Before the game against Real Madrid, the war of words between the two sides couldn't stop.

First, the Spanish media began to seriously hype up Chen Hero's transfer to Real Madrid, as if they had concrete evidence that Chen Hero would go to Real Madrid after the end of this season.

In fact, they all knew this was false. They had no evidence, they were completely talking nonsense. So why did they insist on claiming that Chen Hero would be a member of Real Madrid next season?

This was psychological warfare. The Madrid media hoped to use the hype about Chen Hero's transfer to interfere with Liverpool's preparations. If they could sow discord between Chen Hero and Liverpool, that would be even better.

This was not at the instigation of Real Madrid, but a spontaneous action by the media.

As pro-Real Madrid media, they often used their professional convenience to attack opponents in their own territory. This was similar to the pro-Barcelona media in Catalonia.

The two media outlets often spread rumors about each other in their respective camps to attack each other. Therefore, falsely accusing Chen Hero was simply commonplace for them.

Previously, the English media had been spreading rumors about Chen Hero's transfer. After Chen Hero and Liverpool came out to deny the rumors, the English media gradually fell silent.

Now the Spanish media had picked up the topic again. Because it was deliberately fabricated, they were better prepared than their English counterparts, and the details were more realistic.

The deceptiveness was naturally greater.

With this propaganda offensive, many fans actually believed it.

Although the rumors had been denied before, weren't such heavyweight player transfers always full of twists and turns? Before Beckham transferred from Manchester United to Real Madrid, didn't all three parties deny it? What happened? Before Figo transferred from Barcelona to Real Madrid, who would have believed that their king of Camp Nou would betray his people?

Now that the Spanish media were so certain, Liverpool fans couldn't help but believe it!

What if, just what if... what if Real Madrid's chairman, who didn't lack money, offered Liverpool more than 100 million pounds, could Liverpool refuse? What if the Real Madrid chairman offered Hero the highest annual salary in football today, would Liverpool be able to keep Chen Hero? What if… what if they lost the league title this season, ending up empty-handed, would Chen Hero still be willing to stay at Liverpool and waste his youth?

Many Liverpool fans had such worries.

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"Impossible! Hero will never abandon us and go to Real Madrid!"

At the Red Giants' gathering, Tom Jackson vehemently denied this. Before he made this statement, many people had asked him about Chen Hero's future.

Liverpool and Chen Hero had signed a five-year contract. It had been almost three seasons now, and if Liverpool wanted to renew Chen Hero's contract, they should have acted long ago. Why hadn't there been any news from the media?

Could the rumors be true?

Did Chen Hero really plan to leave Liverpool?

You know, Chen Hero had a previous record. Whether it was at Zenit Saint Petersburg or at Napoli, he had never completed a full contract period. He always transferred away before the contract expired.

If he really wanted to leave Liverpool, this summer and next summer were the most likely.

Because everyone had such concerns, they all came to ask Tom Jackson, which was why Tom Jackson gave such a response.

However, his response was not satisfactory. Someone asked, "Is this your guess, or did you get the answer from Hero, Tom?"

Tom Jackson was silent for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I haven't contacted Hero..."

There was an uproar below. "See, even Tom doesn't know. This is a big deal..."

"Does Hero really want to leave?"

"I don't want Hero to leave the team. If Liverpool sells him, then this is the stupidest Liverpool management I've ever seen!"

Seeing everyone's worried looks, Tom Jackson bit his teeth and said, "Quiet, everyone be quiet!"

Seeing that everyone had turned their attention to him and quieted down, Tom Jackson shook the phone in his hand. "Since you don't believe me, I'll just call Hero! You know I have his number!"

Yes, Tom Jackson did have it, but out of respect for personal privacy, he rarely called Chen Hero, and he never told anyone Chen Hero's phone number.

When everyone heard Tom Jackson say this, they cheered, "Call him, Tom!"

"Yeah, just let me sleep well, Tom!"

"For God's sake... why didn't you call earlier, Tom?"

Everyone asked Tom to make a call.

Tom Jackson signaled everyone to be quiet, then picked up the microphone, set the phone to speaker mode, and dialed Chen Hero's number.

