The next morning, Pochettino had just arrived at the Chinatown training base when he found his boss Gao Han, general manager Armando Marcos and technical director Cantarero waiting for him in the office, which caught the Argentine a little off guard.

But more often than not, there was an accident, and even a sense of foreboding.

He also vividly remembers that the last time the three appeared at the same time was before Diego Costa's transfer, so what about this time?

"What's going on?" Pochettino asked, frowning.

Cantarero turned his head sideways to look at Gao Han and Armando Marcos, only to find that the two did not accept the offer, and there was no way, as the technical director, he could only take Pochettino's inquiry head-on.

"Last night we were on our way back to Madrid from Barcelona when we got a call from Little Hill. ”

Pochettino's face changed, and he secretly screamed Sure enough, but he quickly squeezed out a wry smile, "Who does he want?"

One sentence exposes Pochettino's helplessness, or rather the helplessness of the entire Chinatown.

Indeed, from the moment he decided to support the team in the construction of a new stadium, Pochettino was well aware of the awkward situation he would face in the next few years, and at club level, such a business approach was understandable, if not wise, but for a manager, it was a disaster.

From Falcao and Ramirez to Mkhitaryan and Diego Costa, Chinatown have sent away key players in the squad for two consecutive transfer periods, and each time it can be said to be a traumatic impact.

Of course, the team's transfer income is very large, the team has been generously invested in the construction of the new stadium, and the team is also stepping up efforts to improve the treatment of players and coaching staff, which are clear signs of the team's progress, but as a manager, Pochettino clearly wants more than money and fame, he wants a real result.

Relying on Gao Han's outstanding vision and Chinatown's convincing scouting system, Chinatown was able to quickly find a suitable replacement after sending off the core of the main team, and through appropriate tactical adjustments, maintain the team's competitiveness, so that the team's overall strength did not decline but increased.

But this is obviously not the path to results, everyone knows that to achieve results can only be stable.

What's more, who can guarantee that the next signing will continue to be so successful?

The three of them also understood Pochettino's difficulties very well, but this time it was really difficult.

There is an old Chinese saying that is true, the hardest thing to return is human favor.

Gao Han created China Town in that year, thanks to the strong support of Atletico Madrid, although the Sheets Army was relegated to the Spanish Second League, but the heritage is still there, which is of great help to China City, and even later a group of youth players will be arranged to play in China City every year, it can be said that China City can be upgraded every year, and Atletico Madrid has contributed a lot.

Don't talk about it, let's talk about the recent.

The current captain of the team, Marcos Senna, was poached from Atletico Madrid by Chinatown, and under the circumstances at that time, it was impossible for any other team to poach Marcos Senna, but Gao Han came forward, coupled with Marcos Senna's consent, so Atletico Madrid would give the green light.

As a result, everyone saw that Marcos Senna quickly became a vital midfield for Chinatown.

In addition to Marcos Senna, Diego Costa was also half-bought and half-given by Atletico Madrid, so much so that later Chinatown sent the player to Real Madrid, and also caused a complaining phone call from Hill Jr., after all, Chinatown sold Diego Costa to Atletico Madrid's sworn enemy is indeed a little unkind.

However, after Gao Han's explanation, little Hill also understood Gao Han's difficulties.

Atletico Madrid's performance so far this season has not been ideal, and they are currently fifth in La Liga, which is still a move up the table after two consecutive wins, and even worse before, mainly due to the team's loss of midfield.

A number of veterans from the alpine period, including Seydoux Keita, are gradually entering the end of their careers, and Gabi can still be the main pillar, but the metabolism of the midfield is also on the agenda, and the poor start of the season is a direct wake-up call.

With Torres, Villa and Keylor Navas up front, Srna, Ramos and Antonio Lopes at the back, only in midfield, Gabi and Seydou Keita are somewhat alone.

Over the years, Atletico Madrid has sold people every year and renovated new stadiums, but it has also made the team a little sluggish.

Previously, it was revealed by the media that the target of Atletico Madrid's reinforcements was Croatian midfielder Rakitic of Schalke 04.

This player was once a hot talent rookie in European football, but after joining Schalke 04, the development was much less than expected, especially under the new coach Magath, Rakitic was very bad both on the field and in the team, and has made it clear that he will not renew his contract with the club.

The Croatian midfielder's contract with Schalke Zero 4 will expire in June 2011, so the transfer fee will not be expensive, and has so far attracted the attention of many teams including Atletico Madrid, Sevilla, Juventus, Napoli and Inter Milan, but as far as Gao Han knows, most of them are just in a wait-and-see mode.

No one is sure about the former talent and his performance at Schalke 04 is not ideal, and God knows if he will be able to adapt to the new stadium, which is very bad for Atletico Madrid, after all, the Sheets are in desperate need of a midfielder, and there is no reason to take such an unknown risk.

