Berlusconi was starting to talk nonsense; it was destined to be unachievable.
Indeed, Suker knew of Berlusconi and Milan's desire for his return, but for him personally, staying at Real Madrid would allow him to pursue more honors.
Therefore, Suker also unequivocally stated his stance.
Although Berlusconi's state was not entirely clear at the moment, a firm attitude was even more necessary then, rather than leaving room for the other party's imagination.
This was not good for either Suker or Milan!
Suker did not stay long in Berlusconi's hospital room; this visit was merely a check-up.
Berlusconi's condition had indeed worsened somewhat, but according to the original timeline, the old man could last until 2021. Of course, Suker was unsure if there would be any variables.
But Suker still sincerely hoped that this old man, who had once helped him, would regain his health.
Leaving the hospital, he took a car back to his villa.
Along the way, Suker and Zorancic were also conversing.
"Recently, Mendes has been vigorously exploring the German agent market, wanting to make it his stronghold!"
With Cristiano Ronaldo, Vukojević, and many other excellent players settling in Germany, Mendes's focus was also shifting towards the Bundesliga.
This was similar to Zorancic's operations in La Liga; they were both building their second strongholds.
And relying on the fame of their players, agent giants like Mendes and Zorancic were like fierce dragons crossing the river. Except for a few local big agents, they were extremely squeezing the living space of small agents.
Even if a few talented players were signed by small agents first, they could still make them switch teams through various means.
No choice!
For the players themselves, if they had any ambition, they also needed an upward channel.
And for agent giants like Zorancic and Mendes, they held the keys to the offices of many powerful clubs. As long as their strength allowed, they were fully capable of orchestrating transfers.
Facing such temptation, few players could resist.
Suker and Cristiano Ronaldo were the biggest cards in Zorancic and Mendes's hands!
Naturally, they would not neglect their promotional offensives.
"Why aren't you developing in the Premier League?" Suker suddenly asked.
Zorancic was in La Liga!
Mendes was in the Bundesliga!
But both also had some players in the Premier League, though they did not consider it a primary source of players.
To this, Zorancic explained with a smile:
"The situation in the Premier League is a bit special!"
"As one of the Big Five Leagues, their youth academy output is very good, but due to excessive media exaggeration, there's a lot of hype involved."
"To put it bluntly, if you sign a young English player, the probability of him becoming famous outside the Premier League will be greatly reduced. Apart from the Premier League, many Leagues hold some skeptical attitudes towards English players or youth academy players from Premier League teams!"
Suker: "Because of the media?"
Zorancic nodded: "Yes, so when we choose English youth academy players, we tend to be even more cautious."
"Moreover, in terms of overall cost-effectiveness, La Liga and the Bundesliga are both higher!"
"What about France?" Suker asked.
Ligue 1, as the bottom of the Big Five Leagues, had a very high quality of youth academy output.
Stars represented by Zidane, Henry, Vieira, and Benzema had all been active in various European Leagues and top clubs.
Even now, young players like Pogba and Griezmann were highly anticipated!
"The French market is occupied!"
Zorancic shook his head.
He and Mendes had also tried to set up operations in France, but they quickly found that France's internal youth training and upward channels formed their own system.
Even without agents, they could obtain good upward channels.
Of course, if they wanted to challenge for the top positions, they would inevitably need the help of agents like Zorancic, which would greatly save them time and effort.
But at that point, they were often already famous, and the commission from agent contracts would be squeezed, leading to a low return rate.
"Have you secured Neymar?" Suker continued to ask.
Zorancic sighed: "Neymar has completely given up on Real Madrid. He will transfer to Barcelona in the winter window or next summer window!"
Zorancic sighed: "They have already signed a letter of intent!"
Suker nodded.
A letter of intent had been signed, which meant there was no possibility of backing out.
Previously, Suker's idea had also come to nothing.
And Barcelona would usher in a new era, an MSN attacking era.
Messi, Neymar, and Suarez!
The MSN attacking trio formed by these three was breathtakingly sharp.
Suker found it very difficult to counter them alone.
Fortunately, Barcelona had MSN!
Real Madrid had BBS!
However, although BBS had cooperated for a long time, they had not formed a true cooperative system.
Under Mourinho's tactical system, the forwards were mostly responsible for counter-attacks.
It was very difficult to make them form their own system, with the three as the core, playing both offense and counter-attacks.
At least it was very difficult to achieve under Mourinho!
To counter MSN, the BBS combination was essential!
And this was also the reason Suker strongly recommended Ancelotti.
Ancelotti was the one who could maximize the offensive capabilities of the three forwards, making the BBS attacking combination close to perfect or even flawless.
It wasn't just Suker breaking through on the left, Bale on the right, and Benzema making passes in the middle—that simple cooperation.
Instead, it involved interchanging runs, cross-movements, retreating to organize, and advancing to attack and score!
An attacking combination that integrated various functions!
