A Milan star transfers to San Remo: Latuidi!
A touch of humanity! Latuidi joins on a free transfer, and all of Milan bids him farewell!
Building a little Milan in Serie C! San Remo takes on Latuidi's million-euro salary in full, becoming Serie C's richest club!
Soto: "Welcome aboard, my good friend. Together, we'll lead San Remo into its next chapter!"
Latuidi: "Soto told me we'll only spend one year in Serie C!"
Latuidi: "There are many reasons San Remo won me over. Soto's invitation was crucial, but what decided it was witnessing San Remo's final match of last season with my own eyes!"
Latuidi: "I've never seen a player like Lu Yang. Soto hopes I'll teach him more, but in many ways, he's already better than I was at his age!"
Serie C's rising star Lu Yang: "I grew up watching Latuidi play. He's one of my football idols, and I love his style of play. It inspired me!"
A Serie A star transferring to Serie C was undoubtedly the biggest news in this year's Serie C transfer market.
What was more, Latuidi hadn't taken a pay cut. His annual salary was one million euros!
That was more than the total value of many Serie C teams.
Latuidi alone was worth as much as several Serie C teams combined.
Everyone had nothing but praise and astonishment for this transfer.
After all, even if a Serie B team made a move like this, they'd become the leading candidates for promotion next season. And San Remo was a Serie C team.
Shortly afterward, San Remo signed new contracts with most of the players already at the club.
Some players moved into administrative roles, joining the coaching staff, while others became youth team coaches or scouts.
San Remo's squad had already skewed older, and many players had long since reached the point where they could no longer keep up.
Last season had been their final blaze of glory.
Starting this season, San Remo would gradually begin to rebuild its squad.
Starting with Latuidi, San Remo had practically taken over all the headlines in the lower-league transfer market.
They spent three hundred thousand euros to sign six players from Serie C and Serie D who were still in their prime.
Two forwards, two midfielders, and two defenders.
But this was only the beginning!
They still had several major signings to come!
La Gazzetta dello Sport: "San Remo signs 32-year-old veteran Palacios from Serie B's Empoli for 150,000 euros. Palacios has spent five years playing in Serie B, where he has been a steady performer and a key member of Empoli's defense. He is also the team's third captain."
"This year, Empoli are making a push for promotion to Serie A. They signed a starting center-back from La Liga's Atletico Madrid, and Palacios didn't want to sit on the bench. San Remo, meanwhile, could meet his salary demands."
Tuttosport: "San Remo signs Perugia's starting goalkeeper Jarrad and backup right-back Mathias, both from Serie B, for a combined 200,000 euros."
"San Remo's goalkeeping situation was already precarious last season, and their keeper would struggle to handle the demands of Serie C. At 35, Jarrad is the best choice available to San Remo. He was a steady performer last season and can play in this position until he's 38! He still has the ability to compete in Serie B."
"Twenty-seven-year-old Mathias may not have much potential, but he's good enough to start at right-back for a Serie C team. He'll share playing time with San Remo's current right-back. Given the other player's age, Mathias may soon secure the starting spot."
Roma Sports: "San Remo loans Benevento youngster Jorsen Fernandez, with an option to buy for up to 200,000 euros."
"Fernandez, 18, has played three matches for Benevento's first team before returning to the youth squad. He has solid technique and excellent passing, but his lack of pace has held him back on the right wing. He still has potential, though, and is capable of alternating between right forward and right midfield for San Remo."
Genoa Sports: "Blockbuster news! San Remo once made an offer for Roma backup right forward Bechir Aguilar!"
Amid the flood of news, some stories were bound to be welcome, and others decidedly not.
The reports about San Remo asking after Bechir Aguilar were an example of the latter.
Roma were one of Serie A's traditional powerhouses. Twenty-three-year-old Aguilar had been part of their first team for nearly two seasons, but his performances had yet to earn the trust of his manager or the fans.
He was a decent player right now. His speed, passing, dribbling, shooting, and playmaking were all pretty good. He could have secured a starting spot at any Serie B club.
But Roma clearly wanted more than a player who could merely compete in Serie B.
