In professional football, it's a simple hierarchy: the big clubs devour the small ohe small clubs devour the minnows, and so on. It's a food .

  After sensing the subtle i from Ai, Gao She a chill down his spin, because it seemed the seasoned manager had something up his sleeve.

  Napoli was not a giant club, and one of their pyers performed well, it would be hard for the club to keep them, especially wheeam's overall performance hadn't yet stabilized. If a giant team came calling, it would be difficult to hold on to their best pyers.

  That's why Napoli absolutely had to push for promotion to Serie A this season. It was the best way to keep the pyers they had worked so hard to develop.

  The same principle applied to businesses. When a pany is in rapid growth, it's important to keep the core team together. But as soon as the pany peaks or, worse, starts to dee those same embers will often jump ship to further their careers elsewhere.

  Despite De Laurentiis and others hyping up the rivalry between the North and the South of Italy, to the pyers, the top teams were always the oo aspire to especially after Juventus' fall into Serie B. Teams like A and Inter Min were still the top dogs in Serie A.

  From what Ai had hinted, it was clear that Min's aging squad wasn't by design but by y. The club didn't have the financial resources to pete with the wealthier teams in Europe for top stars, leaving them to rely on their veteran pyers.

  Although teams like Udinese were fog on developing young pyers, even their best talents were often poached by wealthier clubs, f Min and others to settle for a more cost effective way of team-building.

  This talent drain had led to a ck of ars in Serie A. While other leagues were developing their geion of pyers, Italy had fallen behind.

  Over the years, the st youth star from Italy to make a huge spsh was Cassano. After that, who else? Italy hadn't produced another pyer of his caliber in a long time.

  It wasn't just the local Italian talent pool that had dried up. Even fn signings from Europe and beyond had slowed down. I years, Italy had done a poor job of nurturing young talent.

  Now, with teams like Udinese even acquiring clubs in Spain and Engnd, Italian football was ging, and in this enviro, the sudden rise of Napoli a team full of young pyers iwenties was akin to throwing a mb into a den of hungry wolves.

  Could Napoli survive?

  …

  "Don't touch my pyers," Gao Shen warned, raising his hands in mock surrender.

  Ai burst into ughter. "What are you talking about? It's still early for that."

  Gao Shen had to admit he was right, but he still couldn't shake off the feeling of impending doom.

  The real threat would e after Napoli had pyed a few mames. Serie A clubs were probably watg Napoli closely, waiting for the pyers to develop before swooping in.

  The worst part was that Serie A clubs werely wealthy right now. With many of them cash-strapped, they would be more likely to take advantage of Napoli's rising stars.

  But Ai wasn't wrong about ohing: Serie A clubs were broke. Would they even have the moo lure pyers away from Naples?

  The real danger, Gao Shen realized, wasn't from within Italy it was from the rich clubs in the Premier League and La Liga.

  He made a mental o remind De Laurentiis and Marino to be cautious. The st thing they needed was for Napoli to nurture young pyers only fger clubs to snatch them away.

  No one wao spend all that time and energy cultivating talent, only for someone else to reap the rewards. That would be tragic.

  Ai noticed Gao Shen's shifting expressions, his curiosity piqued.

  "Aren't you worried?" Ai asked.

  Gao Shen chuckled. "What do I have to worry about with you guys? You're all broke! How are you going to poayone?"

  Ai couldn't tain his ughter. It was true everyone knew Serie A clubs were strapped for cash.

  If they weren't struggling financially, would they still be fielding teams full of agierans?

  …

  The event rivate gathering for managers and coaches. It ce to rex, exge ideas, and, most importantly, not take things too seriously.

  In that se was no different from a group of office wathering for a smoke break, pining about their bosses, aing frustrations about work.

  But things took a more serious turhe speeches began.

  Gao Shen had followed Ai into the feren, grateful for the introdus he was getting. Ai, ever the mentor, took him under his wing, even introdug him to Marcello Lippi, the legendary coach who had just led Italy to World Cup glory.