The venue was silent, and everyone waited breathlessly.

After a few rings, the call was answered.

Through the transmission of the phone's microphone and the other microphone in Tom's hand, Chen Hero's voice reached everyone's ears.

"Ha, Tom? Why did you think of calling me? This is not common..."

It was indeed Chen Hero's voice!

There was an excited commotion in the crowd.

Tom Jackson quickly made a quiet gesture.

"Uh, actually, I'm sorry to call you, Hero. But we can't wait to know your answer, so please forgive me for calling you so presumptuously, I hope I haven't disturbed you..."

"My answer?" Chen Hero was confused, "What answer are you talking about?"

"Haven't you read the recent newspapers and news, Hero? The Spanish media are reporting that you are transferring to Real Madrid..."

Chen Hero suddenly realized, but was even more surprised: "That's it, but didn't I already deny the rumors?"

"It's like this..." Tom Jackson looked at the crowd below the stage, and everyone encouraged him with their eyes.

"It's like this, we want to hear you tell us the answer in person, Hero..."

"You?" Chen Hero noticed Tom Jackson's wording. "Are there many of you?"

"Yes, we Red Giants are gathering today. The thing everyone cares most about is whether you can continue to stay at Liverpool."

After he finished speaking, he became quiet, and the whole audience was silent, no one spoke, for fear of causing them to not be able to hear Chen Hero's answer clearly.

Chen Hero on the other end of the phone laughed, "So you're worried about this? Then I can tell you all - I, Chen Hero... haven't thought about leaving Liverpool yet!"

"I, Chen Hero, haven't thought about leaving Liverpool yet!" These words echoed in the venue through the loudspeaker.

Then Chen Hero heard a huge cheer from the other side of the phone.

In the cheers, Tom Jackson leaned close to the phone and said to him, "Thank you, Hero. I think we can all face the upcoming Champions League game with a relaxed mood. I wish you a great performance in the game!"

"You're welcome, Tom. Thank you too!"

After hanging up the phone, Tom Jackson picked up the microphone and said to the cheering crowd: "Are you satisfied now? But I feel ashamed! Why? Because we, as Hero's fans, don't believe him so much. Fortunately, Hero didn't care about this, but do you think this is something to be proud of?"

The cheering crowd gradually quieted down after hearing Tom's words, and their faces did show expressions of self-blame and guilt.

Yes, we support him so much on the field, we call his name, when has he ever let us down? But we would actually listen to rumors at this critical moment, not believe in the person we support, not believe in the person who has never let us down...

After Tom Jackson saw everyone's reaction, he said again: "We must apologize to Hero, but not just simply run to Hero and say sorry! We have other ways to express our apology and support to him! Remember the song we made for Hero? We have encountered such a strong opponent as the defending champion in the Champions League quarter-finals! In the league, we have encountered the pursuit of our deadly rival Manchester United, who are only three points away from us. What should we do? What should we do? Should we watch the already exhausted players on the stands grit their teeth and persevere? No! We still have our weapons! Our songs! At such a critical moment, let our songs resound throughout Anfield! We have been waiting for an opportunity to spread our songs, now, guys! This is the best stage! The best opportunity!"

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Chen Hero didn't know what happened at the Red Giants organization gathering. After he hung up the phone, he began to consider whether he had underestimated the ability of those Spanish media to stir up trouble. Even the members of the Red Giants, who should trust him the most, were unsure whether he would stay at Liverpool.

Wouldn't other fans be even more unsure and worried?

It seemed that he couldn't take this matter lightly.

He had to come forward and seriously deny the rumors.

So the next day, everyone saw Chen Hero denying the rumors seriously in the media.

"Will I go to Real Madrid? No, why would I go? Only cowards and weaklings would go to teams like Real Madrid and Barcelona. They think that after going there, they can win championship trophies without any effort. I am not interested in this kind of charity championship honor, so I will not go to Real Madrid. I am still young, I still have a lot of time, I want to create an era of my own in Liverpool, I will not take the road that others have taken, I want to take my own road!"