After reaching an agreement with De Laurentiis, Chen Hero put down the burden in his heart. Now what he had to do was wholeheartedly strive to perform on the field to repay the team.

Transfers are normal for a professional player. So normal that there's no need to dwell on it.

Chen Hero then called Chen Xing and told him about his conversation with the team owner, promising that as long as he helped Napoli win the championship, he would come to Liverpool.

If Liverpool needed to pay a transfer fee at that time, Napoli would not make things difficult on the price, but he also hoped that Liverpool's offer would not be too low.

"How should I say this? I am a Golden Boot winner, if the price is too low, it doesn't match my status..."

Chen Xing was in a good mood and guaranteed that there would definitely be a reasonable price for Chen Hero.

If Liverpool could really get Chen Hero, he believed that this would be a very crucial signing for Liverpool. Just like Chen Hero went to Napoli and brought a qualitative change to Napoli. This is a champion-level player, and his arrival will make Liverpool even stronger.

If it weren't for Chen Hero asking him to keep it a secret, he would have eagerly announced the news. He had just taken over Liverpool, and announcing this news would definitely win him more support and be more conducive to starting his work and securing his position as the owner of Liverpool.

※※※

In the eleventh round of the league, Napoli played away, and Chen Hero contributed another goal, helping the team finally defeat Cagliari 1:0 and continue to lead the league standings.

After the game, the media once again collectively cheered for Chen Hero.

Scoring in four consecutive rounds, and scoring six goals in four consecutive rounds, such offensive firepower is indeed terrifying.

"...UEFA's ban on Chen Hero, now it seems, has actually benefited him. He can concentrate on exerting his strength in the league, and without the need for two-front operations, he has scored thirteen goals in eleven league rounds! His average goal rate is more than one per game! It's truly terrifying firepower!"

"After eleven league rounds, the second place in the scorer list is Eto'o, who has scored eight goals. Who is first? Without suspense, Chen Hero, he has scored thirteen goals! Leading Eto'o by as many as five goals... I think we can now announce that the competition for this season's best scorer is the earliest competition to lose suspense..."

"For other shooters, Chen Hero's existence makes them feel boring and painful. But for the fans, especially the Napoli fans, Chen Hero's existence makes them happy every week. Because he always brings goals and lives up to expectations..."

"...Thirteen goals in eleven rounds, can we ask for more? No! He has done enough! There's nothing you wouldn't dare to think, and there's absolutely nothing he wouldn't dare to do! Last season he said he would not only defend the league's top scorer title, but he would also win three consecutive championships, and now he is making good on his word!"

De Laurentiis put the latest *Naples Morning Post* aside. Under it, there were already many newspapers stacked up, and their common point was that they all reported on Chen Hero's recent scoring frenzy in large sections.

Today's Chen Hero is the best center forward in Italy—there is no disagreement on this point. Even if Zlatan Ibrahimović is unconvinced, he must admit that in terms of scoring, the most important basic function of a center forward, he is really not as good as Chen Hero.

Such an excellent center forward, if he brings the championship to the team, he will leave Napoli. To say that he is willing is a lie.

The more De Laurentiis looked at it, the more he couldn't bear to let this person go. So he simply stopped reading those articles praising Chen Hero.

After that day, sometimes he wondered if he was right to agree to exchange the championship for Chen Hero's freedom.

Would this decision make him regret it in a few years?

After being distracted for a while, he picked up the phone.

※※※

Mazzarri was a little surprised to receive a call from the boss. Because De Laurentiis rarely asked about club affairs, especially team matters, fully delegating power to him and letting him build and manage the team according to his own ideas. And his reward was victory after victory.

Currently, his team has won for four consecutive years, and has not lost a game so far this season. This is a remarkable achievement.

But the surprise that the boss would actually call him personally, multiplied by ten, could not compare to the news he subsequently learned from the boss.

"Hero may be leaving the team next season."

He thought he heard wrong: "Sorry, boss..."

"I mean, maybe at the end of this season, or maybe at the end of next season, Chen Hero will leave the team."

"That's impossible!" This was Mazzarri's only reaction.

Chen Hero has only played for the team for three years, and his achievements are obvious to all. Currently, Napoli is the most suitable team for him to play for. It can even be said that Mazzarri believes that if it weren't for Napoli, Chen Hero might not have his current achievements. He didn't believe that Chen Hero would abandon this team that was fully suitable for him to play for.

"He told me personally."

Then De Laurentiis roughly told Mazzarri about the matter. Although it was brief, the key points were all mentioned. So Mazzarri knew that Chen Hero was leaving Napoli for Liverpool because he had made a bet with a friend and now he had lost. He had promised De Laurentiis that he would help Napoli win at least one championship. De Laurentiis also promised him that as long as he completed this task, he would let Chen Hero leave the team and would definitely not make things difficult on the price with Liverpool.

"This... just for a bet... this, this is too absurd!" Mazzarri didn't know how to describe his mood at this time.

"I heard that Luis Figo's sudden transfer from Barcelona to Real Madrid was also because he secretly agreed to the request of the Real Madrid chairman? Compared with the transfer of the Barcelona captain to the arch-rival Real Madrid, I think Hero's matter is still within an acceptable range..." said De Laurentiis.

Luis Figo's sudden announcement of his transfer to Real Madrid surprised many Barcelona fans, even fans of other teams, and the media. Logically speaking, Figo, the captain of Barcelona, who once shouted "Damn Real Madrid, come and pay tribute to the champion" after scoring a goal, could not possibly transfer to his arch-rival. But this happened in full view of everyone. Later, there were many rumors about Figo's motives and reasons for the transfer, and there was also talk of a bet.

