Chapter 59

This is indeed an interesting person.

The deeper Tapiya conversed with Lin Sen, the more this thought became evident in his mind.

Who would frame a fax filled with naked mockery and hang it in the most prominent place in their office? It seems that what Livermore said before was true; Lin Sen really set Malaga's goal for this season on the European stage. This is truly an extremely confident guy. Tapiya and Lin Sen spent nearly an hour having dinner and chatting at the restaurant. They talked about Valencia, then Malaga, and from Malaga to the entire La Liga, and from La Liga to the ongoing European Cup. Every topic made Lin Sen interesting to Tapiya.

Lin Sen said that Valencia was destined to achieve nothing this season, and Tapiya smiled, not doubting that this was a joke after Lin Sen was rejected. However, even if it wasn't a joke, there was nothing to be ashamed of. Even if it were himself, if he encountered such a situation, he would probably curse Valencia.

He also said that this season's La Liga would be dominated by Barcelona, and no team could stop Barcelona except for Malaga. Moreover, Guardiola, who had only one year of coaching experience, would become one of the hottest coaches in Europe after the season. Tapiya neither confirmed nor denied this, as La Liga was originally a duel between Barcelona and Real Madrid, and the top spot was always either Barcelona or Real Madrid. However, Lin Sen then said that Schuster would be sacked midway through the new season, which left Tapiya speechless. After all, Schuster had just led Real Madrid to the league title, and he would be sacked midway through the season?

Finally, when they talked about the European Cup, he even encouraged Tapiya to place some bets. In his eyes, the semi-finals even included Russia, the team that had been thoroughly beaten by Spain... Thinking of Lin Sen's serious demeanor, Tapiya couldn't help but laugh. In Europe, betting is not restricted for football professionals, but most of them still try to avoid it. Tapiya was no exception. Of course, occasionally placing a bet for entertainment was normal, and no one would investigate it. According to Lin Sen, he himself had placed bets on the European Cup. However, when he placed the bets, he was a free agent, as he had already terminated his contract with Atletico Madrid and had not yet joined Malaga.

After the conversation and the meal, the two returned to Malaga's headquarters and then went their separate ways to do their respective work.

Watching Tapiya leave, Lin Sen, who had spoken without restraint during the meal, suddenly smiled.

He knew that Tapiya probably thought his words were just jokes, but time would gradually make Tapiya question whether those words were really jokes. They say that the speaker is casual, but the listener is intent. But in this case, the speaker is intent, and the listener is casual. The so-called jokes Lin Sen told Tapiya about the European Cup would become reality before the season started, which would be the first shock. Tapiya might think it was just a coincidence. But what about Schuster's dismissal midway through the season? The decline of Valencia in the second half of the season? Or even the success of Guardiola, which could be predicted even before the end of the season?

A baseless joke is just nonsense, but a joke with a basis becomes profound. When both become reality, the results are the same, but the evaluations are different. One is called a charlatan, and the other is called wisdom.

Lin Sen didn't intend to become a charlatan, so his jokes were very measured.

The joke about Valencia was after Tapiya saw the decoration. The jokes about Barcelona and Real Madrid were supported by this summer's transfer activities. As for the joke about the European Cup, it was easier to understand, as the betting industry in Europe has always been well-developed... Each joke, in fact, had a basis. However, if you only look at one, it might be luck, but if all the jokes become reality, it's no longer a joke.

In the end, Tapiya would ultimately be in awe of Lin Sen.

---

Back in the office, Lin Sen immersed himself in even more demanding work.

Tapiya's early return from vacation greatly helped him. He could entrust the team's pre-season training and other preparatory work to Tapiya. However, for Lin Sen, Malaga was not the entirety of his work. There was another more demanding task that Lin Sen had to do, and he believed that no one else could do it for him: understanding the other nineteen teams.

The Chinese have always emphasized knowing oneself and the enemy. Although this saying may not guarantee victory in football, it at least increases the chances of success. Lin Sen's method of understanding other opponents was very simple: he watched the most original match videos, as many as possible.

