After the Premier League concluded, players either went on break or began preparations for the European Championship, while Gao Shen became extremely busy.
His main focus remained on Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain.
Interestingly, both teams had reached the Champions League final.
The final would be held at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid.
Gao Shen arrived in Madrid with a business plan in hand and headed to Valdebebas, familiar with the surroundings.
He didn't go straight to the training base but instead visited Real Madrid's headquarters office building.
Florentino and others were waiting for him. Together, they headed to the training ground to meet Zidane and the players, offering encouragement and hoping they could give their all in the upcoming Champions League final.
Let's keep the Champions League title in Madrid!
So far this season, both Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain were fighting for the treble.
Real Madrid had already secured La Liga and the Copa del Rey, while PSG had won Ligue 1 and the Coupe de France. Whoever won the Champions League would complete the treble.
This was undoubtedly a testament to Gao Shen's operational capabilities.
The investment was indeed significant, but the return had been highly rewarding.
Not long ago, Manchester City, Liverpool, and Bayern Munich also purchased packages from Gao Shen, introducing his intelligent analysis systems along with a range of hardware and software tools, all of which would be charged annually.
A dedicated team would provide logistical support, system updates, and continuous upgrades.
This was also a huge opportunity for Gao Shen.
As the business scaled up, the company would face many challenges and inevitable issues. But once those were solved and a mature response system was in place, things would proceed more smoothly.
That was also why Gao Shen had only selected three teams this summer.
Originally, many clubs including Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, and Napoli had expressed interest in working with him. However, due to limited manpower and the heavy burden of launching on a wide scale, Gao Shen had made a cautious decision.
Be steady and pragmatic. Focus on serving the current clients well.
Expanding too quickly would only lead to setbacks.
...
After meeting with the players, Gao Shen and Zidane returned to Real Madrid's headquarters.
Florentino had recently called Gao Shen, mainly to discuss the club's current state.
The Champions League final hadn't yet been played, so the winner remained unknown. But both Real Madrid and PSG had already had successful seasons.
Of course, the side with greater expertise would win more.
For Real Madrid, the key right now was to accelerate the rejuvenation of the squad.
So far, progress in midfield and defense had been solid.
Courtois remained the starting goalkeeper, while young talent like Lunin served as backup.
In defense, although Ramos, Marcelo, and Nacho were all over 30, the squad also had players like Carvajal, Van Dijk, Reguilón, Odriozola, and Theo Hernandez.
De Ligt, brought in for a record fee, had also shone brightly last season with an outstanding performance.
At present, the backline was a balanced mix of youth and experience.
The same applied to midfield.
The established trio in midfield remained core veterans, but alongside them were players like Verratti, Bernardo Silva, Illarramendi, Marcos Llorente, Ceballos, and Isco—national team players with strong performances and distinct characteristics.
Real Madrid's midfield could now be described as extremely powerful and the most well-stocked of the three lines.
Up front, Mbappe on the left, Di Maria on the right, and Benzema through the middle made up the strongest attacking trio last season. Adding veterans like Dzeko, Vazquez, Asensio, Jesé, and Felix, Real Madrid's attacking firepower was formidable.
After one season under Zidane, Felix had shown notable growth. His versatility had improved significantly, allowing him to play in multiple positions. His performances had surpassed players like Asensio, Vazquez, and Jesé.
A mention must be made of Jesé.
Once considered a top prospect, he failed to live up to expectations. Though injuries were no longer a concern, his arrogance stunted his development. Especially after Mbappe joined, tensions rose and he nearly left the team.
Currently, Real Madrid's biggest problems in attack were at center forward and right wing.
Dzeko was already 34, while Benzema and Di Maria were both 32.
With Mbappe now firmly established on the left, that position wasn't a concern. But the center forward and right winger spots needed strengthening.
Felix was versatile and could play as a right winger, but that wasn't enough.
Vazquez, Asensio, Jesé, and Isco were mostly support players within the Spanish contingent.
To be specific, Di Maria had delivered 13 goals and 18 assists last season, ranking first among right wingers in La Liga. He also averaged 2.6 successful dribbles per game, placing him among the league's top three.
He created 46 big chances in total, a figure not just among the best in La Liga but across all of Europe.
