Rapid Onboarding

Since meeting Mantovani, Dejan Lu and Monica hadn't had any time alone together.

The Sampdoria chairman was clearly very invested in his transfer.

Dejan Lu had known Sampdoria was a good team before, but he learned more about them these past two days.

Mantovani was a chairman with an excellent reputation.

He was always very generous with his players, treating them like family, but he never resorted to things like Moratti bugging players.

He primarily retained players through his charisma.

This was exactly what happened when Milan tried to sign Vialli before.

And because Vialli didn't go to Milan, others also chose to stay.

This might have been a good thing for Milan, otherwise, Van Basten wouldn't have joined them.

Furthermore, he wasn't impatient for quick results. He often chose to develop promising young players who had experience but lacked fame, likely those who had played in lower leagues for a long time with potential but hadn't found the right tactics.

Lippi had just retired and served as the youth team coach at Sampdoria for three years, laying a solid foundation for the team.

The current head coach was Real Madrid legend Boskov. After retiring as a Yugoslavian national player, he had led Real Madrid to a double in La Liga, but they lost to Liverpool in the Champions League final.

He was a coach similar to Sir Alex Ferguson and Wenger.

Except, the young players he developed were stars like Roberto Mancini, Vialli, and Chiesa, before the internet boom.

Just the owner and the coach alone made the team exceptional, not to mention Sampdoria's incredibly star-studded roster.

Monica secretly opened her eyes and watched Dejan Lu staring into space with his hands behind his head, finally letting out a sigh of relief.

If this continued, she feared she would become dehydrated and die.

She wondered if that thing could replenish fluids besides protein.

Knock, knock, knock—

Hearing the familiar knock on the door, Monica immediately got up to change.

After the two of them changed, they saw Paolo Mantovani standing at the door. The old man had been waiting for them at the hotel every day for the past two days.

"Dejan, if you want to offload your property in Reggio Calabria, I can help," Mantovani said.

"Let's forget it, Mr. Mantovani. I'll handle it myself. If you could help us find a place to stay, that would be great. We can't keep living in a hotel."

Dejan Lu replied.

The two of them were financially stable, but hotels in tourist cities were not cheap.

"That's easily arranged. If you're a single player, you can even stay with the team. Roberto and the others did that before... Roberto has a bit of a temper, so I hope you can be understanding, but he's not a bad person."

Mantovani said with a smile.

The person he was referring to was Roberto Mancini.

Despite Mancini's gentle and amiable demeanor as a coach, he was quite temperamental and irritable in his youth. His national team career wasn't very smooth due to his personality.

In contrast, his good friend Vialli had a much better temperament.

It was said that the two met at the Coverciano training center when they were 17, in the Italian youth national team. At that time, Mancini, who had already decided to transfer to Sampdoria, thought Vialli played well and suggested he join Sampdoria.

Later, the two truly became teammates.

As the three of them walked down the street together, Mantovani said, "I've already found a lawyer. If everything goes well, we'll sign the contract today. The salary probably won't be very high, but considering you have a partner, I can offer the team's salary of eighty million lire per year."

"That's a very generous offer, Mr. Mantovani."

Dejan Lu said.

Eighty million lire was roughly equivalent to 400,000 RMB, or about £45,000.

This amount was about one-tenth of what Falcao earned when he joined Roma in 1980. Currently, some Italian players' salaries, when converted, already reached £20,000 to £30,000 per week, which was over $100,000 in dollars.

However, considering he was just moving from Serie C to Serie A, this salary was quite good.

Paolo Maldini's second contract two years ago was also for eighty million lire.

Last year, Italy's per capita GDP ranked sixteenth, behind the UK, at $15,744. As a country whose pillars were manufacturing, textiles, and jewelry, Italy's per capita disposable income was even lower, similar to resource-intensive regions.

This salary could ensure Dejan Lu and Monica lived a comfortable life in Genoa. It wasn't as extravagant as what modern stars earned, but it was more than the average Italian middle-class income.

Paolo Mantovani was indeed very sincere.

He took the two of them to a law firm, where his lawyer had already drafted the contract.

It was only a three-year contract.

In those days, players generally didn't have many transfer intentions, so contracts weren't excessively extended, considering the possibility of not performing well. Even one of the Three Musketeers had experienced being loaned out after becoming famous.

Monica took the contract and began to examine it carefully.

As a former law student, she was quite professional in this regard.

"Is there a signing bonus too?"

Monica exclaimed.

"Yes, this is a gift for you," Mantovani said, shrugging. "Just in case Dejan doesn't fare well, I fear it might cause an international dispute."

The old man was quite humorous.

Dejan Lu glanced at him and said, "Could you reduce the signing bonus a bit and use it as my transfer fee instead? My contract with Reggina ends at the end of the month, but Reggina is in a difficult situation, and I'd like to leave some money behind."

"Of course, no problem!"

Mantovani looked at Dejan Lu with great appreciation.

He had discovered another good quality in the young man.

Having affection for one's former team wasn't a bad thing; such players were more likable than selfish ones.

"Then I have no objections,"

Dejan Lu said.

Monica handed him the pen, and Dejan Lu signed his name directly.

"Welcome to Sampdoria. You probably can't have the number 10 jersey, as that's Roberto's number. How about picking another number?"

Mantovani suggested.

If Dejan Lu insisted on number 10, he would persuade Roberto Mancini.

This gentle club president was very effective with players, truly exchanging sincerity for sincerity, and he was confident he could convince Roberto Mancini.

But doing so would make Dejan Lu's start very difficult.

Roberto Mancini wasn't exactly known for his good temper.

"It's fine, I can pick an available number,"

Dejan Lu said.

Playing in the attacking midfield, number 10 was indeed more fitting.

But if you play well, you can become a legend even wearing number one.

"That's wonderful. I imagine you also dislike this old man. I'll take you to see houses tomorrow. As for the coach, there's no rush. Vujadin isn't currently in Italy,"

Mantovani said.

After parting ways with the old chairman, Monica couldn't help but say, "He seems like a very good person."

"Yes, that's why Sampdoria is where it is today,"

Dejan Lu said.

During the Serie A era of the Seven Sisters, every club chairman had their own unique skills.