10 million Euros? You can't even afford Wu Lei with that!

Mancini served as an assistant coach at Lazio for over a year, until Eriksen left the club to take charge of the England national team.

However, the Swedish master, with his profound tactical acumen, taught his assistant Mancini a great deal.

In 2001, at only 37 years old, Mancini secured a first-team coaching position at Fiorentina, becoming the youngest head coach in the entire Serie A at the time.

While this was certainly aided by the prestige of being a retired star, Mancini's coaching ability was also genuinely recognized.

Everything went smoothly from there; he returned to coach Lazio in 2002 and won the favor of Inter Milan in 2004, beginning his journey as a legendary manager.

Interestingly, Eriksen left Manchester City in 2008, and Mancini became the manager of Manchester City in 2009.

Before taking the job, he actively sought advice from his mentor regarding tactical issues in England.

In short, throughout his career, Mancini always regarded Eriksen as his life mentor, and their tactical styles shared a common lineage—utilitarian, conservative, and prioritizing winning above all else.

In the relaxed atmosphere of their conversation, Mancini shared the thorny problem he was facing with Eriksen.

"Teacher, I feel that young players are becoming harder to manage, especially those born after 1990. They are completely different from our generation."

Mancini was referring to Icardi.

This was just one day before Mancini arrived in China.

The current vice president of Inter Milan, Zanetti, had paid Mancini a sudden visit.

Inside his mansion by Lake Como, Zanetti's words revolved entirely around the issue of Icardi.

Zanetti tactfully told Mancini that Icardi was not happy at Inter Milan and felt he was being ostracized.

"Mr. Mancini, Icardi is an important player for us. Whether from a competitive perspective or the perspective of increasing the club's assets, he deserves attention. We cannot afford to lose him next summer."

Mancini realized this was a conflict between Icardi and Guarin, or rather, a conflict between the Argentina Faction and the South American Faction.

He had originally thought everything was under his control.

But Zanetti's sudden intervention was like a large rock dropped into a bucket; the water, which hadn't been full to begin with, spilled over as a result.

As the most prestigious former captain in the history of Inter Milan, the pressure from Zanetti made Mancini feel the weight of the management.

Before Zanetti visited him, had he spoken with sporting director Ausilio and general manager Fassone?

If even the owner, Thohir, knew about this.

Then the pressure wasn't just coming from the management, but from the ownership itself!

Mancini felt immense pressure. How to strike a balance between competitive results and appeasing players—even the 50-year-old Mancini had his moments of confusion.

Eriksen nodded.

He didn't answer Mancini directly, but instead spoke about Chelsea.

"I coached the England national team, and I have many friends in England. They told me about this incident."

"Do you know Villas-Boas? Three years ago, at only 37, he started coaching Chelsea."

"To show his control over the locker room, he once wanted the club's stars to fly to Miami in economy class. This was met with resistance from the entire squad, and he was sacked after being at Chelsea for just over a year."

"I know what Villas-Boas was thinking. He looked at the club and the players, and he thought, 'Alright, I am the coach now, I need to do something, I need them to understand that they must respect me!' But he went about it the wrong way."

"Just as some players said, 'I am a big star, you cannot ask us to fly economy, this is a matter of principle.'"

Eriksen's words left Mancini deep in thought.

After a long while, he nodded, as if he had figured some things out.

Eriksen filled Mancini's glass with Wusu.

White foam bubbled up and flowed slowly down the side of the glass.

"Roberto, relax. You don't have any real worries. You earn a handsome salary at Inter Milan, while many people in this world have to wake up early to do heavy manual labor in factories. What do you have to complain about? Cherish everything you have now!"

After that, their conversation became much more relaxed.

When Eriksen asked how much of a transfer budget Mancini had for the winter, Mancini gave an awkward smile and held up one finger.

"One hundred million euros?"

"No, teacher, it's 10 million."

Eriksen laughed as soon as he heard it, and he began talking about the Shanghai Port FC he was coaching.

"I don't know about Europe, but the transfer market in Chinese football is very crazy right now. We are going to sign a midfielder next season, and it's almost settled. The other party is also a Chinese player, and they are asking for 50 million yuan, which is about 5.6 million euros. His name is Yu Hai, have you heard of him?"

Mancini was stunned. "Never heard of him, I don't know him. The only Chinese player I know is Tang."

Eriksen continued, "See, even a Chinese player you don't know costs 5.6 million. With your 10 million euros, what kind of player can you buy in Europe?"

"I told my sporting director, Ausilio, that I need to sign a forward to create competition for Icardi," Mancini said.

Eriksen joked, "A forward? Let me think. We have a forward in our team named Wu Lei. He is very young, only 23. 10 million euros should be enough to sign him. Do you want to try? But I don't guarantee that price is enough; our team isn't short on money!"

Mancini couldn't help but ask, "Are Chinese players all this wealthy? In recent years, the Italian economy has been going from bad to worse, and the owners have no money. Even Mr. Moratti's oil refinery is struggling, and Inter Milan has been acquired by foreign capital."

"The prosperity of the Chinese football market has a lot to do with the real estate industry behind it," Eriksen continued eating his grilled fish. "I don't know how long this burning of money can last. It started in 2012, when a team from southern China received capital injection from a real estate developer and won the Asian championship. Then, this money-burning race began."

"But the housing prices in the city of SH where I live are even higher than in some parts of London. If you tell me there's no bubble in this," Eriksen swirled the beer in his glass, "I wouldn't believe it."

At night, a whistling north wind blew across Chongming Island.

Mancini, tipsy from the Wusu Beer, was tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

It was already one in the morning, and he still hadn't drifted off.

He kept recalling his mentor's teachings, and as he thought, he found himself reminiscing about his own youthful days as a player.

Suddenly, his phone rang.

Seeing it was Ausilio, Mancini answered immediately.

"Roberto, two pieces of news, one good and one bad. Which one do you want to hear first?"

"I'll take the bad news first."

"The bad news is that our winter transfer budget has been slashed in half; we only have 5 million euros in cash to work with."

"...And the good news?"

"The good news is that the striker you wanted has been found: Podolski. Arsenal has agreed to let him go."

"5 million can buy Podolski?" Mancini was somewhat incredulous.

"It's a loan, 600,000 for a six-month loan! They say there's a mandatory buyout at the end of the season, but don't you worry, I'll add conditions to the buyout clause, or we can just be stubborn and not buy him at all—everything is negotiable! Sigh, this is how I've been getting by these past few years. Don't worry, we have our own ways of living on a budget. Give me 1 million, and I could loan players from all over Europe!"