Therefore, after discussing and researching, Atletico Madrid finally decided to target Schneiderlin in Chinatown.

The 21-year-old French midfielder is a very promising player for Simeone, with both offensive and defensive skills, good work at his feet, excellent running ability, large coverage area, high tactical execution, and very good ability to plug back, and has performed quite well in La Liga for two consecutive seasons, especially this season, and has improved rapidly.

Compared with Rakitic, Schneiderlin's advantage is that his strength is undoubted, and he can also adapt to the tactical environment of La Liga and Atletico Madrid.

This should have been the biggest headache for Atletico Madrid, but after the team moved into a new stadium, played in the Champions League in a row, and the income increased significantly, it was no longer a problem.

"The relationship between our team and Atletico Madrid, as you know, Hill Jr. called me personally, and we couldn't refuse. Cantarero was also very candid about his team's difficulties.

Pochettino certainly knows that Chinatown owes Atletico Madrid too much, not that they have to let the other side take it for it, but at the level of the relationship between the two teams, Chinatown should indeed play Atletico Madrid now.

What's more, the other party is also willing to give enough transfer fees.

"I understand the team's dilemma, but you should also know that after Ramirez left, Schneiderlin's role in the midfield was very big, and the performance was quite good, James Rodriguez himself is not strong defensively, Marcos Senna is not young, if we let Schneiderlin go now, what about the defensive interception in the midfield?"

Cantarero nodded, and that was indeed a big problem.

From the away game against Barcelona, it is not difficult to see that Schneiderlin's role in the team is very obvious, the team can suppress Barcelona in the first 50 minutes, Schneiderlin's running and defensive interceptions in the midfield are crucial.

Herrera has also been in good form this season, although more of a rotation, but is second only to James Rodriguez and Eden Hazard in the number of assists in the team, and his characteristics are also different from Schneiderlin's.

What's more, even if Herrera replaces Schneiderlin, the midfielder will definitely need to be reinforced, the first team's Koke, Isco and Verratti are only eighteen years old, and Pogba is only seventeen years old.

When everyone thought of this, they also felt a headache, and they turned their heads to look at Gao Han.

But when they found that they were thinking too much, Gao Han was leisurely reading the materials that Cantarero had brought.

As the team's technical director, Cantarero learned his lessons from the transfer of Diego Costa, and has a sufficient shortlist of candidates for each position in the team, so that once a player has transferred, he will be able to identify targets and put them into action as soon as they are transferred.

It's only November now, and Atletico Madrid called Chinatown at this time, that is, I hope that regardless of whether the transfer can be completed or not, both parties can make full preparations as soon as possible, so as not to be in a hurry and affect the team's results.

"By the way, what do you think?" asked Cantarero, asking Gao Han.

Gao Han raised his head at this time, looked at the people in front of him, and suddenly smiled and said, "Sell it." ”

"Really?" Cantarero confirmed.

Gao Han nodded and looked at Armando Marcos, "You are responsible for talking to Atletico Madrid and trying to negotiate a good price, but don't embarrass them too much, consider each other's affection." ”

That is, Atletico Madrid came to the door, if it was another team, Gao Han would definitely grab the broom and sweep it out.

However, for the Sheet Army, Gao Han has never been able to refuse, and it is difficult to repay the debt of favors.

But it's only limited to this time, I believe that Little Hill himself knows it, if it wasn't for the last resort, he would definitely not come to the door, and this time he sold Schneiderlin to them, and it will be difficult to use the same emotional offensive next time, which is also a heart problem for Chinatown.

Since sooner or later it is necessary to pay it back, it is better to pay it back while the other party takes the initiative to ask for it.

"Mauricio. Gao Han looked at Pochettino again and shook a piece of material in his hand, "I already have a suitable candidate on my side, although his characteristics are different from Schneiderlin, but I guarantee that his strength is only stronger than Schneiderlin, not weaker, and his characteristics will be more in tune with our team, and the role of the midfield will be greater." ”

'Of course, if you make the decision now and the team gets up and running as soon as possible and try to get him in before Christmas and get him in the team's winter break, I'm sure you're going to be happy with that and you'll have plenty of time to prepare. ”

Gao Han is the best manager in his own right, and he is very thoughtful, and Pochettino also felt that this kind of treatment could minimize the impact of the team, and after thinking about it, he nodded and agreed.

Pochettino is still convinced of the vision of the players he is looking for.

When the team let go of Diego Costa, Pochettino was also very hesitant and worried, but then Gao Han advocated the introduction of Michu and discussed tactics with Pochettino, and everyone saw that Michu became one of the most eye-catching stars in La Liga this season and the team's top scorer this season.

Now that Gao Han said so, he must be very sure, so Pochettino no longer insisted.

"By the way, who are you eye?" Cantarero asked with concern.

(End of chapter)