They wanted a right winger who could shine as a Serie A star.
Aguilar wasn't the answer.
And given his awkward age, Roma were indeed considering letting him go.
Twenty-three.
Calling him old would be going too far.
But if he was supposedly brimming with talent, what did that make all those wonderkids who were only seventeen or eighteen?
To be fair, some players didn't come into their own until they were twenty-three or twenty-four, but most talented players began realizing their potential before then.
Many far-sighted scouts and coaches believed Aguilar had no real potential left to unlock.
The player he was now wouldn't be much different from the player he'd become.
Of course, there were still people who believed Aguilar was worth waiting for.
In the end, Roma kept him.
As a result, San Remo temporarily loaned Benevento's Fernandez to fill in at right forward.
It was a perfectly ordinary offer and transfer.
Some people turned offers down, and others accepted. Some were the one you truly wanted; others were the backup.
Fernandez wouldn't complain about being someone else's backup. He looked forward to more playing time and a bigger role at San Remo.
The problem lay with Aguilar, who learned that San Remo had made him an offer.
In an interview with the media, Aguilar said, "I don't know why every garbage team thinks it can make me an offer. Do they really think money can desecrate football?"
"Yes, their offer was an insult to me! It's the greatest humiliation I've ever suffered. I hate teams like them that are always chasing unrealistic dreams. They're just a Serie C team. Who do they think they are?"
"I'm a Roma player. I play for a powerhouse like Roma, and only clubs of the same or greater stature are worthy of having me!"
Aguilar's attitude was outrageously arrogant.
And because he'd mentioned "clubs of greater stature," he'd offended not only San Remo and many lower-league teams, but Roma fans as well.
Everyone knew Roma weren't among the very biggest clubs in football, but... was it appropriate for a Roma player to say that?
Just look at Roma's Wolf King, Perotta. When Spanish giants Real Madrid and English giants Manchester United came calling, he proudly told them no!
That was true loyalty and devotion to his club.
Not the kind of fake loyalty that said, "Roma's my dad right now, but if a richer dad comes along, Roma can go to hell."
Aguilar had brought trouble on himself with his words, and Roma fans gave him a barrage of abuse.
San Remo fans and supporters of lower-league football, for their part, gave Roma's fans a round of applause.
When Aguilar saw that the fans weren't reacting well, he took his agent's advice and gave another interview. "I'm not good at expressing myself. I hope everyone can understand how I feel about the club. I just don't want to become someone who has to rely on gimmicks to play football. I want to play properly instead of looking for shortcuts."
"I don't like San Remo at all. They have players like that."
This time, Aguilar's comments just barely earned his own club's fans' approval.
But there was no doubt that the player he'd accused of taking shortcuts was Lu Yang.
It was a completely undeserved smear.
Moric immediately tagged Aguilar on social media. "Hey, man, are you taking a shot at my good friend? Are you just jealous of his relationship with Sophia?"
"If you could score an overhead kick from thirty-three meters out, or shake off a whole group of Serie A players like you were felling logs, maybe a few celebrities would take an interest in you too."
"But sadly, you can't. And even if you could, it wouldn't matter, because you don't have my friend's face—the kind that makes women go crazy!"
"I've watched you play. I like watching top-flight football—Premier League, La Liga, Serie A. With all due respect, you're better suited to Serie B. I'm sure you can feel it yourself: you're struggling in Serie A."
"At your age, Lu Yang will become a Serie A star. That's the difference between you. He's not the one taking shortcuts. You are—the one who's so enamored with a big club's reputation that you can't bear to leave, yet can't bring Roma any new honors!"
San Remo's players had long experienced Moric's sharp tongue.
This time, he went all out and tore Aguilar to shreds.
And he did it with remarkable finesse and grace.
Before long, plenty of onlookers began siding with Moric, becoming fans of his razor-sharp wit. After all, he was every man in Europe's benefactor.
