I AM the Football Star

”Breaking News! Nelka’s Transfer Fee of Ten Million Euros, Returning to Arsenal!”

”Winter Relieved! Welcome Nelka Back to Arsenal!”

”Pursuing the Champions League! Arsenal Welcomes Back the Divine Striker from the Turkish Super League, Aspiring for the Champions League!”

”Chelsea’s Wealth Can’t Help! Nelka’s Agent Reveals More Details, Even Chelsea’s Six Million High Salary Couldn’t Change Nelka’s Mind!”

”Teacher and Student Reunion, Golden Times Return! The French Alien Returns to Highbury, Will there be a Championship Celebration here again?”

”Winter: It was Lu Yang who made me decide to take Nelka back; he asked me to give Nelka a chance, and to give myself a chance!”

Arsenal’s move to bring back the prodigal son brought tears to countless fans’ eyes.

At this moment, Gunners fans recalled their days of dominating the Premier League.

For a team with such sentiment, the players play with extra motivation.

And being able to break one barrier, Mr. Winter, being such a smart person, can break more barriers.

The next day, Arsenal promptly processed the transfer of their young winger and midfielder Joe Nils for Eight million euros.

This move was tantamount to Mr. Winter indirectly admitting his failure, as he was unable to train Nils to be better.

Even the renowned Mr. Winter, known for nurturing talented players, has moments of misjudgment.

But this move also sent a very clear message to the other young players in the Arsenal team that Arsenal won’t keep players who aren’t up to the mark; your opportunities are not infinite.

Those who haven’t seized the opportunity will leave here.

If kind words were effective, there wouldn’t be so many success stories of harsh education in the world.

Mr. Winter’s actions, on the contrary, reignited the fighting spirit of many young players within the team, motivating them to keep practicing even during holidays.

Only at this point did Mr. Winter realize where he went wrong in the previous years.

In an effort to maintain his reputation, he inadvertently eroded the sense of urgency among Arsenal’s young players, causing the elimination mechanism to fail.

Without a pressing environment, how can young players be urged to be positive?

Only middle-aged people can work themselves to death without motivation, but young people won’t.

Joe Nils was signed by Serie A club Lazio.

Embarrassingly, while other leagues are splashing out tens of millions, even Lazio, one of the so-called Seven Sisters in Serie A, considers Eight Million a significant expenditure.

Moreover, this was only possible because Lazio retained Duwan Yilich for an additional year!

The matter created quite a stir.

La Liga’s Atletico Madrid was willing to offer 18 million and take Duwan, and Duwan himself wanted to leave.

However, Lazio refused to let Duwan go under any circumstances.

They also knew that Duwan was the team’s offensive core, and once Duwan leaves, Lazio’s current seemingly eligible status for European competition would completely disappear.

Moreover, if Duwan really left, could Pompey continue to stay at Lazio?

Difficult!

You should know they once broke into the top three of the league last season!

If they persist, perhaps they could even have a shot at the league title!

Therefore, Lazio tried every possible means and eventually managed to keep Duwan.

Atletico Madrid naturally cursed at this.

But they were also smart; since Duwan wasn’t available, they decided to look further in Serie A, in case there was another suitable central forward.

That player called Talista seems pretty good?

Although notorious, Atletico Madrid is no stranger to dealing with notorious players; they have some confidence in this. But they kept a low profile, ready to snatch up this bargain at the end of the window.

By then... trust me, they might be able to take Talista for less than Ten Million!

Atletico Madrid’s business philosophy surely has its merits.

In fact, Lazio’s reinforcement wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision or a complete compromise to Duwan.

The decline in competitiveness of Serie A is a fact that many have felt.

Therefore, if you want to progress further in European competitions, you must accumulate star players and strengthen the roster!

And when one team does so, all other teams have to follow suit.

This is the internal conflict amongst the Serie A clubs during this twilight of the gods.

Lazio formed a junior big-three lineup with Duwan, Pompey, and Nils.

Meanwhile, over at Atlanta, they were not to be outdone. They already had the Belgian forward star Inzitens, and last year they recruited the big central forward Savio from Rome.

With Kadu Kuba, the central defender in Serie A’s best lineup backing them up, the strength framework was already in place.

But as Inzitens aged, although his abilities remained sharp, his breakthrough and impact were not as strong as before. They needed an addition of a player with strong impact capabilities.

After a selection process, Atlanta finally made a bid to Benevento, offering Eight million euros for Benevento’s former San Remo star—Vedian!

Benevento found themselves helpless.

The polarization in Serie A now is severe; either you strengthen your squad to maintain the final dignity of a powerhouse,

or you get poached and struggle in the relegation zone.

Unless you have exceptionally loyal players.

But Vedian wasn’t a homegrown player for them; Vedian was a player they snatched up from San Remo for 1.5 million euros!

Of course, it seems like a bargain now.

But at that time, spending 1.5 million euros on Vedian was actually an overpriced purchase!

San Remo letting go of Vedian now would naturally be better, but at that time, when they couldn’t keep Vedian, being able to buy for a price of hundreds of thousands and sell for 1.5 million was already quite fortunate.