Chapter 76: The Chaos of Mallorca

José hadn't expected that by merely expressing a hint of interest, he would receive such a quick and enthusiastic response.

But thinking about it, it made sense. After all, for the Asensio family, this was quite a profitable deal. In the four years since they acquired shares in Mallorca, aside from the one season in La Liga 2 where there were minimal returns, the next three years had mostly recouped the initial investment. Now, selling would bring in more than three times the original value—such returns were highly attractive for a businessman.

If it weren't for Asensio's deteriorating health and Juan not being interested in the club, Asensio might not have been willing to let go. However, now that they were already thinking of selling the shares and didn't want to give them to Grandé, José's hint was a perfect match with their intentions!

Of course, the relationship between the two families played a large role. If they were going to sell the shares, selling them to José made more sense than to someone else. Additionally, the Alemani family's entry would surely make life more difficult for Grandé. Even though Alemani's methods might not be as sharp as Asensio's, being locals of Mallorca would give them greater stability!

Before stepping away, Asensio and his son were more than happy to give Grandé a lesson—this was a much-needed, satisfying opportunity.

"Uh, did your father agree to sell the club?" After hearing Juan's response, José was taken aback. He hadn't expected it to be so easy to achieve his goal, and for a moment, he was slightly dazed.

"Don't tell me you're joking! If you don't want it, I'll go find someone else. We're friends, so I'm offering you first dibs," Juan said with a laugh.

"What's the asking price?" José quickly regained his composure. He realized that he had underestimated both Asensio and Juan, though this didn't impact his ultimate goal much.

"Let's go with the market value, just don't let us lose money," Juan said straightforwardly.

José nodded. "Alright, forget about the market value. Mallorca is worth about 50 million now. A straight price of 30 million dollars, and the shares are yours."

"Done," Juan agreed easily. In fact, Mallorca wasn't worth much—it couldn't even compare to Figo. The club's assets were basically an abandoned stadium, a large training base, and the players. Moreover, in the current climate, managing a club and turning a profit wasn't going to be quick—it was more about continued investment. This was precisely why Asensio had decisively decided to sell the club.

Three years later, Chelsea was sold for two billion, but a large part of that was to pay off debt. Chelsea had its own stadium, which Mallorca obviously didn't have. The 50 million estimate for Mallorca was already quite generous.

Next came the tedious transfer procedures, which were carried out quietly without anyone knowing. José planned to surprise Grandé.

Meanwhile, Alemani was secretly in contact with the other small shareholders. Aside from the 5% shareholder Bonet Pep, who was a close ally of Grandé, the rest of the shareholders, who owned up to 2% or as little as less than 1%, had all been persuaded by Alemani to sell their shares to the Alemani family. These shareholders had little influence at meetings, earned little, and were worried about deficits. Now that the Alemanis were offering a slightly higher-than-market price, there was little reason for them to refuse.

In this process, the Alemanis' identity as locals of Mallorca played a key role. Many of these small shareholders were also local, and had long been dissatisfied with outsiders controlling Mallorca and constantly selling players. Their positive sentiment and recognition of the Alemanis' local status made the negotiations go smoothly.

Of course, these matters would take time to finalize. The Mallorca fans would have to continue their despair.

The despair wasn't limited to the fans. There was also one person in particular.

After Mallorca's home match in the second round of the UEFA Cup ended in a 1-1 draw, followed by a 1-2 loss to Athletic Bilbao in the fourth round of the league, Stankovic was sidelined by Vázquez. Looking to shift blame, the old defenders were untouchable, and the forwards, who had been nurtured by him, were off-limits. The only player left who could be sacrificed was Stankovic…

After pushing Stankovic to the sidelines, Vázquez adopted a three-forward formation to boost the attack—Biajini and Delgado up front with George on the wing. So far, they had only scored one goal per game in the last seven matches, which made this change inevitable. Luckily, in the fifth round, they secured their first league win of the season, defeating Santander 2-1 at home.

With that win, Vázquez breathed a sigh of relief. Now he had even more reason to push Stankovic out—subbing him off led to a win, so why should the substituted player stay on the team?

