After leaving the hotel where De Laurentiis was staying, Gao Shen took a taxi auro the hotel he had booked in advance.

  After cheg in, he went into his room, took a shower, and ged his clothes. Then, Gao Shen made a phone call to Sacchi, who was far away in Italy.

  Siheir st meeting at a dinner in Florentino, this seniure had been in frequent tact with Gao Shen. After Gao Shen resigned from Real Madrid, Sacchi immediately stood up to speak for him. Gao Shen was still grateful for that.

  This time, Naples had approached him, and it was alsh Sacchi's es. Thus, it was only right fao Shen to inform him.

  Upon hearing that De Laurentiis of Naples had rushed to the capital to meet with Gao Shen, Sacchi ughed heartily on the phone.

  "I heard earlier that this guy's style of behavior is very decisive; he takes a as soon as he gets an idea," Sacchi remarked.

  However, Sacchi also revealed some additional information to Gao Shen.

  De Laurentiis actually doesn't actually have much money. He's far from being as wealthy as the big spenders behind Juventus, A, or Inter Min. Even pared to Sensi of Roma notti of Lazio, he's not as rich.

  The reasoook over Naples artly out of affe and partly due to iment siderations.

  Gao Shen also found this uandable. People are always driven by self-i.

  Fans are ofteional, aced to ag on their feelings, but they rarely sider that emotions are the most unreliable things in the world because they are fickle.

  Today, you might like something, but tomorrow you might not.

  However, is are different. Whether you like something or not is irrelevant; what matters is whether there is a be.

  This is likely the biggest flict between fans and club managers.

  Sihe discussion had turo Roma and Lazio, Gao Shen recalled what De Laurentiis had said about wanting to make he most formidable oppoo the three northern giants.

  "If I remember correctly, both Sensi of Roma and otti of Lazio thought the same ba the day. What's the reason for that?" Gao Shen asked curiously.

  Sacchi smiled and expined.

  Simply put, it's the region.

  The eic gap between northern and southern Italy is very rge. The capital is Rome in the south, but the ey has always been dominated by the north. Even many people around the world mistakenly think that Min is the capital of Italy.

  "You might not be able to feel that se when you were growing up, but in the 1980s, there was no I, no globalization, and even live TV broadcasts weren't that developed. For a team to grow, it had to be rooted in the local market, which meant ticket revenue."

  "In those days, fans' feelings were ofteed through the team. In the same city, two different teams represented different csses fighting on the football field. In the same try, two different teams represented different nationalities and regions. Och, it was a matter of life ah—this is what a derby was about."

  "In any case, in terms of ey, politics, and every other aspect, the North has a stronger voi Italy. This is also true in football. The three northern giants have always been the most powerful teams in Italian football."

  "Back then, it was Roma and Lazio; now, it's Naples. As a southern team, being rooted in the local market naturally means they must respond to the ses of southern fans. Iably, they must challehe three giants in the north."

  Gao Shen uood Sacchi's point.

  Around the turn of the tury, Roma and Lazio in the south were making signifit iments. They brought in many world-css stars, even managing to suppress the three northern giants for a time.

  But unfortunately, the Roman duo eventually became too weak to tinue peting with the three northern giants in terms of financial resources.

  Ultimately, they hadn't found a sustainable development path.

  In professional football, to tinue growing, a club must gee ine.

  From this perspective, Florentino was actually right.

  If a club ot gee ihere is no foundation for sustainable development. Even if it rises to the top, it will be challenging to sustaihe long term.

  As for the emotions Sacchi talked about, with the development of the Bosman Act, the growth of live TV, and the advent of the I and globalization, such ses have weakened, and the barriers have long been broken.

  To put it bluntly, most fans are ymen; they all like strong teams and victories.

  There are few such ses, the most famous being the "Derby of the tury" between Real Madrid and Bara.

  But while the barriers are broken, tradition shapes each team very differently.

  For example, in Serie A, the temperament of the three teams in the north and the teams in the south are pletely different.

  "I oold you that whether it's as rge as a try or a city, or as small as a team or a person, they all have their unique character and temperament," Sacchi tinued. "You've coached in Spain, so you certainly know that the temperament of the teams in the north of Spain is very different from those in Madrid, Catalonia, and the south."

