A Thousand Gold Pieces to Buy a Bone

After returning to Munich from Basel, the team had a day off.

The players had spent half a month away at training camp. It was rare for them to have time at home, so they could finally spend it with their families.

But Su Dong did not have that luxury.

On the morning of the first day of vacation, Mendes and Ma Dawei arrived at Su Dong's home together. Two other members of Su Dong's agency team came with them as well; they were usually responsible for handling Su Dong's sponsorship business.

With the agency team assembled, along with Wang Chuqing, this lineup would have been more than sufficient even for direct transfer negotiations.

Two or three months earlier, Su Dong had already asked Mendes to conduct an assessment. The main question was how much impact leaving Bayern would have on Bayern and on Su Dong himself.

This involved many complicated contract clauses, all of which needed to be handled carefully.

Mendes had come this time to report the progress to Su Dong.

The conclusion was that there would be some impact, but it would remain within controllable limits.

That put one of Su Dong's worries to rest.

As long as it remained within an acceptable range, he had nothing to worry about.

But this was only the beginning. Actually completing the transfer was still a long way off.

Su Dong was not the only one making preparations in advance. Bayern was doing the same.

"I've received word that Bayern is also studying alternatives for a center forward. Gomez, Džeko, Kiesling, and even Ibišević are all under consideration. Clearly, they're making preparations too," Mendes said.

Ibišević's performance this season was far worse than last season's, but he had gained confidence through his performance the previous season, and he was