Everyone was saying, "Raul, for the future and revival of Real Madrid, sacrifice yourself for the greater good!" "Raul, you're old, it's time to make way for the youngsters..." "Raul, as long as you're willing to retire, you can pick any position in the club's hierarchy, except for the chairman!" "Raul, please recognize reality and accept your fate as a substitute..." "Raul, Spain won the European Cup and World Cup without you. So, maybe Real Madrid can win their tenth Champions League title without you?"

But no one ever considered Raul's own feelings.

Regardless of the purpose, Raul had deep feelings for the team he had served for more than a decade. As captain, he felt he should do his best for every matter concerning the team.

A bully? I'm the leader in the locker room. If I don't do those things, who will?

A substitute? I was going to be a substitute last season, and I didn't say anything about it, did I? I didn't cause any trouble with the club, did I?

Ronaldo and Kaka? No problem. They are my friends, and they are easy to get along with, and so am I!

I just want to stay at Real Madrid...

Not long after Mourinho arrived, Raul announced in the media his unconditional support for the new coach, and also said, "I am ready to be a substitute. The bench? That's not a problem for me at all!"

Cristiano Ronaldo's fans breathed a sigh of relief. Kaka's fans breathed a sigh of relief, and even Higuain and Benzema's fans breathed a sigh of relief.

Only Raul's fans were in tears—Raul, you are Real Madrid's living legend, the proud flag forever flying over the Bernabéu. Now you say such self-effacing words. How much determination does it take for a proud prince like you! Although they all say this is a normal metabolism of a team, an inevitable law. But...why do we feel so heartbroken?

In addition to their heartache, they felt that Raul had already shown such a low profile, so he should at least be able to stay at Real Madrid, right?

Didn't Mourinho also say, "Raul and I? We can get along very well, there are no problems at all. I respect him very much, he is a legend of Real Madrid. As for the issue of his coexistence with other players...ah, we'll talk about that later..."

Raul's fans on the outside were still fantasizing about Raul and Mourinho staging a good show of reconciliation. After all, he was a local in Real Madrid, and if the outsider Mourinho wanted to quickly control the locker room and integrate the team, he would be unable to move without Raul's cooperation. If Mourinho was a smart man, he should cooperate with Raul...

But they all forgot that there was another way to solve this problem. That is...to simply kick Raul away.

So in fact, many people within Real Madrid already knew that Raul's days in this team were truly numbered.

Those well-informed people naturally began to contact Raul—of course, actually contacting Raul's agent.

Currently, the team from the Bundesliga, Schalke 04, has the advantage. Due to the relationship with Real Madrid's German player Metzelder, Schalke 04 temporarily holds a leading position in Raul's mind.

Metzelder boasted about the Bundesliga and Schalke 04, and even said that if Raul was interested, he would be willing to act as a matchmaker for Raul, and even serve as a translator without hesitation!

Just as Raul was about to devote himself to Schalke 04, a phone call came from Italy.

Raul was a little surprised when he answered the phone, because the caller was his former Real Madrid teammate, Antonio Cassano.

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Cassano had been resting at home for some time, but in fact, he couldn't stay idle at all. So, a few days after the team's training camp started, he sneaked into the Volturno training base and suddenly appeared in front of his teammates, surprising and delighting them.

Chen Hero met him on the way from the locker room to the training ground and chatted with him for more than ten minutes. After the heart disease incident, the relationship between the two became even better. It could almost be said that they were best buddies.

After greeting everyone, it was of course time to see the coaches.

When Mazzarri saw Cassano, he was suddenly struck with inspiration as he was worrying about Chen Hero's replacement, so he asked him, "Antonio, what's your relationship with Raul like?"

Cassano was suddenly asked this question and didn't react for a moment: "Raul? Who?"

"Who do you think?"

"Ah? Ah! Him!" Cassano smiled, "It's okay. When I first went to Real Madrid, he took good care of me. As a captain, he was really good, a good person. You know, although my career at Real Madrid was a bit...well, I still met a lot of friends. The Real Madrid players are all nice people."

So Mazzarri asked him with a smile, "Would you be willing to do me a favor, Antonio?"

Hearing Mazzarri's sickeningly sweet voice, Cassano suddenly shuddered. The Mazzarri in front of him was like a perverted uncle trying to coax a little girl to go home with him...

※※※

"Antonio?" Raul was a little surprised, because they hadn't been in contact for a long time. Later, because of Cassano's heart disease, Real Madrid wore T-shirts to support Cassano before the game, and the club also sent greetings. Cassano returned the favor and made a phone call to him, the nominal captain of Real Madrid.

This was the only time they had been in contact since Cassano left Real Madrid.

"How is your heart?" Raul was very concerned about Cassano's heart disease. He also admitted that Cassano was a rare genius, but his life was burdened by his personality. He finally saw him showing signs of making a name for himself in Napoli, but he contracted heart disease. During this time, Raul was feeling sentimental about his own future, and he felt a bit of a "fellow sufferers" feeling for Cassano, and he unconsciously felt closer to him in his heart.

