Chapter 1261: Chapter 1261

From the center of Paris, take the A14 motorway west for 23 kilometers and you'll arrive at Poissy.

Heading south from the highway exit, on the west side of the road are the Poissy municipal government offices and the fire station.

Just across the intersection lies the site of Paris Saint-Germain's new training ground.

The land, sold in 2016, covers more than 1,000 acres and will, after development, be shared by Paris Saint-Germain's football, handball, and judo teams.

But for now, it's still an overgrown plot of land. Flat as far as the eye can see.

Blanc had the driver pull over. He and Gao Shen got out of the car to take a look.

"We've already started the design phase and plan to begin construction next season. At that point, we'll need help from you and your team," Blanc said.

Looking out across the land with great anticipation, he added, "We hope to build a modern training base like the AXA Centre at Leeds United, full of cutting-edge technology. The initial budget is 300 million euros."

Gao Shen couldn't help but click his tongue in awe.

This is the difference between old money and hard-earned success.

Damn it, 300 million just for a training base, and that's just the starting point. Judging by the tone, if that's not enough, they'll just throw in more.

"Then we need to be involved from the design stage. Our AXA Centre was planned from day one," Gao Shen replied.

"Of course. We'll pay a consulting fee," Blanc said with a smile.

Since they're working with a professional team, fees must be clearly outlined.

Neither of them needed to get bogged down in details. Their subordinates would handle that. Blanc wasn't spending his own money, and for the Middle Eastern owners, this amount was negligible.

Three parties working together, each getting what they wanted. Everyone's happy.

"Come on, I'll show you the current training ground."

They got back in the car. Instead of taking the highway, they headed east for a while, then turned off into the hills.

After about two or three kilometers, they reached Saint-Germain-Laye.

A narrow road runs west to east. On the north side are government buildings and an army base. On the south side is PSG's training base.

The facility is actually quite small, with only five full-size grass pitches and one half-pitch. Two rows of long, low, single-story buildings form PSG's training ground.

Next door is a rugby and hockey club, separated from PSG's base by a small road.

But this is just the youth training center.

Walk about 500 meters further east, and there's a wall on the north side with a gate in the middle. Behind it is a two-story building next to the military base.

That's the first team's training base.

Contrary to what many people imagine, PSG's training facilities are really not up to standard.

According to Blanc, things were even worse when he first arrived. It wasn't until the Qatari consortium invested heavily that some renovations were done, including improvements to the youth training ground and the current first-team area.

At one point, the facility was nearly shut down due to proximity to the military base.

The first team's section has very limited space, with just two standard pitches side by side forming a comprehensive training area.

The problem is that, being next to a military base, there's no room to expand.

That's why PSG purchased land in Poissy.

"It's not just the location," Blanc said. "There's also classified information from the military. That really restricts our ability to film, especially training footage. If you look on satellite maps, once you zoom in past a certain scale, you can't see anything near our training ground."

Gao Shen nodded. He had already checked it on Google Maps.

Gao Shen's sudden appearance surprised the PSG players.

At the time, they were still on the pitch, preparing for the upcoming weekend league match. It was their last major chance at silverware this season. The French Cup was also a target, but it didn't carry as much weight.

Seeing Gao Shen and Blanc arrive unannounced, the players were clearly caught off guard. Tuchel, on the other hand, already knew about Gao Shen's visit after their meeting the night before.

While the players trained, Gao Shen first stood on the sidelines and chatted with a few injured players who weren't participating, including his former protégé, Cavani.

Gao Shen was concerned about his injuries, especially how frequently they had occurred this season, severely affecting his performance. In Gao Shen's memory, Cavani was always known as an iron man with exceptional fitness.

"Boss, I'm almost 32," Cavani said with a touch of resentment.

He felt like Gao Shen had forgotten about him after he moved to PSG.

Gao Shen smiled, slightly embarrassed.

Sometimes in his mind, he still thought of them as young players.

But in reality, they were all aging.

"You've been injured so often. Have you started slacking off?" Gao Shen joked.

