Because of Li Yuanshan's matter, Gao Bo did not stay in China for more than half a month as planned, but returned to England after a week.
What Gao Bo didn't expect was that Li Yuanshan's English was quite good.
"Grandpa taught me!" Li Yuanshan said with some pride, the young man grinning.
Gao Bo nodded. Old Chen was indeed forward-thinking. The domestic football environment was chaotic. If he wanted to develop abroad, English was essential.
"When you get to England, I'll enroll you in a Portuguese training class. You must learn basic Portuguese communication within half a year." Because of Old Chen, Gao Bo treated Li Yuanshan as a younger brother. On these matters, he didn't use a tone of discussion, but directly made a decision.
"Why?" Li Yuanshan was obviously puzzled.
"Because of the work permit!" Gao Bo said.
With Li Yuanshan's current situation, he definitely couldn't apply for a work permit. Therefore, even if Luton signed him, he could only play in some friendly matches. Li Yuanshan couldn't play in the FA's U-series leagues.
"I've re-formulated a training plan for you. Your physical fitness is good. This physique can't be wasted. As a center forward, you must learn how to use your body, and at the same time improve your footwork. Shooting, passing, protecting the ball, and even basic dribbling must be strengthened again. In these six months, in addition to completing the youth training academy's courses, you must practice this part of the curriculum intensively."
Li Yuanshan nodded. Although they hadn't known each other for long, the young man's heart was pure. He could feel who was good to him.
"Why do I have to learn Portuguese?"
"Because after half a year, you'll be ready to play football in Portugal. At your age, what you need is playing time."
The reason Gao Bo said Portugal was because he had already decided to cooperate with Mendes.
Yes, cooperation!
Mendes specifically established an independent brokerage firm under his name. This company was considered a joint venture between him and Gao Bo. Gao Bo was responsible for introducing players to him, and Mendes was responsible for the players' specific economic affairs.
Gao Bo still focused on football. For this kind of thing, it was always better to find a professional to cooperate with than to do it himself.
Mendes's professional level was beyond doubt, and Gao Bo also believed that with his ten years of extra football vision, Gao Bo was naturally very clear about which players would become popular in the future.
Such an economic offensive would undoubtedly make a lot of money! Gao Bo was sure of it.
Mendes, on the other hand, had taken a fancy to Gao Bo. He was the key to entering the Chinese market!
Mendes believed in his vision. He even believed that Gao Bo was the second Mourinho!
When the first Mourinho appeared, with the help of Porto's victory in the Champions League, Mendes monopolized Portuguese football and became one of the top brokerage giants in European football! And if his bet on Gao Bo this time was successful, he would likely get a super market more than ten times larger than Portugal!
Even if it wasn't successful, Mendes wouldn't lose anything. He even earned something—being able to get that group of young Luton players, Mendes would definitely not lose money on this trip.
How could a businessman like Mendes do a losing business?
As for Gao Bo, he naturally had his own considerations for choosing to cooperate with Mendes.
In European football, was there an agent with a wider network of contacts than Mendes?
Gao Bo knew that he was an outsider compared to Europe. This was his biggest disadvantage. He basically had no connections in the European football circle—he even had to ask John to find a goalkeeper coach at the beginning.
In this case, choosing to cooperate with Mendes, who had a wide network of contacts, was undoubtedly the most convenient result.
The resources Mendes possessed were incomparable to Gao Bo's, and this could largely solve many of Gao Bo's problems—future problems.
Gao Bo regarded himself as a pure football coach. He was actually not very good at doing business. If possible, Gao Bo didn't want to participate in transfer negotiations, which were so brain-wracking.
It's just that in the current Luton, there are still many things that need to be done personally.
The first team was on vacation, but the youth training academy was not. After arranging Li Yuanshan to the youth training academy, Gao Bo immediately started working on the new season.
Now the summer transfer window hasn't opened yet, but Luton does have a few players who need to be transferred out. Among them, the most important deal is undoubtedly Charlie Austin.
In Gao Bo's impression, Manchester United spent 10 million pounds to introduce Smalling from Fulham next year. Gao Bo wouldn't dare say that Charlie Austin could be sold for that price, but Gao Bo dared to ask for a price of six or seven million.
Although no one has been sold yet, Gao Bo still holds a budget of about three million pounds for the team this season. This budget is enough to start the transfer work without waiting for Charlie to be sold.
Gao Bo needs to continue to strengthen the team's lineup. The top priority, of course, is to strengthen the defense line.
....
Brazil, Paraná, Curitiba.
This is a very unfamiliar city for Chinese people. At the same time, there is also a club in this city that is even more unfamiliar to Chinese fans—Athletico Paranaense!
Gao Bo appeared here, naturally for his team's signings.
Alex Sandro!
This is a very unfamiliar name to current fans, but this name is not unfamiliar to Gao Bo.
This Brazilian, who played for Juventus in later generations, is a left-back who is very good at both offense and defense. He can also play as a left wing-back, and even played as a winger at crucial moments.
The attacking attributes of Brazilian players are always reassuring.
Brazil's football level, which has won five World Cup championships, is recognized worldwide. A large number of Brazilian players play all over the world. Brazilian players are active in various European leagues, and almost every wealthy team can always find one or two Brazilians.
So many outstanding Brazilian players are active in European leagues, becoming Brazil's huge overseas legion. Almost every Brazilian national team is supported by these people.
But in fact, many Brazilian stars have emerged from Brazil's own domestic leagues.
Brazil's league is very large and complicated..... They have too many football teams, and some people even doubt whether Brazil has a unified national professional league.
In the huge and complicated league system of various states, and the chaotic event organization, no one can say how many pearls are hidden in such chaos in Brazil's league system.
It was not until 2004 that the Brazilian Football Association began to reorganize domestic events. They aligned with international standards and adopted a home-and-away double-cycle point system. Only at this time did they have formal A and B leagues.
Athletico Paranaense is a team in the Brazilian National B League.
After arriving in Brazil, Gao Bo didn't rest much and went straight here, found this unknown small Brazilian club.
In fact, Gao Bo only knew Alex Sandro's experience in Europe, but Gao Bo was not very clear about his situation in Brazil.
But thanks to the great Internet and FM, Gao Bo finally found this name in the database. By comparing age and appearance characteristics, Gao Bo finally came to Brazil.
Hopefully his information won't have any mistakes.
Alex Sandro is a full-back. Although he doesn't know how strong he is now, Gao Bo knows how successful he will be in the future!
Eighteen-year-old Sandro will get some playing opportunities in the B League this season, and then he will soon be valued by Brazilian giants Santos. After that, on a big platform like Santos, Sandro began to become famous. He was quickly valued by the Brazilian national team's U-series team, and had a dazzling performance in the World Youth Championship and the South American Youth Championship.
When he transferred to Porto at the age of twenty-two, Porto paid a price of nearly 10 million euros, this is already a sky-high price for a defender who has never played in a European league.
And what Gao Bo has to do is to take Sandro to England before Santos can get their hands on him!