"What do they need, and what can you provide?"

Tang Long had heard plenty about the cliques within the locker rooms of major clubs in his past life.

This was actually not hard to understand.

Wherever there are people, there is a society!

It is the same in the workplace for ordinary office workers, and it is exactly the same in the locker room of a football club!

Especially for a European powerhouse like Inter Milan.

Although the performance of the Nerazzurri has declined in recent years, failing to qualify for the Champions League.

But regardless of historical achievements or their traditional status in the hearts of fans.

Inter Milan is still a top-three club in Serie A and a top-ten club in Europe!

Any player capable of drawing a salary from Inter is a top-tier talent.

While things may appear harmonious on the pitch.

Behind the scenes, forming cliques is extremely common.

After Uncle Berni finished describing the four major factions at Inter, he fell silent.

He simply picked up his cup to sip his coffee while watching Tang Long with a smile, seemingly observing his reaction before deciding how to continue his explanation.

Tang Long called the waiter over to refill Uncle Berni's coffee.

He noticed a detail!

During their conversation just now, when Berni mentioned the Italian Local Faction within the team, he brought up Ranocchia, Andreolli, and D'Ambrosio.

Yet, Berni himself was not included.

He was clearly Italian himself!

"Uncle Berni, what is your relationship with the Italian Local Faction?" Tang Long asked tentatively.

Uncle Berni seemed to have expected this question; he set down his coffee and went with the flow:

"That's a good question!

Although I am Italian, I don't belong to the Italian Faction. In fact, I never participate in any clique activities at Inter.

You ask why?

Ha! I'm just a third-choice goalkeeper kept around to fill the quota for homegrown players. I barely play once or twice a season, so there's no need for me to get involved in those things, and it wouldn't be useful even if I did.

You have to understand, at a club like Inter, not everyone picks a side. Even people from the same cultural background don't necessarily have to hang out together.

For example, the midfielder Hernanes is Brazilian, but he never plays with the South American Faction led by Guarin; instead, he has a pretty good relationship with the Argentina Faction.

As for me? I just honestly collect my 500,000 annual salary, and in a year or two, I'll retire. At my age, I've seen through some things."

Tang Long could not hear any sense of melancholy regarding the twilight of a player's career in Uncle Berni's words.

Instead, he looked relaxed and comfortable.

He seemed very at ease, and it was clear these were heartfelt words.

Tang Long nodded.

Since Berni was not in any faction, the credibility of his words was much higher.

Tang Long continued to ask Berni for guidance.

Berni spoke to Tang Long with the demeanor of a veteran:

"Tang, if you were a superstar like Messi and Ronaldo, you wouldn't need to join any faction because you would be the club's core asset, and the board would hold onto you tightly.

But at this stage, as a bottom-tier player in the first team, the first thing you need to do is stand your ground.

If you want to contend with the South American Faction led by Guarin, you must join a faction. The Argentina Faction, the Italian Local Faction, the Ex-Yugoslavia Faction—which one do you think is suitable?"

At this moment, Tang Long suddenly recalled two fragments!

Both of these fragments occurred during the last home game against Genoa.

The first fragment was about Icardi of the Argentina Faction.

After he assisted Icardi to score, everyone thought it was an accidental result of a mishit shot.

But Icardi asked him, "Did you do that on purpose, or was it an accident?"

From Icardi's eyes, Tang Long saw half trust and half confusion.

Clearly, this striker, who possessed top-tier positioning awareness in Serie A, had a much better understanding of passing and running lanes than his other teammates.

The second fragment was about Ranocchia of the Italian Faction.

Icardi's winning goal came from a penultimate pass by Tang Long.

After making the pass, he was brutally tackled by two Genoa center-backs!

Afterward, everyone on the pitch was celebrating wildly around Icardi.

But only his teammate Ranocchia took the initiative to walk over and ask if Tang Long was injured.

"Uncle Berni, what do you think? Do you have any suggestions?"

"Haha, don't ask me. I've only analyzed the current situation for you; as for what you want to do, that's up to you."

Berni paused, then said thoughtfully:

"Tang, I've been in professional football for many years. When I was young, I also formed cliques in the locker room, which taught me a truth.

If you want to gain someone's support, you must satisfy their needs.

What do they need, and what can you provide? Whether you can meet each other's needs is the key to whether you can come together!"

That night.

In his dormitory at the base, Tang Long was in no rush to watch the match routes to feed the AI.

He didn't enter the Cloud Training field either.

He carefully recalled the conversation he had with Berni over coffee that afternoon.

First, Tang Long immediately ruled out the Ex-Yugoslavia Faction. The only core player in the Ex-Yugoslavia Faction was Handanovic; Kovacic was a main rotation player, and the remaining Krhin was completely on the fringes. The Ex-Yugoslavia Faction's influence at Inter Milan was weak.

That left only the Argentina Faction and the Italian Local Faction.

The former had many members and occupied many starting positions.

The latter occupied the most important position: the captaincy.

"What do they need, and what can you provide? Whether you can meet each other's needs is the key to whether you can come together!"

Berni's words served as a wake-up call for Tang Long.

Currently, the Argentina Faction held the most power at Inter Milan.

It was said that the team's recently retired veteran captain, Zanetti, was going to join the executive management.

If he could be under the protection of the Argentina Faction, he naturally wouldn't have to fear the South American Faction led by Guarin.

But would the Argentina Faction accept him?

Why would they protect a Chinese player?

After all, he was just a bottom-tier figure at Inter Milan.

The same applied to the Italian Local Faction.

What benefits could Tang Long bring to the Italian Faction, and what needs of theirs could he satisfy?

Tang Long opened the starting lineup for Inter Milan's previous match against Genoa on his computer.

He marked two players and drew circles around them.

Icardi of the Argentina Faction.

Ranocchia of the Italian Local Faction.

"Icardi is Inter Milan's top scorer this season. According to my memories from my past life, he will win the Serie A Golden Boot after this season ends."

"Ranocchia is the captain of Inter Milan and the leader of the defense. He often communicates with the referee on the pitch because Italian referees prefer to communicate with local players."

"Hmm..."

Thinking of this, Tang Long basically made up his mind.

He checked the time; it was 8:30 PM.

Tang Long immediately activated the AI Cloud Training field and entered training mode.

He once again chose Iniesta as his sparring partner.

"Bang, bang, bang--"

"Bang, bang, bang--"

On the empty pitch, the sound of their passing echoed.