Chapter 61

"Are you going to have a third phase?" Livermore said this with a playful tone.

To his surprise, Lin Sen actually nodded, almost making Livermore faint. Fortunately, Lin Sen added two more words: "Originally, there was."

"I remember you said your approach to the transfer work was to be steady and make adjustments as needed?" Livermore shook his head in annoyance and then said half-jokingly, half-seriously, "Is this considered a breach of contract? If I had known your calls would be so frequent, I should have vied for the sports manager position back then."

"It's too late for that." Lin Sen laughed it off. "You should have seen the Malaga squad at the time. Apart from the remaining players, only Baha and Balista were relatively important departures, but you know that was unavoidable. Most of the others stayed. Isn't that considered steady?"

"It is steady, but your adjustments are quite折腾 (troublesome)." Livermore walked to the water station, a bit helplessly, and asked, "Coffee?"

Lin Sen nodded.

Soon, Livermore brought over two cups of coffee, handed one to Lin Sen, and Lin Sen took a sip. "Instant?"

"Don't like it?" Livermore smiled.

"No, not at all. I'm not that picky." Lin Sen shook his head and smiled, taking another sip. This wasn't just politeness; compared to coffee, Lin Sen actually preferred tea. However, abroad, coffee was still the mainstream, so although Lin Sen had a coffee machine, he wasn't that particular about coffee. Still, the difference in taste between freshly ground and instant coffee was obvious.

"That's good, but you don't have a choice now." Livermore sat down and said, "Just like Malaga, we can only drink instant coffee now."

"Instant coffee has its own merits." Lin Sen still had a smile on his face, seemingly not picking up on the deeper meaning in Livermore's words, and said lightly.

"Indeed." Livermore nodded and then laughed, "But now, you're the coffee machine. Whether this coffee is good or not depends on you."

"Don't worry." Lin Sen took another sip of coffee and said lightly, his tone unusually confident.

"Actually, I've always been curious." Livermore looked at Lin Sen, "What's your standard for selecting coffee beans?"

"Delicious." Lin Sen still used two words.

Livermore shook his head and laughed bitterly, "How am I supposed to know if it's good or not?"

"That's even simpler. Just taste it." Lin Sen swirled the coffee in his cup and said calmly, "Kopi Luwak is one of the most expensive coffees in the world. Can you imagine it's extracted from cat feces?"

"Spit..."

Livermore had just taken a sip of coffee and spat it out, unable to hold back his laughter.

Lin Sen, on the other hand, calmly finished his cup of coffee.

---

The next day, Lin Sen received a message from Livermore. Bonucci agreed to join Malaga, and the official announcement was imminent. Meanwhile, Arezzo finally gave a response, accepting Livermore's second offer: 1.5 million euros plus 30% of the next transfer fee. It was said they had also rejected a Serie A team's offer of 1 million euros for half of Ranocchia's ownership. Next, Malaga would negotiate the personal contract with Ranocchia.

If everything went smoothly, Lin Sen's second phase of transfer work would be considered complete. Although the methods varied, the six transfer targets were almost certain to be secured. The originally crucial third phase, which had almost scared Livermore, became less urgent due to Gabi's arrival. Lin Sen's final task for Livermore was just to observe the changes in the transfer market and, if possible, bring in one or two more midfielders on loan.

Meanwhile, the European Championship entered its semi-finals. The four teams that made it to the semi-finals faced off in two intense matches, with Germany and Spain advancing to the final. The German team, known for their resilience, defeated Turkey 3-2, scoring the winning goal in the 90th minute through Philipp Lahm. Spain, on the other hand, repeated their group stage performance, defeating Russia 3-0.

Thus, one of Lin Sen's bets, the top scorer, still had a chance of winning. The four teams he had correctly predicted had already made him a millionaire. After taxes, Lin Sen had earned over 5 million euros from the semi-finals. If Villa won the top scorer award, he would earn another million euros after the final.

It had to be said that with his "cheat," money came in so quickly that it felt almost unreal. But this was also why Lin Sen wasn't too concerned about his salary at Malaga. However, the sudden influx of money didn't significantly change Lin Sen's life. For him, his family wasn't short of money, and more money might not be a good thing for them. He didn't have many friends, and none of them were in need. As a single man, he certainly didn't lack money. So, while Lin Sen wouldn't say that money was just a number, the truth was that he really didn't lack money to spend.

