Chapter 1 The Beginning

For ordinary fans who can only watch Serie A on TV, the new season starts on the day the first round of matches kicks off. For players like Chen Hero, the new season begins on the first day of pre-season training. But for coaches like Mazzarri and team managers like Bigon, the new season starts the day the old season ends.

Napoli had qualified for the Champions League for two consecutive years, albeit through the qualifying rounds. However, it also meant that Napoli was qualified to pursue bigger goals. Qualifying for the Champions League every year might become a mandatory goal, rather than a task that the entire team had to accomplish with all their might.

If that was the case, then the investment in all aspects of the team had to increase.

The team-building strategy should be based on the standards of a wealthy team that can cope with multiple competitions.

It was no longer enough to just gather eleven outstanding players.

So Napoli's transfer work started very early.

In fact, Napoli had already started poaching players before the end of last season. Their first target was Domenico Criscito, the left-back they had failed to sign last season.

Mazzarri had wanted to sign this young left-back, who was a bit famous in Italy, last summer, but at that time Criscito's ownership still belonged to Juventus. Although he was playing for Genoa, he was only there on loan.

Criscito himself really wanted to come to Napoli, because he was from Naples, born in Cercola in the Naples region. But Juventus, as one of Napoli's arch-rivals, would certainly not let a strong player go to their arch-rivals.

Many things can happen in a season, let alone with Juventus's坑爹 (kengdie - disappointing/screwing over) management team.

Genoa bought out Criscito's ownership from Juventus. From that moment on, Criscito was considered a Genoa player, and had nothing to do with Juventus.

This made it much easier for Napoli to buy him.

Although Criscito started his football career in Genoa, compared to Genoa, which could only rank ninth and didn't even qualify for the Europa League, Napoli had qualified for the Champions League for two consecutive years. Any normal person wouldn't hesitate to choose which team to join.

But Napoli was not the only team that wanted Criscito. AC Milan and Fiorentina had also been observing this player for a long time. They had all decided to make a move this summer.

Genoa was happy to watch the show, watching the three teams fight each other. They would sell to whoever offered the highest price. As for keeping Criscito? They hadn't even considered that. For small teams like Genoa, once they failed to qualify for European competitions, it would be harder than ascending to heaven to keep those ambitious players in the team.

In the 2008-2009 season, Genoa worked hard for a season, but was eventually squeezed out of fourth place in the league by Napoli, and could only play in the UEFA Cup. Even so, it was still better than not even qualifying for the UEFA Cup now, right? If you can't play in the Champions League, if you can play in the UEFA Cup, the players are still willing to stay in the team. If there is no European qualification at all, who would be willing to stay here? Those who have connections and capable agents will naturally find other ways out. Those who stay are either sentimental about the team, or they are incompetent and have no connections.

Compared to AC Milan and Fiorentina, Napoli was slightly at a disadvantage, especially AC Milan, which was considered a powerhouse no matter what.

Fiorentina was also one of the "Seven Sisters" of Serie A in the past, an established strong team. Napoli had always been a grassroots team. They were only rich once during the Maradona years, and then quickly returned to their original state. In the eyes of the northern powerhouses, Napoli was an insignificant team.

So, how could they compete with teams like AC Milan and Fiorentina for Criscito? One aspect was to show their sincerity. This sincerity was not shown to Criscito, but to Genoa.

Genoa was now in a seller's market, so of course they wanted to ask for a sky-high price. They said that without 18 million euros, don't even think about taking Criscito away from them.

What was AC Milan's initial offer? Five million euros.

Genoa was furious: Are you trying to send away beggars! You want to buy Criscito for five million? Then I'll buy Pato from your team for five million, would you do it?

Fiorentina offered seven million.

Genoa still didn't agree.

How much was Napoli's sincerity worth? Ten million euros.

Twice as much as AC Milan.

But Genoa was still not satisfied. But Napoli's status in their eyes was much higher than the other two teams. The amount of the offer really showed sincerity. If you are really sincere, even if you know you are being taken advantage of, you have to act like a sucker. Why? Because you really need this person, you really need him with sincerity…

Anyway, the teams just continued to haggle like this. Since the season hadn't ended yet, everyone was actually not in a hurry. If it really didn't work out, Genoa could immediately announce, "Our Criscito is not for sale. Who said we wanted to sell him for money? He is an important member of our team. Genoa's football depends entirely on him!" They would close the transfer window with great righteousness.

