"You and Hans... are in cahoots!" Lu Yang's eyes were sharp.
"Just like your relationship with Hans." Sotu didn't shy away, "And Maniero... In fact, it was Maniero who recommended me to Hans. He's truly a wise person, both on and off the field."
Lu Yang nodded, "I knew it, Live Football Report always has those stories about your rivalries and relationships that nobody else gets. You really leverage off-field factors and player bonds to boost your reputation."
Sotu replied, "But we've never shown any false behavior in matches, every time we meet, we go all out."
Lu Yang said, "I believe that."
Sotu questioned, "Why? You just believe what I say? What if..."
Lu Yang replied, "Because I have played football with you all, I trust football!"
Sotu pondered for a long time; Lu Yang's words touched him.
In fact, Sotu wasn't initially working with Hans, and back then, he wasn't any top star, just an ordinary Milan midfield workhorse.
Maniero felt the pressure and trouble Sotu caused him in matches were too great.
Maniero believed such an excellent player shouldn't be buried, Milan's fans needed to know what a great contribution someone in their team was making.
Just as Juventus fans need to clearly know how important Maniero is to them.
On the other hand, Maniero also needed an opponent to maintain his own publicity.
He knew early on that having a topic would attract more media and fan attention, allowing you to stay famous longer. Fans need to be more lenient towards you, and every player needs a tolerant public environment.
Because no matter how strong you are, there will always be times when you lose, when you underperform.
If you don't even have the margin for error to play a bad match, on what basis can you grow to be a superstar?
There's no player in this football world born a superstar.
So Maniero helped establish the notion of Sotu as Maniero's lifelong rival, boosting both their reputations.
Sotu had nothing to lose from it.
Maniero didn't need him to slack off on the field. They both have high loyalty to their teams and high expectations for themselves and football.
From the decline of Hans's influence following Maniero and Sotu's retirement, it's clear that this lifelong Serie A rivalry was engineered by Maniero.
Without Maniero, Hans gradually lost his footing in the news media sector.
Hans considered redoing Maniero's plan and cultivating the next pair of brain vs. butcher.
But he failed.
Arnold was his third failure.
Maybe due to uneven development on both sides, jealousy arose from one player towards the other causing them to refuse a harmonious publicity stunt.
Maybe one side became ordinary, losing the operating space and value.
Or perhaps some fool kicked Hans out just for 300 euros.
Arnold will never know what he lost.
He lost a chance to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Sotu and Maniero.
In short, Hans couldn't complete this task.
He had no initiative; he was just a channel of expression, a broker, with too low participation.
The only ones who could truly control all aspects and create idols were the participants themselves.
That is, only the players themselves could.
Hans could only play support.
And recently, Hans excitedly told Sotu he found another ADC for himself, perhaps not inferior to Maniero.
Sotu sniffed at that.
Not everyone is worthy of being compared to Maniero!
But when Hans mentioned Lu Yang's name, Sotu fell silent.
Because, in his eyes, though Lu Yang and Maniero are completely different players, they both possess a magical trait, which is... excelling at creating miracles.
So...
"Tell me your thoughts; I need to confirm whether we're working towards the same thing." Sotu was straightforward but used a peer-to-peer, same-level conversational style subtly.
Sixteen years old?
Sixteen years old, my foot!
Anyone who treats Lu Yang as a sixteen-year-old kid is asking for trouble.
"Simple, Vedian has to leave next season; the team can't keep him, nor do they have a reason or ability to." Lu Yang said, "Given this, why not make him look more valuable?"
"Next season, we need a certain amount of transfer funds, and Vedian can simplify this. Otherwise, even with Milan's resources, we couldn't afford him."
Lu Yang's final sentence made Sotu's hair stand on end.
He even knew about this?
"Don't look at me like that." Lu Yang laughed, "I can even guess you're planning to bring in either Juventus's veteran midfielder Latu Yidi or Juventus's old captain Chiellini!"
This made Sotu completely uneasy.
"Damn it! When did you tap my phone! Tell me, how many cameras have you installed in my home, filming me with female fans in hotels?" Sotu sounded like a lion ready to kill.
And Lu Yang... opened his mouth wide, "That's a juicy piece of news, you're a fan of Cao!"
"Shush!" Sotu covered Lu Yang's mouth to prevent them from being overheard by the players in front, "I'm a man too; I have needs. I'm thirty-eight, unmarried; lots of issues to deal with, you know!"