you about this. Frank wanted to buy Alves last year, but Sevilla rejected our offer."
Upon hearing Laporta's explanation, Li Shiguang suddenly understood, but then he was confused again. Didn't Alves only go to Barcelona after Guardiola took over? So Barcelona had already set their sights on him during Rijkaard's time?
But regardless, Alves is now a Leeds United player, and next month he will only be able to step onto the Camp Nou pitch in a white jersey.
So Li Shiguang smacked his eyes, using his gaze to draw Rijkaard's attention to Calderon behind him: "Hahaha, Frank, don't blame me for this. Actually, I'm quite comfortable using Maicon, but some people like to use underhanded tactics!"
"Li, the banquet is about to begin, would you like to join us?"
Suddenly, Florentino's voice interrupted the four people's conversation. Li Shiguang turned around and saw Florentino and Ferguson walking up behind him with smiles on their faces.
Laporta and Rijkaard, who were directly in front, also heard the old man's voice. Facing their nemesis who had already retreated, neither had much interest in chatting with him. After a polite nod to the two, they bid farewell to Li Shiguang. However, before leaving, Rijkaard expressed his anticipation for facing Li Shiguang next month.
"No, Mr. Florentino, Diego and I are rushing to the airport. That idiot Allen booked our return tickets for today!" After saying goodbye to the Barcelona duo, Li Shiguang raised his wrist to check the time, and then declined the old man's invitation.
After the four said their goodbyes, Li Shiguang hurriedly led Diego out of the venue.
····
An hour later, in a rather secluded café in Zurich, Li Shiguang and Simone, who should have been at the airport, were leisurely drinking coffee at a corner table. At the same table with them was Raiola, who was smiling broadly and talking animatedly.
“After tax, I received nearly 3 million euros, Mr. Li.”
"Holy crap? So many? Is Laporta really that generous?"
The three of them had been chatting for a while, and they were just talking about player transfers when Li Shiguang suddenly had a whim and asked Raiola how much commission he earned in the last Falcao transfer.
Upon hearing Li Shiguang's question, Raiola naturally dared not be negligent and honestly reported all his after-tax income.
To be honest, Li Shiguang was quite surprised by the 3 million euro commission.
Seeing Li Shiguang's reaction, Raiola's smile widened, and his tone became even more ingratiating: "I mainly want to thank you, Mr. Li. Without your guidance of Radamre and Mr. Allen's introduction, I would hardly have earned such a large commission. When I arranged for Zlatan to go to Juventus, I only received a pitiful few hundred thousand euros, and that was before tax!"
"Boss, I'm suddenly thinking about becoming an agent. Let's not let Mino poach those good prospects from the youth team anymore, let's keep them for me!"
Seeing that Raiola was making so much money, Simeone also leaned over and started joking.
"Hahahaha." Simeone's words amused Li Shiguang and Raiola. "Get lost, I'll give you a raise after this season, double it, okay!"
"real!?"
Simone's eyes lit up, and he immediately took out his phone from his pocket, ready to have Li Shiguang repeat it.
Suddenly, a clear and melodious wind chime rang out from the café's entrance, attracting the attention of the three. Li Shiguang curiously looked up towards the door. He saw two mysterious figures enter the café, both wearing hats and identical black fur coats, seemingly blending into their surroundings.
After the first person entered, his gaze quickly swept around the café's interior, as if searching for something. Finally, his eyes settled on Li Shiguang and his companions. After refusing the waiter who approached them, the two walked straight towards them.
Raiola was the first to react. When he saw the two approaching, he quickly stood up from his seat, pulled out two chairs that were still hidden under the table, and then greeted them with a big smile on his face.
Raiola first shook hands with them, then led the two men to Li Shiguang and Simone.
The leader wasn't annoyed to see Li Shiguang still sitting in the chair. He took off his hat, revealing a bald head, bowed slightly, and greeted him.
"Mr. Li, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Galliani, the vice president of AC Milan..."
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