Soon, Sophia reposted Moric's comments and replied to Aguilar. "I don't expect you to lead a team from the relegation zone to the championship in half a season. I don't expect you to score the winning goal at the most crucial moment of every match. I don't expect you to keep playing after getting injured, even while they stitch you up on the sidelines. I don't expect any of that from you, because who you are means absolutely nothing to me. I don't care about you at all."
"But I'm warning you: don't try to belittle and insult Lu Yang again. Yes, he's a lower-league player, but everyone who's watched him play knows he's a true footballer. No one who loves football could say anything to attack him..."
"He may not be the best footballer in the whole world, but in my heart, he's the greatest man of all—mine, Sophia's!"
Sophia's words sent the spectators into a frenzy.
It wasn't only football fans. Plenty of entertainment fans started following the feud too.
Though Sophia made no attempt to hide her deep affection for Lu Yang, for once, no one felt jealous.
Because Lu Yang had earned it.
He deserved every word of her praise!
Italian football entered the spotlight like never before.
The attention had come from Sophia, and it didn't belong to Italian football.
Italian football hadn't experienced an influx of attention from outside in a long time.
Everyone knew Serie A was in decline. Stars and fans alike were leaving, and no one could do anything about it.
Capital had shifted elsewhere, and naturally the stars followed. The fans followed the stars. That was the way of things.
But... could Italy make its own stars?
Real stars were made by winning match after match.
But fake stars could be cultivated by other means.
They didn't need to produce a whole generation of superstars like Carlisle, Ancarelli, Maniero, and Soto. Surely it wouldn't be difficult to create a group of young, handsome stars whom people would love.
Sophia's arrival and Lu Yang's sudden fame gave plenty of ambitious people in Italian football an idea.
Before long, the Italian football world was preparing for a major event.
"Hello, Arthas." Lu Yang answered the phone.
"Lu Yang, pack your things and come to Turin," Arthas said excitedly.
"What's going on?" Lu Yang asked, puzzled.
"Italy National TV Sports Channel has put serious money into a football reality show. It'll document the training of a group of talented young players. The show's working title is Star of Italy, and it'll bring together more than forty rising stars playing in Italy," Arthas said. "You've been selected too, Lu!"
"Do you know what this means? You're one of the forty-some young players considered the best in all of Italian football! Your outstanding performances have won over the public and the judges!"
"I used some personal connections to look into it. You're the only one from Serie D! Most of the others are talented academy players from Serie A and Serie B, regular starters for reserve teams, or even substitutes on first teams!"
Lu Yang was excited, but he quickly came back to his senses. "I'm a Serie C player now, not a Serie D player, sir. By the way, what about Moric?"
"Unfortunately, Moric didn't make the cut. Like I said, you're the only one from Serie D—uh, Serie C."
Lu Yang considered it for a moment, then asked, "So isn't that strange? Why am I the only one from a lower league? Was I really chosen for this so-called Star of Italy show because of my talent or my performances?"
Arthas paused, already knowing the answer.
Lu Yang's selection probably had something to do with Sophia.
He brought a huge amount of attention with him!
Arthas knew some of the story behind it. The reality show Italy Football Star Training Camp was essentially designed to fast-track young Italian players and make them famous before they'd even played on the real stage, manufacturing fake stars to keep the fans from leaving.
The idea came from the Premier League, while the method was borrowed from South Korea's trainee audition system.
Arthas knew this much because the man the organizers had invited to launch the camp was none other than his brother, Maniero!
That was right. The only person with enough prestige in football, national popularity to draw the whole country's attention, and the ability to earn young players' trust—someone willing to mentor them, easy to get along with, and free from the obligations of a club or national team—was Maniero!
"I want Moric to take part too. Otherwise, I'll turn down the camp." Lu Yang's mouth curved into a smile, but his tone was firm. "Arthas, I'm sure you can make it happen, right?"
Arthas gave a wry smile. "All right. I'll see what I can do."
Lu Yang knew how to drive a hard bargain. He would make the most of his own value and wouldn't let anyone exploit him for free. That was a good thing.
It was just a shame that, with Lu Yang determined to fight for every inch, his agent would have to spend more time arguing on his behalf.
Fortunately, Moric was known as Young Maniero. That should be enough to convince the show's organizers.