Chapter 271: Chapter 271

After hanging up the phone, Chiwo was completely dumbfounded.

His car was stopped at the traffic light intersection, and although the light had turned green for over ten seconds, the car still hadn’t moved.

The horn behind him kept honking incessantly.

"Hey, buddy in front, move already!" Someone shouted, sticking their head out of the car window.

Although Chiwo was a famous veteran of Inter, and a meritorious player of the triple crown team in 2010, holding an important position in the club’s history.

But now he was just an ordinary coach on the first team.

If Mr. Moratti were still around, it would be fine, but now the chairman is Toshihiko, who shows no emotional attachment to Inter, and Ossilio, a freeloading tourism expert. Even if Chiwo were to protest, he wouldn’t know whom to turn to.

Mancini brought Chiwo to Inter from Rome; he was the mentor Chiwo admired the most at Inter at this stage, ranking as the second best coach in his mind after Mourinho.

At the same time, Mancini’s status within the Inter team was extremely high, next only to Mourinho in recent years.

Now, facing the chaos and fragmentation at Inter, Chiwo, eager to address the situation, originally intended to ask Mancini for his ideas and see if he had any solutions.

But he never dreamed that Mancini would end up joining the England national team!

Wasn’t he dreaming of coaching the Italian national team in the future? Why run off to England and even offer to work as an assistant coach?

Chiwo’s response to this invitation was non-committal, simply saying he would think about it.

His mind was in chaos, and he was in a daze.

"This season really is cursed, everyone wants to leave, even Mr. Mancini wants to leave too. Fine, leave me here alone then..." Chiwo dejectedly stomped on the throttle, and the car roared away, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Going back to half a month ago.

Early on, when Inter sold Icardi and rumors were swirling about Tang Long being pushed onto the transfer market.

Mancini astutely realized that Inter’s owner, Toshihiko, might be planning a cash-out exit!

He had coached Serie A for many years, besides top-tier Clubs like Inter, he had also coached mid-level teams like Florence and Lazio.

He knew that selling key players was normal for Lazio and Florence.

Because these teams never had grand ambitions, and their owners never included winning championships in the KPI assessments for the season.

But Inter Milan is Inter Milan, Inter is not Lazio, and definitely not Florence!

The championship has always been this team’s eternal pursuit.

In recent years, Serie A’s economic environment hasn’t been great; even big clubs have had to sell key players to balance the books.

However, after selling Icardi for a record-breaking 80 million British Pounds, Inter’s accounts were already very wealthy, and selling Tang Long at this point appeared extremely abnormal.

In Mancini’s mind, Tang Long held a higher tactical position than Icardi. He was the absolute core of the team; with Tang Long, Inter and without him, they were like two different teams altogether. Mancini, who had been coaching the team for a season, understood this better than anyone.

If things looked this bleak, how am I supposed to lead with two more years on my contract?

It can’t be that after winning the double this season, we won’t even qualify for the UEFA Europa League next season, right? If that happened, what face would I, Mancini, have left? When the team performs poorly and there’s media pressure, it’s I who would get fired and take the fall!

As the team coach, he immediately went to Ossilio’s office to demand an explanation.

Ossilio was a crafty old fox in front of Chiwo and could even display the arrogance of a high-ranking sports director.

But in front of a renowned coach like Mancini, he remained polite and respectful.

"Old Manc, we’ve worked together for quite some time, so let me be honest with you, Mr. Toshihiko plans to cash in while the team’s winning, as player values have skyrocketed."

"You can’t blame me for being ruthless, I’m just a worker here; I do whatever the boss asks, don’t I?"

"Besides, you know why Toshihiko bought Inter from Moratti back then, isn’t it because he intended to sell it after the assets appreciated to earn a profit?"

"The boss has always been in the US playing basketball. Think about it, he didn’t even come to watch the UEFA Europa League final live; his investment focus has long shifted away from Serie A. Now Inter is like a child without a mom’s care..."

Having coached for many years, Mancini had seen all sorts of situations, and from the start, he had always distrusted Toshihiko, the Indonesian businessman.

As chairman, Toshihiko only gave one public address to Mancini during his induction ceremony at Inter last November.

Privately, not to mention any discussions, he didn’t even send a single text message!

This was worlds apart from when Mancini first joined under Chairman Moratti, who treated Inter as his own child. Even though the family’s oil business was busy, he would always spare time to attend every home game, cheer for Inter, and even occasionally visit mid-week training sessions to chat with the players.

Moratti’s desire to control the team made Mancini feel immense pressure and resentment;

However, Toshihiko’s completely hands-off management style was the polar opposite extreme.

Mancini recalled how he had painstakingly coached for a season, bringing Inter the Coppa Italia and UEFA Europa League’s two heavy championship trophies, only to end up with players being cash-in after their values rose. A sense of humiliation at having worked for others’ benefit surged within him.