"It's recovering well, I'll be able to do physical training in a few days," Cassano said truthfully.

"That's great, congratulations!"

"Ha, thank you, Raul."

Even if Cassano had heart disease, he has been cured now, and he is only twenty-eight years old. He has plenty of time to wait and recover. But what about himself?

Raul thought of himself from Cassano's situation, which shows that he has really been melancholy and sentimental during this time...

Thinking of his own situation, he couldn't help but sigh.

The sigh was not light or heavy, but Cassano happened to hear it.

Cassano was under Mazzarri's orders to act as a lobbyist, so how could he not know that this was an entry point?

He asked, "Why are you sighing, Raul? What's bothering you?"

Raul smiled wryly: "What else could be bothering me? The outside media has already said everything, right?"

Cassano pretended to be surprised: "Oh? Really? Are you really leaving Real Madrid?"

"Of course I don't want to, but..." He sighed again. During this time, he has been sighing more often.

"But you are Real Madrid's flag and legend, the eternal captain. They will definitely not let you leave..."

"I really hope reality is like you said, Antonio. But the reality is that I'm old." Raul said this with incomparable loneliness.

Even Cassano on the other end of the phone could clearly hear the helplessness and unwillingness in his tone. He suddenly thought of his state of mind when he had just learned that it was not a stroke or a viral cold, but heart disease, which seemed to be exactly the same as Raul's at this moment. Unwilling, but helpless in the face of the cruel reality.

This is fate, what can you do?

This empathy suddenly made Cassano become eager and enthusiastic. He had only agreed to Mazzarri before as a task, and he didn't really care whether Raul could come or not. Whether he comes or not has nothing to do with me as a player. Anyway, I'm just responsible for connecting the two of them...

But now, he suddenly felt that Raul should come to Napoli, and only coming to Napoli was the best result. Because Napoli had allowed himself to rediscover the second spring of his career, why couldn't Raul find his own dignity in Napoli?

What? Chen Hero's substitute? Damn, our team is a team that will fight in the Champions League and the league. We are fighting on two fronts. How could one Chen Hero be enough? If Raul comes, are you afraid that there will be no place, no games to play? Of course, he definitely can't be the absolute main player, after all, his age is there...

Mazzarri's inner thoughts made him blurt out: "Come to our Napoli, Captain!"

He even used the title "Captain"... This is enough to show his respect and sincerity towards Raul.

Raul was stunned.

Napoli?

※※※

Raul had never considered Napoli as a destination, and he had not even included the other party in his list of options.

At this moment, there were several paths in front of him. Going to Schalke 04 was the best choice. Because Schalke 04 could be considered a Bundesliga powerhouse, and also has Champions League qualification, which is what he values most. He is the all-time leading scorer in the Champions League, and he has the opportunity to continue to break his goalscoring record in the Champions League. So if he really leaves Real Madrid, he must go to a team that can play in the Champions League, and Schalke 04 is one.

In addition to going to Schalke 04, he could also go to the West Asian league to find gold. He definitely wouldn't consider that, it's too demeaning. Or learn from Beckham and go to the American professional football league to retire. Beckham has called him several times, urging him to come to the Los Angeles Galaxy. But...it is still a football desert after all, and it cannot be compared with Europe at all. He will not go there unless he has to.

In addition to continuing his football career, there is also the option of retiring directly at Real Madrid and announcing his retirement now. In this way, Real Madrid will hold a decent farewell match for him, invite celebrities from the world football, and guarantee that it will be held in a grand manner. After retirement, he can directly enter the Real Madrid board of directors, or if he wants to be a coach, he can directly be a coach, and he can do whatever he wants.

But Raul didn't want to choose this path either, he still wanted to play football. He is only thirty-three years old, and he doesn't think he is old at all.

Because Schalke 04 can participate in the Champions League, and with Metzelder's encouragement, he thinks this is a good choice.

But now Napoli is intervening...

Oh yes, he suddenly remembered that Napoli is also qualified to participate in the Champions League, but they have to start from the Champions League qualifying round...

"Qualifying round?" Cassano sneered on the other end of the phone, "That's not a problem at all. Our Napoli's strength is not difficult to play in the Champions League qualifying round. Anyway, I think Napoli, from the owner to the coach, are people with ideas, the teammates get along very happily, and the locker room environment is relatively simple. I think if you really come to Napoli, you will definitely not regret it! You think about it, if you are interested, I will give you our coach's phone number, and he will talk to you about the specific things. Well...it doesn't matter if the language is not clear, I can be your translator!"

Raul laughed.

Metzelder said the same to himself at the beginning.

Why does everyone like to work as a part-time translator?

But this Napoli... what is it like?

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ps, updates on New Year's Eve~

So awesome, doesn't everyone want to give some monthly tickets as a gesture?