Old fox Aulas didn't immediately agree to Liverpool's offer. He intended to feign indifference and wait a bit longer, hoping Liverpool would lose patience and raise the price again.

What "this is the final offer"? He, Aulas, had seen too many of these tricks! Just bluff and bluster. It was just a matter of who lost patience first!

Since Liverpool wanted him, they would definitely lose patience. Then he could bargain a bit and maybe push the final price up to over 35 million euros, not far from 40 million...

But Aulas's wishful thinking was far from reality.

Liverpool was even more patient than he imagined.

It seemed they didn't want to buy Sissoko at all. After the offer, there was no news.

He scoured the media but found few reports about Liverpool's interest in Sissoko.

Unlike James Rodriguez, Niang didn't reveal anything to the media this time, so the media only saw Liverpool as one of the many teams pursuing Sissoko and didn't pay much attention to it.

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Sissoko's "absence due to injury" from training had lasted four days. At this point, more and more people were sure that Sissoko was actually on strike.

This time, Sissoko seemed determined to leave, completely disregarding everything else. Lyon fans held banners at the training ground, cursing him, but he didn't even look. He didn't even consider what would happen if he burned his bridges like this and was forced to stay in Lyon in the end.

He didn't have such worries because Niang was in constant contact with Sissoko, telling him that he had already made an offer to Lyon and believed Lyon couldn't refuse it. So Sissoko didn't need to worry; he would eventually wear Liverpool's red jersey.

With things having developed this far, Sissoko could only listen to Niang. Turning back now would only lead to a worse death...

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Meanwhile, the pressure from those big clubs on Lyon was increasing. They all said that since the player himself wanted to leave, and Aulas knew that you can't force a melon that isn't sweet, he should just do a good deed, accumulate some yin virtue, and let him go. As for the price, well, that's all we're offering. If you don't agree, then we'll wait until January 1st and talk to Sissoko directly.

Aulas, which do you choose? Give us a straight answer. We don't have so much time to waste on one person like Sissoko.

Aulas, the old fox, originally wanted to drag it out, hoping Liverpool would give in. But he realized he couldn't drag it out any longer.

Sissoko's strike was making the matter bigger and bigger. Sissoko's agent even threatened the Lyon club that if Lyon didn't agree to let Sissoko transfer, then Sissoko would return to his old home in Mali and would not play for Lyon until his contract expired.

If things really came to that, it would be bad news for both Lyon and Sissoko.

The more Aulas looked at these big clubs, the more he felt they were being unfair, pressing him so hard… Damn it! I won't sell to you!

I'll sell to the highest bidder… Liverpool!

Liverpool had not pressured him like the other big clubs, so Lyon had a relatively good impression of Liverpool.

Since those teams annoyed Aulas, why should Aulas sell Sissoko to them?

He didn't care which team Sissoko wanted to go to.

So, he only agreed to Liverpool's offer.

That meant Sissoko could only negotiate with Liverpool.

And that's exactly what Niang wanted.

He had no competitors. Sissoko had to choose him, whether he wanted to or not…

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And so, amidst all the commotion, Sissoko's transfer saga finally came to an end. Lyon and Liverpool announced that they had completed Sissoko's transfer, but neither side revealed the transfer fee.

However, some well-informed media announced that the transfer fee should not be less than 30 million euros.

Liverpool's frequent moves in the transfer market stunned everyone.

They never expected that after winning four championships, they would still be relentless and want to strengthen the team. Sissoko's arrival would definitely enhance Liverpool's combat effectiveness.

This showed that Liverpool was not willing to rest on its laurels after winning four championships.

They had even greater ambitions.

Could it be… the seven championships that Chen Hero spoke of?

People used to laugh at Chen Hero for daydreaming, but they never expected Liverpool to really be working towards that goal.

But they could still comfort themselves—working towards that goal doesn't necessarily mean they'll achieve it.

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Sissoko's successful transfer also meant that all of Liverpool's transfer deals this summer were over.

In an interview with reporters, Martin O'Neill welcomed James Rodriguez and Sissoko and announced that they would not be bringing in any more players. Liverpool's next transfer task was to clear out surplus players.

Like Charlie Adam.