Three days later, on the final day of the European Championship.

Lin Sen, who had been immersed in match videos, had only taken a break to visit the Cruz couple. Otherwise, he had been a homebody. However, this time, he planned to watch the match, purely as a fan, to relax. To his surprise, the old man Tapia also came to join in, inevitably bringing a case of beer and a large bag of sunflower seeds, which Lin Sen considered purely a nuisance.

Lin Sen, who had been left to his own devices, had to tidy up his room to make space for watching the match. Tapia, who had seen this before, didn't mind and found a spot to sit down. The match had already started.

"Which team are you rooting for?" Tapia asked, grabbing a handful of sunflower seeds.

"Spain." Lin Sen opened two cans of beer, sat down, and handed one to Tapia, answering casually.

"Do you like the Spanish team?"

"No, I don't have a favorite team."

"What about the Chinese team?"

"I support them, but I don't particularly like them."

"You Chinese are really hard to understand."

"Football itself is hard to understand. Watch the game, the German team is about to score..."

"...The ball is still in the German half, isn't it?"

"Oh, I must have misread. Sorry, I've been watching too many videos lately, and my eyes are a bit blurry..."

"..."

The two watched the game and chatted intermittently. After withstanding the German team's initial fierce attack, the Spanish team gradually regained control of the midfield, and the action shifted more to the German half. Tapia became increasingly excited, his eyes sparkling. Lin Sen noticed and smiled inwardly. Fans, indeed, are不分职业不分年龄 (不分职业不分年龄 means "regardless of profession or age").

Thinking of this, Lin Sen suddenly felt a bit envious of Tapia.

"Don't worry, the Spanish team will definitely score in the first half."

During the match, Ramos delivered a cross from a 45-degree angle, and Torres outjumped Mertesacker to head the ball towards the goal. It hit the post and bounced out. Tapia slapped his hand and sighed, "What a pity." Lin Sen glanced at the time and said, "This is also your prediction?" Tapia turned back and laughed, clearly reminded of Lin Sen's previous prediction of the semi-finalists. Although he regretted not following Lin Sen's advice to make some extra money, he, like Lin Sen, didn't think Lin Sen's predictions were just lucky guesses.

"Whatever you say." Lin Sen shrugged.

"Predict who will score?" Tapia probed.

"Torres. Assisted by Xavi."

To his surprise, Lin Sen answered without hesitation, even naming the assist.

"Twenty euros if you're wrong!" Tapia glared, "Dare you?"

"Put up the money first." Lin Sen held out his hand.

"Are you that sure you're right?"

Lin Sen smiled but didn't answer.

A few minutes later, actions spoke louder than words.

When Lehmann rashly came out to challenge Xavi's through ball, and the usually steady Philipp Lahm was outpaced by Torres, Tapia's eyes nearly popped out. A moment later, he looked at Lin Sen as if he had seen a ghost.

Luck? This must be luck! Otherwise, how could this be explained?

Watching Lin Sen leisurely drink his beer, Tapia tried to find an explanation for himself.

As a coach, Tapia hated it when people compared football to a game, but sometimes he had to admit that football was a highly data-driven sport. A player's form could be measured by goals, assists, passes, and running distance, and a team's form could be reflected in passing accuracy, shots on goal, and possession. If a match could be quantified, it could also be predicted, just like knowing 2 is greater than 1, and thus 2+2 is definitely greater than 1+1.

But, were such predictions about football matches really accurate? Tapia didn't believe so, because as a coach, he knew that in football, 1+1 doesn't always equal 2, and thus 2 isn't always greater than 1. Now, what was Lin Sen's prediction based on? Was he a football coach?

Seeing Tapia staring at him, Lin Sen finally couldn't keep up the act and said, "If I say it's just a coincidence, do you believe me?"

Tapia shook his head decisively.

"If I say it's based on the game's situation, do you believe me?"

Tapia thought for a moment and shook his head again.

"Then if I say I can predict the future, you'll believe me, right?"

"Spit..."

Tapia almost spat out a liter of blood.

"Fine, I'm a genius coach!"

Tapia still felt like spitting blood, but this time, he suddenly paused.

This... seems... to make sense?!