Chapter One: Inter Milan

Everything went unexpectedly smoothly.

Mo Mo arrived at Inter Milan. After completing his medical examination and officially signing the contract, he became a member of the club.

His transfer fee of 20 million euros made him the most expensive signing of the winter transfer window, with the second-highest fee being a mere 4.5 million euros. Incidentally, Chelsea FC did not acquire any star-level players during this winter window. It was not that they did not want to; rather, the players they targeted all chose to decline—yes, they refused.

Mo Mo sold the house he had in Munich, along with his car. Heaven knows he would transfer so soon; he had only owned them for half a year. He signed a three-year contract with Inter, including a signing bonus of 300,000 euros, an annual salary of 200,000 euros, and an Audi car.

"Well! You've gotten much stronger over these past six months! But why haven't you grown at all?"

Hector Cuper wore a rare smile. After Ronaldo left, Inter Milan was not actually weak, but they always suffered inexplicable collapses during the final stages of the season.

In the 2001-2002 season, the final league table saw Juventus in first place with 61 points, Roma in second with 60, and Inter Milan in third with 59. Inter had lost to Lazio, dropping three points and missing out on the league title. During that summer transfer window, the club, determined to learn from their mistakes, spent a massive 23 million euros to sign the future Ballon d'Or winner, Fabio Cannavaro, from Parma.

At the time, Hector Cuper was overjoyed. During his six years at Parma, Cannavaro helped the team win two Coppa Italia titles, one Supercoppa Italiana, and one UEFA Cup, and he was named Serie A Defender of the Year in 1999. This was the perfect opportunity to shed the title of "perennial runner-up"! (Why not buy a striker? It is no surprise he was a center-back himself.) Unfortunately, the Fabio Cannavaro purchased in the summer of 2002 suffered a problem with his tibia at Inter—a small hairline fracture that doctors estimated would sideline him for nearly 20 months.

Twenty months! That would be two seasons gone! Hector Cuper’s heart was essentially bleeding. (He instantly thought of Kaka.)

They should have bought Alessandro Nesta back then! Although Nesta and Cannavaro were hailed as the strongest center-backs, Nesta was actually more famous at the time. If Lazio hadn't been in a financial crisis, they never would have sold him. (In those days, financial crises were everywhere.)

It was just a pity that AC Milan beat out Inter and several other clubs with a 30 million euro bid, leaving Inter with no choice but to settle for Cuper’s preference, though the result was disappointing.

Then, Cuper traded Clarence Seedorf to AC Milan for Francesco Coco. Coco was handsome and a decent player—a full-back who fit into Cuper’s plans, but...

During that same summer transfer window, besides Cannavaro, they also bought Hernan Crespo for 26 million euros. He took over Ronaldo’s number 9 jersey, but while he played well, the fans were not particularly receptive to him, and he, too, ended up injured.

Even so, Inter’s forward line could still be described as formidable, but the problem was that the fans were extremely dissatisfied with the stubborn old man, Hector Cuper.

In midfield, the arrival of Matias Almeyda only added depth to the bench; it did not lead Cuper to make any tactical adjustments. As for Domenico Morfeo, while he was decent in many aspects, he was not the type of attacking midfielder or playmaker that Inter’s midfield required.

When Stefano Fiore first joined Inter, he was eye-catching and full of flair, but during his time under Cuper, he increasingly resembled a beleaguered workhorse, his initial inspiration nowhere to be seen.

Stubborn Hector Cuper—a respected yet infuriating Inter coach. His defense was truly a case of ten men defending! Cuper’s offensive tactic was: "Go on, my friend, you go die out there, and we'll guard the house."

Mo Mo still had a smile on his face, and Cuper continued to chat with him happily. After confirming that Mo Mo had no physical issues, Cuper finally set aside his worries.

In fact, this could be called a beautiful misunderstanding. Mo Mo thought Cuper’s tactics were similar to Jose Mourinho’s defensive counter-attacks—defending with the whole team (except for himself) and receiving strong support from the flanks when attacking.

The kind that is "as immovable as a mountain and as swift as a thunderbolt." However, when Cuper said "defending with the whole team," he meant exactly that: ten people defending, and you alone going out to attack.

In fact, Cuper originally played a 4-4-1-1 formation. After Mo Mo arrived, he intended to switch to a 5-4-1. Regardless, they had to secure the championship in the final stages of the season; otherwise, he could pack his bags and leave.

On May 5, 2002, leading Juventus by one point in the final round of the league, Inter lost 2-4 away to Lazio, squandering a golden opportunity to win their 14th title. The Serie A crown went to Juventus, and Roma leapfrogged Inter into second place. Just like in 1967, the final round left the Nerazzurri with painful memories, leaving the fans deeply dissatisfied. It seemed as if everyone was silently shouting, "We want the championship!"

Once everything was negotiated, it was time to test the talents of Rong Guang, Zhang Meng, and Wang Qidong. Talent is a bit elusive, but technical characteristics are usually easy to spot.

To be honest, among the three, only Zhang Meng had a foundation. The biggest problem for 16-year-old Rong Guang and 18-year-old Wang Qidong was the language barrier. In this situation, Mo Mo had to act as their translator, but it was basically impossible for Mo Mo to teach them a foreign language.

Without the system’s help, Mo Mo was just a Chinese person who could only speak Chinese!