"How could I?" Cavani felt wronged and immediately defended himself.

As the two were bantering, Neymar walked over.

"Hey, Gao, it's great to see you."

Seeing Neymar offer a hug, Gao Shen reciprocated.

The Brazilian gave Cavani a brief greeting.

Just as many had guessed, their relationship hadn't improved much since the penalty kick incident last season. Things had calmed down, but the tension remained.

A lot of teams deal with this.

Cavani joined PSG as a big signing, hoping to be the main man. Then Ibrahimović came in.

Just when Cavani thought he could take the throne after Ibrahimović left, Neymar arrived.

On the surface, it was about a penalty. In reality, it was a fight over status.

Generally, the one who takes penalties is the star of the team.

Gao Shen also asked about Neymar's injury and how he was settling in at PSG.

"Let's find time to have a proper chat," Gao Shen invited.

"Sure, no problem. Or... how about later?" Neymar pointed toward the training pitch, implying they could talk during his break after training.

Gao Shen checked the time and nodded. "Alright."

"Then I'll come find you later," Neymar said cheerfully.

Based on Gao Shen's understanding, Neymar actually had a good personality. But once interests were involved, he would change.

Take the murky dealings around his Barcelona transfer. It was all about money.

Many people looked down on Neymar, thinking he was squandering his talent for cash. But that's unfair. We're talking tens of millions of euros—hundreds of millions of yuan.

That's an astronomical sum.

Besides, the original plan when Neymar joined Barcelona was for him to gradually take over from Messi and become the new king.

Which brings up the problem of Messi and Ronaldo—the two immovable roadblocks.

Everyone knows that a footballer's prime is short-lived. Very few can stay at the top for long, which is why winning awards like the Ballon d'Or is so difficult.

Before Messi and Ronaldo, the record for most wins was three.

The usual superstar arc was like Ronaldinho: two to three years at the peak, then decline.

When Neymar joined Barcelona in 2013, Messi had already been at his peak for several years and was 26. The assumption was that Messi might decline by 29, and Neymar would take over.

But who would have thought Messi and Ronaldo would break the mold? They stayed at the top for over a decade, outperforming everyone else.

From a fan's perspective, it was glorious. But for players like Neymar, Ribéry, Robben, Sneijder, Iniesta, Xavi, and Suárez, it was unfortunate to share an era with those two.

At the end of the day, footballers are workers too, earning a wage.

There's no shame in that.

At most, you can only sigh: Neymar could have gone even further. What a shame.

With Blanc and other staff, Gao Shen toured PSG's training base.

They visited various departments and inspected all the functional areas. Thɪs chapter is updated by NoveIＦire.net

For example, the meeting rooms.

They had been nicely renovated, but were rarely used.

Both Ancelotti and Tuchel had pointed out the same problem—PSG didn't have much of a meeting culture.

In other European clubs, morning and afternoon meetings were vital.

At PSG, meetings were only held when deemed absolutely necessary.

Gao Shen felt this was unacceptable and needed to be changed.

Communication was a key part of building team unity.

At the team restaurant, Gao Shen checked the menu and found many high-fat, high-calorie items that other clubs would never allow. Sugary drinks like Coca-Cola and iced tea were also available.

Just like Tuchel had said, these were the players' favorites.

Which was understandable. Faced with a choice between a burger and boiled chicken breast, who wouldn't go for the burger?

"Human nature can't resist temptation. When you lay this stuff out, how can you expect players to control themselves under pressure?" Gao Shen said bluntly.

Blanc gave a wry smile. He was clearly aware of the problem.

But many issues required someone to take the lead and push through, to create real pressure before change could happen.

In Paris, overstaffing was common. Even as CEO, there were many things Blanc couldn't control.

But now, Gao Shen had arrived with Nasser's backing, and that could break the deadlock.

"We have to make changes. After this season, I'll appoint someone to oversee this matter. Next season, I'll hire a professional nutritionist to take charge of the players' diets."

"I don't care what things were like before. From the moment I take over, everything will be done according to my rules!"

Gao Shen's voice was firm and decisive.