Stadio Olimpico

Champions League Group C, Round Two

Calderon had conversations with each player in the dressing room. He wore a black suit, his hair thinning on his forehead, and when his gray eyes looked at you, it felt as if you were being stared down by an eagle.

Next to him was Schuster's least favorite sports director, Mijatovic. Schuster considered Mijatovic a joke, believing he knew nothing about football, not even the rules for registering players in the Champions League.

The main issue was that when Schuster tried to explain something to Mijatovic, Mijatovic just waved him off, saying, "Of course, I know. I don't need your guidance. Just manage your team."

Such an attitude disgusted Schuster, who felt this fool would make a laughingstock of himself sooner or later.

When they reached Chen Zhong, Calderon wore a smile as if evaluating a product, fixedly watching Chen Zhong.

His insincere and affected smile made Chen Zhong feel a bit nauseous.

"Chen," Calderon patted Chen Zhong on the shoulder and loudly said in the dressing room, "Some say I'm a fraud because I haven't brought in the players I promised, but there's a reason for everything. Look at him, Chen. I said I would give young players a chance, and at 16, he can play in Real Madrid's first team."

"This is what I've done for the team, bringing you Robben and Chen."

Calderon was full of pride, and some uninformed players applauded him, but Chen Zhong knew very well what kind of person Calderon was.

As a keen trainee, Chen Zhong had a level of information access inside the dressing room that was unmatched.

Last night, Nacho called Chen Zhong and broke some bad news to him. The training director, the warm-hearted uncle who was willing to dedicate everything to Madrid, had resigned.

The reason was that Calderon wanted to sell off more youth trainees. Before taking office, Calderon had promised to bring in Fabregas, Kaka, and Robben, but upon assuming his position, he declared financial problems with the team and changed his tune to emphasize training young players.

However, the promised emphasis on youth training was never put into practice, aside from picking up Robben due to his fallout with the club over injuries, selling off the elite trainees of each echelon.

"He even wants to sell Parejo and Callejon. Isn't he considering what will happen to Castilla if he does that?"

Calderon had just announced in the papers that Real Madrid's income reached new heights, but he wasn't investing more in the team; instead, he kept cutting back, even depleting Real Madrid's future "blood" to get funds.

Mata, Negredo, Granero, and other trainees thrived at different clubs, proving their value and ability, yet Calderon's response to this was to raise prices to sell them, forcing people to question his motives.

This disregard for the future made many doubtful of Calderon's so-called "financial reports."

Nacho also leaked some inside scoops to Chen Zhong, like how many of Calderon's "family members" entered the club, creating a company that sucked resources from Real Madrid, and things like kickbacks in the transfer market.

"Chen, he even charges a cup of coffee to the club's account and uses public funds for travel..."

...

Calderon left the dressing room satisfied, with his confidant Mijatovic, discussing some "ridiculous matters" as they walked.

"We need to have a good conversation with Mendes to pressure C. Ronaldo."

"Also, have the media publish more articles about Manchester United and Ferguson."

Calderon, in a manner like a living Zhuge Liang, was very popular in the transfer market. Many agents were willing to do business with him, but some elite clubs kept him at arm's length.

Especially Manchester United's Lord Ferguson, who privately discussed with others: "He's just a foolish man. Robben could be bought for 20 million Euros, yet he paid 36 million Euros. He is generous to those people, but uses underhanded tactics with us, which disgusts me."

"And Pepe, if I remember correctly, 15 million Euros would have been enough to purchase him. Why did they end up paying 30 million Euros? It's something I can't fathom."

Of course, what Lord Ferguson couldn't understand was a point of pride for Calderon when he praised Mijatovic, but Calderon eventually reminded Mijatovic, "The prices you negotiated for Pepe and Robben were indeed too high, which has put considerable pressure on me. I hope you can pay more attention to this aspect in the future."

...

Calderon's presence was, to some extent, to provide backing for Schuster or perhaps to claim credit.

After all, it was Calderon's decision to let Capello go and bring Schuster in.

In this Champions League group match, Capello also showed up, in his capacity as a football commentator for Italy's RAI TV station.

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