"But today is the final day of Ballon d'Or voting, and I feel it's necessary to once again help everyone review Su Hang's outstanding performances over the past year."
"Even though Su Hang himself believes this isn't necessary, as the head coach, while leading the team toward greater collective honors, I also hope our players can earn more individual recognition."
Capello's high-EQ remarks did wonders for his image among the fans.
At the very least, until the winter break, supporters were unlikely to criticize him again.
But Beckham himself felt a chill in his heart.
Look at this.
So Capello does have emotional intelligence, doesn't he?
Then why does he completely lack it when it comes to dealing with me?
In the end, it all came down to one thing—he didn't value him enough.
He saw through it.
And his heart went cold.
Beckham soon called Victoria in the United States, asking her to formally begin negotiations with LA Galaxy.
Accompanying Victoria to the talks was Jennifer.
Jennifer would use Su Hang's financial strength as a guarantee, ensuring that the intentions of Beckham, Su Hang, and Zidane could all be realized in this transfer.
Their goal was to secure the right to purchase three Major League Soccer teams at internal prices.
These negotiations were destined to be difficult.
After all, paper can't wrap fire forever.
The news of Beckham and LA Galaxy exchanging signals quickly leaked out.
In an instant, Europeans, English fans, Americans—indeed, fans all over the world—were drawn into the drama of this transfer.
Everyone was talking about Beckham's future.
Calderón was panicking.
His tug-of-war with Beckham had already lasted for some time. He needed Beckham to renew his contract for just one more year—only one year—because after that would be the moment for him to truly roll up his sleeves and rebuild Real Madrid.
But Beckham wanted a three-year retirement contract.
After much back-and-forth, they finally settled on two years. Then Beckham's side demanded ninety percent of his image rights—the same terms Su Hang enjoyed.
Calderón could never agree to that.
As the football world's cash cow for a period of time, Beckham's commercial value was far higher than Ronaldinho's, second only to Su Hang.
If Calderón conceded on image rights, how would he afford to sign Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaká, and Arjen Robben?
That was how the recent incident came about—Capello pressing Beckham onto the bench.
And now, the conflict had completely gone public.
Under Calderón's orders, Capello told the media outright that Beckham would not be used in any remaining matches this season, stating bluntly that Beckham was not irreplaceable.
At one point, Beckham considered refusing to train as a way to reclaim his dignity.
But Su Hang stopped him.
"David! If you don't show up for training, you'll just be handing Calderón ammunition," Su Hang said. Using the excuse of inviting teammates over, he organized a gathering and discussed countermeasures with Zidane and Beckham.
Of course, the main topic was strategy for negotiating with Major League Soccer.
As for Real Madrid, Beckham had stopped caring the moment Su Hang said, "Let's buy a team together."
A textbook case of hating the boss, understanding the boss, and then becoming the boss.
"Even if Real Madrid doesn't use you at this stage, if we play well in the latter part of the season, the pressure from multiple competitions will definitely require your help," Su Hang said. "That'll be your moment to make a comeback at Real Madrid."
"From a footballing standpoint, you'll be fully rested and in top condition."
"From an operational standpoint, Zidane and I will coordinate around your performances so you can truly shine."
"Then Queiroz will announce that Manchester United want you back, staging a tear-jerking 'return of the prodigal son' story."
"At that point, the Americans won't have a choice but to raise the stakes."
"Three entry tickets. Not a single one can be missing."
"But to keep the Americans from blowing up, your two tickets—twenty-five million dollars each. Not a cent more."
"For my ticket, I'll give them a bit of sweetness. I can pay fifty million dollars."
One hundred million dollars—the three Real Madrid brothers bundling together three MLS franchise tickets.
Right now, it looked meaningless, even like a loss.
But in truth, it was a guaranteed win.
Because the money wouldn't be paid until the team was actually built.
The Americans would likely set a final redemption deadline—usually fifteen years, meaning the qualification would have to be purchased and the team established by 2021.
Taking construction time into account, the real payment would probably happen around 2018.
And what was twenty-five million dollars back then?
Back then, superstars like Beckham and Zidane earned that much after tax in a single year.
Of course, my own annual income now already exceeds that—but that's another story.
In short… Beckham was definitely going to Major League Soccer.
It was for the happiness of himself and his brothers.
The future commitment to invest twenty-five million and fifty million dollars into MLS sounded huge, but once converted, it was really just a few million.
Purely symbolic.
Naturally, Americans never do business at a loss.
But from the perspective of developing MLS, their deal with Beckham was a losing one.
At the same time, American capital used this massive transaction to develop MLS while extending its reach into European football.
They were walking on two legs.
In fact, MLS itself was little more than a smokescreen.
Their true objective was to infiltrate European football, establish a European Super League, and drain in one go the football economy accumulated over a century worldwide.
Profits beyond imagination.
American soccer would enjoy a brief flowering.
But ten or twenty years later, the sport would be completely exhausted, never returning to its former vitality.
In other words—draining the pond to catch the fish.
Ramos, acting as the "gatekeeper," stood dutifully to the side, completely failing to grasp what was really going on.
Modrić, however, often wandered nearby and occasionally picked up bits and pieces of information.
Things like, "David, if you boycott training, it'll cause huge problems for the team…"
"David, you can't just disappear."
Modrić silently nodded, learning how to apply pressure to a club.
If he ever clashed with his team in the future and wanted to force a transfer, at least he wouldn't be without a plan.
At the same time, far away, Tottenham's decision-maker Levy suddenly felt a chill on his bald head.
It was as if someone, somewhere, was cursing him.
...
November 10th, La Liga Round 10—Real Madrid defeated Osasuna away.
October 18th, La Liga Round 11—Real Madrid cruised to a big home win over Santander.
Beckham wasn't included in the matchday squad for either game, yet Real Madrid's momentum remained completely unaffected.
The facts proved that Real Madrid truly didn't need Beckham.
So there was no reason for them to satisfy his excessive demands.
The message was simple:
We want you—but we're not paying more.
...
(35 Chapters Ahead)
p@treon com / GhostParser