In the next league match, they managed a 1-1 draw against defending champions Deportivo La Coruña. The consecutive positive results boosted Vázquez's confidence, and he declared in a press conference, "We are on the right path. We've found the rhythm of victory."

The upcoming league fixtures were relatively easier, so Vázquez hoped to win a few more matches to stabilize the team, which was crucial for his own position. During this time, Mallorca would also participate in the UEFA Cup, facing Rapid Vienna next. While not an easy opponent, they were certainly better than facing teams from the bigger leagues.

If the team performed well during this period, Vázquez's job would be more secure.

But clearly, Vázquez was being overly optimistic.

In the first leg of the second round of the UEFA Cup, Mallorca hosted Rapid Vienna. Thanks to goals from George and N'Gonga, Mallorca won 2-1. While the score was not a secure lead, it was still better than nothing.

In the seventh round of the league, they earned a 1-1 draw away against Zaragoza. Considering Zaragoza's fourth-place finish last season, this result seemed satisfactory.

However, in the eighth round, Mallorca returned home to face newly promoted Osasuna and drew 1-1. Mallorca's attacking force couldn't break through Osasuna's defense, and although Delgado equalized in the 80th minute with a cross from Ibagasa, it still ended in a draw.

Mallorca seemed to be infected by a plague of draws. In the ninth round, they started strong with a two-goal lead against Celta, thanks to goals from Ibagasa and Biajini. But defensive mistakes allowed Catania and Karpyin to score for Celta, and the match ended in a 2-2 draw.

Mallorca had become the peace ambassadors of the league, with only one win, five draws, and three losses after nine rounds, ranking just above Osasuna and Santander. While the points ahead were not high, this performance was already quite poor.

To make matters worse, they were also eliminated from the UEFA Cup, losing 1-2 to Rapid Vienna away and falling in a penalty shootout, missing out on the third round.

Mallorca's fans had become numb. To be knocked out of the UEFA Cup by a relatively weak opponent was an unusual and disappointing result. Under Vázquez's leadership, they had made a record no one would want to celebrate.

Vázquez was feeling the pressure. The results were poor, and the most troubling issue was that he felt the dressing room was slipping out of his control. After Stankovic was sidelined, many of his friends on the team were upset. The older players were also unhappy with the high-intensity tactics.

Under these circumstances, Mallorca seemed to be heading nowhere.

Stankovic began to consider leaving Mallorca. After all, a player who had been an absolute starter was now regularly benched, proving that the club no longer needed him. As a 29-year-old player, Stankovic didn't want to quit yet, and he didn't feel his form had declined.

At this time, an invitation came to him from France.

Marseille, who had been impressed by Stankovic's hat trick against Monaco in the UEFA Cup the previous season, was interested in signing him. While Marseille's rivalry with Monaco wasn't as intense as their one with Paris Saint-Germain, it was still significant. Marseille saw Stankovic as a valuable addition to strengthen their squad.

Although it wasn't the transfer window yet, the winter transfer period in La Liga started on December 1, and with it being early November, it was entirely natural to submit a transfer request.

Stankovic hadn't initially planned to leave Mallorca, but with the coach not favoring him, he found it meaningless to stay. Furthermore, José had been very low-key after his recovery and hadn't even been going to the youth teams. Stankovic wasn't sure how long it would take for Vázquez to be sacked and for José to take over.

Therefore, Stankovic agreed to Marseille's proposal, and after receiving his consent, Marseille quickly made an offer to Mallorca.

During this period, Juan was busy with the share transfer process with José, and Alemani was convincing the small shareholders, leaving the club with very little management. Grandé, as the second-largest shareholder, received the transfer news and asked Vázquez for his opinion. After quickly agreeing, he authorized the transfer of Stankovic to Marseille for 2 million dollars.

In Grandé's view, 2 million dollars wasn't much, but at 29 years old, Stankovic no longer had much value. With the club likely facing a deficit this season, Grandé knew that liquidating the player would bring in some needed funds.

Without much thought, Grandé approved the transfer.