After playing in Europe for so many years, along with his success in recent years, Yang Yang's circle of friends had spread across all the major leagues in Europe.
From the Eredivisie to the Premier League and La Liga, from the football associations of various countries to UEFA, he knew people everywhere. He even had quite a few friends at Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, which the outside world regarded as sworn enemies, including Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, and even Pique.
But there were not many he could call close friends.
Ibrahimovic, Sneijder, Maicon, Maxwell, Vermaelen, and several others were all widely known to be Yang Yang's close friends. They shared one common trait: they had all come through Ajax. They had met when they were still struggling at the bottom, and that had forged a friendship beyond outsiders' imagination.
Besides them, Liverpool's Gerrard, Real Madrid's Xabi Alonso, Marcelo, Robben, and AC Milan's Kaka were also Yang Yang's friends. Casillas and Ramos had a close relationship with Yang Yang, but they still fell short of being called close friends.
So when Valdano said that he wanted to bring in one of Yang Yang's close friends, everyone else was surprised, and even Yang Yang himself was taken aback. Who exactly had Real Madrid taken a liking to?
"Luis Suarez of Liverpool!" Valdano quickly revealed the answer.
Everyone was stunned. The name was familiar, but was he really friends with Yang Yang?
When Yang Yang heard the name, he could not help shaking his head with a laugh. It could indeed be considered a somewhat reluctant friendship.
"You know him?" Ramos asked from the side in astonishment.
In the eyes of everyone in Real Madrid's dressing room, Yang Yang was an exceptionally pure professional footballer—and a homebody at that. He spent his days training