However, it is said that the real inside story is because Figo's agent shot himself in the foot, wanting to use the illusion of transferring to Real Madrid to force Barcelona to increase the salary and bonus treatment of the new contract. His agent even secretly reached an agreement with Florentino Pérez, who was running for Real Madrid chairman at the time, creating the appearance that he had to transfer to Real Madrid. The two sides even signed a letter of intent, using this to threaten Barcelona to agree to Figo's various demands. Unexpectedly, "a fake show became real."

In fact, this was a relationship of mutual exploitation. Figo used Real Madrid to put pressure on Barcelona. And Florentino used Figo to run for Real Madrid chairman. He publicly promised that if he was elected successfully, he would definitely bring Figo to the Bernabéu. If he didn't, he would rather take out five hundred million pesetas to buy Real Madrid's season tickets in the new season and give them to all members.

And when the two sides initially signed the letter of intent, Florentino played a trick. He secretly added a clause stipulating that if Figo regretted it, he would have to pay Real Madrid twenty-eight million U.S. dollars. Even after multiple rounds of inflation, this is not a small number, and no player can take it out without batting an eye.

Therefore, this clause left Figo with no room for maneuver. In addition, Real Madrid promised to give him an annual salary of $4.49 million and generously threw out a transfer fee of $56.1 million. Barcelona was also angered by Figo's use of Real Madrid to threaten them, and finally gave up on Figo. Figo came to Real Madrid in this way...

No matter how much truth there is in this inside story, Figo was able to jump from Barcelona to arch-rival Real Madrid because of a private agreement. It is not uncommon for all kinds of strange things to happen in the football world. It's just that the inside story of many things is temporarily unknown to everyone...

Hearing what the club owner said, Mazzarri was speechless.

Yes, it's really not too absurd for Chen Hero to request a transfer because of a bet in private in the football world... it's just that he couldn't accept it for a while.

"I'm calling you just to let you start paying attention now to whether there are any suitable players who may replace Hero in the future. We need a strong center forward, that's for sure. Napoli can't keep him for long... that person, his heart is very wild."

"No need to pay attention, I have a ready-made target..." Since he accepted this fact, he had to calmly consider the issue from the perspective of the head coach. In the professional football world, player transfers and departures are too normal. Figo, who was at his peak in Barcelona as the "King of the Camp Nou," could transfer to Real Madrid, so Chen Hero's departure is also very normal.

"Oh?"

De Laurentiis was a little surprised by the head coach's straightforward answer.

"In fact, some time ago, I and Bigon received a sales advertisement from Palermo, and they were promoting Edinson Cavani, the current center forward of Palermo. But at that time, we were not interested in him, because we had Hero, who is currently the best center forward in Serie A. Compared with Hero, Cavani... so we rejected Palermo. It is said that Palermo has promoted him to more than just us, but from the current situation, their promotion has not been successful."

De Laurentiis knew about Cavani. He performed well in Palermo, and he can always stably score fifteen goals in these two seasons.

Fifteen goals seems like a lot? But these fifteen goals are the total number of goals in all competitions, including the league and the cup. Last season, he played 34 league games and scored 13 goals, and he played 3 cup games and scored 2 goals. The season before last, he played 35 league games and scored 14 goals, and he played 2 cup games and scored 1 goal.

In the previous two seasons, the first two years of his debut in Serie A, the data was terrible—33 games, 5 goals, and 7 games, 2 goals.

But it also has something to do with his position.

In Palermo, he wears the title of "center forward," but he often does the work of a winger. Cavani, who is far away from the penalty area and has to frequently retreat to defend, of course cannot score too many goals.

It was not until "Iron Guard" Amauri transferred to Juventus that he became the main center forward in Palermo. It is said that fifteen goals in a single season is not bad, but in the eyes of Napoli people, there is really no way to compare with Chen Hero.

"This summer, Inter Milan almost bought Cavani, but in the end Inter Milan gave up. So now Cavani is still in Palermo, and it is said that he is very unhappy there." Mazzarri introduced the basic situation to the boss. "He wants to leave very much, and Palermo also wants to exchange him for some money. So if we are willing... we should be able to get him easily. He is tall, has good footwork, and has a great team spirit. He is talented and young, and he is a little immature now, but I think he has great potential."

"Compared with Hero?"

Mazzarri didn't expect De Laurentiis to ask such a question.

He was stunned for a moment before answering helplessly: "Boss, if you want to compare with Hero, you can only find Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for his successor..."

De Laurentiis laughed awkwardly twice.

"Cavani's ability is not as good as Hero's, but he is also an excellent center forward. I think with a little training, he can even reach the level of a giant..."

De Laurentiis was not interested in how Cavani could be. He just hummed to show that he knew: "Since you already have this matter, you and Bigon can do it, I won't care."

※※※

After hanging up the phone, Mazzarri still felt like he was dreaming—the team's most popular star is leaving?

I don't know what the reaction would be if the outside world knew about this news...

I'm afraid it would turn the world upside down, right?

He shook his head. This matter is not his responsibility. He only needs to consider what the team should do if Chen Hero really leaves.

Cavani, Cavani...

If he comes, can he really successfully replace that perverted goal machine?

※※※

ps, In order to say goodbye to January and welcome February, there will be three updates tomorrow, and three updates on February 1st too~

Please give me your monthly votes!