Even Sancho, Leeds United's top player, wasn't as statistically dominant as Di Maria on the right.
Goals, assists, chances created, key passes per match...
Di Maria topped many of these categories, some even at a European level.
This proved that although Di Maria was no longer the flying Angel of his younger years and had lost some of his speed and explosiveness, his dribbling and chance creation remained elite and irreplaceable.
It could even be said that Mbappe and Benzema's brilliance this season owed a lot to Di Maria's continued high-level play.
Given the typical traits of Argentinian players, it was hard to predict whether Felix could fill the void in the future, but at present, no one could truly replace Di Maria.
His age, however, was a growing concern.
As Real Madrid's technical director, Gao Shen had to plan ahead.
But now, a strange phenomenon had emerged in European football.
...
"There are plenty of good left wingers, but excellent right wingers are becoming harder and harder to find."
Gao Shen voiced this complaint in front of the management.
Everyone chuckled. Even Florentino couldn't help but laugh.
Because it was true.
There were only a handful of top-tier right wingers in football right now.
Di Maria at Real Madrid, Sancho at Leeds United, Dembélé at PSG, Sané and Mahrez at Manchester City...
It seemed like a decent number, but in reality, with so many powerful clubs across Europe, that supply simply wasn't enough.
The root of this talent shortage wasn't difficult to understand. It came from the trend of using inverted wingers.
Everyone knew that there were fewer left-footed players than right-footed ones. And when it came to inverted wingers, there were far more right-footed players playing on the left than the reverse.
Moreover, many fans likely hadn't noticed a key detail.
In European football, nearly all two-footed players are right-footed. Left-footed players rarely develop a strong right foot.
It goes without saying how rare it is to find a genuinely two-footed player like Dembélé, let alone someone like Messi.
Gao Shen had previously discussed this issue with a professor from Oxford University during an event at the University of Leeds. The professor believed it was related to human anatomy.
In other words, it was extremely difficult for left-footed players to train their right foot. Some simply couldn't do it, no matter how hard they tried.
By contrast, right-footed players had a much easier time developing their left.
The result was an abundance of right-footed players who could play as inverted left wingers, but a limited number of left-footed players, with even fewer capable of becoming effective inverted right wingers.
Of course, at the elite level, left-footed players in the top five leagues weren't exactly rare, just fewer in number.
What was truly scarce were left-footed players with the technical and tactical ability to play for top clubs.
This had led to a growing shortage of high-quality right wingers in European football.
In front of Real Madrid's management, Gao Shen presented a detailed statistical report. His team had spent considerable time compiling data from over a dozen top European leagues. Their conclusion: the pool of top right wingers would shrink over the next few years.
In other words, the available options would become even more limited.
"Starting next season, UEFA will implement a rule allowing five substitutions per match. That will pose a whole new challenge for team depth."
Gao Shen believed that increasing the number of substitutions would impact every club's squad management. Strong teams would gain more of an edge, but only if they had a deep and balanced squad.
This analysis was based on meticulous research by a highly skilled team and even included future projections. Everyone at Real Madrid took it seriously.
Florentino and the others were clearly impressed, as if a door to a new world had been opened.
This was also a great opportunity for Real Madrid to further extend their dominance.
Having only two center forwards in the squad would be risky next season.
While youth players could be promoted, that alone wouldn't be enough. Bringing in real firepower was crucial.
Right wingers, especially top-level ones, would become extremely rare. Di Maria was aging, and finding a high-level replacement had become imperative.
Of course, Real Madrid had several players who could play on the right, such as Marcos Llorente, Jesé, Asensio, Felix, and even Isco.
But from a technical and tactical perspective, they lacked a true right winger.
Jesé was more suited to the left, Asensio was left-footed, and neither Felix nor Isco were traditional flank attackers.
As a result, Real Madrid often relied on overlapping full-backs to stretch the field, which sometimes exposed their defense.
Gao Shen believed that having a top-tier right winger would stretch the opposition's defensive shape and create space in the middle and left channels. It would be a huge tactical boost.
Previously, they hadn't had a clear target, but now, a high-quality right winger had appeared on the transfer market and caught the attention of Gao Shen and Real Madrid.
From both a squad depth and competitiveness perspective, Real Madrid had no reason to pass up the opportunity.
(To be continued.)