Chapter 337: Real Madrid Enters the Fray—Is Li Ang Going Home?
"I can't wait to play alongside you, Luis! We're going to do something big together. With you joining us, I'm full of confidence that we'll win the Premier League and Champions League again next year…"
Just five minutes after Chelsea and Liverpool simultaneously announced Suárez's official transfer to Chelsea, Li Ang picked up his phone and called the Uruguayan striker directly.
The two had been speaking frequently in recent weeks, and their relationship had grown increasingly friendly. But this call, coming immediately after the official announcement, filled Suárez with an overwhelming sense of sincerity and welcome.
Listening to Li Ang's heartfelt compliments and enthusiastic praise, Suárez couldn't stop smiling. He was visibly thrilled.
His decision to join Chelsea this summer wasn't just a football move—it had a lot to do with Li Ang's relentless efforts behind the scenes.
It wasn't only Li Ang who had been in touch. Messi and Neymar had both reached out from Barcelona, encouraging him to consider Camp Nou as his next home.
Suárez had been torn at first, but in the end, he simply couldn't resist Li Ang's warmth and persistence.
And let's face it—Li Ang was damn good at flattery.
Suárez had spent years at Liverpool, collecting very few trophies despite his talent. He always felt that his abilities weren't being truly recognized at the global level.
If Sterling had praised him and said he was being underutilized at Liverpool, he would've just laughed it off.
But when that praise came from Li Ang, the world's best midfielder and Ballon d'Or frontrunner, and from Mourinho, the five-time Champions League-winning tactical mastermind…
It didn't just flatter him—it healed something inside.
So no, it wasn't that Barcelona wasn't appealing, or that Messi wasn't persuasive.
It's just that Chelsea's duo—the maestro and the master—were simply too convincing.
Add to that Suárez's desire to leave his mark on the Premier League, and the decision made itself.
The Champions League sometimes came down to luck, but Chelsea were undisputed kings of the Premier League now. His chances of winning a league title were much higher with the Blues.
He had done right by Liverpool, staying an extra year, mentoring younger forwards, and ultimately leaving them nearly €100 million richer.
Compared to Van Persie's exit, Suárez's departure was practically a gift. He wasn't joining a direct rival, and he had no bad blood with the fanbase.
For him and his management team, joining Chelsea was the best possible ending to a difficult saga.
With Suárez—one of the summer window's hottest commodities—off the market, the rumor mill briefly cooled down.
But with Europe's top clubs all brandishing war chests and making noise in the market, fans knew the transfer drama was far from over.
Barcelona, for example, still had €90 million in hand and were desperate to rebuild their forward line and midfield depth—especially after losing Suárez to their English rivals.
Other clubs had already caught wind of Barça's desperation and were eagerly preparing to hike their prices.
But none of that mattered right now.
What mattered was that Barça wanted revenge—to reinforce, rebuild, and reclaim the pride they lost at Chelsea's hands.
Li Ang, oblivious to the resentment brewing in the Barça boardroom, was halfway across the world, busy with summer sponsorship duties in China.
Just two weeks prior, with help from his agent Jorge Mendes, Li Ang had teamed up with Cristiano Ronaldo in the U.S. for a joint promotional campaign.
America didn't have a massive football fanbase, but it did have an enormous appetite for celebrity-driven media events.
And with their tall frames, sharp features, and global superstardom, Li Ang and Ronaldo were a match made for the American market.
Their joint appearance created a media storm.
After inking a slew of endorsement deals, the two left the States with heavier wallets, and Mendes was grinning from ear to ear.
That said, Mendes had long seen China as the real gold mine.
Li Ang had already completed two Premier League titles and a Champions League with Chelsea. Back home, his popularity was now light-years ahead of any other celebrity, athlete or otherwise.
And with that stardom came commercial value.
Li Ang hadn't expected the scale of the domestic reaction to Chelsea's Champions League triumph. He was stunned.
A domestic tech giant that had signed a nine-digit endorsement deal with him just last year immediately contacted Mendes the night of the final—offering to double the amount and extend the contract from two to four years.
One after another, top Chinese companies made similar moves.
Even without counting salary and bonuses, Li Ang's endorsement income alone was rapidly approaching the combined annual earnings of Messi and Ronaldo.
Mendes predicted that after Li Ang won the Ballon d'Or in early 2016, his total income for that year would surpass both Messi and Ronaldo combined.
It would be a record-shattering figure in sports history.
But for Li Ang, all those numbers felt like… just numbers.
He had no interest in luxury goods or multimillion-dollar real estate.
When he wasn't doing promotional work, he preferred quiet travel with close friends.
In truth, apart from his unrelenting hunger for titles on the pitch, Li Ang was a remarkably zen, low-key person.
Money didn't excite him anymore. As long as his loved ones could live comfortably, that was enough.
These days, he was more inclined to donate to charity.
Mendes often joked that Li Ang was trying to become a saint.
But Li Ang didn't think he had the moral standing to be anyone's role model.
He just wanted to be remembered as a "kind and interesting person." That would be more than enough.
After finishing his media obligations in mid-July, Li Ang returned to Cobham to join Chelsea's preseason camp.
This was the shortest summer training break of his career—only 10 days of solo practice in late June.
But at this point, his skillset was well-rounded. There were no glaring weaknesses left to address.
Now it was all about maintaining his peak.
He passed his medical easily and quickly reconnected with teammates, new and old.
Suárez had arrived at the training base a day earlier.
Seeing him in a Chelsea training kit felt surreal at first.
As the player most familiar with Suárez at the club, Li Ang took the initiative to help him adjust.
After day one, he organized a team barbecue to welcome the Uruguayan star.
He even asked if Suárez had found a home or schools for his kids.
Though Li Ang didn't know the details, he offered to have Mendes take care of it all.
The gesture brought the two even closer.
But just as Li Ang was settling into preseason routine, something unexpected—perhaps good, perhaps not—came knocking.
On his second morning back at Cobham, Mendes flew to London and showed up at his doorstep.
"You're not joking, Jorge? The president said that himself?"
Li Ang was stunned.
And by "president," he didn't mean Abramovich—he meant Florentino Pérez.
"Yes, I'm absolutely sure," Mendes replied, clearly exhausted. "Pérez called me last night. He wants to explore the possibility of bringing you back to the Bernabéu."
To Mendes, the idea of bringing Li Ang back to Real Madrid had always been a tantalizing one.
But the timing… was terrible.
If Pérez had raised this even a few weeks earlier, Mendes could've worked something out with Chelsea and Mourinho.
Now, with preseason already underway, not even Mourinho would be okay with letting Li Ang go.
Li Ang didn't need much time to decide.
He picked up the phone and called Pérez himself to politely decline.
There was no scenario—personally or professionally—where he would leave Mourinho and Chelsea this season.
He figured that would be the end of it.
But just two days later, Marca broke the story.
Florentino Pérez had officially invited Li Ang to return to Real Madrid.
After a month of silence from Los Blancos in the transfer market, this was their bombshell.
Chelsea fans panicked.
But in Madrid?
The city went crazy.
"We want the Little Lion!
Bring back the true Prince of the Bernabéu!"
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 40 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/johanssen10