The team's offensive and defensive systems, the coach's player selection habits, the main players' playing habits, and even the referees' officiating standards—these were all things Lin Sen needed to summarize from the match videos. In fact, there was a dedicated person for this job, the match video analyst, but Lin Sen did not intend to delegate it to anyone else. This work would not only help compensate for his lack of coaching experience but also help him familiarize himself with each opponent in the shortest time possible.

During this period, which Lin Sen called "Dark Video Days," he declined most external distractions, with only a few exceptions, including Livermore.

After the recent transfer work, Lin Sen had complete faith in Livermore's abilities, as he felt he could not do better than Livermore. Although he might gain some advantages through his "cheat," transfers have their established procedures, surface rules, and hidden rules, which Livermore understood better than him. Lin Sen's plan was to complete Malaga's transfer work for the new season before the European transfer window officially opened, as time was his greatest weapon. Now, with Livermore's operations, this plan could be considered basically completed. After the transfer window opened, it was not that Lin Sen did not want to join the frenzy, but Malaga could not participate in the arms race at that time.

On June 17th, Livermore, still in Italy, updated Lin Sen on the progress of the transfers for Bonucci and Ranocchia. As expected, the progress was minimal. Lin Sen could even sense Livermore's frustration from his tone. It seemed that Livermore had faced a lot of difficulties in Italy. The issue was still the transfer fee. Inter Milan did not budge on Bonucci's price but accepted a loan. Arezzo, which owned Ranocchia, did not accept any loan arrangements, even with a mandatory buyout clause. Moreover, their asking price increased from 3 million to 3.5 million. When Livermore mentioned this, he directly swore.

Damn Italians.

Lin Sen, who was watching videos to the point of near ecstasy, also couldn't help but curse, but he had no intention of letting Livermore give up, as he really needed a central defender.

Lin Sen calculated Malaga's expenses so far: in terms of income, although many players left Malaga, only two forwards, Balista and Bahia, actually brought in transfer fees, totaling 1.7 million. Adding Malaga's original 1 million budget, the total available funds for the summer were 2.7 million. In terms of expenses, Alaba cost 150,000, Koke 200,000, Wellington 300,000, and Lewandowski 350,000. Isco was on a free loan, and Gündoğan and Reus were free transfers, while Gabi was a player included in Bahia's transfer to Zaragoza. In total, the expenses amounted to exactly 1 million.

2.7 million minus 1 million left Livermore with 1.7 million. With 1.7 million, it was no wonder Livermore tried to get Lin Sen to change his targets, as 1.7 million was insufficient for two transfers each costing over 5 million. Livermore even recommended a few candidates to Lin Sen, but Lin Sen ignored them. In fact, Lin Sen had also considered changing targets, as the worst thing in transfer work is to hang on one tree. However, it wasn't that Lin Sen couldn't think of other targets; it was that he couldn't think of other targets who would come to Malaga.

Subotic, Miranda, Godin... such targets, if he were still at Atletico Madrid, would be easy to acquire, but for Malaga...

Let's try again...

That's all Lin Sen could tell Livermore, who sighed and said he would do his best before hanging up.

Besides Livermore, Tapiya was another person who visited Lin Sen during this period. Although he ended his vacation early, it was still voluntary, so there was no compulsion for him to come to headquarters. Lin Sen didn't force him either, as he himself often stayed at his residence to watch videos.

Tapiya visited Lin Sen twice. The first time was at headquarters, when the Russian team had just advanced from the group stage of the European Cup. At that time, Lin Sen was watching a Valencia match video. The second time was at Lin Sen's residence, when Russia unexpectedly eliminated the Netherlands, who had dominated their group, in the quarter-finals. At that time, Lin Sen was also watching a video, this time of Real Madrid.

The first time, Tapiya came with a smile and left with suspicion.

The second time, Tapiya came with surprise and left with shock.

Because when Tapiya stepped into Lin Sen's residence, he was startled. The walls, tables, chairs, and floors, except for the ceiling, were all covered with the same thing: paper.

Not blank paper. Because they were filled with various contents, some of which Tapiya understood and some he did not.

What he didn't understand were the dense, cryptic square characters.

What he understood were the tactical diagrams he was very familiar with.