Hearing Moratti's suddenly raised voice.
Li Shiguang wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt that Moratti had a genuine sense of joy after hearing that he wanted to buy Balotelli.
“Uh…it’s true.” After hesitating for a moment, Li Shiguang continued, “Massimo, we do indeed have the intention to buy Balotelli.”
"That's great!" After confirming Li Shiguang's statement, Moratti couldn't help but shout on the other end of the phone, "Balotelli is a genius! As expected of you, Li! Your eye for talent is truly exceptional!"
What the hell?!
Li Shiguang was taken aback.
He had thought that buying Balotelli might not be too difficult, but he didn't expect Moratti to react like this!
As the president of Inter Milan, how can you treat your own players like this?!
They didn't argue with me.
But now I want to buy your players! Under normal circumstances, you would at least try to negotiate the price with me a little!
It's like you'd hand Balotelli over with open arms if I just casually mentioned a price!
"No! Massimo, are you even listening to me? You rejected our offer!" Li Shiguang rolled his eyes and joked with Moratti, "I called you today to condemn this behavior! Not to offer another one!"
"That doesn't count!" Upon hearing Li Shiguang's words, Moratti immediately became anxious and quickly replied, "Wait for me, don't hang up, let me ask what happened!"
After saying that, Moratti didn't wait for Li Shiguang's reply and directly picked up the landline on the table and dialed a number.
About a minute later, Moratti's voice came from Li Shiguang's phone on the table again, but compared to before, the cheerful tone had disappeared, and instead carried a hint of anger.
“Li, I’ve already found out.” Moratti’s voice was low. “It was Mancini who rejected it. After receiving your offer, Baleta didn’t inform me immediately. Instead, he went to Mancini, who rejected your offer because Balotelli was an important part of his plan.”
Li Shiguang chuckled softly and said meaningfully, "Massimo, I really envy your elite troops! Unlike me, I'm a beast of burden every day, and Leeds United comes to me for everything, big or small! Damn it, the more I talk, the more I'll drag Allen's salary down after this call!"
As a powerful oil tycoon in Italy, Moratti could easily understand the meaning behind Li Shiguang's words. He sighed heavily and said, "Don't be sarcastic, Li. I know what you mean! But I also understand them. After all, they are doing it for the good of the team and are thinking from the team's perspective."
For the good of the team!?
Upon hearing Moratti's words, Li Shiguang almost rolled his eyes to the sky.
Since meeting Moratti, Li Shiguang has honestly quite liked the Italian man's personality. But if he were to manage a team like Moratti, Li Shiguang would absolutely disagree.
The reason is quite simple.
Moratti is too sentimental!
Since the "Calciopoli" scandal, Inter Milan has dominated Serie A, achieving a five-year winning streak starting in the 2005-06 season! Besides their domestic dominance, they also won the Champions League in the 2009-2010 season, and in that year, they swept the Serie A title, the Coppa Italia, the Champions League, the Italian Super Cup, and the Club World Cup, becoming the first Italian team to achieve this feat!
In an era when Serie A was gradually declining, Inter Milan can be said to have helped Italian clubs gain a foothold in European football, and even in world football.
It is said that no dynasty lasts forever, but the decline of Inter Milan's "dynasty" came a little too quickly.
Although Inter Milan's decline was related to the Moratti family's opposition to further investment and the arrival of Benitez, the "troublemaker".
But in Li Shiguang's view, the biggest reason is that Moratti himself is too indecisive and sentimental.
Winning the Champions League title would have been the perfect opportunity for Inter Milan to rebuild their squad. If they had seized this opportunity, they could have not only significantly improved the club's finances but also injected fresh blood into the team.
However, Moratti's indecisiveness caused him to miss a golden opportunity. If it were just a missed opportunity, that would be one thing, but the key issue is that Moratti ended up giving these veteran players a collective pay raise and contract extension, which essentially offset the already meager transfer revenue from that summer transfer window.
Moreover, Moratti's pay raises and contract extensions not only solidified the status of veteran players in the team, but also drove away Balotelli, who was eager for more playing time and had a high-performing player on a low salary, leaving Inter Milan without a talent pool.
Then that year, veterans Lucio, Milito, Zanetti, Cambiasso, and Maicon all experienced a collective decline in form, while Motta and Sneijder were plagued by long-term injuries, leaving the team in a situation where they had no players available.
Even with Moratti bringing in Claudio Ranieri, the "troublemaker," Inter Milan's mess couldn't be fixed!
And now.
It's obvious that Moratti has fallen into his old habits again.
It's worth noting that Balotelli is now the benchwarmer of Inter Milan's squad, while Mancini, who is leaving at the end of this season, replaced Moratti in rejecting Leeds United's second offer, which had risen to over ten million euros.
In this situation...
Moratti was actually able to imagine that Mancini was thinking about the team's interests.
The thought of this made Li Shiguang feel nauseous.
no!
Judging from Moratti's current state, if Mancini opposes it too much, he might very well go along with it and not sell Balotelli.
Now that he had already made an offer to Balotelli, whether he said it or not would definitely alert Mancini. If Mancini were to tip off that brainless Balotelli and tell the kid to stay at Inter Milan and wait for his call, he might be the one who ended up suffering the loss.
While it's uncertain whether Mancini harbored such thoughts, rejecting Leeds United's offer is a fact!
This is not the result Li Shiguang wanted to see!
After a quick mental calculation, a wicked smile crept onto Li Shiguang's lips again.
Adopting the mindset of "better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free!"
Li Shiguang asked softly into the phone, "Massimo... I heard that Inter Milan and Mancini... won't be renewing his contract after this season, is that true?"
“Yes, we are…” Moratti then answered, but before he could finish, he suddenly realized what was happening and exclaimed, “No! How did you know!?”
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com