In the height of summer in Rome, the Eternal City, the sun scorches the ancient cobblestone streets Tiber River, and a dry heatwave permeates the air, a blend of history and modernity.
After arriving in Rome from Milan, Lin Qi chose a secluded estate near the Spain Square as his accommodation. Less than two hours after landing, Maurizio Gherardini rushed over, his expression subtly cautious. "Lin, Claudio Totti is getting restless. These past few days he's been lobbying in Rome's real estate circles and city hall, working with several local councilors to create some public relations trouble for our transition. After all, even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake; his influence in Rome is too deep."
Lin Qi stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, holding a glass of chilled soda, his gaze calmly fixed on the distant ruins of the Ancient Rome Arena.
"As expected." Lin Qi turned around, a faint smile playing on his lips. "Is what he wants the Virtus Club? No, local real estate developers like Totti are always calculating land, projects, and cash flow. To them, a club is nothing more than a gilded calling card in political and business circles."
Gherardini's eyes flickered slightly. "You mean...?"
"If he wants to make money... that's not difficult." Lin Qi walked slowly to the sofa and sat down, his tone calm and unhurried. "The old arena that Virtus Rome is currently using is outdated. Not only are the facilities old, but its commercial development value is almost zero. The future of Europe basketball lies in the arena economy. We need to build modern, large-scale comprehensive stadiums."
Lin Qi turned around, his gaze sharp as he looked at Gherardini: "Tell him the club and the land belong to us, but the entire EPC contract for the new stadium project, including construction and development profits, can be given to his company. As long as he can help us get the land planning and concession approvals approved by the city hall, the subsequent project profits will be enough to make him laugh in his sleep."
"We provide the capital, the land, and the long-term core assets, while he becomes the super general contractor for this project, reaping huge profits from construction and development. This project will cost at least two hundred million euros." Lin Qi's lips curled into a playful smile. "Of course, this nearly two hundred million euros in construction funds cannot be poured in all at once; it must be allocated in phases strictly according to the project schedule and milestones."
"For a local tyrant, it's better to quietly make a fortune with this lucrative, multi-phase deal than to fight us to the death over a loss-making basketball club. As long as we control the flow of funds and watch the real money flow into his account phase by phase as construction progresses, his anger and political maneuvering will naturally turn into his most zealous cheering."
After listening, a glint of sudden realization flashed in Gherardini's eyes, and he couldn't help but exclaim, "This move has secured the core assets and then firmly grasped his appetite with the promise of huge profits from phased injections. Brilliant, Lin. These Italy tycoons know exactly how to play the game. As long as we can get him to be the contractor on this project and make a fortune, he'll even proactively help us clear away all the obstacles from the city hall."
"Go arrange it." Lin Qi sat back down on the sofa, picked up his coffee, and said, "Tell him there will be a banquet tomorrow night. The blueprints for the new stadium and that phased contract are the best gifts to give to Mr. Claudio Totti."
Gherardini's eyes gleamed with decisiveness. "I'll take care of it right away. Totti will bring his most astute confidants to the banquet tomorrow night. Once he sees this nearly 200 million euro deal, he'll definitely have those councilors who jumped out of the city hall sitting on the table, signing it one by one."
With the local tyrant's crisis resolved, Lin Qi's gaze returned to the draft proposal for the team's coaching staff on the table.
"The off-field matters are settled; next is the team's roster." Lin Qi put away the architectural plans on the table, his expression turning serious. "We need a head coach who is open-minded and even has a preference for American-style tactics. Maurizio, are there any suitable candidates on the market right now?"
Gherardini paused, a subtle glint in his eyes, "Actually, there's a ready-made candidate... it's just that his background is a bit special."
"Who?" Lin Qi asked.
" Marco Crespi." Gherardini shook his head with a wry smile, his tone even carrying a hint of strange irony. "You might remember him. Just last summer, when you acquired Olympia Milan and put Scariolo in charge... Crespi was that former head coach who was kicked out by the club."
Lin Qi's hand, holding the ice water, froze slightly.