"I'm very satisfied with the current team lineup. Niang has done a lot of effective work. The team's strength has been strengthened… Adam? I know that many teams are interested in him now, but we still need to consider it carefully and wait a bit…"

This was to raise the price.

It showed that Liverpool would not easily let Charlie Adam go, even if he was already a substitute's substitute.

But people inside Liverpool knew that Charlie Adam was definitely leaving the team, and he had to leave before Liverpool's trip to Asia.

In fact, it couldn't be delayed for too long.

Bocchetti, James Rodriguez, Sissoko, plus Shelvey, who had returned from loan, were the four players Liverpool had brought in this season.

Chen Hero came forward and, as captain, organized a dinner for everyone to welcome the new Liverpool teammates. This was a team tradition.

All Liverpool players, regardless of whether they had anything else to do, had to attend.

Charlie Adam was also invited.

Everyone seemed very happy at the dinner, full of anticipation for the new season. Only Charlie Adam looked worried.

Everyone knew that Charlie Adam was definitely leaving this summer.

He was worried not because he didn't want to leave, but because he was considering which club he should go to.

Currently, Tottenham Hotspur was the most interested in him. Next were Newcastle United and Aston Villa.

These teams were all mid-table Premier League teams. Although he couldn't guarantee any honors after joining them, he could at least get playing time.

But the problem was that none of these clubs were willing to pay too much money for him, which was also the main reason why Liverpool had not let him go.

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In the end, it was not Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United, or Aston Villa that broke the deadlock.

It was Nottingham Forest, the promoted team…

As a promoted team, and with the support of a Middle Eastern consortium, Nottingham Forest was rich and ambitious. Their goal was not just to stay in the Premier League; they also wanted to qualify for European competitions next season.

So, they were one of the most active teams in the transfer market this summer.

Because they had plenty of money, they directly offered Charlie Adam a price of eight million pounds.

Niang wasn't someone who had never seen money before. Eight million pounds wouldn't make him submit.

It had to be… ten million!

Liverpool asked for ten million.

After some bargaining, the two sides finally reached an agreement at a price of 9.5 million pounds.

So, Charlie Adam, Liverpool's third-tier substitute, successfully transferred to Nottingham Forest.

In his four years at Liverpool, his biggest contribution to Liverpool was bringing in a transfer fee of 9.5 million pounds…

No one cared about Charlie Adam's departure. With his state as a substitute at Liverpool for the past few years, no one cared whether he was there or not.

His staying wouldn't strengthen Liverpool's strength, and his leaving wouldn't weaken Liverpool's strength.

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Charlie Adam was the last player to leave Liverpool this summer. With him as a sign, Liverpool's clearing work officially ended.

Martin O'Neill announced to the world that Liverpool had officially closed the door to the transfer market.

They would not buy any more players, nor would they let go of any more players.

Starting and ending the transfer window earlier than any other team allowed Liverpool to have more stable time to train their tactics and prepare for the season.

Unlike some teams that were still fighting tooth and nail for a main player in the transfer market on August 31st.

If the lineup wasn't fixed, what preparation could they talk about?

If the season had already started and they were still missing one or two key players in certain positions, how could they conduct tactical drills?

So, to prepare well, they had to fix the lineup first.

Now that Liverpool had determined the team's lineup, the next step was to work hard and prepare for the new season.

Liverpool's time was also quite tight, because in the middle of pre-season training, there was also the trip to Asia…

Commercial matches would definitely affect the team's preparation, but there was no way around it. Who told the team to need money now?

This summer, the club had invested 57 million euros in the transfer market to support him. If the 3 million floating clause in James Rodriguez's contract was included, it would be 60 million.

The club was supporting him despite such great financial pressure, and the support was so strong that he couldn't say anything about Liverpool's move to Asia to make money… He could only try to use rotation as much as possible to reduce the possibility of injuries to the main players.

When Liverpool's training reached July 22nd, Liverpool ended its domestic training and flew to China, where they would continue their training at Haigeng in Kunming, China. After staying in Kunming for four days, they would fly to Beijing to play a commercial match with Beijing Guoan.

After the match, they would dare to go to Hong Kong the next day to play a match with the Hong Kong team. They would also stay in Hong Kong for two days to participate in some commercial activities, and then go to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.