  Seeing Lippi up close, Gao Shen could barely tain his excitement. He felt like he should have gifted him a yacht or something, just to show his respect.

  Of course, Lippi was still riding high from his World Cup victory and had no idea what y in store for him iure.

  But what really shocked Gao Shen was Sacchi's speech.

  Several other speeches had been somewhat underwhelmiher too vague or too detailed. But when Sacchi took the stage and introduced his topic, Gao Shen nearly fell out of his seat.

  Sacchi was going to discuss Real Madrid and Napoli under Gao Shen's ma!

  As soon as Sacchi mentiohis, all eyes turo Gao Shen, and he felt like he was under a spotlight. He almost wao crawl uhe table and hide.

  This wasn't Sacchi trying to create headlines. He genuinely wao discuss and analyze how Gao Shen had managed Real Madrid and Napoli. But still, it felt like Sacchi had put a target on his back.

  Gao Shen thought to himself, "Sacchi, you're killing me here."

  He had e to the fereo learn and keep a low profile, not to be the ter of attention.

  But Sacchi was dead serious. He wao use Gao Shen's coag methods as an example for others to learn from. He wasn't just talking about Real Madrid and Napoli; he was paring them to teams like Rijkaard's Bara, Ai's Min, aez's Liverpool.

  Sacchi's main point was that Italian football had bee too servative. It had gone from being a tactical pioo a stagnant, outdated system.

  Italian football o ge, and it o ge fast. The sport was evolving, and Italy was falling behind other leagues, especially in terms of pying style and tactics.

  "We are falling behind rapidly," Sacchi decred. "And it's happening across the board from youth development to the top leagues."

  Sacchi then turo Gao Shen as an example of how to evolve.

  In just a few months at Napoli, Gao Shen had shown what could be doh a fresh approach. Sacchi praised the young coach's ability t out the best in his pyers and implement a fast, aggressive pying style.

  Everyourheir attention to Gao Shen again.

  This wasn't a casual pliment or a nod of approval. Sacchi was holding Gao Shen up as a model for others to follow.

  Sacchi's message was clear: learn from Gao Shen!

  Gao Shen, for his part, wao disappear uhe table. On one hand, he was fttered and grateful for Sacchi's praise. But oher hand, he khat this kind of attention could put a target on his back.

  Italian football was filled with seasoned managers, some of whom might not take kindly to being told to learn from a 25-year-old.

  Being praised like this was both an honor and a burden.

  …

  "I have to ask," Ai said with a grin, "how much did you pay Sacchi to say all that?"

  Gao Shen shook his head, ughing. "Too much, apparently. He has pced me in an awkward spot."

  Ai chuckled, but he uood. Sacchi wasn't just praising Gao Shen; he was trying to inspire ge. But ging Italian football wasn't something that could happen ht.

  The Italian ey had been struggling, and that had trickled down to the clubs. Youth development was gging behind, and clubs were less willing to take risks.

  Still, Sacchi's message was clear. The old ways of Italian football weren't w anymore.

  It reminded Gao Shen of a se from Ielr, where one character expins how the nd used to be fertile but no longer could sustain life.

  "We used to have fertile ground, Donald. It 't support us anymore."

  …

  Sacchi's speech, for all the praise it heaped on Gao Shen, wasn't just about him. It was a call to arms for all the managers present.

  Afterward, several coaches approached Gao Shen to discuss his tactid strategies. They were genuinely ied in how he had developed Napoli and what he thought the future of football might look like.

  Some were skeptical, but many were open to learning from him.

  Gao Shen expined his views on ball trol, high pressing, and how football was shifting towards more dynamic, high-energy styles of py. He believed that iure, football would bee even faster and more focused on teique.

  Many of the coaches were intrigued by his ideas, but they also aowledged how difficult it would be to implement such tacti their own teams.

  Iy, most managers were strained by the teams they had and the budgets they were given. Few had the luxury of building a team from scratch the way Gao Shen had.