A subtle silence fell over the air. He did remember... when he took over Milan last year, the club's management swiftly and decisively removed the then-head coach in order to make room for the renowned coach Scariolo.
Lin Qi coughed lightly, a hint of helplessness in his voice, to cover up the fleeting embarrassment. "... I remember... the Milan board of directors did handle things rather hastily at the time."
"It's more than just hasty and impulsive," Gherardini shrugged. "Back then, Crespi was so angry he almost flipped the table at the press conference, ranting and raving about how the management didn't understand basketball. Now we're trying to get him to come out of retirement, but Mr. Marco is probably still furious with Milan and with us."
Lin Qi put down the documents in his hand, tapped the table lightly with his fingers, and quickly diffused the slight awkwardness. "It's precisely because we drove them out of Milan that this is so interesting. Send Crespi an invitation. Tell him that Rome needs a coach willing to embrace modern tactics, and all the tactics he couldn't implement in Milan last year can be tried in Rome."
"We've chosen the head coach, but what about the coaching staff to support him?" Gherardini pressed.
"So I had the team ready long ago." Lin Qi casually pulled two rather thin files from the corner of the table and pushed them towards Gherardini. "Last year, when I sent people to investigate the Europe market, I also took a look at the United Kingdom Basketball League (BBL). The commercial value there is pitifully low, and there aren't any decent players, but my scouts unexpectedly identified these two in their tactical videos... Nique Nurse and Chris Fincher."
Gherardini looked at the two resumes and raised an eyebrow. " The United Kingdom league? You noticed them last year?"
"Yes, back then we thought they were able to make a lot of plays with extremely limited resources in places like Manchester and Sheffield, so we put them on the watchlist," Lin Qi said calmly. "Now, with these two here, this combination is perfect for letting them experiment with their own basketball philosophies."
Looking at these two resumes, Lin Qi knew very well in his heart that these two young men, who were struggling to make tens of thousands of dollars in the United Kingdom, would later become head coaches of an NBA team. One of them would even stand on the highest podium of the NBA NBA Finals.
But these words need not be said to Gherardini.
"Don't let their current obscurity fool you. I dare say their tactical acumen is no less than that of those pretentious Europe coaches." Lin Qi snapped out of his reverie, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Bring them to Rome."
Gherardini looked at his boss's unwavering, almost frighteningly confident gaze. Though still a little hesitant, he finally nodded. "Alright. I'll send someone to find Crespi, and while I'm at it, I'll send someone to the United Kingdom to finalize the contracts for those two assistant coaches."
With the coaching staff framework finalized, Lin Qi's attention returned to the draft player proposal for the team's rebuilding on the table.
" Italian Basketball League is very strict about the non- European Union foreign player quota..." Lin Qi's long finger pointed to several South America names on the list, "So, we'll take a different approach. These Argentina —Luis Scola, Andrei Sio, Carlos Delfino, Wall Herrmann, and point guards Pablo Prigioni Sio Juan Ignacio Sanchez—offer them long-term contracts and sign them immediately."
Gherardini glanced at the list, his brow furrowing slightly. "Lin, these Argentina lads do have good potential, but they're all non- European Union players. Are we going to put them in Italian Basketball Second Division team?"
"Check their family trees. Almost all of these Argentina players have Italy or Spain ancestry. With the right arrangements, they can all obtain European Union passports as expatriates." Lin Qi paused, his smile deepening. "As for the complicated international procedures for obtaining passports, we can leave that to our 'new friend' who just landed a 200 million euro deal."
Claudio Totti?
"To truly build a relationship with a local bigwig, simply throwing money at him isn't enough; you have to learn how to get him to 'help' you," Lin Qi pointed out the underlying power dynamic. " Totti has deep roots in Rome's city hall and immigration office. What takes us half a year through the regular channels might be a matter of a few phone calls for him. Getting him to use his local connections to get us through special channels to get our passports sorted out not only demonstrates his local influence but also satisfies his vanity. The bonds between people often begin with this kind of mutual 'favor'."