Moreover, with Suker's versatility, the BBS combination was very likely to produce richer tactical content than the original BBC combination.
After all, Suker could even play as a central midfielder.
Suker and Benzema could interchange positions, and the two could also swap tasks.
This would make it even harder for opponents to defend against them!
Of course, this was only Suker's theoretical state; he had no idea how to make it happen.
He had also discussed this issue with Benzema and Bale, but it ultimately came to nothing.
The reason was simple: they formed a system, but it was a standalone system that could not integrate with the team.
An attacking combination not only had to operate independently but also integrate into the team to achieve maximum combat effectiveness.
And this required Ancelotti to connect them with his rich experience and wild imagination.
Returning to the villa, Suker went upstairs and gently pushed open Sukic's door.
The little one was sleeping soundly, smacking his lips occasionally, and had kicked the quilt off the bed.
Suker walked over, picked up the quilt, and put it back on the child before returning to his own room to prepare for sleep.
The next day, Zorancic took Sukic to the football school.
Suker also prepared to head to the training base.
With the seventh round of the League concluded, the Champions League would also usher in its third round of matches.
Real Madrid would play away against Ajax!
Ajax was an old opponent; they always seemed to meet in these two seasons, but always fell to Real Madrid.
And this season, in their group, with Real Madrid, Manchester City, and Borussia Dortmund performing strongly, Ajax's situation was becoming increasingly precarious.
If things went poorly, they might not even have a chance to play in the Europa League!
For this reason, they had to perform well in this home match.
As for Real Madrid, they only needed to make their own adjustments.
For the current Real Madrid, what they needed most was to adjust themselves and quickly return to their previous best form.
Of course, this was not an easy task.
After all, many things had happened this season.
First, Alonso left, Kaka was injured, and the midfield was almost completely restructured!
Secondly, Real Madrid had been at odds for a long time due to internal conflicts, the dressing room atmosphere was severely low, and the players' form had also declined significantly.
Finally, there was the impending Head Coach's departure. Although not yet announced, players could sense some clues from various signs.
For example, perceptive players like Pepe and Marcelo had already slightly felt it.
"Is Mourinho leaving?"
Pepe sat next to Suker and asked quietly.
Suker glanced at Pepe: "Can't you gossip less?"
"It feels strange. The media has also speculated about these things, and Mourinho's recent actions are also very strange. The sudden warming of the dressing room atmosphere is also an issue. Mourinho and the Spanish native players previously disliked each other and had such fierce arguments, almost coming to blows, but this morning, I saw Mourinho chatting with Ramos."
Pepe shrugged: "They were even chatting with smiles! God, are their relations that good?"
Marcelo, on Suker's other side, also nodded:
"The players the technical department has been focusing on recently are also technical players.
If Mourinho were in charge, he would definitely be looking for tough, strong defensive players.
All of this tells us that the club has made its decision."
Suker waved his hand, "Don't overthink it.
They'll tell us when it's time to tell us!"
"As for technical players, that's because we really need a good midfielder!"
Ever since Kaka's injury, Real Madrid has suffered from not having a replacement, and Alonso left abruptly, making it difficult to find an excellent midfielder.
Furthermore, excellent midfielders are the foundation and core of their respective teams, and the probability of them entering the transfer market is very small.
Unable to wait for a core midfielder to appear on the transfer market, they could only 'poach'.
Just recently, Real Madrid began to flirt with Pirlo of Juventus again.
In fact, in 2006, after Italy won the championship, the 'Telephone Gate' scandal erupted in Serie A.
At that time, Pirlo received a transfer offer from Real Madrid.
The situation at that time was very critical; it could be said that Pirlo was on the verge of signing.
Fortunately, with Maldini's reassurance, Suker's stance, and most crucially, Milan's Vice President Galliani offering Pirlo a blank contract for him to fill in his desired figures.
With these three measures, Pirlo was retained, otherwise, Milan at that time might have truly collapsed.
Several years later, Pirlo transferred to Juventus, and Real Madrid once again set their sights on this Italian deep-lying playmaker.
In fact, Suker was quite in favor of it!
Pirlo was fully capable of filling Modrić's void and forming a new 'Ceremony Midfield'.
Moreover, Pirlo was also very adaptable to this midfield system.
Casemiro could be his bodyguard!
Kroos could also distribute the ball, acting as a tempo setter.
With Pirlo dictating the tempo from deep, Real Madrid's midfield would be as stable as could be, and it would even facilitate the rapid growth of Casemiro and Kroos.
But this was not an easy transfer to achieve.
On one hand was Pirlo's own preference; he still preferred to play in Italy.
On the other hand, Juventus was keeping a very tight grip!
The matter ended there.
Then Real Madrid's technical department shifted their gaze downwards, turning to the position below Pirlo.
That's right!
That young French midfielder, Paul Pogba!
Suker was firmly against this transfer.
This guy was a cancer!
His will to compete was not strong enough, and he was also a big problem.
A doping midfielder, no matter how good his performance, this violated professional sports law.