One aspect of Napoli's approach was to show sincerity, and the other was to play the emotional card.

How to play the emotional card?

As mentioned earlier, Criscito is from Naples. Although he wasn't born in the city of Naples, his birthplace, Cercola, is in the Naples region, so it can be said that he is also a Neapolitan.

Since he is a hometown person, it is easier to talk to him. Don't you want to play for your hometown team? Don't you want to be a hero for your hometown team? Don't you want to dedicate your youth to the folks in your hometown?

In the end, Napoli used both methods, being sincere and playing the emotional card, and finally signed this rising star of Italian football to Napoli for 13 million euros.

Criscito was selected for the Italian national team for this World Cup in South Africa, which is enough to show his future prospects in Italian football. So 13 million euros is really not expensive, this deal is a very good one.

Napoli fans also praised the signing, because Criscito is a local Neapolitan. Everyone always hopes that their team has more local players, which makes them feel more proud to support them. No one wants to face a team where all eleven starters are foreigners and call them their home team, right? Especially in a place like Naples…

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July 16th, after the World Cup final, Criscito's transfer was finalized.

From the initial interest to finally signing him, Napoli spent more than a season and finally got what they wanted.

But Mazzarri wasn't very happy. Because Criscito was a planned signing, a member who should have come to Napoli in the first place.

He wasn't surprised or thrilled at all. After more than a year of tireless efforts, Criscito was already more inclined to join his hometown team. Everyone could see that his hometown team was now on the rise, and he would be a starter if he came. Going to Fiorentina would mean facing competition from Chilean Vargas, and going to AC Milan… that was a powerhouse. Once you enter a powerhouse, you are as good as lost in the sea. You might have to spend a long time on the bench before you can make it, not to mention that AC Milan is famous for liking to use old players. Criscito had also been to Juventus, and he knew what it was like to be in a powerhouse, so it was impossible to just rely on the name of the powerhouse to coax him to join.

After signing Criscito, Mazzarri had to worry about another thing.

The striker.

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Cassano suffered from heart disease. Although it wasn't very serious, no one knew how long it would take to recover, how much of his form he would regain after returning, and whether it would recur.

Cassano is still resting at home, and it is said that he will not be able to start physical training for another half a month. By the time he returns to the field, no one knows when that will be…

Anyway, it's safe to assume that he won't be able to play any games this year.

With Cassano gone, at least there are Sanchez and Arshavin, one on the right and one on the left, which is still manageable. At most, they can add some backup players.

The other position was more of a headache for Mazzarri.

Chen Hero's center forward position.

This position had previously been filled by Zalayeta as a substitute. However, after the end of last season, Zalayeta's contract with Napoli had expired. Mazzarri didn't plan to renew his contract, and he has now left the team. Logically speaking, if they needed a center forward, they should have kept Zalayeta.

But Mazzarri knew very well that the battlefield where he needed a center forward was not in the domestic league, but in the Champions League. Zalayeta simply couldn't handle matches like the Champions League group stage. If he was allowed to play as a starter, don't expect him to score any goals.

He needed a center forward who could be relied on in the Champions League, who could ensure that the team could still qualify from the Champions League group stage without Chen Hero. Such a center forward was something that Zalayeta couldn't do.

However, since Chen Hero was only suspended for eight games, not permanently, it meant that once they entered the knockout stage, Chen Hero would be back, and his replacement would be useless. So he couldn't consider those young and talented center forwards, or those who were in their prime and had a good reputation. Not only were those people expensive and not cost-effective, but they would definitely not be willing to come to Napoli to be Chen Hero's substitute. Everyone was a famous player, why should I come here and be labeled as a "temporary replacement for Chen Hero"? I can be a starter in any team I go to, right? Why should I come to this small, rural team in Napoli to be a substitute for a twenty-two-year-old kid?

Mazzarri also looked down on those substitutes that other teams didn't want. If you come, you might not even be as good as Zalayeta who left the team. Am I buying you to receive a salary for nothing?

After thinking about it, he could only consider the older players who had some reputation and strength.

An old player who is very old and about to retire, due to physical reasons, definitely can't play as a starter for the entire season. Because of their old age, they also know that their role in the team is as a substitute. In this way, there is no conflict with Chen Hero's position.

But when it comes to a specific person, who should he choose as Chen Hero's replacement… who should he choose?