Gherardini was utterly impressed by Lin Qi's masterful handling of the rules and human nature. "Brilliant. If these four South America talents don't take up any foreign player slots, it means Rome has gained four 'domestic players' with foreign player-level ability out of thin air!"
"Since Argentina don't take up a foreign player quota, then our precious non-EU quota..." Lin Qi paused briefly, tapping his fingers lightly on the table, "... one of them will go to that United States kid who was left to fend for himself in Italian Basketball Second Division last year— Chris Anderson."
Upon hearing the name, Gherardini paused for a moment, then chuckled, " Anderson... that guy played like a reckless madman in Italian Basketball Second Division. Although he lacked any decent offensive skills and was purely a rough role player, he possessed incredibly terrifying jumping ability, help defense, shot-blocking, and a rebounding instinct. Among these Argentina players, Scola, while possessing delicate footwork in the paint, ultimately suffered from a lack of height and athleticism. This ' Birdman ' is perfect to fill those gaps. He doesn't need a specific tactical role; as long as he can take off at any time on the weak side for an alley-oop, he'll be more than capable of being a rim protector in the paint."
"As for the remaining two non-EU spots..." Lin Qi snapped out of his thoughts, his tone calm, "Sign Anthony Parker and Kenny Atkinson."
Gherardini picked up the file and glanced at it, his brows immediately furrowing. "To be honest, these two... I haven't even seen them on the transfer market list. Wasting these extremely scarce non-EU player slots on them? Lin, this doesn't align with our transfer principles."
Faced with Gherardini's reasonable questions, Lin Qi remained silent for a moment.
In Gherardini's eyes, Anthony Parker was just an unknown young man still hovering on the fringes of the NBA. And next to Kenny Atkinson's name, his current resume only lists him as a wandering guard who played in leagues in multiple countries.
But Lin Qi knew that Anthony Parker was widely recognized as one of the greatest foreign superstars in Europe Basketball League in the early 21st century, and a solid 3-and-D player in the NBA. As for the seemingly mediocre Kenny Atkinson, he would become a head coach in the future and had a knack for developing players.
For a fleeting moment, Lin Qi even had the urge to blurt these words out.
But he opened his mouth, and in the end, he swallowed it back.
Once he speaks, he will face fatal questions arising from those unfathomable insights...
How did you know?
He was too lazy to explain, and he simply couldn't explain.
Lin Qi raised his head again, his indifferent eyes quietly fixed on Gherardini, showing no intention of launching into any argument.
"Are you questioning my decision?" Lin Qi retorted, his tone revealing neither joy nor anger.
Gherardini paused slightly. He met Lin Qi's gaze, and reason instantly overwhelmed his professional instincts. He knew very well that Lin Qi's will was paramount.
He swallowed his professional concerns. Since his boss had already made the decision, all he had to do was follow it.
"Understood." Gherardini put away the two files, suppressing any further doubts. "I'll go and finalize the contract now."
Virtus Rome Roma
Point Guard (PG) | Pablo Prigioni, Height: 1.91m, Age: 23.
Swingman (SG/SF) | Anthony Parker, Height: 1.98 meters, Age: 25 (Foreign Player Spot)
Small Forward (SF) | Andrei Sio, Height: 2.01 meters, Age: 20 years old.
Power Forward (PF) | Luis Scola, Height: 2.06 meters, Age: 20 years old.
Center/Power Forward (C/PF) | Chris Anderson, Height: 2.08 meters, Age: 22 (Foreign Player Spot)
Swingman (SG/SF) | Carlos Delfino, Height: 1.98 meters, Age: 18 years old.
Forward/Swingman (PF/SF) | Wall Herrmann, Height: 2.06 meters, Age: 21 years old.
Point Guard (PG) | Juan Sio Sanchez, Height: 1.93m, Age: 23.
Point Guard (PG) | Kenny Atkinson, Height: 1.85m, Age: 33 (Foreign Player Quota)
[Coaching Staff]
Head Coach | Marco Crespi
Assistant Coach | Nique Nurse
Assistant Coach | Chris Fincher