Suker also had a headache.
He was still worrying about Modrić, and then this guy suddenly caught Real Madrid's eye.
Suker showed his displeasure!
Although the reason was unclear, Suker's disapproval meant the technical department could not proceed.
Even if he were bought, it would be a heap of trouble.
And even Florentino stepped in and personally called off this transfer operation.
Suker would not actively interfere with the club's transfer operations, nor would he force the club to buy players he liked or players he had good relationships with.
But he also had the ability to say 'no' directly when he encountered players he disliked!
The plane landed.
The entire Real Madrid team arrived in Amsterdam, the Capital of Netherlands.
While riding the team bus, Mourinho stated directly:
"Gentlemen, I do not want to see it published in tomorrow's newspapers that one of our players appeared in the Old Town, especially near the church!"
In Amsterdam's Old Town, several rivers flow around the church area.
Small rivers flow, and the scenery along the banks is boundless.
It is the famous 'De Wallen', a red-light district network composed of various small alleys.
Some of Real Madrid's players showed embarrassment.
Of course, they wouldn't go to partake, but they wanted to see it, but Mourinho directly called it off.
Upon arriving at the hotel, Mourinho announced the schedule for today and tomorrow.
The schedule was packed to prevent the players from going out and carousing.
Club discipline must exist; not every player is self-disciplined, and this also prevents their form from further declining.
After the afternoon training session and dinner, everyone, bored, gathered together again.
Casemiro brought his game console.
He was engaged in an intense battle with Kroos.
Mourinho did not overly restrict these game consoles, as it was also a process of stress relief.
Of course, they couldn't play too much and affect the next day's match.
"This guy, playing as a single defensive midfielder tomorrow, isn't even nervous," Srna said with a smile, looking at Casemiro.
It's a good thing to be in the mood to play games; the worst thing is to be restless and dazed.
It must be said that after the derby against Barcelona, Casemiro had also grown somewhat, at least mentally, and was not as easily nervous as before.
Everything has a first time!
But once you get through it, you quickly adapt.
"Midfield inverted triangle, attacking front triangle!
Tomorrow is a 4-1-2-2-1 formation.
This is going head-to-head with Ajax!"
Benzema said with a smile, believing that Mourinho's tactic suited his temperament well.
Not every match requires avoiding the heavy and taking the light approach.
Some matches require a heavy punch, defeating the opponent head-on in what they are most proud of.
Ajax had completely angered Real Madrid this time!
Before the match, Ajax's general manager stated in an interview that Real Madrid was on a downward slope and would soon return to their previous state of 'Champions League Round of Sixteen'.
He even said that Real Madrid's previous strength was an illusion, because other clubs were in a period of adjustment.
It wasn't that Real Madrid was too strong, but rather that other clubs were in adjustment and couldn't perform at their full strength.
These remarks completely negated Real Madrid's previous honors and also angered Mourinho.
Denying Real Madrid's past achievements was equivalent to denying Mourinho.
For this, Mourinho was truly enraged this time, and he wanted to defeat Ajax head-on.
He wanted to tell Ajax with his final punch, 'Your grandpa is still your grandpa!'
Of course, Ajax's move also had an implication.
The reason is simple!
Selling players!
Last season, Ajax's 'supermarket' business was not good, compared to the scale of transfers they managed in previous seasons, where they could transfer players every season.
Their transfer scale last season was too small.
Core players, such as Eriksen, De Jong, etc., all remained with the team, and there was no good market for buyers and trades.
To sell players, Ajax also seized this hot topic in public opinion.
Criticizing Real Madrid, attracting traffic, and boosting the match's popularity.
The more people watched, the better they could sell players.
Regardless of victory or defeat, the performance was there!
As long as they didn't lose too badly, they could still achieve a promotional effect.
And in today's football world, is there any match with more promotional effect than Real Madrid's?
Of course, these words also caused Ajax to face a lot of criticism.
Especially the personal social media of that Ajax general manager was constantly being bombarded.
But they adhered to the principle that 'black is also red' and tirelessly promoted themselves.
At the very least, this season, they wanted to sell De Jong and Eriksen for good prices!
Then continue to cultivate the next generation, and continue to sell players!
This is Ajax's survival model today.
Of course, they did not know that Real Madrid's anger had been completely ignited at this moment.
The situation was much more dangerous than they imagined.
After the previous conflicts, Real Madrid's locker room was already holding a fire, and everyone felt uneasy.
But Ajax's remarks this time ignited this powder keg!
And this time the explosion was outward!
Real Madrid's players would naturally explode without reservation, and with Mourinho fanning the flames, their overall fighting spirit was further ignited.
The next day, early morning.
To ensure the players' 'fighting spirit', Mourinho specifically took out a brand new "Harbor News" to display.
This was Amsterdam's most popular newspaper, and on the front page was a string of large characters.
Under the translator's explanation, the players immediately understood, and the anger that had subsided after sleep was reignited.