  Gao Shen agreed. Even northern teams such as Athletic Bilbao, Sp Santander, Osasuna, and Real Sociedad may not seem strong, but they have always been a nightmare for strong teams. Pying away against a northern team is too difficult.

  It's hard to describe the feeling iail. It seems like these teams are always very motivated when they face strong teams like Real Madrid and Bara, especially when pying at their home grounds.

  "Simirly, in Italy, the character and temperament of southern teams are entirely different from those of northern teams. Even among the southern teams, Napoli, Roma, and Lazio have distinctly different characters and temperaments. heless, they all have a sense of destiny to fight against the northern giants."

  "I have talked to many people, and we all feel that the reason why Maradona joined Napoli and succeeded there—and is still praised by the people of oday is that his temperament and personality fit well with the city."

  When Sacchi said this, he made his point clear.

  "So, when you choose a team, you should also sider this aspect whether the team's culture, temperament, and character align with yours."

  Gao Shen uood Sacchi's advice.

  There are many such examples where a head coach's failure was almost certain from the moment they sigheir coag tract.

  Gao Shen also paid more attention to this issue.

  This is the reason why he is not particurly ied in Naples. Although he knows this team has a promising future and its owner is willing to i, even if he doesn't have much money, Gao Shen is still worried.

  Sacchi uood Gao Shen's but recalled another iing point.

  "De Laurentiis isn't that simple. I've heard some things about him. He seems a bit eous, but there are many mysteries, like their current head coach, Reja."

  Gao Shen had looked into the head coach of Napoli, but there wasn't muformation avaible.

  Before his rebirth, when he was following Napoli, Reja was no lohe coach.

  "It's normal that you don't know much about Reja, but he is quite famous in Italian football. He has a wealth of coag experience. For example, he coached Viza, who got promoted to Serie A in 1999 but failed to prevent the team from being relegated."

  "After Viza's relegation, he tio lead the team in Serie B and successfully returo Serie A but was soon fired for poor performahen he had short stints at Genoa and ia until the end of the season wheook liari midway ahe team to Serie A. But something iing happened."

  Before Reja took liari, the team's head coach was the Italian coach Ventura.

  Gao Shen remembered the name. As Lippi once said, "The best head coa Italy is in Turin, and his name is Ventura."

  He was also the veteran coach who ter became the head coach of the Italian national team.

  Ventura led Cagliari for two secutive seasons and failed to gain promotion. Therefore, in the sed season, he was fired midway, aook his p November 2003.

  Iingly, after being unemployed for half a year, as a renowned coach, Ventura somehow got lured by De Laurentiis, who had just reanized Napoli, to coach a third-division league team. This was quite surprising in Italian football circles at the time.

  To make matters worse, Ventura failed to make an impa Napoli and was fired after just 19 games.

  Meanwhile, after Reja took liari, he washed away the gloom of Ventura's tenure ahem straight to Serie A.

  A peculiar thing happened . After De Laurentiis fired Ventura, he turned around and invited Reja to Napoli to take over Ventura's coag position, where he has remained until now.

  This maneuver was simply incredible!

  Sacchi joked that many people in Italian football say that De Laurentiis' mouth perform magic.

  Gao Shen was also surprised, but after thinking it over, it seemed to make sense.

  Mazzarri, Benitez, Ai, Sarri…

  What the heck!

  He didn't know this before, but it's truly shog when you think about it.

  De Laurentiis is indeed a master at harvesting talented coaches!

  If you really think about it, what's so special about this Naples owner?

  At least Abramovich could still make money and tio pay high saries after firing you. What does De Laurentiis have?

  His iment in Napoli is also very cost-effective and doesn't seem like that of a local ty.

  Why are all these famous coaches flog to him?

  Is it a trick?

  Gao Shen thought about it carefully ahat whe De Laurentiis and Marino earlier, they didn't seem like swindlers.

  Sacchi wasn't intimately familiar with De Laurentiis either, so he couldn't firm anything for certain.

  "Anyway, just be careful and don't get tricked," Sacchi advised.

  Gao Shen quickly agreed.

  , Sacchi asked about Gao Shen's pns with .

  Gao Shen expihat after meeting De Laurentiis, he po return to Madrid to handle some personal matters. He also inteo meet with Bnco from Juventus to assess the situation there.

  The Real Madrid presidential ele roag, and Gao Shen was also curious to see if Calderon could win again.