After exchanging greetings, the five of them entered the villa, guided by Gaetalo.
On the way to the private room, Kaka appeared very shy, with a faint smile on his face. He answered whatever Li Shiguang asked.
To Li Shiguang's surprise, judging from Kaka's emotions, he seemed to have completely accepted the fact that he had been abandoned by Galliani. In any case, he didn't seem as resistant to himself as Adriano.
After everyone entered the private room and took their seats, Gaetalo went out to call the waiter to serve the dishes.
Li Shiguang then began the formal discussion with Kaka.
“Ricardo, your performance in this year’s Champions League was outstanding, which is one of the main reasons why I wanted to buy you from AC Milan. Fortunately, Galliani accepted my offer.” Li Shiguang’s words were full of hidden meaning.
Unlike Adriano, who clearly didn't want to accept being sold, this was obvious at a glance.
From the moment the two met.
Li Shiguang couldn't detect any resistance on Kaka's face, which he found quite strange.
According to his memories from his previous life, before Kaká went to Real Madrid, the team he was closest to joining was actually Manchester City, who would later dominate the Premier League!
At that time, AC Milan's finances were becoming increasingly difficult.
Berlusconi is almost ready to sell Kaká, the player on the team who can fetch the highest price, for any amount of money.
In 2008, Manchester City owner Thaksin Shinawatra resigned as chairman of the club due to some off-field issues. However, Thaksin's departure did not have a significant impact on Manchester City, as the Arab tycoon took over the club and began investing heavily in recruitment.
During the 2008-2009 winter transfer window, Manchester City launched a fierce offensive for Kaká.
However, Kaka looked down on Manchester City, which was somewhat nouveau riche and lacked competitiveness. As the strongest player before the Messi-Ronaldo era, he had his own principles, which was the biggest reason why he had never accepted Manchester City's offer.
Even though Berlusconi had instructed his television station to broadcast the news of Kaká's successful transfer, Kaká insisted on his decision and caused the transfer to fall through.
First came the farce in winter, and then in summer Kaká's father and Galliani took the initiative to go to Spain to meet with Florentino.
With this experience...
Before coming, Li Shiguang was thinking about how to persuade Kaka if he refused Leeds United's invitation for this reason.
However, it seems that Kaka has not expressed any concern in this regard.
"Thank you for your compliment, Mr. Li. You can just call me Kaka." Kaka smiled and nodded, his voice gentle and polite, but he selectively ignored the second half of Li Shiguang's sentence.
Li Shiguang glanced at Kaka with a smile in his eyes, understood his meaning, and directly stated the central idea of today's meeting.
"Kaka, so what are your thoughts on the transfer to Leeds United?"
“It’s hard to accept emotionally.” Kaka stared intently at Li Shiguang, a hint of sadness in his eyes. “I hope you can understand how I feel. I never expected that something like this would happen right after I helped my former club in Europe win the Champions League.”
“Of course!” Li Shiguang said with an understanding expression. “I understand how you feel, which is why I came to Milan to meet you in person, Kaka.”
“What’s most infuriating is…” Kaka paused, then looked at Li Shiguang seriously, “Gaetalo told me that you had already reached an agreement with Galliani during the winter, and as the person involved, I only found out about it five months later. This seems a bit unfair and… disrespectful to me.”
Therefore, sincerity is always the ultimate weapon.
Even someone as thick-skinned as Li Shiguang felt his face flush slightly after hearing Kaka speak those words, word by word, with a calm and composed demeanor, filled with grievance.
The main issue is that what he and AC Milan did was really unethical.
Of course, Li Shiguang was just cooperating.
The main problem is Galliani's lack of integrity!
Therefore, Li Shiguang had to distance himself from the situation.
The blush that had just crept onto his face vanished in an instant, and Li Shiguang did not hesitate to condemn Galliani's behavior: "Uh... Galliani's actions were indeed unethical. After the agreement was reached, I immediately told him to tell you the news. As a team manager, you can't hurt the players' feelings in this way!"
“I always thought you knew you would be joining Leeds United next season! After your phenomenal performance at Elland Road, I even praised Simeone for your professionalism, saying that even knowing you were facing your new club next season, you didn’t hold back on the pitch.”
"Really?" Kaka, who had just been injured, looked at Li Shiguang in disbelief. He had already had enough of Galliani's capitalist face.
"It's absolutely true! Chinese people don't lie to Brazilians!"
Aren't you English?
"But my ancestors were Chinese!"
“Alright…” Kaka looked at Li Shiguang, who was surrounded by a sense of justice, and nodded gently. “Mr. Li, actually, apart from being deceived, I don’t have much of a problem with joining Leeds United, but please allow me to make a small request.”
"Sure, I'll consider any reasonable requests." Seeing Kaka get to the point, Li Shiguang also became serious.
Seeing Li Shiguang's serious attitude, Kaka also composed himself, putting aside the unpleasantness of being deceived earlier. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I hope you understand that I am only 25 years old. I still have some aspirations for my career. Therefore, when it comes to choosing a team, I hope that the team I join is young, energetic, and competitive in European competitions."
"Believe me, Kaka, you won't find another team in Europe that is so young and so competitive. We'll have some adjustments to our squad next season, but they'll all be positive. I'm never stingy when it comes to building the club!"
"And I don't want to lie to you. Besides defending our Premier League title, Leeds United's goal for next season is also to go further in the Champions League. If we're lucky, you might be able to lift the Champions League trophy for the second year in a row!"
As soon as Li Shiguang finished speaking, Kaka looked at him with slight surprise, and from Li Shiguang's words, Kaka understood something else.
So he quickly asked.
"You mean, Leeds United made other signings besides me this summer?"
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