Chapter 1 Niang's Request

This time Niang came to China not only to attend the signing ceremony with Nike, but also to meet Chen Hero and ask him for a favor.

"Hero, can you ask Sanchez if he's willing to come to Liverpool to play?"

Chen Hero was stunned when he heard Niang's words.

"You want to poach Sanchez?"

Niang nodded and said with a smile, "Isn't this all for you?"

Of course Chen Hero wanted Sanchez to come to Liverpool and partner with him, but asking him to poach a player from Napoli, wasn't that a bit unkind?

Back when he was at Zenit Saint Petersburg, he wanted to poach the team's absolute core player, Arshavin, without even considering whether it was unkind to poach from his former club. This showed that Chen Hero had made progress, and wasn't as insensitive as before.

Another important reason was that at Zenit Saint Petersburg, he had a good relationship with the team, but not so much with the management, so he didn't feel so much guilt about poaching Arshavin. But Napoli was different. From the management to the players, he had a very good relationship with everyone at the club.

He was a little worried.

Niang obviously knew what Chen Hero was thinking.

He reassured him: "You're just helping us sound out Sanchez. If he doesn't want to come, then we won't bother. If he wants to come… then it's because he wants to come, and it has nothing to do with you, so you don't have to think too much about it. Besides, even if the player wants to come, we can't do anything if the club doesn't let him go, right? If the club is willing to let him go, then it means that Napoli themselves aren't opposed to letting Sanchez go… If Napoli doesn't object, then what are you worrying about?"

Chen Hero thought that made sense.

He was just a messenger, and couldn't play a decisive role. If Napoli thought Sanchez was very important and resolutely refused to let him go, then Sanchez would naturally stay with the team. If Napoli was willing to talk to Liverpool, then it was because Napoli was considering selling Sanchez, which had even less to do with him.

"Okay, I'll give him a call." Chen Hero nodded and agreed.

※※※

When Alexis Sanchez received a call from Chen Hero, he was pleasantly surprised. "Hero! You finally remembered me!"

Chen Hero rolled his eyes. "You're not a beauty, what would I be thinking about you for all day?"

Sanchez's hearty laughter came from the other end of the phone.

Chen Hero had prepared a plan before calling. He thought that directly asking Sanchez if he wanted to come to Liverpool would be too direct, and wouldn't feel like a call from a friend. It would seem too purposeful, and might make Sanchez think other things.

It was better to chat casually first, ask about his recent situation, ask how he was doing in Napoli… and then get to the main topic.

So after exchanging pleasantries, Chen Hero first asked about Sanchez's vacation, and of course they had something to talk about, because Chen Hero had spent this vacation in Sanchez's home country, Chile.

When Sanchez heard that Chen Hero had gone to Chile without even looking for him, he immediately protested, demanding that Chen Hero treat him. He also told Chen Hero that if he wanted to travel to Chile again next time, he must notify him, so he could be their guide, free of charge, guaranteeing they would have a good time.

After chatting aimlessly for a long time, Chen Hero finally got to the main topic.

"So, Alex. How are you doing in Napoli?"

"I'm doing great. It's just a pity that we didn't beat Chelsea to get into the Champions League quarter-finals this season. We had a chance. We won 3:1 at home, but who knew they would score 1:4 in the away game… sigh!"

Speaking of this, Sanchez couldn't hide his disappointment.

"So… would you like to come to Liverpool to play?"

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a moment.

Chen Hero didn't know what Sanchez was thinking. Was he stunned, or was he angry?

Just as he was wondering, Sanchez's voice sounded again, slightly stammering: "Li-Liverpool?"

"Yes…"

"Playing with you, Hero?"

"Ah…"

"I want to come!"

Chen Hero was startled by this sentence — hey, I'm just sounding you out, can't you be a little more reserved?

"Well, I was just asking casually…"

"You know, Hero. Although Cavani is great, I still think it's more fun to play with you, it's more exciting!" Sanchez didn't care about Chen Hero's explanation, he said excitedly. "Actually, it's not just me, a lot of people miss you! The Eat, Drink, and Be Merry Gang is always missing something without you. Antonio is saying that without you to do pranks with him, there's a lot less fun…"

Chen Hero held the phone, unable to find a suitable opportunity to interrupt. He thought, when did Sanchez become a chatterbox like Hamsik?

After finally getting off the phone with Sanchez, Chen Hero told Niang the result.

"He seems very interested in coming to Liverpool…"

Niang smiled.

