Convincing Sandro wasn't much of a hassle.
Because Sandro wasn't doing particularly well in the Brazilian league either. Eighteen-year-old Alex Sandro couldn't see a future for himself in the Brazilian Serie B. He himself also had the desire to venture into Europe.
At a nearby Italian restaurant, Gao Bo and Sandro concluded their conversation.
Gao Bo stated his identity as the head coach of Luton Town, an English League One team. Here, Gao Bo told a small lie, saying that he had watched Sandro play while vacationing in Brazil and was deeply impressed, which is why he approached him, hoping to take him away from Brazil.
Sandro hadn't heard of Luton Town, but with the internet being so developed, Sandro quickly found Luton's information on Google. The popularity of Luton's FA Cup victory had only just passed, so there were plenty of pictures online proving that the man in front of him wasn't lying and he really was the head coach of Luton.
Sandro didn't care that League One was a third-tier league. What he cared about was that this team could appear in the Europa League.
Being able to appear in the Europa League would at least garner more attention than he would get in Brazil. Moreover, in terms of salary, the Brazilian Serie B couldn't compare to the English League One.
Furthermore, Gao Bo promised him that as long as he maintained his current training attitude, he would be guaranteed a starting position.
"Your strength is definitely enough to play in League One. As long as your training attitude doesn't slack off, you will be my starting defender!" Gao Bo promised.
Being able to play as a starter in a European league was what Sandro valued.
He was already eighteen years old, which was a crucial stage for players transitioning from youth academies to the league stage. What he needed was more matches. The more matches he played, the more he could improve!
Alex Sandro didn't want to stay in Brazil any longer. He wanted to go to Europe like countless other Brazilian football players. That was where the media spotlight was!
Atletico Paranaense didn't put up any obstacles to Sandro's transfer. The only disagreement between the two sides was the transfer fee. Atletico Paranaense hoped to get £500,000, a price that made Gao Bo laugh, but he still put on a look of considering it. Afterwards, the two sides signed an agreement at a price of £400,000.
Both sides felt they had made a great profit... This was a mutually satisfactory deal.
After settling this matter, Gao Bo called Mendes.
"Jorge, I've found you another client..."
Gao Bo said on the other end of the phone.
"Believe me, he will be the world's number one left-back in the future!"
Gao Bo was making wild claims without any draft, but Gao Bo wasn't exactly lying either. If Sandro had always been under Gao Bo's command, it wouldn't be difficult to make Sandro the number one left-back with the power of the card system.
"He is our client! Gao!"
According to the agreement between Gao Bo and Mendes, the players Gao Bo introduced to Mendes would be placed under the jointly held agency company.
Gao Bo laughed.
"But there's a little trouble now... The Brazilian needs to apply for a work permit!"
Gao Bo asked Mendes to help Sandro obtain a Portuguese passport, which Mendes readily agreed to. With Mendes's huge influence in Portugal, getting a passport for a Brazilian with "Portuguese relatives" wasn't too difficult.
"Getting a passport isn't a problem, but the problem is that according to the procedure, it may not be completed before the start of the new season..." Mendes said.
Gao Bo didn't expect things to go so smoothly either. He immediately said, "It doesn't matter. If it doesn't work, I'll use the special talent clause. I hope the FA officials can be lenient."
The two foreigners cheerfully complained about British bureaucracy together.
This made their relationship feel a lot closer.
...
Gao Bo did know that there were many future stars in Africa and South America, but each team only had one special talent clause spot, and Gao Bo planned to save this spot for Sandro, so he quickly returned to Europe.
In fact, many future stars in Europe had already begun to appear in the newspapers.
Neymar was already rising to fame, Bale was already thriving at Tottenham, and after this season, Hazard was already the best young player in Ligue 1, clearly a rising star!
What do these players have in common?
They are all players that Luton can't afford....
Gao Bo felt stabbed in the heart...
But besides that, they were also once regarded as the next Ballon d'Or winners after Messi and Ronaldo in the future, known as the "next generation of rulers."
There were many such players. Starting from this season, the Ballon d'Or entered a decade of Messi and Ronaldo taking turns, at least from the year Gao Bo crossed over, the Ballon d'Or had never fallen into other hands.
And there would be a lot of discussion in the future media about who would break the Messi-Ronaldo monopoly.
There was another player who was often mentioned - Griezmann!
This was a future star that Luton could definitely try to fight for, because the current Griezmann had just been promoted to Real Sociedad's reserve team and was still playing in the Spanish third-tier league. Griezmann would still be a player in Real Sociedad B team next season.
How was Griezmann discovered by Real Sociedad?
Gao Bo was quite familiar with this.
In the 2009-10 season, before the start of the league, Real Sociedad experienced a wave of injuries within the team. Coach Martin Lasarte of Uruguay had no one to use, so Antoine Griezmann was recruited into the team before the start of the season to prepare for the Spanish Segunda Division with the first team. In his first warm-up match for the first team, Antoine Griezmann scored a goal; afterwards, he scored consecutive goals in a series of warm-up matches. In the end, Antoine Griezmann became the player with the most goals in the team's pre-season warm-up matches. This performance earned the trust of the coach. Antoine Griezmann was kept in the first team by Martin Lasarte to compete in the Spanish Segunda Division, and thus obtained the number 27 jersey symbolizing an unregistered player (in fact, he had already entered the first team).
This means that the current Griezmann has not yet entered the vision of Real Sociedad's first-team coach, so for Gao Bo, before the start of the new season, there is still a chance to get Griezmann first!
Gao Bo had been thinking about this matter before the end of last season.
Time is tight! Because if this matter is not settled before August, Griezmann will immediately explode in Real Sociedad's pre-season warm-up matches, and it will be difficult to introduce Antoine Griezmann at that time.
If Griezmann knows that he has the opportunity to play as a starter in a Spanish Segunda Division team, he may not agree to transfer back to the English League One.
But now it is the off-season, where should Gao Bo go to find Griezmann?
It has to be said that Mendes is very resourceful, and this matter still has to be resolved through this agent.
Now Gao Bo doesn't think that having multiple agents is troublesome at all, at least Mendes is still very useful.
...
Gao Bo met Griezmann on the island of Menorca in Spain.
At a football field, Gao Bo saw Griezmann still wearing sportswear.
Now he is not surprised at all by Griezmann's future success. This is an absolutely hardworking player.
"Do you want to show your talent in the Europa League, Antoine!"
Gao Bo said in French.