Mr. Russell is genuinely concerned that one day Lu Yang might soar to heights that San Remo can never reach.
At that point, Russell and San Remo would have no choice but to bid farewell to Lu Yang.
Russell has a premonition that such a day will come.
No matter how much he invests, no matter how battle-hardened Sotu is, no matter how powerful Lu Yang and Morici are, San Remo can ascend from the Italian D Division to the Italian Third Division, Serie B, and even into Serie A, but it will never be able to become a football giant in the short term.
In the short term, they will never be able to compete for the highest honors in the football world, which is a fatal flaw for all young and strong teams.
Why?
The answer is simple.
Russell can invest millions or even tens of millions into San Remo each year without concern for cost, but he cannot invest hundreds of millions each year without concern for cost!
To compete for top honors in the football world, a team needs to average over one hundred million euros in investment each year.
This also requires that your management is not poor and that the team’s performance is not poor.
If the performance is slightly below standard, an average of two or three hundred million a year won’t even suffice.
Aside from the grand financial groups in the Middle East, no one can sustain such continuous large-scale investment.
Only traditional giants, which have massive influence and commercial profitability, can afford such long-term consumption.
Take jersey sales for instance, super club Manchester United can sell one and a half million jerseys a year!
Meanwhile, Leicester City, which performed similarly to Manchester United during one period, only averaged hundreds of thousands in jersey sales annually.
Most Premier League teams only sell tens of thousands of jerseys.
And the Premier League is already the most commercially developed league among the Five Major Leagues.
Even with wealthy teams like Manchester City and Chelsea, with their large investments and numerous superstars, they once sold only a little over three hundred thousand jerseys, still facing a massive gap with traditional giants such as Manchester United, Liverpool, and Arsenal.
And that’s just in terms of jerseys; it’s similar in other areas as well.
So in terms of performance, as long as they are willing to invest, San Remo can potentially rival Serie A teams in the future.
But San Remo can never become the next Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, or even the next Rome, Florence, Naples...
"Lu, if I could, I would even wish for your injury concerns to never disappear so you could always stay at San Remo," Russell joked.
But regarding Lu Yang’s meniscus issue, he wouldn’t intentionally emphasize it.
He knows what Lu Yang cannot accept, so he must treat Lu Yang with sincerity to possibly establish a true and lasting friendship with him.
Russell’s thoughts aside, the thoughts of San Remo fans aside, various football professionals have their individual opinions.
But this information was soon overshadowed.
Because tonight, the night of June 1st, in Istanbul, there’s a top-tier clash in the football world!
Champions League Final!
AC Milan VS Liverpool!
At the start of the match, in the 52nd second, Liverpool’s kickoff failed, intercepted by AC Milan’s defense line.
AC Milan counter-kicked off, Andrés made a precise low-ground long pass to Izalelt. Izalelt received the ball on the right flank at midfield and quickly broke through, rushing around the right edge of Liverpool’s large penalty area.
A Liverpool defender fouled during defense and brought down Izalelt, giving AC Milan a well-positioned set piece.
Izalelt charged into the penalty area preparing to seize the opportunity, his aggressive style drawing significant attention from the Liverpool defense.
Liverpool had a total of eight players in defense in the penalty area, with two wall blockers and a goalkeeper, almost the entire team was pulled back to the big penalty area.
On the AC Milan side, only Izalelt, Praxedes, a central defender, and a central forward were involved in this set-piece attack.
Andrés made a cross.
Praxedes quickly dashed from the far post to the center, overtaking Izalelt.
The defender marking Praxedes was blocked by the numerous players around Izalelt.
Liverpool’s penalty area, crowded with people, became counterproductive. Praxedes managed to run into an open space and executed a direct volley!
This strike wasn’t perfectly timed, nor was its power sufficient.
But... the football still flew past the Liverpool players into the net.
AC Milan, one to zero lead!
And at this moment, many fans were still finding their seats.
No one could have anticipated the first goal to come so quickly!
The AC Milan players were ecstatic!
A week ago, they lost a relatively unimportant championship, becoming a joke in the mouths of many.
A week later, they are determined to win the most important trophy in club football to prove themselves and reclaim their glory!
In the 38th minute, AC Milan got another opportunity, but the central forward was offside.
Liverpool took a long shot, straight away creating an attacking opportunity, with Liverpool’s captain Jelando’s direct through ball piercing through AC Milan’s defense line.
But Liverpool’s striker also failed to seize the chance, his breakthrough was blocked by Praxedes’s anticipatory tackle in the penalty area.
The football struck Praxedes, resulting in a loss of possession for Liverpool.
Liverpool players complained about a handball by Praxedes inside the penalty area, while Praxedes quickly got up, controlled the football, and sent a long pass to the feet of Andrés in the front field.