Chapter 82: Someone’s Rolling Out

José had been on a grueling journey, flying thousands of kilometers, from Spain to Kyiv, then back through Spain, and finally to South America, before returning to Mallorca. He was exhausted, having spent $9.5 million signing Kharazé and Ronaldinho, the latter of whom was particularly expensive. You see, Mallorca had never spent that much on a single player since its founding…

$7.5 million might be insignificant for the big clubs, but for Mallorca, it was the highest sum they'd ever spent on a single player. What's more, it was a five-year contract, with an $800,000 salary per year, increasing by 10% annually. After five years, with the transfer fee and wages included, it would add up to nearly $13 million post-tax. And if it weren't for Spain's lower tax rate (only 40%, compared to Italy's higher rate), Mallorca's expenditure would have been even greater.

Back then, the famous Beckham Law hadn't been enacted yet, and José wasn't bringing in someone as influential as Beckham—he wasn't as well-known as Florentino either. After feeling the sting of the taxes, José had to let it go. But no matter the cost, in modern football, having a good eye for picking up quality players on the cheap is key, but spending money is even more important.

Leeds United didn't spend, but how could they have had the Youth Guard title? Lazio wouldn't have won the league title if they hadn't kept spending for a couple of years. Of course, both clubs ended up in disarray…

So, spending money also requires skill…

With this thought in mind, José remained in good spirits and didn't care whether Grand would think he was wasting money—he had spent it, so what? As long as the club wasn't running a deficit, it was fine…

José had managed to sign Ronaldinho, the future heart of Barcelona's Dream Team II, and he hadn't ruled out raiding Real Madrid's roster either—had to keep things fair, right? But snatching a future Real Madrid star would be difficult…

Real Madrid and Barcelona were heading in completely different directions. Real Madrid always bought established stars, especially during Florentino's era, including Figo, Zidane, Ronaldo, Beckham, and Owen from the first Galaxy team, and later Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaká, and Alonso in the second. They rarely focused on nurturing or developing young players, which was a key characteristic of Real Madrid's brand. Under Florentino's leadership, Real Madrid became the best club of the century, with almost every star considering it an honor to join the club. When Real Madrid was winning, players felt they'd be champions by joining. When the club was struggling, they thought they could be the ones to save it—Ronaldo (Brazilian) and Zidane were prime examples. Ronaldo came to Real Madrid seeking glory, while Zidane won his only Champions League trophy with them. Later, Cristiano Ronaldo transferred to Real Madrid with the goal of leading the club to a Champions League title, hoping to solidify his place as the best in the world. Though, by the time José was reborn, this goal had yet to materialize…

On the other hand, Barcelona took the opposite approach. After Núñez's resignation and Figo's departure, Barcelona entered a four-year trophy drought. The appointment of Gaspart as president was considered one of the worst decisions in the club's 20-year history. Though Figo's transfer to Real Madrid was a severe blow, the nearly $60 million transfer fee was a huge sum for Barcelona. Given their tradition of buying semi-completed players and developing them to their full potential, they could have built a stronger team. After all, this was Barcelona's tradition—starting with Maradona, Romário, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, and later Ronaldinho. These players joined Barcelona before becoming world-class, and the future Dream Teams were mainly built on homegrown talent, including Valdés, Puyol, Piqué, Xavi, and Iniesta.

José wanted Mallorca to be as wealthy as Real Madrid, but let's face it—how many clubs like Real Madrid are there in the world? There's only one club that can spend heavily and attract the best players.

Conversely, Barcelona's model could be worth emulating. Other clubs couldn't replicate this due to the absence of a Johan Cruyff-like figure. The English Premier League struggled with poor youth development and media pressure. Serie A clubs frequently changed coaches, which hindered their youth systems.

Germany had worked hard to improve their youth system, especially after their national team's poor performance, leading to a surge of new talent before and after the 2010 World Cup. José respected the Germans for their rigor and discipline. However, German clubs adhered to strict financial rules, which hindered their growth, given that their ticket prices were among the cheapest in the top leagues. Despite high attendance, the income from tickets was limited, making it harder to attract and retain quality players.

José had no such concerns. Now that he controlled most of Mallorca's shares, he could stay as the coach for as long as he liked. Building a youth system with the same philosophy as the first team wouldn't be too difficult. After all, creating a youth academy wasn't a major challenge—most professional clubs had one. Mallorca's scouting system wasn't bad either, as evidenced by players like Tristan and Luke, who were scouted from smaller clubs. The real challenge was ensuring the academy and first team adopted the same training methods consistently.

José knew that his club's youth academy was already quite good, and he wasn't in a rush to turn it into a world-class system overnight. He would take it step by step. What was more, he could always buy semi-completed players—this wouldn't be a problem either. His memories from the future meant that Mallorca wouldn't need to worry about a lack of great new talent for the next decade. In time, as they produced more excellent players, Mallorca would also be able to attract even more talented youngsters. After all, true superstars were rare, and attracting skilled players was enough to ensure the club's success.

With the international signings done, Ronaldinho and Kharazé would join in the winter transfer window. But José wasn't finished yet—he still had some domestic transfers to make.

However, there was no rush. His main focus now was dealing with internal issues.

After José's high-profile return, Stankovic regretted his decision to leave, but it was Vázquez who was really panicking…

Vázquez had replaced the coach he didn't like and taken over as Mallorca's manager, yet results were poor to disastrous. When the man he had disliked so much suddenly became Mallorca's major shareholder, it threw Vázquez completely off balance.

Though Grand had announced in a press conference that he would remain the club's head coach, it did nothing to ease Vázquez's pressure.

Vázquez wasn't exactly an outstanding coach. Otherwise, José would never have heard his name in the future. His initial success at Rayo Vallecano had more to do with other teams not being familiar with them and a bit of good luck, but after losing to José, his performance plummeted, badly affecting his confidence.

Although José's rise to control Mallorca hadn't yet interfered with his coaching, and he hadn't even stepped foot on the first team's training ground, Vázquez still felt a huge sense of crisis. Mallorca's fans had been clamoring for José's return for days, and while Vázquez could once dismiss this as impossible, now that Grand himself was on shaky ground, what could he do?

The pressure became unbearable, and Vázquez's frustration was palpable. During a training session, the players could feel his hostile energy. Though Vázquez had never clashed with players before, the tension erupted when he argued with captain N'Gonga during a practice match. The cause? N'Gonga had been running a bit slow during a drill—understandably, as N'Gonga was nearly 36, and conserving energy during training was normal. But in Vázquez's eyes, this was disrespect. To him, it signaled a wish for José to return quickly.

The argument quickly escalated, but with the assistant coaches and other players intervening, it died down. However, the locker room atmosphere grew unbearably tense. Even when Gómez was coaching, despite Mallorca's poor results, there had never been such a confrontation between coach and players.

At this point, it was obvious to everyone: Vázquez's time was up. No coach with such weak control over the locker room could continue. And with José lurking, ready to take over…

In the 10th round of the league, Mallorca suffered a humiliating 1-0 loss to the weak Las Palmas, dropping to the very bottom of the table—20th place.

Exhausted, Vázquez announced his resignation at the post-match press conference. For him, coaching Mallorca had been a huge mistake.