Seeing Niang's smile, Chen Hero felt a little depressed. He didn't expect Sanchez to be so eager. It seemed that if Sanchez eventually came to Liverpool, he would have indirectly poached a player from Napoli.

Niang naturally knew what Chen Hero was depressed about. He patted Chen Hero on the shoulder. "This only shows that Sanchez wants to come to Liverpool, and it still has nothing to do with you, Hero. Even if we asked someone else, he would still be so eager…"

Yes, even if Niang himself asked, as long as he mentioned Chen Hero, Sanchez would still be so interested when he heard he could cooperate with Chen Hero…

Since the player himself was interested, that was fine. He could go and negotiate with Napoli. And he believed that as long as he emphasized the player's own wishes, Napoli would eventually give in.

De Laurentiis used to say that Napoli would not sell players to make money.

At that time, Chen Hero, Arshavin, Cassano, and Hamsik were considered the team's Magic Four, and these four players were absolutely not for sale. But what happened? Chen Hero went to Liverpool, and now De Laurentiis has repeatedly stated in public that as long as someone can offer 40 million euros, they can take Hamsik away.

Sanchez's role in the team is not as big as Hamsik's, and he can't compare to Arshavin and Cassano. In the season when the team won the Champions League, Sanchez was not an absolute starter either. Most of the time he was a rotation player, substituting for Arshavin.

So Niang was confident that he could bring Sanchez from Napoli to Liverpool.

The only question was how much money it would cost—he wanted to pay as little as possible, while Napoli certainly wouldn't sell Sanchez at a bargain price, even though he wasn't an absolute starter for the team.

Finally, he said to Chen Hero: "I believe you also really want to see your old teammates in Liverpool, right?"

He was right. On the one hand, Chen Hero felt guilty about potentially poaching from his old club, and on the other hand, he was full of anticipation about Sanchez's possible transfer to Liverpool. He was very conflicted.

※※※

Niang's transfer activities have been fully launched. First, he fully focused on Udinese's Inler.

Just as he had guessed, Udinese was very interested in someone wanting to buy Inler. They didn't pretend, saying that Inler was not for sale—that kind of talk was just for deceiving ghosts.

Inler himself also hoped to transfer to Liverpool. Although Liverpool's reputation was not as good as before, it was still a big club after all. The saying goes, "A lean camel is bigger than a horse," and it was still attractive to many players. What's more, this team had Chen Hero. As a player playing in Serie A, especially a defensive player, Inler knew a lot about Chen Hero. Napoli was originally just an ordinary promoted team, but because of Chen Hero, they rose one step at a time, and eventually became the kings of Europe.

Liverpool now also had Chen Hero, so why couldn't they follow Napoli's path?

Inler had a lot of confidence in his former opponent. It had to be said that this verified an old saying—"The person who knows you best is your enemy."

At the moment, even Liverpool fans themselves may not have confidence in the team's prospects, but Inler had confidence in Liverpool. It was really an interesting thing.

With the player himself settled, the remaining issue was the price. No one's money fell from the sky, so Niang naturally tried to lower the transfer fee as much as possible, buying the best player at the lowest price, the higher the cost performance, the better. And Udinese naturally hoped to sell Inler for a good price. Otherwise, wouldn't it be a disgrace to the reputation of Udinese? Letting others think that Udinese was an easy mark!

The club's negotiations with Udinese were still in progress.

However, many media outlets knew that Inler was favored by Liverpool, and the two sides had officially started transfer negotiations. And Inler himself had expressed his willingness to go to Liverpool, so the media analysis believed that the transfer should not be delayed for long, and the outcome would be known soon.

Transfer activities can't be about negotiating with one person and then negotiating with the next person. If that were the case, the two-month transfer window would definitely not be enough.

While negotiating with Inler, Niang contacted Napoli.

Napoli's general manager, Bigon, trembled when he heard that it was Niang from Liverpool. He thought that this person coming to his door was definitely not a good thing!

He was right, Niang was here to buy their winger Sanchez.

Even though Sanchez was still a rotation player and not an absolute starter, Napoli couldn't possibly give him away. So Bigon refused without even thinking about it.

Arshavin's age was declining, and Sanchez was an important player to replace Arshavin in the future. Although he couldn't be an absolute starter now, it wouldn't be long before he was the starter…

So, how could he let Sanchez go?

Besides, you Liverpool have already poached our absolute core player Chen Hero, isn't that enough? Do you really think of our Napoli as Liverpool's training team!

※※※